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He shifted to full alert. Do not, under any circumstances, fall asleep next to her.

“What are we watching?” His voice was rougher than he wanted it to be.

“You choose.”

There she went again. Selfless, kind, considerate. But why did she never ask for what she wanted? He was about to tell her she had to choose, but realized watching a weepy/sexy/any sort of romance at all was exactly what he didn’t need. “Die Hard.”

She rolled her eyes. “You realize how cliched that is? And not just you wanting to watch it, but you thinking it’s even a Christmas film when everyone knows just because a film is set at Christmas, doesn’t automatically make it a Christmas film.”

He blinked at her, totally lost. “It doesn’t?”

“Nope. A Christmas film has to center on Christmas itself, on the spirit of it, like family and love, reconciliation. Die Hard is an action movie that happens to be set at Christmas.”

“You had me at action movie.”

He picked up the remote, found the movie and settled back against the sofa, making sure no parts of his body touched any parts of hers.

But part way through it, she wriggled and shifted so her legs were tucked beneath her. It meant she leant towards him, her head resting on his shoulder. Her curls tickling his neck. The scent of apples wrapped around him.

He kept his hands clasped tightly around his cold, empty mug.

When they were halfway through the film, she prized the mug out of his hand and snuggled further into him. Automatically his arm looped around her shoulders as her head found its way onto his chest.

They were . . . cuddling.

“Your heart just started to race,” she murmured.

“It’s meant to. It’s an action movie.”

He willed his brain to focus on the screen, not on the warm, soft curves now pressed against him.

Or the arm that had found its way around his waist.

“Anna,” he warned.

She peered up at him, a glint of something in her eyes—mischief? Challenge? “What?”

“You know what.”

“Jeez, relax. We’re two friends sitting together watching an action movie set at Christmas.”

Was he the only one terrified of pushing this too far? He glanced down at her. She looked content, happy.

Taking a deep breath, he let the tension leave his body and settled further into the sofa. It meant Anna was now practically lying on him, but that was okay. Just two friends . . .

Her eyes locked with his and instantly the air thickened. There was nothing friendly in the way her fingers splayed across his abdomen, their warmth scorching his skin. Nothing platonic about the look in her eyes, or the way her breath hitched when he swallowed, her gaze dipping to his throat before settling on his mouth.

“Screw this.” He’d been doomed from the start. It was his last thought before he bent his head towards hers. “Push me away if you don’t want this,” he all but growled.

A small part of him wanted her to shove at him. Wanted her to kick him in the balls and run out because then the torment would be over. But she did neither of those things. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth against his.

Finally. It was like seeing the finish line when he’d run a marathon. Weeks of wanting to feel those soft lips on him were over and now . . . now his body was on fire. He tried to take it slow, to savor, to nibble the plump bottom lip, to press chaste kisses along her neck, her jawline before finding her mouth again. But that was agony when all he wanted was to taste her. The moment he pressed his tongue between her lips, they parted. He groaned at being let in. Groaned again as he savored his first slide through her mouth. “Hot chocolate,” he whispered. “I can taste it on you.”

“Me, too.” She shifted so she was sitting on his lap, her thighs astride his hips, her core settled . . . “Oh.”

Her breathy exclamation made him harden even further. “We’re missing the roof scene.” He grunted as she wriggled on him.

“I know what happens.” She darted her tongue into his mouth. He groaned and clasped a hand on the back of her neck to draw her even closer. “Bruce Willis jumps off with a fire hose around his waist,” she whispered, breath hot against his face.