“YOU SHOULD not be here.”
Lily said it in a whisper, the words barely louder than the crackle of the outdoor heater on the covered back porch. Christmas lights glowed softly along the railing, their warmth at odds with the knot tightening in her chest.
Jeremiah stood half in shadow near the far post, leather jacket dusted with snow, dark hair damp from the cold. He had climbed the fence instead of using the gate. She could see the proof in the scrape along his knuckles.
“I know,” he said quietly.
Lily took a step back, then stopped herself.
“Ronan will kill you if he finds you here.”
Jeremiah’s mouth twitched, but there was no humor in his eyes. “He already tried.”
Her breath caught. She hated how easily her body remembered him. The way her pulse spiked. The way the air felt charged
