Standing on my feet, a gust of cool air settled over me once the warm blanket was lifted. I cocked an eyebrow. “You?”
He chuckled, a sweet sound I wanted to always hear. “Ibelieve I did.”
My gaze scanned the room, settling on the base of the tree. The presents had multiplied at some point during the night.
“Merry Christmas.” Jesse stood beside me.
“That was a first for me, as an adult.”
“Whatwas?”
“Sleeping in front of the tree like that. It was kind of pretty.”
Lights all twinkling, therhythmic noise of a spinning ornament, the gentle crest of waves beating on the shoreline and another body to keep me warm and secure. Seriously, a person could get used to spending the holidays here.
Jessetouched the tip of my nose with his finger and then curled it and gently lifted my chin up to gaze into my eyes. “I’ll admit, I haven’t done that either. That’s a first.”
“We’re really quite the pair, aren’t we?” My eyes danced between his, and my gaze lowered over his perfect cheeks and settled on his kissable lips.
His ex-wife was crazy for not sticking around. He was a keeper. If only there wasn’t a whole cross-islanddistance between us, we could continue to explore this growing connection, rather than have it severed in two days time. I was due home, back to work on the twenty-eighth, back to whatever life I was willing to let myself live.
He tipped his head to the side and moved in closer, our chests fusing with each whisper of a kiss until neither could stand the anticipation further, and we gave into the pull. The kiss was hot enough to melt icebergs, and I desperately wanted to explore more, however, movement out on the beach caught my eye, and I yanked away in surprise.
“The wedding.” It rolled off my tongue like it had been something I’d forgotten about, which couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Jesse walked to the back door and hung his hands from the door frame, stretching out his back. “Looks like they are setting up chairs and the wedding arch thing.”
“Maybe I should throw breakfast in and go clean myself up?”
“Breakfast would be a great idea. Maybe I’ll toss it in for you, if you tell me what it needs to cook at?” He steppedover and once again held me tight.
It didn’t get old, and unlike with Charlie, whose hold I couldn’t wait to get out of, I found myself missing Jesse the moment we broke apart. It was the weirdest feeling. But I needed a shower and a good teeth scrubbing.
“Unwrap and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.”I was already halfway down the hall.
“I’m on it.” The oven beeped as he punched in the temperature.
Without another word, I headed up to the shower, and had myself a little quickie cleaning. The warm scent of cinnamon and a pot of freshly brewed coffee filled my senses as I strutted back into the kitchen in my button up blouse and blue jeans, with my prettiest underwear on beneath. Had I known I could be something unwrapped, I would’ve packed something nicer.
Jesse folded the newspaper and hopped off the stool, his gaze raking me over and warming me up nicely. “I know the invitation said business casual, but are you wearing that to the wedding? I think your sister would have a bird.”
Yep, Lily would go hog wild.“I’ll be changing after I do my hair and makeup. This way, if I spill, I’m not getting it on my dress.”
“The rollers really add to the look.”He tapped one for good measure.
For some reason, I didn’t feel the need to hide in my room as my hair set.“I’d thought I’d go with sexy beach wave hair.”
“You could godressed exactly as you are, and you’d still be the prettiest one there.”
A building heat flashed across my chest and flooded my neck and cheeks.“Stop,” I whispered.
“I’m sorry. Am I making you uncomfortable?”
My gaze fell to the timer on the stove. Three minutesremained; however, the island was already set for two.
“Didn’t your husband compliment you?”
“Of course, it’s just…” Been a while. Compliments became special occasion words, or whenCharlie was really horny and hoped to turn me on for a reason other than a baby-making romp in the hay. And that was well over eighteen months ago.