Authors: Jean Joachim
Grant offered everyone a liqueur or
sherry, and the four remaining sat and chatted until the drinks were gone. Finally,
Cara and Grant made their excuses and toddled off to their room.
It must be great to go to bed every night
with someone you love so much.
An inadvertent sigh escaped his lips as he
watched the couple disappear behind their bedroom door.
“Thinking about wedded bliss?” Grace
interrupted, reading his thoughts.
Jake sensed color rise to his cheeks.
“It must be nice…they love each other so much. I mean, going to bed every night
with someone you…” he stopped, flushing deeper at the realization of what he
had said.
“Yeah, I know. Just the cuddling
alone might be worth the price of marriage.”
“Price of marriage?” Jake cocked his
head slightly.
“I mean…what you give up and all to
be married.” A blush crept into her face, making her even more beautiful to
him.
“I always thought it meant you were
getting something, not giving something up.”
“Different points of view, I guess.”
Jake agreed and a silence fell
between them. He looked at his watch.
Eleven.
Time for bed. Tomorrow will be an early day.
He yawned and stood up.
“Oh! I’m standing in your bedroom,
and you want to go to sleep. Sorry!” Gracie jumped to her feet and left
abruptly, waving to him and calling “goodnight”.
Jake sighed.
Not even a goodnight kiss.
He knocked on her door before calling
in, “My bag?”
Gracie handed him his valise. “Sorry
to disturb you,” he said.
“No problem. Sleep well. Sarah will
probably be up early. Best to catch some winks while you can.” Jake nodded,
took the bag from her, and headed for the bathroom.
* * * *
Gracie had never seen her sister
truly in love before. The obvious joy that Grant and Cara shared in being
together after so many years apart was infectious. They were never far from each
other. They seemed always to be touching, arms draped over each other, holding
hands, or even just entwining pinkies at the dinner table.
The scene touched her heart and
cheered her spirit.
Cara deserves to be
happy. Maybe I’ll be that lucky someday and find someone like Grant who can
love and forgive.
In bed, trying to sleep, Gracie’s
mind kept moving though her body lay still. She glanced at the clock.
Three o’clock
. She pulled down the
covers and pushed to her feet. Winding her ivory fleece robe around her naked
body, she crept silently into the hall.
Though the room was lit only by
moonlight, the outline of Jake on the sofa was unmistakable. An urge to crawl
under the covers and cuddle with him gripped her.
You don’t even know him!
The cool night air sent a shiver through
her body as she padded soundlessly into the large room. Her gaze was drawn to
the whiteness falling by the window. She stopped, leaning against the window sash
and watched the light snow.
Hearing a noise behind her, she
whirled around, her heart skipping a beat. Jake stood behind her, the blanket wrapped
around his waist, his chest bare.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb
you,” she whispered.
“You didn’t. I wasn’t asleep.”
“No?” She swallowed.
Oh my God.
She was drawn to the
tantalizing view of his torso.
He shook his head. “Too much on my
mind, I guess.”
“Me, too.” She looked away, avoiding
the probing stare from his light eyes. His bare chest disturbed her in the
nicest way.
He should put something on.
Her
pulse kicked up. He moved up next to her and turned his attention to the sight
outside. “Snow.”
“A white Christmas.” Grace sang a
line from the song softly.
He grinned. “I love a white
Christmas. Must be snowing buckets upstate. Tomorrow the
kids’ll
be sledding down McArthur hill,” he sighed.
“You miss them, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“The price of fame.”
“Yeah. This business…”
She saw his eyes water a bit and
placed her hand on his arm for a moment. Jake blinked a few times and smiled at
her. As she turned to face him, she couldn’t help but notice his chest, shadowed
by the light from a street lamp. Covered in light brown hair, his
pecs
looked solid and his abs lean and defined. The muscles
in his shoulders invited her touch to test their firmness.
Wonder
what it would feel like to run my hand down him?
Gracie tried not to stare,
but knew he’d seen her wide-eyed expression as she studied his body.
For such a shy man, he doesn’t seem to be
shy about being half naked here with me.
“You miss your mom, don’t you?”
She tore her gaze from his body and
rested it on his face as she gave a brief nod in answer to his question. “She
tried so hard to make it up to us for being a one-parent family. She was like
having two parents. Holidays were special times. We all stopped working to play
together.”
“You worked as a kid?”
“Yep. Mama’s helper at thirteen. Babysitting
when I was fourteen.”
“Me, too. First delivering papers at
eleven, then in my dad’s auto shop.”
“You know car repair?”
“Like the back of my hand. When I
graduated high school, my dad wanted me to join him.”
“Is he disappointed you didn’t?”
“Not anymore. Since I’ve made a
couple of movies. But he was at first. We didn’t speak for a while.”
Gracie touched his shoulder,
ignoring the sizzle that leapt into her body at the contact with his skin. “How
awful!”
“It wasn’t good. But I had to go my
own way.”
“I’m glad you did. You’re a good
actor,” she said.
“Not according to Movie Maven.” He
gave a short laugh. At the sound of her pen name, Grace stiffened.
Crap!
“Don’t worry. I’m not letting her
get me down,” he said, taking the opportunity to casually drape his arm around
her. She didn’t move out of his embrace.
“Maybe your role in
Blind Love
is a better role.” Grace took
a deep breath to calm her nerves. The fear he’d find out she was Movie Maven, plus
his touch, kicked her pulse into high gear.
“I love the play. And doing it live
every night is such a high. Applause is addicting.”
She inched a little closer, lured by
his fresh, masculine scent mixing with the aroma of pine. He picked up on her
movement and eased her into his shoulder. A small sigh escaped her lips as they
watched in easy silence while snow blanketed the city. She snaked her arm
around his waist and snuggled into him.
Jake leaned over and kissed her
hair. His intimate gesture broke the spell, causing Grace to pull away slightly,
her eyes searching his. He lifted his arm to point to the ceiling.
“Mistletoe.” He grinned. Gracie
looked up and saw the little red-and-green plant hanging directly above them. While
her chin was tilted up, Jake swooped down to brush his mouth gently against hers.
When she didn’t resist, he drew her up against him. Lowering his head a second
time, he pressed his lips to hers and kept them there.
At his touch, a fire ignited inside
Grace. She was helpless to resist and embraced him as he kissed her. When he
stood upright again, his eyes glowed with passion. Grace tried to control her
breathing.
No one has ever kissed me like
that before.
“Merry Christmas, Gracie,” he
whispered.
She stared at his mouth. Jake took
the hint and kissed her again, but this time he swiped his tongue over her lips,
and she opened. He angled his head to deepen the kiss, causing her to melt
against him. With both hands occupied holding her fast, the blanket slipped to
the floor, and Jake was left in only his boxers.
As his fingers dug lightly into her
back, she slipped her palms up his chest, stopping at his neck. Their bodies
fit together perfectly. Desire raced through her veins. Gracie wanted more.
Jake’s hand slipped down to her bottom and squeezed. Then he stepped back.
“You’re not wearing anything?”
Gracie saw his chest rise and fall in ragged breaths.
She shook her head. “I sleep nude.”
Color rose up his neck as he backed
away from her. “Not that I wouldn’t like to…love to…but this is neither the
time nor place…”
“I agree.” She stated flatly,
cutting him off. But her body was screaming at her to continue. Folding her
arms across her breasts, she turned to face the window again and attempted to
resume normal breathing while Jake stole up behind her.
“Did you feel it? The chemistry?” he
muttered in her ear.
She couldn’t deny it because the
feeling was still racing through her veins. Slowly lifting her gaze to his, she
smiled and nodded once. He stroked her hair then ran his finger down her cheek.
“Beautiful Grace…” he uttered so softly she almost didn’t hear. He pulled her
into his embrace.
Grace rested her head on his chest,
listening to the rapid, steady beat of his heart, and closed her eyes.
So this is what Cara feels when Grant holds
her?
She sighed and relaxed against him.
It’s wonderful.
The Grandfather clock in the hall
chimed four, startling the would-be lovers. They jumped apart then chuckled at
their own skittishness.
“I suppose we should get some
sleep,” she said.
Jake yawned. “Before all hell breaks
loose tomorrow.”
“Right.” Gracie tightened her sash
and raised her gaze to his. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
She padded quietly back to her room,
stopping at the door to watch him rearrange the blanket on the sofa. Their eyes
met, she raised a hand, and then disappeared into her room.
Morning came before she was ready,
the light shooting through curtains she forgot to draw woke her up. Sarah’s
shrieks about Santa having come woke the household. She dragged herself out of
bed, slipped on a nightshirt, and strolled into the kitchen. Jake was measuring
water into the coffeemaker when she entered. He hadn’t even combed his hair and
looked beyond adorable.
What man wakes up
so cute?
He stepped up behind her as she was
opening the refrigerator door. Slipping his arm around her waist, he bent, kissing
the back of her neck, sending gooseflesh to all parts of her body. “Good
morning, Grace. Merry Christmas.”
* * * *
He took a deep breath, absorbing the
faint, sweet scent of her lilac perfume. She froze in his arms, allowing his
lips to nibble her before she came back to life. She giggled and batted at him.
He backed away.
Not here and not now.
Grace
took out eggs and milk.
“French toast!” she hollered into
the living room.
“Want some help?” Jake asked.
“You know how to cook?” She rested
her hand on her hip.
“Two sisters, remember?”
“They put you to work?”
“Yeah. Everybody helped with meals
when I was growing up.” Grace took out two packages of bacon and tossed them to
Jake.
“
Here.
Know how to cook bacon?”
“It’s my specialty,” he joked.
Sarah flew into the kitchen. “Let’s
open presents, let’s open presents,” she begged.
“How about you get to open…uh…”
Grace started.
“Two. Sarah gets to open two before
breakfast?” Jake put in.
“Mom, Dad…can I open two presents
before breakfast?”
The chaos had begun. Sarah opened
two gifts then Grace and Jake whipped up breakfast while Cara and Grant sipped
coffee and snuggled together on the sofa. After the meal was done, they
attacked the gifts under the tree. Cara loved the cashmere sweater Grace gave
her and the diamond earrings from Grant. Grace got an emerald pendant and
matching earrings from Cara, a pair of fine fur-lined leather gloves from Grant,
and a stunning gold bracelet from Jake.
“I can’t accept this,” she said,
trying it on.
“Why not? We’re friends.” Grace shot
a skeptical look at him.
“What? What did I say?” He raised
his shoulders to prove his innocence.
“Keep the bracelet,
Pookie
, it looks so wonderful on you.”
“
Pookie
?”
Jake smirked and cocked an eyebrow. Grace smacked him lightly in the shoulder
before she handed him her gift. He opened the small package, which contained a
pair of gold cufflinks.
“For all your opening nights.”
He leaned over and kissed her
lightly. “Thank you. They’re perfect.”
All action in the living room
stopped when he pressed his lips to hers. Grace blushed several shades of pink,
but it had seemed the natural thing to do.
We’re
like two couples, celebrating the holiday together. If we lived together, this
would happen all the time. Live together? Snap out of it, man!
Used to be, simply the concept of
living with a woman, any woman, gave him a rash. When he thought about living
with Grace, he panicked for a second then calmed. He pointed to the ceiling.
“Mistletoe.”
Cara stared at him then glanced
around the room. “I don’t remember hanging all this mistletoe,” she said,
moving her gaze from sprig to sprig strung up around the apartment. Jake felt
heat rush up his neck to his face. “I helped out a little.”
Grace’s mouth fell open as Grant
snickered, then said, “Very resourceful, Jake.”
Jake’s cell rang. His family was
calling to thank him for the presents he had mailed and to reconnect. He took
the phone into the hall where he had a lively, if brief, conversation with
everyone, including his niece and nephew, before he had to dress. A heavy sigh
escaped his throat as he hung up.
Never
thought I’d miss them so much.
He leaned back against the wall for
a moment to recover his holiday cheer before rejoining the others. He wiped one
eye with the heel of his hand and pasted a smile on his face. He noticed Grace
watching him when he returned and wondered what she thought.
Probably thinks I’m a wimp. A sissy because
I miss my family. Maybe I am.