How the Hitman Stole Christmas - Sam Mariano Page 0,29
your backseat and bring it inside. I know you said yesterday the clothes I was wearing were all the clothes I had, but I was thinking about it this morning. I bought a pretty burgundy sweater dress and a pale pink, super-soft sweater for Brady’s younger sister. We’re the same size, so I can wear those.”
Jasper nods and heads back outside to fetch my shopping bag.
Since I don’t have any other underwear, though, I have to change into one of the sexy pairs he bought me at the adult store. I select the black ones and save the red ones for when I wear the dress.
Don’t know what I’ll do for clothing for the rest of the time, but at least once we get to his mom’s place, I should have access to a washer and dryer.
I fold up the white cowl neck sweater I wore yesterday and tug on the snug pair of jeans. At least I was wearing my favorite pair yesterday—that was lucky.
The pink sweater I bought for Tara is so soft to the touch, I can’t help sighing with pleasure as I pull it on.
It wasn’t even on my shopping list. I had already bought her the dress and I planned to be finished, but when I walked past this sweater, I couldn’t resist touching it. Once I touched it, I had to buy it. Since I wasn’t on Brady’s list to buy for—I’m sure he already had my gift picked out and put beneath his parents’ tree—I couldn’t buy it for myself, so I bought it for his sister instead.
Now it’s mine. If nothing else good comes out of this holiday detour, at least there’s that.
I’m petting my own shirt when I emerge from the bathroom. To Jasper’s credit, even though he glances up and sees me doing it, he doesn’t act like it’s weird.
“Pet me,” I tell him.
Now he looks up and cocks an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
I walk closer and grab his hand, rubbing it against the soft fabric of my sweater. “Doesn’t this feel amazing?”
Since I’ve issued an invitation, he stops what he’s doing and turns to lock an arm around my waist. I gasp as he tugs me against him, making my shirt ride up until a swatch of my stomach is exposed. Without looking away from my eyes, he slides his hands up under my shirt, grazing the soft skin around my waist and back with just his fingertips.
“It sure does.”
A shiver of pleasure passes over me. I bite down on my bottom lip, gazing up at him.
He really is handsome. I don’t think of him as mine, but I suppose if we want to convincingly portray a loving couple to his family, we will have to act like one.
That’s not such a bad gig. Swept up momentarily in my natural attraction to him (and emboldened by the fact that we’re a pretend couple), I decide to try it out, see how it feels.
Since he already has me pulled close, I wind my arms around his neck. The contrast of his hard body pressed against all my softness makes my tummy flutter.
He won’t stop staring at me, his gaze steady but unreadable.
I don’t know if he actually intends to kiss me or not, but when his handsome face seems to move toward mine, all my bravery promptly dissipates.
I drop my arms and break away, flashing him a quick smile as I walk over to grab the gray bag he brought in for me.
“We’ll have to go over all the gifts I bought and your family members to see if this stuff will work.”
Jasper watches me for a moment—I feel his eyes boring into my back—before he finally grabs the small stuffed animal off the table and walks it over to me.
Tossing it into the bag, he says, “I’m sure we’ll be able to make it work.”
“Should we do that now?” I glance up at him, hoping he doesn’t notice my telltale flush even though this room is an ice box.
He shakes his head. “I won’t be sure who’s there until we get there. If we need anything else, we can always run out and grab some stuff. I’m not planning to hold you prisoner at the house. We’ll have to go over some ground rules, but I want you to enjoy the trip as much as possible.”
“Ground rules,” I mutter. “Sounds like I’m not going to be allowed my cell phone.”