Slow Burn (Dynasties Seven Sins #7) - Janice Maynard Page 0,44
sweater and caressed the length of her spine.
Nikki shivered, but didn’t move away. Instead, she leaned into him, letting him support her weight. Her hair tickled his nose.
Finally, she turned in his loose embrace, touched his lips with her fingers and spoke as he had, in a low voice. “It’s snowing really hard now. You shouldn’t drive back to Falling Brook. Why don’t you spend the night?”
A rush of heat settled in his groin. His mouth dried. “On the sofa?”
He saw the multicolored lights from the Christmas tree reflected in her laughing eyes. “In my bed.”
“What about Emma?” His voice sounded funny, perhaps because he was struggling to breathe.
Nikki gave his chin a quick kiss, then eyed her daughter. “We’ll set an alarm,” she muttered. “You can move to the sofa at five. It will be fine.”
Nikki bathed her daughter, washed her hair and dressed her in warm pajamas. The temperature was dropping and would soon leave a crust of ice on the new-fallen snow. As Nikki tucked Emma into bed, her daughter cuddled the new doll sleepily. “Why isn’t Mr. Man reading me a story tonight?”
“It’s late, baby. Decorating the tree took all our time.”
Emma yawned and snuggled deeper in her covers. “I like the tree. It’s bootiful.”
Nikki grinned. “Yes, it is. But remember, it’s still a long time until Christmas. We put up the tree a little early this year. You and I will enjoy it every day and every night, and I’ll let you know when it’s time to look for Santa.”
“I can wait, Mommy. I’m good at waiting.”
“Can I ask you a question, love?” She smoothed her daughter’s still-damp hair. “Why do you call Jake ‘Mr. Man’?”
Emma yawned again, her eyelids drooping. “He’s a boy and we’re girls. I like Mr. Man.”
Nikki managed not to laugh. “Fair enough.”
When she turned off the light and tiptoed out, she was pretty sure her daughter was already asleep. Nikki found Jake in the kitchen wiping the last of the countertops. The dishwasher was humming, and the kitchen was spotless.
“Jake,” she said, feeling guilty. “You’re our guest. I would have done all this.”
His grin curled her toes. “First of all,” he said, “I needed to earn my keep. And second of all...” He crossed the room and scooped her up on her toes for a fast, breath-stealing kiss. “I wanted you to be free for whatever comes next.”
“And what would that be?”
“Lady’s choice.”
She nuzzled her cheek against his broad, hard chest, listening to the steady ka-thump of his heart. “What if we start by drinking cheap wine in the dark and enjoying the Christmas tree?”
“Cheap wine?”
“You tell me.” She threw open the cabinet where she kept a single bottle of red and then opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of chardonnay. “Your pick.”
He winced. “I could have brought some.”
“I suppose a man who visits fancy vineyards in France and Italy is above five-dollar vino?”
Jake’s expression was droll. “If you paid five dollars for these, you were robbed.”
His disgust made her giggle, though she was breathless with wanting him. “How about coffee? I have some beans in the freezer. And a grinder. Though it’s probably dusty,” she admitted.
He cupped her face in his big hands and kissed her eyelids one at a time, his expression searing and intense. “How about a glass of water, and then we go make out on your couch?”
“I’m fine without the water,” she gasped. They were pressed together so closely she could feel the hard length of him against her abdomen. “And we could go straight to the bedroom.”
Jake was suddenly the one with patience. “Tree first, woman. We worked hard on that masterpiece.”
He took her by the hand and drew her down the hall to the living room. Nikki had opened the drapes before she put Emma to bed. Now, streetlights illuminated the heavily falling snow. The tree cast a warm glow over the room.
“You couldn’t have driven home, anyway,” Nikki muttered. “Look at it out there. Did you bring an overnight bag? You should grab your stuff from the car before it gets any worse.”
Jake sat down and pulled her onto his lap. “You agreed to make out with me. Don’t change the subject. And yes. I packed a few things. Just in case.”
Nikki shivered. How many times over the years had the two of them fooled around like this? When she was in high school and Jake was in college, she had lived for the weekends when he came home to