All I Want For Christmas Is You - Penelope Ward Page 0,13
breath and looked up. “I was hesitant to spend time alone with you because of how strongly attracted to you I am.” He paused. “I mentioned before that you remind me of someone who hurt me. My ex cheated on me, and it’s taken me a long time to learn to trust again. But it wasn’t fair of me to buy into that negative association based on your looks. Not to mention, you’re way more beautiful than she ever was—both inside and out.” He smiled. “Bottom line, I didn’t know how to handle my feelings, and I chickened out. But like I told you earlier, I’m done living in fear.”
My heart raced. “I just assumed you weren’t interested...”
“No. Just the opposite.” He took a few steps closer. “In fact, nothing had interested me in a very long time until you came along. Just being in your house that one night took away my writing block. But it wasn’t the house. It’s you—the way I feel when I’m around you. Your sweet soul and beautiful spirit. You make me feel alive again.”
His words took my breath away. “I never thought my grumpy neighbor would turn out to be the first person to make me feel alive in a long time, too.”
His eyes went to my lips as he leaned in and took my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck and savored his taste as we fell into a deep and passionate kiss. My hands raked through his thick hair as our chests pressed together. It had been forever since I’d felt so turned on by a kiss, and my body buzzed with excitement. Somehow, I knew he wouldn’t be returning across the street tonight.
After several minutes, we finally came up for air. I moved back to look at his gorgeous face. Then my eyes travelled down to his crotch and landed on the impressive erection straining through his jeans.
I raised one eyebrow. “Is that a lightsaber in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?”
His eyes sparkled. “That’s no lightsaber.”
Muffled noise registered from outside, drawing our attention to the living room window, which we were standing in front of. It seemed a few spectators had arrived late, probably hoping to see the lights. Instead, they’d watched us kissing.
Cole reached over to the lamp and clicked it off before pulling me back into his arms. “We seem to have lost power again.” He spoke over my lips.
I smiled. “Oh, did we? That’s a shame. Shall I get the generator?”
“No, ma’am. We’re about to make enough electricity of our own to light up the block.”
OTHER BOOKS BY VI KEELAND & PENELOPE WARD
Park Avenue Player
Stuck-Up Suit
Cocky Bastard
British Bedmate
Playboy Pilot
Mister Moneybags
Rebel Heir
Rebel Heart
Hate Notes
Dirty Letters
My Favorite Souvenir
Happily Letter After
OTHER BOOKS BY VI KEELAND
The Rivals
Inappropriate
All Grown Up
We Shouldn’t
The Naked Truth
Sex, Not Love
Beautiful Mistake
Egomaniac
Bossman
The Baller
Left Behind (A Young Adult Novel)
Beat
Throb
Worth the Fight
Worth the Chance
Worth Forgiving
Belong to You
Made for You
First Thing I See
OTHER BOOKS BY PENELOPE WARD
The Anti-Boyfriend
Just One Year
The Day He Came Back
When August Ends
Love Online
Gentleman Nine
Drunk Dial
Mack Daddy
RoomHate
Stepbrother Dearest
Neighbor Dearest
Jaded and Tyed (A novelette)
Sins of Sevin
Jake Undone (Jake #1)
Jake Understood (Jake #2)
My Skylar
Gemini
ABOUT VI KEELAND
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
ABOUT PENELOPE WARD
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son and beautiful daughter with autism.
With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over twenty novels.
Penelope’s books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Evan
Mid-December - Edinburgh, Scotland
Bing Crosby crooned, ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas’ and he wasn’t wrong. Standing in the atrium of Shaw’s Department store on Princes Street, it definitely couldn’t get any more Christmassy for me. Strands of gorgeous fairy lights cascaded over the balconies of the galleried floors above us. I stood at Santa’s Grotto, surrounded by fake snow and glitter, while a twinkling forty-foot Christmas tree towered above