The Billionaire's Christmas Son - Leslie North Page 0,53

behind the desk in a daze. Some of the staff were taking down the tree and putting up silver tinsel and stars for the New Year’s Eve party tonight. All the Christmas music had stopped, but it still felt like a holiday. The greatest holiday of his life.

He took Scott into his arms and hugged him tightly. “Rachel,” he said, wanting to reach for her, but afraid that if he touched her, she would turn into a hallucination and be gone. “You’re—”

She slipped the key card into her coat pocket and smiled. “Yes. I’m here. I mean we are here.”

“But how? Annabeth? You don’t—your car—”

“I’ve never seen you this speechless before.” Her eyes glittered with pleasure. “I took an Uber.” Her radiant smile deepened.

“You took an Uber from Denver?” Scott patted the sides of his face, nuzzling Jonas’s cheek with his nose.

“It was the most expensive Uber of my life.” Rachel laughed, but when she finished, her expression turned serious. “I paid an enormous amount, but it was worth it.” She patted the handle of a single suitcase at her side. “There’s something I need to say to you.”

“What’s that?” he asked, never taking his gaze off her.

“I love you.” The words sounded so sweet coming from her lips, that it felt like champagne in his veins.

“I love you, too,” he said raggedly, not particularly caring that this scene was playing out for the front desk staff.

“I’m willing to give you a chance.” Relief. Complete relief.

“You are?”

“Yes. But if you get pushy or bossy, I’ll flatten you,” she said, poking her finger into his chest for emphasis.

Scott laughed. “Flat,” he said, clapping his hands.

“Flat,” Jonas agreed. “As a pancake.” He winked at his son.

“You gave me the respect I asked for, and now I’m giving you my trust. I’m not going to run away again, Jonas,” Rachel said, her voice low and soft, every word meant solely for him.

“Good. Are you really planning to stay here in the lodge?”

“I didn’t know if you’d want me at your place.” She glanced down at the suitcase. “After—you know. After I left.”

He drew her to him, kissing her forehead, breathing in the scent of her hair. Rachel tilted her face up and caught him on the lips. She let out a sigh as she did so, and it struck him that she’d missed him, too—Jonas hadn’t been the only miserable one. The proof was there in the lines of her body, in the way she simultaneously pressed against him and relaxed like he was the only person she trusted to hold her upright.

“Come home with me,” he insisted, as Scott tugged at the collar of his shirt. “I want you there more than anything.”

“Anything?” She crooked an eyebrow.

“One step at a time,” he warned, and then he grabbed the handle of her suitcase, pulling it quickly across the lobby. Rachel did her best to keep up, huffing a laugh. “First things first, I’m driving you back to my place. And then—”

“Anything could happen,” said Rachel.

“Anything,” he said.

“Thing,” said Scott, thrilled to be part of it.

22

Jonas had just put Rachel’s suitcase in the bedroom when a text came through. He checked his phone screen.

Gabe: Sources say Rachel Alexander just checked in. Is this true?

Jonas: Yes, she’s here. With Scott.

Gabe: We’re all at Grandmother’s apartment. Waiting for you.

Jonas: Be there soon.

“Rachel,” he said, as solemn as a wedding proposal. “I’d like to introduce you to my family. Formally. Not only as the mother of my child, but as the love of my life.”

She made a face, laughing. “That sounds very formal.”

He put an arm around her waist and pulled her close, tasting her sweetness while Scott busied himself opening cupboards in the kitchen to investigate. “It’ll be okay, I promise. Trust me.”

“I do.”

The three of them made their way back to the lodge to meet up with the family. The scene in his grandmother’s apartment couldn’t have been more different from the night Rachel had left. Grandmother held court in the living room, with Lindsey and Tana on the couch next to her. Chase and Gabe sat with Anna on another long sofa across from them, the fire crackling in the hearth and big band music playing on her sound system.

“Jonas,” Gabe called out when he entered the room, his brother standing to shake his hand. Chase nodded and shook his hand also. The family was giving their seal of approval.

His grandmother held her arms out to Rachel. “Is that little boy my great-grandson?” she