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 asked.
The room quieted. “Grandmother,” Jonas said, stepping in to introduce them. Officially. “This is Rachel, Scott’s mother. And this is Scott, our son.”
“Hi,” Scott said, causing everyone in the room to burst into laughter, his expression priceless. Rachel went forward easily and put Scott into his great-grandmother’s lap. The two of them seemed to know each other already, the little boy cuddling into her arms, and the last of the tension unknotted from Jonas’s heart.
“Proud of you, man.” Gabe put a hand on his shoulder. “And we’re both sorry that we acted like jackasses, each in our own way.”
“I forgive you,” Jonas said magnanimously. “I’ve had my fair share of those moments over the years.”
“Yeah,” said Chase. “You have.”
It all seemed like a joke then, something funny that had happened in the past, something they could laugh about. But the way they’d gathered—that wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t serious, not really, but it was real. Jonas thought his heart would burst with it. All of them here, with their partners, with their children, and ringing in the New Year.
Lindsey was the first to nod off in one of the big armchairs, and Scott followed her soon after, dropping his head onto his great-grandmother’s shoulder and falling asleep. Only the adults made it all the way to midnight.
“Champagne?” Tana asked, keeping her voice low for the sleeping kids.
“Absolutely.” Chase nodded. The two of them went to get the glasses, filling them with the bubbly fun before handing them out to everyone.
Lindsey shifted in her chair but didn’t wake, and Scott slept heavily. There was no chance the midnight celebration would bother them. The three couples gathered around the fireplace to watch the clock, making sure to position themselves to include their grandmother. Jonas’s heart rocketed into his rib cage. This was it—the first year he’d be in this position, the first year he’d leave behind the weight that had dogged him for what seemed a lifetime.
“Ten,” Jonas said, when the second hand drew close, indicating with a wave of his hand for everyone to join in the count.
“Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One,” they all said in unison.
Everyone called out a Happy New Year cheer, but then the room fell silent.
“Happy New Year,” Rachel said softly, their heads drawn close for a more personal wish. Jonas pulled her in and kissed her. She tasted like champagne sweetness and hope, and his future. Vacations and holidays and love. So much love.
After a long minute he came up for air and found his grandmother looking out over all of them with pride shining in her eyes. Pride and love. Her shoulders were relaxed, as she stroked Scott’s back idly, utterly content.
Thank you, Lord. If his grandmother was happy, then Jonas could truly move into this new year without regret. He could lay it down and let it go.
Rachel put her hands on either side of his face and drew his attention back to her. “What’s on your mind?”
“My parents,” he said, an image of them before the accident coming to mind. They’d been happy. Nothing had ever burdened them as much as Jonas’s past would come to. Not that he’d known of, anyway. “And you, and Scott, and how we have a future together.”
Across the room, Tana picked up Lindsey in her arms, gesturing to Chase, who said their good-byes to their grandmother before rushing to hold the door open for Tana. Anna and Gabe sat down on either side of Grandmother. Jonas leaned over and took Scott from his grandmother’s arms, cradling him against his chest in the hopes of letting him stay asleep. Jonas pressed a kiss to the top of his grandmother’s head. “Happy New Year.”
“And many more,” she answered with a wink. “Get that little boy to bed.”
Scott slept on while he and Rachel drove back to his house. Between them, they managed to get him changed into his pajamas and into the crib without waking him. Jonas glanced around the room, thoughts of what needed to be done to turn it into Scott’s room coming to mind. Whether they stayed there or not, it was important for his son to have a space of his own.
In Jonas’s bedroom, they shut the door behind them, and Rachel reached for the hem of her sweater. She pulled it off in one smooth movement, and Jonas followed suit, taking off his shirt—and everything else. Within thirty seconds, there was nothing between them, and she came to his arms naked and beautiful and wanting.
He kissed her again, taking her down to the bed, a heavy sense of satisfaction settling deep inside him. Everything he did from now on would be a symbol of his commitment to her—even this. He kissed her, starting at the apex of her legs, sucking her gently until he was coaxing little moans from Rachel’s mouth, and until she was wet to the touch. He dragged his fingers over her softest flesh, gathering her juices to taste them. She groaned at the sight of him licking her off the pads of his fingers, and then Rachel pulled him back down into another hard kiss.
She twisted, pushing him onto his back, and crawled over him. Jonas ran his hands over her hips, tugging her into position. His head swam with champagne and emotion, but it all focused into a single point when she notched herself onto him and sank down, taking in his full length.
“Yes,” he hissed, pressing his lips to the side of her neck. “Yes, yes, yes.”
“This is our first new year together,” she panted. “I’ve spent—I’ve spent a couple of these without you.”
“Never again,” he vowed. Jonas kissed all the skin he could reach. The curve of her shoulder. Her bottom lip. The line of her jaw. He kissed her as she rocked into him, taking the illusion of control.
After a while, she melted into him, and he took over, working her hips for her, bringing her down hard against him. Pleasure sparked at the base of him and rose up his spine, cresting in a wave of shuddering release. Rachel arched her back to meet him, clenching around him, coming with her head thrown back and his hands on her skin. He touched her everywhere, running the pads of his thumbs over her nipples and grazing her hips and tugging her down, down, down.
There was no better way to start the new year.
* * *
Rachel fell gracefully to the pillow when they were finished, stretching her arms above her head. “I’ve always been into you. Do you know that?”
Jonas looked at her, his head propped up on one elbow, eyes glowing. “What’s that mean?”
A rush of images came to her, one by one. Seeing him in the lodge restaurant that first night, the first time she’d become aware of his existence. Jonas over her in bed, his powerful gaze concentrated only on her face as if she were the only woman in the world. Driving away from the resort afterward, knowing that she was leaving a piece of her heart behind.
“I mean, I’ve been drawn to you sin
ce the moment I first saw you.” She traced the line of his lips with one of her fingertips. “I wanted you,” she admitted. “I wanted you so much it was like the pull of gravity. But back then, I wasn’t ready for a relationship of this magnitude.”
The world seemed to shift around them—was still shifting, even as they lay here safe in bed. It was rearranging itself to get out of their way. Nothing would stop her from being with him now. Not her mother, not her past—nothing. “I’m so lucky that we’re both on the same page now.”
He stroked her hair, gazing down at her with the same intensity as that very first night. “Me too,” he murmured. “Which is why we should talk about the future. If only briefly.” Jonas cracked a smile that sent another wave of pleasure down to the tips of her toes. “I know it’s late, and you’re tired.”
“What about the future?” As if to prove him right, Rachel yawned, unable to stop herself. “I’ll talk about anything with you.”
“Where do you think you might like to live?”
Her thoughts wandered back to Denver, to her apartment and her studio. “I have my photography business to run, and that’s an hour away from here,” she mused. “I could divide my time.” Something didn’t feel quite right about that.
Jonas nodded thoughtfully. “Or, you could live here with me.” There was no pressure in his voice, no demand, only a simple statement of fact. “I’d like you and Scott to stay here, and I can promise you that if you did, I would never do anything to interfere with your business. I’d rent you any studio space you wanted, either here at the resort or in town. There are a couple of places I’ve seen that—” He laughed, stopping himself. “It’s entirely your choice. But I want you to know that the offer stands.”
“You want me to live with you?”
“Desperately,” he whispered. “I want you to wake up in my bed every morning. I want you to go to sleep next to me every night. If you need to live an hour away, then I’ll find a way to make that work, but being apart—for me, that can only be temporary. I love you too much to be apart for long.”
“And I love you,” she said, sinking into the warmth of that truth. “I love you so much.” What did it matter if she worked in Denver or worked here? Her most loyal clients would work with her, and she’d find new clients. Right here at the resort was an entire market at her disposal.
Most of all, there was Jonas. Jonas’s smile. Jonas’s laugh. Jonas’s body next to hers in bed. “I’ll live here with you. I want that, too. And a little storefront in town where I can keep all my photography gear.”
He kissed her then, and she felt his happiness through that kiss. It encompassed her and sent a thrill through her all over again. “Oh,” she groaned. “When you kiss me like that, it makes me want you so much.”
“You have me,” Jonas said, climbing over her, pressing kisses to her skin. “For now, and always. Are you sure you’re not too tired?”
“I’m exhausted,” she admitted, running her hands over his shoulders, his chest, and his abs. “So tired, I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“Close your eyes, darling,” he murmured into her ear. “You won’t need them for this.”
Epilogue
“I thought this would get easier,” Jonas told his brothers as they stood near the fireplace in their grandmother’s apartment. Rachel’s voice filtered over from the sofa. She and Scott, now three, were having an animated conversation about dogs, and Jonas thought his heart would give out at any moment. He patted the ring box in his pocket one more time. It was still there. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
“You can,” Gabe reassured him. “You’ve done everything right.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “I know. What if she says no?” he asked, no longer afraid to let his fear show. Jonas had wanted to propose to Rachel for the past year, ever since she’d come back to the lodge for New Year’s Eve. But he’d waited, not wanting to pressure her.
“She’s going to say yes,” Chase chimed in. “I know it. Just ask her. It’ll be perfect. And just think, our grandmother could be here for the wedding.” Chase cleared his throat, suddenly seeming choked up. “We could all be there.”
“Okay.” Jonas took a deep breath. “Hang out with the others for a few minutes, would you?”
“Of course.” The two brothers wandered back into the living area, and Jonas went to where Rachel stood in a clutch with Tana and Anna. “Hi,” he said into her ear. “Could I steal you away for a minute?”
“As many minutes as you want,” she whispered back, giving her friends a little wave.
The two of them went down the hall to a large study nearby. Jonas instantly felt relaxed walking into it. His grandmother had kept their grandfather’s collection of books intact, and it was like she’d gathered the whole family here to support him. The past was all around him, in the books on the shelves and the voices filtering in from down the hall. Jonas drew Rachel over to an enormous picture window near the fireplace that looked out over the ski hill, lit up for the night, and watched over by the stars.
Rachel took his hand. They looked at the scene together until Jonas’s breathing settled into a regular pattern. “What was it you wanted to talk about?” she murmured.
He got down on one knee, still holding her hand. Rachel gasped, her eyes instantly filling with tears. “I wanted to tell you that I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.” Emotion threatened to overwhelm him, but he swallowed it back. “You’re everything to me. You’re the sun and the moon and—the entire universe, really.”
She giggled, squeezing his hand.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?”
Rachel stared, her eyes wide with wonder. Jonas remembered this look—it was the way she’d looked at him from across the restaurant on the first night they met.
“The engagement can be as long as you want,” he said quickly. “If you feel any pressure at all, you can say no, and we can leave this behind us—”
“Yes,” Rachel said. “Yes.” The second yes came out as a delighted cry, and she threw herself down to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him hard and fast. He could taste the salt of her tears on her lips. “I’ll marry you. I’ll marry you tomorrow if that’s what you want.”
Jonas took the box out from his pocket and opened it, watching the progression of emotions on her face—anticipation, then shock, and then deep joy. “Jonas,” she gasped. “This is gorgeous.”
It was a diamond solitaire set in platinum. “This ring reminded me of your beauty and perfection.” Jonas took the ring from the box and slid it onto Rachel’s finger, and the two of them watched the fire reflected in its surface. “I’ve been nervous all day,” he admitted.
Rachel put a finger under his chin and raised his eyes to hers. “I’ve been a little nervous today, too.”
“Why?”
She bit her lip, eyes shining. “I’ve got big news to tell you.”
His heart thudded, running through the possible scenarios in his mind.
“I’m pregnant,” Rachel whispered.
Joy shot through him like fireworks—hundreds of them. He kissed her, clumsily in his state of shock, then pulled back to look at her face. “You’re pregnant,” he repeated.
“And you get to be there for the whole thing this time. I—” Rachel’s voice was thick with tears and love. “I’ve never trusted anyone like I trust you, and you have done absolutely everything to show me that you deserve that trust. So, we’re going to do this together.”
He was over the moon. Jonas ran a palm over her belly, which had only the slightest swell to it. He hadn’t allowed himself to think of missing her pregnancy with Scott—not in this depth, but now his heart had cracked open with it. Getting to be there would heal him in ways he couldn’t begin to anticipate. It would heal her, too. She wouldn’t have to do this alone. He’d be by her side at every opportunity. “Pregnant,” he said again. “With my baby.”
“Wit
h your baby,” she said with a laugh. “And if it’s a girl, I’d like to name her after your grandmother.”
Oh, she knew just how to get to his heart. “Let’s go tell her and everyone else.” Jonas was wild with joy, and it was all he could do to keep from running back to the living room. The last year had been a miracle, every single day a blessing shared with Grandmother. And now, he had another blessing to share with her.
They burst into the living room and Jonas raised Rachel’s hand high in the air. “We’re engaged,” he announced. It was not the smooth announcement he’d imagined, but it didn’t matter—his family erupted into applause and cheers. Scott came running to leap into his arms. “And Rachel is expecting,” he added, letting the cat out the bag.
Another round of cheers, and Tana and Anna descended to hug Rachel. Grandmother got up a bit slower, but she joined in, too. She came to him first and squeezed his hands. “Congratulations,” she whispered. “I’m thrilled for you. The both of you.”
“If it’s a girl, her name will be Elin,” he said, his voice low as he shared the wonderful news. “We’re going to name the baby after you.”
Grandmother patted the sides of his cheeks, a sheen of tears in her eyes. “That’s lovely,” she said. “That’s the loveliest thing I’ve ever heard.” She turned away from Jonas and went to Rachel, drawing her in for a big hug. “When do you think you’ll be married?”
Jonas saw the hope in his grandmother’s eyes. Every holiday that had passed was a loan from the universe, he knew—and she was grateful for every single one. Rachel met his eyes. “Valentine’s Day.”
“Valentine’s Day!” Tana clapped her hands. “I love it. The entire world will be celebrating with you. We’ll all be celebrating with you. I can’t wait.”
Jonas stepped over to Rachel and wrapped his free arm around her while Scott hugged him hard. “Daddy, pick me up, pwease?” he asked softly, his three-year-old vocabulary much improved. It was his favorite thing to say, and Jonas hoped he never stopped.
The Billionaire’s Christmas Son: Elkin Brothers Christmas Book Three Page 14
