What Happens at Christmas…

by Yvonne Lindsay

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring that up.”

  “No, it’s okay. I can talk about it now. Another thing Annie insisted on and which I fought her on until I realized she was prepared to walk out on me if I didn’t take that step, is that I sought counseling to unravel my feelings about my parents and their deaths. I wish I’d done it sooner but—” he shrugged “—life is what it is. Sometimes we have to complete the journey to be a better person in the long run.”

  It was such a philosophical viewpoint—and totally unexpected from the man sitting next to her—that it left Kristin speechless. There were depths to Jack that she’d never seen before. Depths she was intrigued to know more about. Depths that most couples would explore during pillow talk.

  She squirmed a little in her seat, the lace of her teddy lightly abrading her nipples and making her suddenly all too aware of where she’d decided this night would end.

  “The journeys aren’t always pleasant ones,” she said as she reached for her door handle.

  “No, but if we can learn from them, then they were worth the pain.”

  He put out a hand and stopped her from immediately exiting the car. “Kristin, before we go in, can you tell me if you’ve thought any further about my suggestion?”

  It was all she’d been able to think about. Her body flamed to life, aching for more than the press of fabric on skin and for far, far more than the touch of his hand on hers.

  “Yes,” she said emphatically. “I have.”

  “And may I know your answer?”

  She lifted her gaze to his and stared straight into his eyes. “Yes. My answer is yes.”

  He blew out a breath, and there was a glint of anticipation in his eyes. “Thank you. So, how shall we do this? By appointment? Days ending in Y?”

  Kristin laughed, delighted that he could lighten such a serious prospect with a touch of the humor she’d loved. Humor she’d seen very little of since he’d reentered her life.

  “How about we start with tonight and then play it by ear. After all, once might be enough.”

  One side of his mouth quirked upward in a challenging smile. “Do you really think once will be enough?”

  “We’ll have to see, won’t we?”

  Kristin turned away and alighted from the car and heard him do the same. He joined her in the portico by the front door, standing close, but not close enough to touch. Even so, she felt the tension that poured off him in waves. A tension she knew her body reflected.

  “Not a word to anyone, though,” he said.

  “Oh, absolutely,” she agreed. “This is between you and me, for as long as it lasts. No regrets.”

  “No regrets,” he echoed as Martha opened the front door to them and welcomed them inside.

  As she crossed the threshold to her childhood home, Kristin felt a thrill of expectancy that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. A spark of hope she hadn’t allowed herself to feel since all the negative impacts she and her family had endured this past year. Maybe tonight would see a new beginning. And, she thought with a private smile as she joined her family in the main salon, maybe this friends-with-benefits arrangement would be just what she needed to let go of her past hurts and disappointments and to live the life she truly wanted.

  Thirteen

  Jackson kept an eye on the time with irritating regularity. It wasn’t that the evening wasn’t truly lovely. In fact, it was better than that. It was a celebration of family and it was the kind of thing that he’d heard about but never fully understood. His own parents had always been busy on the social scene. From an early age he’d be left at home with a sitter while they attended one function or another. They’d come home either so wrapped up in each other that they couldn’t even see the little boy waiting for them on the landing upstairs or seething with fury at each other for some imagined slight or hint of infidelity.

  Once he’d processed his feelings about his upbringing he’d learned to let go of his confusion and resentment about the relationship his parents had had. Jack took a sip of the whiskey he’d been nursing for the past hour and observed the people around him. A tight-knit family unit who’d seen fit to include him in their group and in the announcement of Keaton and Tami’s engagement. It was a Christmas Eve like no other that he’d experienced before, and it was about to become even more different when he and Kristin left.

  He glanced again at his watch. The hands had barely moved. It wasn’t that he was desperate to leave the gathering. Oh, hell, of course he was. After the bombshell of an answer Kristin had given him in the car, he wanted to lock the doors and drive them both straight to his place and explore exactly where the night would take them. Had he been the younger, more impulsive version of himself, he probably would have done just that. But the more mature and stable man he was today realized that savoring the expectation of what he and Kristin would share tonight was part of the journey to being together.

  He only hoped it wouldn’t mess everything up between them professionally. But that would only happen if emotions became entangled, and they were both clear on that score. This was to be a release of sorts. A mutual and entirely adult way to deal with the simmering tension that hovered between them every single time they were within ten feet of each other. Hell, even more than ten feet, he realized as he watched her animatedly talking with Honor by the massive Christmas tree that had pride of place in the bay window facing the front lawn.

  “Can I get you another drink?” Keaton said from beside him.

  “No, thank you. Just the one for me tonight. I’m driving.”

  “I saw you and Kristin arrive together.”

  “Is there a problem?”

  Keaton eyed him carefully. “Well, that all depends on why.”

  “I offered her a ride. She accepted.”

  Kristin’s brother came straight to the point. “Have you got designs on my sister?”

  Jackson remained calm. Not an easy feat, given what he planned to do with Kristin later this evening.

  “She’s a beautiful woman. I’m just appreciating the view.”

  Keaton gave him another hard look. “She puts on a good front, Jackson, but she’s vulnerable. Don’t mess with her, okay?”

  “Is this a directive from a caring older brother?” Jack asked with what he hoped was just the right amount of self-possession.

  “You could say that. She’s borne more than her fair share in the past year and takes things very personally when they go wrong. It’s just the way she is. She doesn’t always show it, but deep down she can be as fragile as spun glass. Bear that in mind, okay?”

  “Your sister’s heart is quite safe from me,” Jackson said firmly.

  Keaton gave him a short, sharp nod. “Good to hear. Because we’ve been happy with your handling of the claim on Dad’s estate, and I’d hate to have to fire you.”

  While there was an element of humor in the other man’s tone, Jack could see he was still deadly serious. The message was crystal clear. Step out of line and step straight out the door.

  “Duly noted,” he replied.

  It didn’t make him take his eyes off Kristin, however. She looked more animated tonight than he’d seen her recently. There was a glow about her that he found infinitely appealing. The sweater she wore fit loosely but skimmed her breasts and hips, leaving a man in no doubt whatsoever that she had curves beneath the fine wool. And her trousers were cut to fit her elegant, long legs to perfection. He remembered the sensation of those legs wrapped around his waist and felt a deep, dragging pull of desire.

  Kristin looked across to him at that moment, and their eyes met. Did she know he was thinking of her naked in his bed? A light touch of color bloomed on her cheeks, and she raised her glass to him in a silent toast before turning her attention back to her conversation. His view of her was blocked by Martha, who was taking a tray of canapés around the room. How muc
h longer would the torment of waiting last?

  Another hour, it turned out. But finally he and Kristin were, with the others, saying their goodbyes and heading out to their cars. A heavy rain fell, which thankfully made lingering farewells impossible. A sense of urgency gripped him. All he wanted to do was get Kristin back to his place before she changed her mind.

  Beside him, Kristin sighed happily. “That was a nice evening.”

  “They’re not always?” he asked, casting her a glance.

  “Well, the last one at my mother’s house certainly wasn’t,” she said on a laugh. “At least I managed to curb my drinking tonight.”

  “And at least I wasn’t lined up in your sights tonight.”

  “Oh, you’re lined up in my sights. Just not the same way as three weeks ago.”

  With those words, he knew she wasn’t changing her mind. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and he forced himself to relax and focus on his driving. The last thing he wanted to do was jeopardize what was promising to be a very good evening, indeed. That said, he was relieved when he pulled up in his parking bay at Eastlake.

  “Wait here while I grab an umbrella.”

  “I didn’t know you lived in one of the houses on the lake,” Kristin said, peering through the darkness and the rain. “Do they rock?”

  He laughed. “Not that I noticed. And it’s plumbed into public water so it’s quite civilized. Besides, I figured if I was going to move here, I might as well take full advantage of the water. Hang on, I’ll be right back.”

  He left the car, extricated a large umbrella from the trunk and held the door open for Kristin. He put his free arm around her waist and held her lightly as they traversed the wooden pathways through the homes built on the water. They were at his two-story home with what looked like an open upper deck in minutes, but even so the cold night air had permeated his coat. Judging by the occasional shiver he felt coming from Kristin, it had cut through her leather jacket, too.

  Once inside, he helped her out of her jacket and hung it and his coat on the rack at the front door.

  “Can I offer you a drink?” he asked as he led her farther into the bottom level of the house.

  “Something to warm me up would be nice.”

  “Some mulled wine, or, hang on, I have a better idea. You’re chilled to the bone, aren’t you?”

  “Kind of, but it’s nice and warm in here. I’ll be fine. Wine sounds lovely.”

  He had radiant heat throughout the property, but even so, he knew how to warm her up faster than that.

  “Come upstairs with me,” he said with a grin and held out his hand.

  She took it, and he felt a delicious prickle of awareness trickle up his arm at her touch. It made him realize just how little they’d touched in the past four weeks. But that was all about to change tonight. As they walked upstairs, she looked around, spying the additional staircase that led to the next floor.

  “Just how big is this place?” she asked curiously.

  “Twenty-two hundred square feet, give or take.”

  “That’s pretty sizable for a man on his own, isn’t it?”

  “It fits my purposes,” he answered noncommittally.

  “Do you have a boat berth, as well?”

  “Two, actually,” he admitted.

  “And two boats?”

  “Just the one, but it’s in a dry stack over winter. I’ll retrieve it come spring.”

  Kristin halted in her step and looked at him carefully.

  “There is so much I don’t know about you,” she said softly.

  “Anything you want to know, just ask,” he said simply and led the way to the master suite and into the master bathroom. She gasped in delight when she saw the oversize spa bath. At one end was a massive picture window framing the glittering lights of nearby floating homes and buildings on the other side of the lake.

  “Wow, so beautiful,” she said, stepping forward for a closer look.

  “It is,” he agreed. “The glass is privacy tinted.”

  “How decadent,” she said with a gurgle of laughter. “So, after a hard day at work, you can lie here in the evening with your favorite beverage and stare out at the lake.”

  “I could, but I haven’t. But we can amend that situation tonight if you’d like.”

  He took a step closer behind her. The scent of her perfume wafted gently around him as if enticing him to shift the swath of hair at her nape and push it aside so he could place his lips right there.

  “What? Now?”

  “We’re both cold, aren’t we?”

  She gave him a smile that made her eyes light up with a wicked gleam. “So, no mulled wine?”

  He laughed. “I can get the mulled wine and bring it up. Why don’t you run the bath?”

  “Just regular wine is fine, or champagne if you have it.”

  “I do. And champagne it is. We can celebrate putting our differences aside.”

  “I like the sound of that,” she said and bent over to turn on the faucet.

  Jackson took a moment to admire the view of her bottom snugly outlined by the fabric of her trousers before tearing his gaze away and heading downstairs. It only took a moment to gather up a bottle of champagne from his wine fridge and two crystal flutes, and he was back. She was still fully dressed, and he wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry about that or to savor the anticipation of undressing her himself. Opting for the latter, he swiftly popped the cork on the bottle and filled the flutes with the sparkling wine.

  The bath was slowly filling, and Kristin sat on the edge with one hand trailing in the water.

  “How hot do you like it?” she asked, her voice rich with double entendre.

  “As hot as you can stand,” he said with a slow smile.

  He handed her a flute and raised his in a toast. “To friends with benefits,” he said.

  She rose to her feet and clinked her glass with his. “I’ll drink to that.”

  They sipped their wine. Then Jackson took her glass and put both to one side of the bath.

  “We’re wearing too many clothes,” he murmured, stepping forward and putting his hands on the hem of her sweater.

  “Always so observant,” she teased as he began to lift the sweater.

  Jackson spied the bodysuit and felt a rush of blood to his head at the sight. He couldn’t wait to uncover more of it. It only took seconds to divest her of the sweater, and then his hands were at the zipper and fastener of her pants. A light swoosh of sound left them pooling around her feet. Kristin stepped out of the trousers and kicked the fabric to one side, standing in her high-heeled pumps, hands on hips, feet slightly apart and sheer temptation painted all over her.

  “You look...” Words failed him.

  Beneath the red satin and lace of her bodysuit, her creamy skin glowed with vitality. Her breasts swelled in the lacy cups, and through the material he could see the darker skin of her nipples. Nipples that had drawn into tight buds. He reached out one hand.

  “May I?”

  She nodded, her eyes not straying from his for a second.

  Jackson cupped one breast and let his thumb trace the outline of the peak of her nipple. A low hiss escaped her at his touch, and a tremor shuddered through her body.

  “Still cold?” he asked.

  “Warming up by the second,” she said through gritted teeth.

  He smiled and cupped her other breast as well and repeated the action. “How about now?”

  “Getting there,” she answered huskily.

  Her eyes glittered like shards of slate as he stroked her through the lace. It was intoxicating looking at her like this and, he noticed, she hadn’t lost any sensitivity of her nipples. In fact, if he kept this up and added a little something extra, he’d be able to coax her to climax right here. Bending his head and taking one nipple into
his lips, through the lace, he added that something extra.

  With one arm hooked around her waist, he kept playing the other nipple with his fingers while his tongue swirled against the rough lace and her taut bud, letting the rhythm and the pressure of his tongue become his sole focus. Well, that and the way her body began to tremble against him. She moaned a protest when he pulled his mouth away briefly so he could pull down her shoulder strap and peel the cup away from her tender skin.

  Her fingers drove into his hair and dug into his scalp, pulling him to her breast and he readily obliged, this time taking her nipple fully into his mouth and suckling hard. She gasped beneath the determined onslaught, and he felt her entire body tense before jerking in his arms as her climax took her over the edge. Her long legs buckled, and Jackson supported her weight as he gentled his actions and drew away from her. He sat on the tiled edge of the bath and pulled her into his lap, burying his face in the curve of her neck and plying her with small kisses that worked their way to her lips.

  She kissed him back with equal intensity, her hands still tangled in his hair and her body still trembling from the power of her orgasm.

  “Okay?” he asked.

  “More than okay,” she answered. “It seems you can still play me like a virtuoso. Now let’s see if I can return the favor.”

  “I look forward to it, but first, the bath. I think we could do with the soak, right?”

  She lowered her eyelids. He could see she was planning something—and his body reacted instantly, his erection straining against his boxer briefs—but she nodded and leaned past him to turn off the faucet before standing and shimmying out of the bodysuit. She’d looked magnificent in the red concoction, but naked, she looked even more so. Jackson drew in a long breath as he let his eyes rake over her body. A light flush of color stained her skin and she no longer shivered with cold. Mission accomplished in that regard, he thought with satisfaction, but only his first mission, he reminded himself. And hopefully the first of many tonight.