by Pamela Aares
“Don’t—you’ll crush my bows. You take one end, and I’ll take the other.”
With the garland dangling between them, they hauled the decoration into the Great Hall. All fifteen feet of it.
Sophie ran to them and shouldered the sagging middle. They laid the garland along the huge wooden table in the middle of the Great Hall.
“You really know how to make bows, Cameron,” Sophie said in a tone bordering on adulation. “Will you show me? I want to put bows on all the mistletoe bundles.”
Hell, Cameron even mesmerized kids.
“She’ll have to show you later, half-pint,” Parker said as he entered the hall with a fifteen-foot orchard ladder. Sabrina and Alex trailed in behind him. “I need all persons over five feet tall to help Alex and me get the tree in here and mounted in the stand.”
Sophie stuck out her bottom lip. “I’m not a half-pint.” She brandished a bundle of mistletoe and, with a gleam in her eye, climbed up the first four steps of the ladder.
Jake’s heart leaped into his throat as she leaned precariously toward Cameron.
“You have to kiss him.”
“Sophie likes getting adults to do her bidding,” Sabrina said. “We should never have told her about mistletoe.”
The ladder wobbled, and Cameron put a hand out to steady it. “Come down, Sophie. The ladder’s not steady.”
“Not until you kiss him.” Sophie pointed to Jake and dangled the mistletoe closer to Cameron’s head.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss.” Parker clapped and started an obnoxious chant. Alex and Sabrina joined in. Sophie chanted, gloated and waved the mistletoe.
Knowing he shouldn’t but seeing no better alternative, Jake walked over to Cameron.
“Some holiday traditions we could do without,” she said as she leaned over and touched her lips lightly to his.
His entire body roused at the contact. Reciting his batting stats for the past season as she pulled away didn’t shut down the spark she’d fired. Or help him to shove down the memories of making love with her.
Making love? Since when did he think of sex as making love? He stepped back.
“Oh, give him a real movie star kiss,” Parker needled. “Oscar material.”
Cameron took hold of the collar of his shirt and pulled him to her.
Fine. If they wanted a show, he’d help her give them one.
But as her tongue teased his lips open, the contact shot holes in his resolve to keep a lid on his libido. Nothing about the room, the people in it, the chant or his better instincts held any ground—his entire being was focused on the heat and fire of Cameron’s lips.
“There,” Cameron said as she broke off the kiss and turned to Sophie. “Satisfied?”
Jake’s blood pounded in his ears. He was barely aware of the flash of light as Parker snapped a photo. Cameron tossed her head, and her hair glinted in a ray of sunshine that appeared as if on cue. And like an unwilling participant in a macabre memory experiment, he couldn’t stop his rushing memories of the night he’d kissed Scarlett Lee—the night he’d given over his virginity and his heart. The speed of light couldn’t have churned up the memories any faster, one on top of the other. Ever since that night he’d been wary. But never more wary than he was now.
Parker waved his phone at them. “Pretty good for a first take, yet I think we need to see one more.”
“Call my agent.” Cameron’s smooth tone told Jake that she was a helluva lot less affected by the kiss than he was. “Retakes aren’t in my contracts this year. Besides, we have a tree to decorate.” She pointed to Parker. “And you have a cookie contest to judge. No wiggling out of it.”
“Wouldn’t dream of shirking my greater responsibilities,” Parker said with a wry smile.
It took all of Jake’s self-control to ignore the pulsing in his body and arrange his features into a calm expression. Like it or not, what he’d felt when she’d kissed him was real.
But Cameron was an actress. She brought fiction to life for a living. Maybe for her kissing had been a big show, with him just a player in the drama.
The hell with it. Two could play at that game.
With a swift move, he wrapped his hands around Cameron’s rib cage and pulled her to him. His plundering kiss was meant to be payback, but through the shouts of glee resounding in the room and the flash of Parker’s phone, the fierce zinging inside him told him he’d made a mistake. A very, very dangerous mistake. Whatever she felt, he was dancing in hotter flames than he’d known could spike in him. And the blaze was singeing his better judgment.
He released her.
She dragged the back of her hand across her lips.
Silence fell in the room.
Parker cleared his throat. “I think I’ll have a gander at judging those cookies now.”
Cameron raised her eyes, and Jake couldn’t look away.
“I didn’t deserve that,” she said in a quiet voice that only he could hear.
He crossed his arms. “I’m pretty sure you did.”
Chapter Fifteen
Cameron resisted the urge to slap Jake. After all, she’d upped the ante by kissing him with everything she had in her. But it was supposed to have been an act for their little audience. She hadn’t counted on being ripped to the core by a couple of kisses.
“Jake, get on the front side of this baby,” Alex instructed, gesturing to the tree lying on the tiled floor. “Parker, the cookies can wait; take the side opposite me. Sabrina and Cameron, each of you pick a side and let us know when the tree is straight. Sophie and Tyler, you two stay well out of the way.”
A whoosh of air left Cameron’s lungs as Jake wordlessly left her side and strode over to help the guys hoist the Christmas tree. She wasn’t going to stare at the rippling muscles of his back and arms as he lifted the heavy tree. She just wasn’t.
She shouldn’t have kissed him.
Had she forgotten that some scenes she acted out entered her body, infusing her being while refusing to be erased? Hadn’t Sabrina’s nightmarish experience the previous year— when the character she was playing had nearly taken her over—taught her anything?
She’d crossed the line by kissing Jake. Harder to admit was the fact that she’d wanted to kiss him. Craved kissing him. But all she’d done was stir up the wanting and the not-wanting-to-want-him that had been at war in her since their night at the cottage. Since he’d sent shock waves through her world.
“This tree could be seen by the Hubble space telescope,” Jake muttered as the tree teetered toward him and he pushed it straight with his arms.
“Ladies”—Alex’s voice came from behind the tree—“any time now. Is this behemoth straight?”
“A little to the left,” Sabrina said, deadpan, as she winked at Cameron.
“Sabrina.” Alex’s frustrated tone made Cameron smile. She would’ve liked to have had a brother like Alex. Or any sibling at all.
“It’s perfect,” Sabrina said. “But ask the kids. They have the best angle on it.”
“It’s good!” Sophie shouted.
“No, it’s leaning toward Parker,” Tyler protested.
“Because Jake is manhandling his side,” Parker said. “Jake, dude, go easy on me here. Haven’t you ever heard that every action has an opposite and equal reaction? Enough manly force already.”
“I’m locking it into place in the stand,” Alex said. “Move away.”
Sabrina circled the tree and when she reached Cameron, wrapped an arm around her waist. “You okay?” she asked softly.
“You mean will I survive my continuing idiocy? With my luck I’ll live to a ripe old age and keep making the same mistakes. Like that movie Groundhog Day. Only I’m not nearly as funny as Bill Murray.”
“But you’re prettier, Cameron,” Parker said as he joined them.
Sabrina gave him a mock punch to his arm. “Parker, there’s a place in hell reserved for men who eavesdrop on women’s private conversations.”
“Sounds delicious. Can
I get a visitor’s pass?” Parker asked in a parting shot as he strolled over to where the two trays of cookies had been placed by the Tavonesis’ silent-footed butler.
Cameron’s heart warmed as Tyler started a slow walk around the tree, looking very serious. He crouched low and then stood on tiptoe, eyeing the tree from every angle.
The tree began to tilt. Or was she imagining things?
Like twin flashes of lightning, Jake and Parker dashed to the tree just as it crashed toward Tyler’s head. Jake put his arm up and, like Atlas holding the world, kept the tree from hitting the boy. Parker swung Tyler away.
Ashen, Tyler gasped.
“Alex!” Sabrina hollered. “We need you back in here.”
“Hey, just a practice run,” Jake said. “Imagine how great the show could be when all the ornaments and lights are on it.”
Tyler laughed. As did Sophie as she snuggled up to Sabrina.
Cameron could only admire how Jake was turning the situation, how expertly he was deflecting Tyler’s anxiety and providing another focus for the boy’s attention. He’d be a good father, maybe even a great father. Too bad it was the last thing in the world he wanted. Her wiser self tugged at her thoughts. Keep that in mind, Cameron. You want a family. You want children. And you want a regular guy, remember?
But right then, watching Jake calm Tyler, watching him and Parker lower the tree to the floor, she was having a hard time imagining that any regular guy could look more appealing than Jake. What woman could resist a guy who made stuffed-bear Christmas ornaments and cared enough to make his mother’s dream come true? A man who rescued children with grace and strength and no thought for himself? Especially when that guy came wrapped in a body that defied even Olympus to produce a sexier version of a male, god or otherwise. A guy who’d made her body dance with light and sensual pleasure that she suspected had marked her for life.
But she was a realist. She’d never have survived the film business if she hadn’t been. She tried to never ignore facts. Jake didn’t want a relationship. He didn’t want kids or a family. Though her hormones screamed for mercy, she shoved a lid over the little beasts and pasted on a smile. She retreated a few steps back from where he stood with Tyler. The road to Jake would lead to heartbreak. She had no trouble understanding the certainty of that. She’d worn the map out on that road. And she wanted no part of such pain.
“Maybe we should hang a rope from the ceiling,” Tyler said as Jake analyzed the tree’s setup. “Tie the top of the tree to it. Then it couldn’t fall down.”
Jake put his hands to his hips. “Or maybe we should take about ten feet off this thing.”
“Not necessary.” Alex’s voice boomed as he and a tall man Jake didn’t know entered the room. “Reinforcements have arrived. This is my buddy Dimitri. He has a degree in structural engineering.”
“Dimitri!” Sophie ran over and was swept up in a hug.
“I’m actually much better at designing bridges,” Dimitri said as he set Sophie on her feet. “I’m good with pens and paper.”
“He’s good at everything.” Sophie clearly had a kid’s crush on the guy.
Alex glared at the tree, then met the eyes of everyone in the room. “Everybody good?” he asked.
“Nothing even broke,” Sophie told him, skipping toward the table with the cookies.
Jake was distracted by Dimitri.
The pastel yellow sweater knotted around Dimitri’s neck and his head-to-toe linen clothing made him look like he’d stepped out of an ad for high-end real estate—one of those guys who oozed rich boy from his pores. Jake could scent people born into wealth like a bloodhound on a rabbit’s trail, people who expected the world and all the time, space and people in it to bend to their liking.
“Hey, Dimitri,” Parker said. “Up to your old tricks, I see—always making the big entrance.”
“Would’ve been here yesterday, but my jet broke down. Not many good airplane mechanics in Ibiza.”
“You should’ve studied aerospace engineering instead of bridges,” Parker said. “I hope you brought olive oil.”
Dimitri flashed a broad smile. “I value my life. I brought a case from our family orchards in Provence. And a fab Bordeaux. And you, young lady”—he turned to find Sophie—“for you I have my sister’s latest perfume. But don’t tell your father.”
“Corrupting our youth?” Parker said as Sophie made a show of crossing her heart with her promise.
“People corrupt themselves,” Dimitri said. “I merely tempt them. I also brought two cases of Dom Pérignon.”
Parker laughed. “Then you’re forgiven. But barely.”
Alex introduced Dimitri to Jake and Tyler. Jake saw the way the guy’s eyes lingered on Cameron after he kissed her cheeks. Three times.
“If I didn’t know you’ve had films stacked up, I’d be offended that you haven’t visited,” Dimitri said as he released her.
A wash of scarlet flooded Cameron’s cheeks.
“Some people consider seven thousand miles a bit too far to go for a visit after work,” Cameron said.
Good thing he didn’t do jealousy. But the ratcheting in Jake’s chest felt a helluva lot like his competitive claws coming unsheathed.
As Dimitri surveyed the downed Christmas tree, Jake’s allergy to spoiled princes of the universe raised the hairs at the back of his neck. They’d had one guy in triple A who had thought he could buy his way into the majors. It hadn’t worked. Just one more thing to love about baseball—performance was king, and it didn’t matter who your parents were or what private school you’d attended. Performance leveled the playing field. Alex was the first guy Jake had ever met who’d grown up with money but didn’t have the mightier-than-thou attitude. To his surprise, none of the Tavonesis did. But this guy?
Jake shook off the irritation needling him and turned his attention to the stand at the base of the tree. One of the bolts had come loose. He crouched and began to adjust it.
Dimitri knelt beside him. “Maybe drill a hole and put in another one right about there. Or maybe two. One over on this side, right about there.” He gestured with a manicured hand. “It looks sturdy enough. It’s really all about angles, don’t you think?”
Dimitri had a light accent. Having never traveled much, Jake couldn’t place accents unless they were Southern. He could pinpoint a person with a Southern accent almost to the county they came from. Wherever Dimitri was from, he was right about putting a couple more bolts into the stand.
“Yeah, it’s all about angles,” Jake drawled, stretching out his vowels. He shouldn’t be irritated. The guy was trying to help.
Alex produced a drill and waved the tool toward the two of them.
“Do you have experience with tools?” Dimitri asked. “As I said, I am much better with systems on paper.”
Jake admired anyone who admitted to their limitations. Knowing what you could and couldn’t do made a difference on the field and off. Sure, stretching those limits was a key to achievement—but some limits? Some limits had a life of their own and defied all efforts at vanquishing them. Jake knew his, and respected those he couldn’t beat.
Like parenting kids, he thought as Tyler squatted beside him.
Jake glanced over to where Cameron had joined Sabrina near the table.
And then there were relationships.
“Do not let Dimitri near a power tool,” Parker said, interrupting Jake’s thoughts. “As a matter of fact, Dimitri, why don’t you join me over here for a glass of champagne and help me judge the Christmas cookie contest?”
Dimitri lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug and stood. He pivoted to Parker. “If the ladies are involved, I am in.”
“Not just ladies,” Tyler protested. “Jake and I baked too. Well, we baked one recipe. The ladies baked the other.”
Dimitri smiled, one of those toothpaste-whitener smiles that always looked fake to Jake and made him stare at people’s teeth. “You look like a man who can handle this job,” he said to Jake. �
��I’ll leave you to it.” He tousled Tyler’s hair. “Looks like the hard work of cuisine discernment is up to us, young man.”
Jake heard the prejudice under Dimitri’s words. And hell, it was true—he was a workingman’s son. And proud to be one. He knew how to use a damn drill.
“Do you want me to help?” Tyler asked, pointing to the drill.
“No, go represent us.” Jake crooked a finger and had Tyler bend close. “Make sure Cameron and Sophie don’t cheat.”
“If we win, will you come to the batting cage with me?”
To Jake’s surprise, Tyler had wormed his way into Jake’s heart. “I’ll take you to the batting cage even if we lose, sport.”
It took all Jake’s concentration to drill the bolt holes into the thick plastic of the tree stand. And to ignore the lively laughter and rapport around the table behind him. Cameron seemed to laugh at everything Dimitri said.
Yep. Good thing he didn’t do jealousy.
Parker announced that Jake and Tyler’s snickerdoodles were the hands-down winner of the cookie contest. Parker dragged Jake over to the table. Tyler was so damned excited about winning that Jake tried not to feel ridiculous as Sabrina hung blue ribbons with gold metal snowflakes around their necks.
Sophie protested Parker’s decision. But when Sabrina announced that the second-place prize was hot cocoa at the ice-skating rink the following day, Sophie whooped with glee.
The butler—Spencer—called Sabrina and Alex into the foyer.
“I’ll just be preparing for the evening’s festivities,” Parker said as he followed them out of the room. “And icing down that champagne,” he shot over his shoulder.
Jake’s attention was riveted to the looks being exchanged between Dimitri and Cameron as he fed her pieces of a gingerbread man. Gingerbread man, hell. Dimitri was feeding her a helluva lot more than that.
Dimitri offered Cameron another bite of cookie. “I’d heard you’d be here,” Dimitri said to her in his smooth accent as she closed her lips around the cookie. “I was wounded when you didn’t join us for my father’s coronation. But more wounded when you skipped out on Parker’s polo match in Monaco last spring.”
