by Kris Jett
Nick pulled Amber to him and gave her a long kiss amidst the horn blowing and noise from the party poppers. “Happy New Year, Amber,” he said when they broke apart.
Amber rested her head against Nick’s chest. “Happy New Year, Nick,” she said.
He hugged Amber close, caressing the back of her head with his hand. This was going to be the best year ever, Nick, was sure of it. Amber was all moved into her tiny studio apartment. Their friends in Snowy Ridge had been generous in giving Amber some old furniture like a couch and a bed. And Nick and her were hitting thrift stores to fill her kitchen. The place was coming together. She’d also started her job at Patterson’s and was learning the ropes quickly. Eileen said she’ll finally be able to put in normal work hours with Amber’s help and she might even take a vacation later in the year. Tahiti, she thought.
Things were a little touch and go for a few days post-Christmas. Amber’s parents didn’t take the news of her quitting school and moving to Snowy Ridge so well. Make that, they took the news really, really badly. Which was expected. Amber and Nick had even feared her parents might kidnap her in the middle of the night and take her out of town by force. But Amber stood her ground. After a long talk in which she told them that after she was adjusted to living in Snowy Ridge she’d consider attending the local college for some business classes (she still had the dream of owning her own bakery one day so business classes wouldn’t hurt), and more proper conversation over a lunch and dinner with Nick, they started to come around. That and they had another deposition to get to back to in Chicago so they weren’t going to spend any more time trying to get Amber to change her mind.
Nick was fairly certain they thought he had put some kind of evil spell over their daughter but Nick was pretty sure it was her who put the spell on him. From the moment he had laid eyes on Amber something in him had changed. His focus before had been strictly on school and work and becoming a success. He still wanted those things but Amber awoke something inside him and she now took up a giant portion of his heart.
Amber snuggled into Nick’s arms, wrapping her own around his waist. “I’m so happy,” she said.
“Me too,” he replied. And he truly meant it. He couldn’t remember being this happy since long before his mom died.
A group at the bar begun to sing Auld Lang Syne rather loudly and Nick and Amber laughed. It sounded like no one really knew the lyrics and were each singing their own creative versions as they swayed back and forth, arms tossed over one another’s shoulders.
“Do you want to get some air?” Amber asked, looking toward the door.
“Yeah. Good idea,” Nick replied. He pulled their coats off the coat rack and helped Amber on with hers before slipping into his own. He pushed open the door and Amber and he walked outside and a way down the porch. They stopped near the edge and leaned against the railing.
Amber looked up at the sky and Nick followed suit. The stars were bright in the sky. He’d always thought the stars were brighter here than anywhere else he’d ever been. Nick put an arm around Amber and held her tight.
“What are you thinking about?” Nick asked and kissed the top of her head.
Amber stared at the stars for a moment more and then turned toward Nick. “I’m thinking about my first night in Snowy Ridge,” she said. “When I first came driving into this beautiful little Christmas card of a town and it was snowing. I was so mad at my parents for making me come here when I knew it would be just the same as any other holiday. It was like a cruel joke to bring me to a Christmas wonderland and then not take any part in it. I thought I could have just stayed in Chicago if it was going to be operation as normal.”
Nick nodded. He totally understood and would have probably felt the same way.
“But I’m so happy they made me come. It changed everything for me. I wasn’t happy at school. I wasn’t doing what I wanted to do. I might have just kept going down the wrong path, and missed my calling but Snowy Ridge brought me a chance at really getting to live out my dream.”
Amber took Nick’s hands in hers. “And it brought me to you.”
Nick swung Amber’s hands playfully. “So, best decision ever,” he concluded with a grin.
Amber leaned against the porch railing and looked at the sign for Starlight behind Nick’s head and then returned her eyes to his. “It’s going to be a good year, isn’t it?” She let her lips part and bit her bottom lip gently.
Nick put one hand on each side of Amber’s face and looked deep into her eyes. “It’s going to be a great year,” he assured her. He ran his thumb down the side of Amber’s face and across her jaw line and then tilted her face toward his and kissed her hard and with such a wicked sweet intensity that he felt dizzy when he finally pulled away.
“Again,” she whispered, her eyes still closed.
And he knew he would always comply.
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About the Author:
Kris Jett is a romance writer from Chicago who loves love! When she’s not working on her small-town contemporary romance series, she can be found at the theater with her main man, doing a mean Peacock Pose in her favorite yoga studio, or walking her adorable cavapoo, Sammy.
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Did you like Jessie Foster, the pub owner from Christmas at Starlight? Her and Cade Stone have one wild tale to tell in Coming Home. Read on for a sneak peek...
Coming Home (Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 1)
Chapter One
“You are so going down you little f-ers,” Jessie Foster hissed under her breath. She pulled the snow shovel far back over her head and jumped this time as she swung forward, missing again. “Damn it!”
Her mom had asked her to shoot out here and handle the monster icicles over the doorway to the Starlight Pub before they came down on any of their customers’ heads. She’d thought the job would be fast so she only wore her North Face fleece over her navy pub t-shirt and was now regretting the choice. She was freezing and her feet were getting wet from stomping around in the snow, waving a shovel around for the last ten minutes.
She pulled her right hand back behind her ear, shovel tight in her grip, and launched it through the air like a javelin, taking down three of the giant sharp swords of ice.
“Yes!” she yelled, shooting her arms up in a V for victory.
“You winning there, Jessie?” a voice said.
Jessie turned and forced a smile at the customers making their way up the porch toward her and the entrance. “I’m trying, Mrs. Anderson. How’re the trails today?”
“Friggin awesome,” Kyle, one of the Anderson’s fifteen-year old twins replied.
The family of four were suited in matching blue snowmobile suits and carrying their helmets in their arms. They had parked their snowmobiles at the end of the porch with the other patrons and they stomped their feet as they walked, shaking snow loose.
“You need some help there, Sweetie?” Mr. Anderson said, slurring on “Sweetie.”
Ugh, was he drinking already? He probably had a flask tucked into his coat. People weren’t supposed to drink while riding on the trails but some did anyway. They all ended up here drinking by the time dinner hit anyway, you’d think he could wait that long. His wife didn’t even shoot him a warning look. She was just as content as could be. Probably had a flask of wine tucked in her own pocket. Vacationers.
“No thanks, I’m about done here. Go on in and get a table near the fire if you can. I’ll be inside in a moment to help you,” Jessie told them. She involuntarily shivered when she mentioned the
fire, wishing she was sitting by it herself right about now. It had to be ten degrees out here and her fingers were completely numb.
The sun was setting and the white twinkle lights that outlined the entire building and porch of the pub flipped on. The rest of the dinner crowd would be funneling in any moment and she had to get these icicles down. She watched the Andersons shuffle into the pub and the door close with a thud behind them.
“All right,” Jessie muttered. “If you won’t come to me, I’m going to come to you.” She climbed up a mountain of snow on the left side of the door, created from weeks of shoveling the walkway. She dug her feet into each side of the peak of the snow hill, trying to steady herself. There. She should be able to whap these icicles once and for all now.
She pulled the shovel back to the right and just as she is about to let loose at the icicles a familiar voice from the past said, “Be careful.”
Before she could catch herself, she let go of the shovel and felt her hands windmilling as she crashed backward off the hill and onto the ground.
“Damn,” she groaned. Jessie was seeing stars and it wasn’t dark enough for that yet so she closed her eyes. She mentally examined each body part, trying to decide if she was seriously injured anywhere. Nothing hurt too badly, except maybe her head. It was a little foggy. She could have sworn she’d heard a voice that didn’t belong in Snowy Ridge, North Wisconsin. At least not anymore. A voice she hadn’t heard in over six years. One that belonged on a man off saving a rainforest or protecting ocean wildlife in Green Peace. No, she was sure if she just kept her eyes closed then that voice that sounded so much like the one from her past would actually be just another customer, coming in for dinner, not…
“Jessie, are you all right? Open your eyes. Where do you hurt?” the voice said, now about three inches away, his warm breath on her face.
She breathed in. Jesus Christ. The guy was still wearing Old Spice after all of these years. Didn’t anyone ever tell him you can buy cologne outside of the Shop Rite now?
Her eyes fluttered open, taking in his face, the same face she used to spend hours staring at yet completely different at the same time. Older, rougher, a few days of hair growth across a much stronger jaw line. He leaned back and took her into his outstretched muscular forearms, pulling her easily to her feet. A smile spread across his weathered face and his aqua blue eyes searched her face.
Jason Kirkland, her first love and the reason she hadn’t spoken to her sister Luci in six years.
Chapter Two
“I’m all right. Really. You can let go of my arm now,” Jessie said, refusing to make any further eye contact with Jason. What was he doing back in Snowy Ridge? Once someone left they rarely came back. It took a certain kind of person to love living in a small town in Northern Wisconsin and that person wasn’t Jason. Never was. Jason was always all about adventure. Base jumping off tall buildings, mountain biking down a mountain, swimming with sharks. Not hanging out at the Starlight Pub in the cozy snowmobile town of 1000. Last she’d heard he was teaching English to children somewhere in Africa.
“Here, let me help you over to a chair,” he said, trying to wrap an arm around her waist.
She pushed his hand away, hard. “Seriously, I’m fine. Please stop.”
Jason held his hands up in surrender. “Fine, I won’t help you. But tell me how you are. What’ve you been up to? It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you.”
And it’s going to be even longer before I tell you anything about myself, Jessie thought. There was no way she was going to sit around talking about the good ole days with Jason Kirkland. No rehashing the past for her. He’d hurt her badly, no scratch that. He’d killed her. And she wasn’t about to be kind or talk to him now, no matter how long he stood there with that goofy smile on his face.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” Jessie said. “My boyfriend is waiting for me.” She turned her head and scanned the room, looking for anyone Jason might buy as her other half. Bingo. “He’s that hot rich guy at the table in the corner over there, by the window.” She pointed to a broad-shouldered guy with wavy jet black hair, intensely staring at some paperwork laying open in front of him. His long jean clad legs crossed at the ankles under the table. “He’ll make sure I’m okay. Don’t you worry.”
Jessie walked toward the man in the corner, conscious that Jason was likely staring at her backside and wishing she had worn her good ass-hugging jeans today. She slid into the seat opposite the good-looking stranger.
He looked up, startled.
Jessie talked fast. “Help me out, will you? See that guy behind me, near the fire place, probably looking over here now?”
The man glanced over her shoulder and then returned his gaze to her face.
“Well,” Jessie continued, “I dated him about a million years ago and thought he was the love of my life and that we’d eventually marry. Then the asshole slept with my sister.”
The stranger cleared his voice and leaned in toward Jessie. “Who do I look like, Dr. Phil? Tell someone else your story.”
Jessie gasped. Who was this rude guy? “Hey buddy,” she said, “I’m not asking for a kidney here, okay? Just let me sit with you for a minute and act like the sun rises and sets on my very existence, all right?”
The man sighed, looking more annoyed the enamored with her. “Listen ma’am.”
“You did not just call me ma’am,” Jessie interrupted.
“I apologize,” he said. “Listen lady, I don’t know who you are but I’m busy. I’ve got a ton of work to do and just want to get back to it and eat my dinner in peace. So, take a walk, would you? Find some other guy to make your old boy jealous.”
Jessie stood slowly, smoothing down her jeans. “Dude, you’re a dick,” she told him.
Refusing to see if Jason caught the scene between her and Mr. Asshole, Jessie made her way to the cash register where her mom stood with a big grin on her face.
“Who’s the ass-hat at table five?” she asked her mom.
“One of the Stone boys,” her mom answered. “Three of them just moved to town and opened a snowmobile repair shop down a ways here on Main Street. All of them single, just saying.”
“Color me shocked. Can’t imagine why with the sparkling personality that one has.”
“Is that your old boyfriend Jason over there by the fireplace, staring at you?” her mom asked.
Jessie scoffed. “Yeah. I don’t know what he wants but I’m hoping he leaves soon.”
“Maybe I should go over and say hello,” her mom teased.
“Don’t you dare!” she snapped.
The bell from the kitchen signaling an order was up sounded and Jessie’s mom retrieved it. “Well, here,” she said pushing the plate into Jessie’s hands. “Bring Mr. Stone his dinner and beer, then.”
“Can I make him wear it?” Jessie mumbled, eying the loaded plate full of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, and biscuits.
“Only if he requests it to be served that way,” her mom countered.
Jessie pursed her lips and looked over at the newcomer, who’s head was still buried in his work. He did have some pretty amazing hair, the kind you want to run your hands through. And he had a nice strong jaw with a dimple in his chin. She’d always been a sucker for chin dimples. Too bad it belonged to such a class-A jerk.
She momentarily set the plate of food down on the counter next to his foamy beer and stepped a few feet away to hang up her fleece jacket on a hook just off of the bar. She gave her hair a shake. It was damp from the tumble in the snow she took. She absentmindedly tugged at her tight-fitting Starlight Pub t-shirt as she picked up the order and made her way back over to the pissy patron.
“My deepest heartfelt apologies for disturbing your work once again but your dinner’s here,” Jessie said. She slid the meal under his nose and plopped his Guinness on a cardboard coaster.
“You work here?” he asked, staring directly at the words “Starlight Pub” splayed across her breasts.
“Wow, you’re quick. What gave it away?”
“Certainly not your customer service skills,” he returned.
Jessie tossed a couple of napkins on the table. “Actually, I own the place tough guy. And I hear you just opened a shop down the street. Probably should play nice with the local commerce folk, eh? Do let me know if you need anything else,” she added. She turned on her heel and walked away before he could say anything else.
***
I hope you’ve enjoyed this sneak peak of Coming Home, the first book in the Love at Starlight series. If you want to keep reading, find it now on Amazon.
Table of Contents
WELCOME TO STARLIGHT
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Coming Home (Snowy Ridge: Love at Starlight, Book 1)
Chapter One
Chapter Two
