Just One Kiss: A heartwarming Christmas romance (Whisper Lake Book 4)

by Barbara Freethy

  "I would really like that, Hannah."

  "Good, because it's time to come home." She smiled as the ambulance came to a stop. "And it looks like we are home."

  The paramedics came around and opened the back doors. They helped Kelly into the house, while she carried Violet inside. Her mother, Tyler, and Brett were waiting, and enveloped them with hugs and questions.

  "I know it's almost midnight. I didn't get Brett up until a few minutes ago," her mom told her. "When I heard you were all right, and you were coming home. I knew he would want to see Kelly right away."

  She smiled reassuringly. "That was a good call, Mom. Thank you."

  "Thank you, Hannah, for bringing her back." Her gaze drifted to the baby. "And this little one, too. She's beautiful—like her mother."

  Hannah glanced over at Kelly, who was fighting back tears as she settled on the couch. Clearly, she'd heard her mother's words, but now her son was climbing into her arms, and all her attention was focused on him. Mother and child were finally reunited.

  "You came early," Brett said. "Santa was supposed to bring you tomorrow."

  Kelly's smile was filled with tenderness as she stroked her little boy's head. "I couldn't wait one more minute to see you."

  "I missed you. You took a long time to come back. What happened to your face?"

  "I bumped it, but I'm fine," Kelly said. "And I'm here now. I'm not leaving again."

  "What about Russ? Is he coming back, too?"

  Kelly's lips trembled. "We'll talk about that later. Do you want to say hello to your baby sister?"

  At Kelly's words, Hannah took Violet over to the couch, sitting down next to Brett and Kelly.

  "Did Santa bring her, too?" Brett asked. "I thought she was coming on Valentine's Day."

  "She couldn't wait that long to meet you," Kelly said.

  Her mom and Tyler sat down in the chairs across from them. Her mother wiped a tear from her eye, and Tyler gave her an emotional smile.

  "You did good, Hannah," Tyler said.

  "She did more than good," Kelly said. "She brought Violet into the world, and she saved my life. My little sister is quite amazing."

  "I've known that for a long time," Tyler said.

  "Me, too," her mother said. "And, Kelly, I'm glad you're finally home."

  "Kelly looked at her mother and Tyler with her heart in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Mom, Tyler. I have so many regrets."

  "No time for those now," Tyler said. "We're all together. That's what counts."

  "You're so big now, Ty."

  He laughed. "We all grew up."

  The doorbell rang, and Hannah got to her feet. She took the baby to her mother. "Want to hold your granddaughter?"

  "I can't wait," her mom said. "Thank you for trusting me."

  She nodded as she deposited Violet safely in her mother's arms and then went to open the door.

  Jake stood on the porch, his face showing the bruises from his fight with Tom, but he'd never looked more handsome. She stepped onto the porch and moved into his arms. "I missed you."

  He gave her a loving smile. "I missed you, too. It felt like it took forever to get back here."

  "About twelve years, but we finally made it." She gazed into his eyes, knowing she was revealing all the love in her heart. She was completely vulnerable to this man. But she wasn't scared anymore. She trusted him.

  "I won't let you down," he said quietly.

  "I know you won't. Really, Jake, I know that. I don't want to start the next stage of our lives with you feeling like you have to pay off a debt. We're starting fresh. We're equal. We're zero-zero, at the bottom of the mountain, the start of the game…" she finished with a laugh.

  His grin warmed her heart. "I get it, and I like it."

  "Good. How was the drive back with your dad?"

  "It was fine. That relationship may take a little time, but I'm going to work on it, too, not so much for him, but for my mom and my brother. I realize that our fight has been hurting them, which is the opposite of what I wanted to do. I don't know if he'll tell Mom the truth. I don't really care, actually. I want everyone to be happy."

  "We're all on a good path."

  He gazed deep into her eyes. "I love you so much, Hannah. There's never been anyone else for me. You asked me before if I'd had a serious relationship, and I made up some lame excuse about traveling too much, but that was never the reason. I just couldn't get over you. That's really why I came home. I had to see you again. I had to find out if there was a way to get you back. I couldn't give up on us."

  "I'm sorry I made it so difficult for you."

  "No, you're not," he teased. "You wanted me to earn it."

  "And you did," she said with a laugh. "But I'm a little sorry, because we wasted so much time. I could never get over you, either. Everyone else seemed boring. I love you, Jake. I fell in love with you the first time we kissed. That's all it took—just one kiss. No one else has ever come close to making me feel the way I feel about you, and it's not just the incredible chemistry we have together, it's everything else. You were always my best friend."

  "I want to be your best friend and your lover and everything else. I want to spend every minute of my life with you."

  "That could work, except when you're jumping off a mountain," she said with a laugh. "You might have to do that minute alone."

  "Or maybe I'll convince you to go with me," he said with a sparkle in his eyes.

  "God help me, you probably could."

  "But I don't want to take over your life, Hannah, I just want to share it."

  "I feel the same way. I do have one important question, however."

  "What's that?"

  She gave him a happy smile. "Who has the ball now?"

  He laughed. "I think I do."

  "What are you going to do about it?"

  "I have a lot of ideas. None of them involve your whole family, though, so my ideas might have to wait. In fact, I should probably go home and let you have this time with everyone."

  "No way. You're not leaving, because you're my family, too."

  "Good. Because there is no place I'd rather be." He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his, creating a lovely island of heat and love in the middle of a cold, dark night. But that was Jake. He'd always been able to bring the light into her life. She wanted to do the same for him.

  He lifted his head as the bells rang from St. Mary's Church. "It's midnight, Hannah."

  "Merry Christmas, Jake. I'm going to love you forever."

  "I'm counting on that."

  # # #

  What to read next…

  I hope you enjoyed Hannah and Jake’s love story. Please click here if you’d like to leave a review for Just One Kiss!

  The next Whisper Lake novel, IF WE NEVER MET will be released June 29, 2021.

  Preorder IF WE NEVER MET

  Are you up to date on the Whisper Lake Novels?

  Whisper Lake Series

  Always With Me (#1)

  My Wildest Dream (#2)

  Can't Fight The Moonlight (#3)

  Just One Kiss (#4)

  Want more contemporary romance while you’re waiting for the next Whisper Lake book?

  Continue reading for an excerpt from Kiss Me Forever, the first book in the Bachelors & Bridesmaids Series!

  Excerpt - KISS ME FOREVER

  "You're done, Andrea," Roger Thornton said.

  The editor-in-chief of World News Today had always been blunt, but his statement seemed a little harsh even for him. Andrea Blain sat up straighter as she faced her boss across the massive desk in his office. "Done as in fired?" she asked warily.

  "You're not fired, but you're close. Do you know how much money we've spent the last six weeks helping you chase a story that turned out to be nothing?"

  "It's not nothing. I just need more time to gather evidence."

  "You don't need time. You need to refocus. You had a hunch; it didn't pay off."

  "My source got scared off. I'll fin
d someone else."

  "It took you weeks to find him. Cut your losses."

  She could not believe Roger was going to pull her off the story she'd been working on the past two months. She'd been talking to a potential whistleblower at a company that made car seats for children. There had been two fatal accidents involving the car seats in the last year. "If my hunch is right, my story could save lives."

  "You'll have to work on it on your own time. If you had some real evidence, maybe I could give you another week, but all you have is a disgruntled employee and a lawsuit that was thrown out of court for lack of evidence."

  "I also have two injured children," she reminded him.

  "There's no concrete evidence the car seats were to blame."

  "Not yet. But I think I can get it."

  He frowned. "I'm sorry Andrea. You're out of time. I can't carry reporters on my staff who aren't actually reporting."

  "Some stories take time to develop," she argued. "You know that."

  Roger took off his glasses and rubbed a hand across his weary eyes. He was a big bear of a man, well over six feet tall and at least two hundred and fifty pounds. At age fifty-six, he'd been in the news business longer than she'd been alive, and she had a great deal of respect for him.

  "I do know that, Andrea, and ten years ago I would have let you have that time. But we now operate on a 24-hour news cycle. If we don't have new content, we don't have readers. More importantly we don't have advertisers. We're struggling to stay alive in a world where most people get their news off of social media. I can't have reporters working on stories for weeks at a time. It's not cost effective."

  "I understand the challenges—" she began.

  He quickly cut her off. "It doesn't matter what you understand. We're moving on. I have a new story for you, one that will give you an opportunity to show the owners of this magazine that you actually work here, and that they have a reason to pay you a salary."

  "What's the story?" she asked with a sigh, knowing that if the orders came from the top floor, there was no point in arguing any further.

  Roger picked up a manila folder and pushed it across the desk to her. "Alexander Donovan."

  "Who?" she asked, not sure she had heard him correctly.

  "You know who he is. Alexander Donovan will be the magazine's Man of the Year, and you're going to write the cover story."

  "Alexander Donovan is going to be our Man of the Year?" she echoed in disbelief. "Why? He makes computer games. He's a rich playboy. We should have someone serious on the cover, someone who is making a difference in the world. This is not my style." Andrea tossed the folder down on the desk and got to her feet.

  Restlessness propelled her to the window. Ten floors below lay the busy streets of San Francisco, the city where she had come to find her dreams. World News Today was one of the top news magazines in the country, focusing on serious issues, politics, foreign policy and the global economy. The cover story was usually a plum job, one she would have loved to have if it had been anyone else, but Roger's choice of Man of the Year made the assignment seem like a joke. She turned back to face him. "Why are you doing this? Is the magazine changing focus?"

  "Not at all. Alexander Donovan does more than make games. He's a philanthropist. He donates millions of dollars to schools and charity organizations. He runs camps for underprivileged children. He sends medical supplies to Africa. In a time when the world has become increasingly cynical, Alexander Donovan is the embodiment of generosity and hope."

  "In other words, he's a master of public relations," she said cynically.

  "He is a master, but don't close your eyes to the possibilities. I know this isn't your style. To be frank, it's not mine, either, but our publisher is convinced that Donovan will sell a lot more copies than some over-photographed politician. The cover will bring in readers that don't normally pick up the magazine. Your job is to keep them reading."

  "How on earth will I do that?"

  "Do what you do well, Andrea—find an angle."

  "And if I can't?"

  "Then you may want to start looking for another job."

  She blew out a quick breath at his blunt statement. "It's that serious?"

  "It is."

  "So Alexander Donovan is my get-out-of-the-doghouse card?"

  "Exactly."

  Andrea sat back down in her chair and picked up Donovan's folder. "I don't know what you think I'm going to find that no one else has. I'm sure he's been interviewed dozens of times."

  "He's been photographed thousands of times, but he hasn't done any in-depth interviews outside the celebrity magazine circuit. All we know about him is that he was born in Los Angeles. His parents died in an automobile accident when he was twelve. He went to live with his aunt. She died when he was seventeen. After that he made it on his own, no other relatives, not too many close friends. He made his first million before he was twenty-five years old, without the benefit of a college degree, and he hasn't looked back since. That was seven years ago. At thirty-two he is ranked among the top thirty wealthiest men in the country."

  "That's amazing," she admitted.

  "He's a success story, and people like to read about success stories, especially rags to riches. Our readership is primarily male, but Alexander Donovan will bring in the women. He's young, attractive and a billionaire."

  "What more could a woman want?" she asked dryly.

  "Exactly. But I want more from you than a fluff piece. I may have been pushed to put this man on the cover, but you're going to find me some reasons why he belongs there."

  "All right. I'll do Alex Donovan." She stopped abruptly, realizing what she'd just said. "I mean, I'll interview him," she added hastily, ignoring Roger's grin.

  "He's expecting you at his office in one hour."

  "What if I have other plans? It's Friday night. I could have a date."

  He raised an eyebrow. "You haven't had a date in months."

  "Well, it's not because I haven't been asked," she grumbled.

  "Oh, I know that, Andrea. You're a beautiful woman, but you're a workaholic, and while I appreciate your dedication, I know from firsthand experience that all work and no play equals burnout."

  "Then why did you schedule a job for me on a Friday night?" she challenged.

  "That was at Donovan's request. He's going to let you shadow him this weekend. I want to put this story to bed by the first of October. That gives you ten days. And one last thing—Donovan is not a stupid man. He also has a great deal of money and power. You're going to triple check every fact in your article. The last thing I need is a lawsuit."

  The last thing she needed as well. "Got it."

  She walked out of Roger's office and down the hall to her cubicle. It was in the far end of the newsroom and boasted one small window that overlooked downtown San Francisco. If she stood on her tiptoes at a certain angle, she could actually see the Golden Gate Bridge. Not that she ever took much time to look at the view—she was usually buried in her work. She loved her job, and she wanted to keep it. While she'd agreed to do the Donovan article, she was going to continue to work on her other story on the side.

  Sitting down behind her desk, she opened the file of clippings Roger had given her. The photo on top was a picture of a man and woman leaving a party. The man was dressed in a sleek black tuxedo. He was tall with dark hair, a square face and a strong jaw. He was caught in midstride, the power of his movement clear even through the fuzziness of the photo. The expression on his face was a mixture of amusement and annoyance, and there was something about the thrust of his chin that seemed downright challenging.

  The woman was pure eye candy, long cascading blonde hair, big breasts spilling out of a very tight and short dress.

  Andrea sighed, turning the photo several different ways as she studied her next assignment. Did Alexander Donovan's eyes hide some sort of a mystery? Or was he just a good-looking man with too much money and too many women?

  Whatever he was, she could handle i
t. She could handle anyone, as long as he wasn't a complete bore. Dull and uninteresting would mean death to her career—a career that was apparently on thin ice.

  Her cell phone buzzed and she picked it up, seeing her friend Kate's number flash across the screen. "Hey, what's up?"

  "I can't believe you actually answered your phone," Kate said. "You've been missing in action the last few weeks."

  "Work," she said, knowing her friends were getting tired of that excuse, but it was the truth. She'd been so obsessed with her last investigation into the car seat manufacturer that she'd put everything else in her life on hold. She just wished she had something to show for all that time.

  "We all work, Andrea," Kate reminded her. "But I didn't call you up to give you a lecture. Laurel and I are grabbing drinks tonight to discuss her bachelorette party. She said she's texted you several times but you haven't answered."

  A wave of guilt ran through her. Her twin sister Laurel was getting married in a few weeks, and she wasn't doing a great job as the maid of honor. "I can't do drinks tonight. I have a work assignment. But I will try to be at brunch on Sunday. We can talk then."

  "What kind of work do you have on a Friday night?"

  "I've been assigned the cover story on Alexander Donovan, and he's agreed to let me shadow him this weekend."

  "What?" Kate asked with a surprised squeal. "Are you serious? Are you telling me that you're going out tonight with Celeb Magazine's 'Sexiest Man Alive'?"

  Andrea quickly leafed through the clippings in the folder in front of her, landing on the cover Kate had just mentioned. "I didn't realize," she said, a little mesmerized by the shot of a bare-chested Alexander Donovan. The man obviously did more than sit behind a desk all day. His abs were ripped.

  "Where are you going with him?" Kate asked.

  "I don't know yet. I have to meet him at his office in an hour."

  "This is so exciting. He's attractive, single and rich. The two of you could fall in love."

  Andrea laughed. Kate was a wedding planner and had been a romantic for as long as Andrea had known her. "You're crazy. This is just a job. And I'm sure the man has a girlfriend, probably more than one."