Hot Whisper (11 page)

Oh God.
He shifted and her hand slipped lower, but she didn’t want to move and wake him until she remembered how in the world he ended up in her bed! The last thing she recalled was talking to Chloe. Frowning, Claire eased up just a tiny bit to sneak a peek over his shoulder at the digital clock on the nightstand. It was ten o’clock! What about the train? Should she shake him awake?

Claire inhaled a deep breath and blinked in confusion when she smelled cinnamon, coffee . . . and
pine
? Oh . . . she caught her bottom lip between her teeth when she spotted several pine needles caught in Jesse’s hair. Nothing was adding up, and when curiosity got the best of her, she whispered, “Jesse?”

He mumbled something and rolled to his back, causing the cover to slide. Her hand rested just beneath his belly button and she got an eyeful of his bare chest. Sexy dark stubble shaded his jaw, and damn if she didn’t have the urge to lean in and kiss him.

“Jesse?” she repeated a little bit louder.

“Mm?”

“What time is the train leaving?”

“Eight,” he mumbled.

“Um, it’s after ten o’clock.”

Claire fully expected him to open his eyes and sit up straight in alarm. But he turned
toward her
and slipped one arm around her waist, drawing her closer. “’So-kay,” he mumbled again. “Go back to sleep.”

“But I smell coffee.Who made coffee?”

“Elves.”

“Jesse . . .”

“Anybody ever tell you that you talk too much?” He kissed her shoulder.

“Yeah, all the time. But—”

“You’re not gonna let me sleep, are you?”

She shifted so she could look at him. “What’s going on?”

He opened his eyes. “Come with me.” He rolled from beneath the covers and held out his hand.

Claire sat up and slipped her hand into his. She was full of questions but didn’t know where to begin, so she simply followed him out of the bedroom to the stairs. “Oh . . .
my
.” She put her hand over her mouth while she gazed at a magnificent Christmas tree decorated from top to bottom. Fingers of sunshine sliced through the window and glinted off the ornaments. “Jesse . . .” She tore her gaze from the tree and looked at him. “It’s breathtaking.You . . . you did this?”

He grinned. “I already told you. Elves. Little guys made all kinds of noise and kept me up all night.”

Claire pressed her lips together and swallowed hard. “Oh, Jesse . . .” When she tried to blink back tears but failed, he cupped her cheeks in his hands and swiped the moisture away with the pads of his thumbs.

He looked at her and said, “Last night when I was clearing the road with my Bobcat, the thought of escaping to the beach suddenly held no appeal. For the first time since the loss of my parents, I suddenly wanted to celebrate Christmas.” He paused to swallow and then said, “And I wanted to celebrate it with you.” He leaned in and kissed her softly.“Claire, you’ve brought joy and laughter back into my life. I have no idea how we’re going to make this work, but if you’re willing, I want to give it a shot.What do you say?”

“Yes,” she managed to answer, and smiled through the tears.

Jesse grinned. “Good, because the train has already departed, so you’re stuck anyway.”

“And you made sure of that?”

“Kinda.”

She arched one eyebrow.

“Okay . . . yes.” When Claire laughed, he tugged on her hand like an excited kid. “Come on. I have something for you.” Claire followed him over to the tree. There was a package wrapped with her name on it. She put a hand to her chest when he handed it to her. “Open it.”

With trembling fingers she fumbled with red ribbon tied around newspaper.

“Sorry, I didn’t have any wrapping paper.”

“Oh . . . ,” she breathed when she revealed an exquisitely carved angel. “Jesse, she is absolutely beautiful.”

He smiled and then shook his head. “I found her on my workbench when I went out to get the Bobcat. It’s funny, because I thought I had sold all of them, and yet there she was. Her face haunted me while I started plowing the road, and before I knew it, I was chopping down a tree.”

Claire was so overwhelmed with emotion that she couldn’t speak.

“I remembered that you collected angels and I wanted you to have her.”

“She is a treasure.Thank you.” Claire carefully set the angel down and then gave Jesse a hug but then pulled back and said, “Ohmigosh. It’s your birthday and Christmas Eve! And I don’t have anything for you!”

Jesse picked up the discarded red ribbon and tied it around her neck. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”