The Best Of The Year - Medical Romance. Carol Marinelli
again. “I’m hoping we can make a fresh start.”
He shifted to his right so he could see her better in the shadows. “You didn’t tell him about your breakup that night at dinner. Did you let him know later?”
The sleigh rounded a corner, pressing him against her for a second or two, before heading down a slightly darker path. He didn’t try to move away. With their heads close together, as well as the shared space beneath the heavy blankets, they could have been children whispering in the dark. Only Mira was no child. The rise and fall of her breasts as she gave another sigh reinforced that fact. “I told him that first night, although I just shared the bare essentials. Daddy always liked Robert, so I didn’t want to disillusion him.”
“About your ex?”
She nodded. “And the reasons we broke up. I’m afraid telling my father about that will reopen some old wounds between us.”
Had she cheated on her fiancé? Somehow he didn’t think so. From the way she’d talked about Mrs. Botox and the men the woman targeted, Jack couldn’t help but think Mira was cut from very different cloth.
“Your ex was an idiot for not wanting to work things out.”
That got a laugh out of her. “I agree with the idiot part, but it was actually me who didn’t want to work it out. Why bother when you obviously don’t have what it takes to make someone happy.”
Have what it took. Was she kidding? He was sitting here trying to think of anything but the warm, soft body hidden beneath those blankets and how easy it would be to simply lean forward and kiss her.
He swallowed, trying to rein in his wayward thoughts, but it wasn’t easy. “I had no idea there were silver mines up here. Is that where the town gets its name?”
“Yes. This whole area is riddled with them. It was a big industry once upon a time. The best thing my grandfather ever did was make sure he held onto the mineral rights, even though my dad has no interest in mining the mountain.”
Another turn had the wind blowing right at them. Mira shivered and gripped the covers tighter.
“Cold?”
“I’m okay. The breeze is just chilly.”
Before he could stop himself, Jack slipped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her against his body, pulling the blankets up around both of them. “Better?”
“Mmm. Much.” She laid her head on his shoulder, her arm going across his abdomen and making him all too aware that if she shifted it four inches lower, an uncomfortable reality was going to meet her.
He closed his eyes and let the cold of the outside air flow deep into his lungs in an effort to cool himself from the inside out. Instead, he found himself absorbing the feel of her, and thinking about how long it had been since he’d felt a woman against him in anything other than a quick round of sex.
This felt a whole lot more intimate than that because he was aware of Mira on more than just a physical level.
She surrounded him. Her scent. Her touch. The sound of her breathing. It was all right there. Coaxing him closer. A siren’s song that was growing harder and harder to resist, even though he knew he should.
The snow-covered path helped muffled the clip-clop of Patsy’s hooves, but the jingling of the bells on her harness sounded with each footfall.
And Mira was right. The whole experience was hypnotic. Soothing.
“Jack?”
“Yep?” He laid his cheek against the top of her head.
To keep the wind from hitting it.
Sure, buddy. Keep on telling yourself that.
“I think I’m supposed to be giving you Norm’s tourist spiel. What do you want to know?”
He chuckled. “I’m too comfortable right now to really care.” As soon as he said the words he knew it was true. He also knew it was the last thing he should have admitted.
Instead of kicking him away from her in horror, she murmured, “That’s good. Because I’m too comfortable to play tour guide.”
“We’re even, then.”
He reached up to smooth a strand of her hair that tickled his nose. Then, instead of dropping his hand back to his side, he allowed it to trail down the side of her face, touching the cool softness of her flesh for the first time. Not really, but it was the first time he’d purposely touched her for a reason other than being hauled up off his ass or letting her pretend to be something she wasn’t.
She could be, though. The insidious thought whispered through his mind just as his fingers reached her chin, his thumb strumming across the little indentation he found there. And hell if she didn’t have the silkiest skin known to mankind.
Her sigh let him know she wasn’t unhappy with what he was doing. If anything, she nestled closer, her hand splaying over his abs and sending a heady wave of warmth rolling down to his groin. This was a dangerous game to be playing in the back of a sleigh. A literal one-horse open sleigh.
His lips twisted. Scratch that. This was a dangerous game to be playing anywhere...with anyone...although, since the vehicle was in motion, there was almost no likelihood of having a police officer flash his spotlight on them, warning them to move along.
He explored the line of her jaw, his eyes traveling up to the seat in front of them for a second, but Norm and the horse had their attention focused on where they were going rather than on what was happening behind them. And there was no rear-view mirror that he could see.
No one would ever know.
No one would see if he... He slid his palm across the side of her throat, allowing it to rest there for a moment to gauge her response.
She didn’t move. He swallowed, the need to do something crazy growing by the second.
It had to be sleep deprivation.
Still, he raised his head to look down at her. Her eyes were closed, her lips barely parted as she breathed. If not for the frantic beat of her pulse against his skin he might think she was asleep. But she wasn’t. His thumb went to the bottom of her chin and exerted a slight upward pressure. As if she knew what was coming, her head tilted back to the perfect angle. Her eyelids parted, warm brown irises meeting his gaze. In their depths he saw the answer to his unspoken question.
She wouldn’t stop him.
He murmured her name into the cold night. Softly, so that only she could hear. Then he lowered his head and covered her lips with his.
UNEXPECTED.
That was the only word she could come up with to describe the moment his mouth slid over hers. Oh, she’d wanted him to. Her heart had been screaming for him to do this ever since she’d curled into his side and let him pull her close.
She leaned her head a little further back so she could feel the full effect of his firm warm lips as they moved over hers.
A tiny sound exited her throat, and her mouth opened.
He hesitated. For a brief heart-stopping second he paused as if unsure whether to stop or continue.
Please, Jack. I just want this for a minute. Maybe two. Then I’ll let you get back to your nice shiny life with your fancy football team. I just need to know that someone, somewhere wants me.
Even if it’s just for a moment.
His hand went from her neck to the back of her head, his fingers sliding deep into her hair as he remained poised over her mouth, lips just barely touching.
Then he did it. His tongue slid home with a smooth stroke that had her closing her eyes half in triumph, half in the