Hot Christmas Nights Page 18

  A chasm opened up inside of him.

  She tilted her chin. “I might have a remedy for that.”

  He had to tell himself that her chin tilt wasn’t an invitation to kiss her. “I do too.”

  Her eyes flashed. “I don’t like your remedy.”

  He folded his arms. “You don’t know what it is.”

  “Your mother was here.”

  He swore. He spun away only to spin back. “You aren’t leaving. If you think that’s any kind of remedy then you’re crazy.”

  “You’re not leaving either!”

  He loved those flashing eyes of hers and that full bottom lip. He dragged a hand down his face. “The two of us can’t live and work in the same town, Erin.” Not with the way he felt about her.

  “Oh, but I think we can.”

  He didn’t want to say the words out loud, but he had to make her see. “Being so close to you every day, it’s tearing me apart.”

  “Then we’re doing it wrong.”

  Every cell in his body stiffened when she pushed off her desk and sauntered towards him. Stopping in front of him she lifted her hands to his chest. Her nostrils flared and her lips parted as she ran her hands up along his shoulders. He maintained control by the slimmest of threads.

  She undid two buttons on his work shirt and edged forward to plant a light kiss to the bare skin of his chest. He clenched his hands. She was only doing this because she was afraid he’d leave.

  Her tongue flicked out to taste him, sweeping across his skin, and fire licked along his nerve endings, a growl built in the back of his throat.

  God help him, but he nearly settled for it. At the last moment he pulled away. “You think I’ll stay if you offer me sex?”

  A tiny smile played across her lips. “If I do it right then I’m very much hoping so.”

  He stumbled back three steps, out of the range of temptation. “You’re panicking because of what my mother told you.”

  “Very true.”

  He flinched. “I want more from you than sex.”

  “I know that too.”

  He froze.

  “Your mother’s revelation about you leaving Belltrees made me realize something…”

  He suddenly noted her pallor and the dark circles beneath her eyes. He stilled and then pushed back his shoulders. “Made you realize what?”

  “How much my happiness depends on you.”

  His heart kicked. “Don’t toy with me, Erin.”

  She drew in a ragged breath. “I’ve made some serious mistakes where you’re concerned, but I’ve never toyed with you.”

  He took a step forward and moistened his lips. She followed the action, her gaze darkening. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, but he needed everything. And she refused to give him everything.

  “I made a mistake on our first disastrous date when I drank too much and was sick. The next day I felt I’d ruined one of the very few chances I’d ever have of being truly happy.”

  He blinked. He took another step towards her.

  “At Trinity Beach I mistook the force of my emotions for fear of ruining our friendship and losing you.”

  He closed his eyes and pressed his fingers into their sockets to try and ease their burning.

  “But I lost you anyway.”

  He opened his eyes. He wished he could’ve made that promise to her—that he would always be her friend. He lifted his chin. “If you ever need me, all you have to do is call.”

  “But I realized I’m not afraid of losing your friendship.” She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “What I was afraid of was taking a risk and letting our friendship develop into something more.”

  He barely dared to believe her. “Go on.” The words emerged from him curt and terse, but he couldn’t temper them. All he could do was hold his breath and wait.

  “What I’m really afraid of is being utterly vulnerable to another human being.”

  He folded his arms and gripped his upper arms tightly in his hands. “So why aren’t you afraid anymore?”

  “I am.” She lifted her chin. “But today I realized I’m more afraid of ruining one of my very few chances of true happiness again.”

  His heart thumped. “You’re saying…?” Was she saying he was her chance at true happiness?

  “I’m saying you make me happy, Josh. I love your company and I love our banter. I love that we’re always on the same page. I love that I can look at your face and know what you’re thinking. I love that you feed me salt and vinegar chips and chocolate milk when I’m stressed. And very recently I found out that I love the way you kiss…and I really love making love with you.”

  In a fever of hope, fear…and desire, he tried to process all that she’d said.

  She pulled in a breath, gripping her hands tightly in front of her. “I love you, Josh, not our friendship.” She suddenly frowned. “I mean, I value our friendship and our working relationship too, but I want you as my lover and my soul mate. If for some reason that means we can’t work together then…” She shrugged.

  He shook his head to try and clear it. “You love me?”

  She met his gaze and swallowed. “With all of my heart.”

  He couldn’t move. Vulnerability and uncertainty flashed through her eyes. She folded her arms, but not before he saw the way her hands shook. She lifted her chin, but he saw beneath the bravado. “But I will admit that I’m not sold on the scenario you outlined in Cairns.”

  “No?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to take things slow. I want to move in with you today. I want to marry you as soon as it can be arranged. As for babies? Yes, please.”

  Blood pumped through him hard and fast, but his feet remained glued to the floor.

  She moistened her lips and nodded. “I…I understand it’s a lot to take in and I’ll leave you to consider all that I’ve said and you can get back to me after you’ve had a chance to think it all through. I—”

  “No!”

  Pain flashed in sea-green eyes. “No?” she whispered.

  Her pain unfroze him. In a stride he was in front of her cradling her face. “Yes! I mean, yes. I love your scenario. I want your scenario. The no was don’t leave.”

  A smile trembled on her lips. “You still love me?”

  “I will always love you.”

  She threw her arms about his neck and he twirled her around, warmth radiating through his entire body.

  He set her back on her feet and she touched his face. “I’m sorry it took me so long to work it out. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  He traced his fingers across her brow, along her eyelids, down her nose and across her lips. “Not your fault. I pushed too hard too fast. I should’ve given you more time. But as long as you’re certain now.”

  She took his face in both her hands. “I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. I love you, Josh.”

  His chest expanded until he felt like he could breathe in the whole world.

  Reaching up on tiptoe she touched her lips to his. He molded her to him, his body on fire. Backing her up to her desk, he lifted her onto it and stood between her thighs, pressing against her and leaving her in no doubt of his arousal. “You want to move in with me?”

  “As soon as possible,” she panted.

  He wanted her naked and panting beneath him. Now. Lifting her off the desk and planting her feet on the ground, he took her hand and started for the door. “Right now sounds perfect. We’ll collect your stuff later.”

  She started to laugh, pulling him to a halt. “Aren’t you forgetting one thing?”

  He turned. “What?”

  “Baxter.”

  He swore. And then he grinned.

  “What?”

  “I want to make love with you right now, but I can’t. And it just occurred to me that it doesn’t matter because we have a whole lifetime in front of us to make love.”

  She moved back into his arms. “A whole lifetime,” she promised.

  “You wan
t to marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  He loved her absolute conviction. He brushed the hair back from her face. “I will make you the happiest woman in the world.”

  “You already have. You’ll make me even happier if you take me to Trinity Beach for our honeymoon.”

  He grinned. The thought of seeing her in that little blue bikini…the thought of peeling it from her body and—

  He groaned. “Deal!”

  Her eyes suddenly gleamed. “I want to keep Baxter under observation tonight.”

  “Wise.”

  “But maybe you’d like to keep me company.”

  “No maybe about it.”

  “And I know the cot out the back isn’t very big, but…”

  A growl rumbled through him. He swept her up in his arms. “I like the way your mind works.”

  He moved towards the tiny room out back with every intention of proving to her precisely how much he loved her. He meant to spend the rest of his life proving that to her, every single day. “You know you’re trapped here with me and Baxter. All night.”

  Her smile lit her from the inside out. “Where else could I possibly want to be? I’m doing the job I love, in the town I love, with the man I love. Tick, tick, tick.”

  He’d never get tired of her telling him she loved him.

  “Happy?” she whispered.

  He grinned down at her. “Tick.” And then he kissed her.

  A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for taking the time to read Erin and Josh’s story. I originally set Christmas Wishes, New Year Kisses at Trinity Beach in Cairns as I’d planned a ten-day vacation there. Unfortunately, the trip had to be cancelled, but I was determined to relish that holiday by proxy through the pages of this story. Friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite story tropes, and I had a lot of fun giving Erin and Josh their happy ever after. I hope you savored Trinity Beach and Josh and Erin’s journey to love as much as I did.

  If you enjoyed this story you can find details about my other books at my website. If you would like to subscribe to my (rather infrequent) newsletter just click here. I love to connect with my readers and you can find me here at Facebook.

  Wishing you a very merry Christmas!

  Michelle x

  Michelle Douglas has been making up stories for as long as she can remember, receiving her first rejection letter at the age of ten for Keri the Koala Baby. Her first book for Harlequin Mills & Boon was released in 2007 (and she’s written twenty more since then). She lives in a leafy suburb of Newcastle on Australia’s east coast with her own romantic hero, a house full of dust and books, and an eclectic collection of 60s and 70s vinyl.

  BABY, IT’S HOT OUTSIDE

  ~

  LOUISA GEORGE

  With thanks to Sue MacKay and Rachel Bailey for all your input and to Rhonda Helms for your help editing this book into shape.

  This book is for all those readers who, like me, believe in second chances.

  Copyright © 2015 Louisa George

  All rights reserved.

  CHAPTER ONE

  The trouble with weddings, Daniel Wade observed as he picked his way through the teetering piles of gold and silver wrapped gifts on his friend’s lounge floor, was the expectation.

  Expectation that the Best Man’s speech would be hilarious. Check. He’d been rehearsing the damned thing for days.

  That the bridesmaids would be beautiful. Definitely. Without a doubt. One in particular. Stunning. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

  That there would be tears. Not his.

  No one ever mentioned the disappointment. All that fancy wrapping, but when you’ve torn away the glitz the only things left are a pile of crock, a huge overdraft, and a healthy disregard for the future.

  Although, the hole in Dan’s chest at the thought of his own ill-fated marriage didn’t feel particularly healthy. It felt raw—even after two years of being apart, of living without her. Of learning not to love her. And failing.

  And damn, but he’d thought he was over her.

  Daniel fixed a non-too sarcastic smile on his face, trying not to let his cynicism spoil his best mate’s wedding weekend. Maybe Bas and Megan would last. Maybe theirs was a true happy ending love story. Maybe pigs flew.

  Bas’s tiny old colonial villa was brimming with every kind of festivity. Silver and red party streamers looped across the lounge ceiling, a Christmas tree stood proudly in the corner sheltering piles of Christmas presents. The place looked like the grotto of gaudy. A playlist chimed out Christmas songs about love and babies.

  Yeah, Christmas and a wedding—the double whammy of cheese. Bas’s wife-to-be, Megan, was a sucker for celebrations so a Christmas Day wedding was her idea of utter heaven. And Daniel’s idea of pure unadulterated hell.

  He called across the empty room, “Hey honey, I’m home.”

  “Finally. Dan, the very late best man.” Cristian Basso—Bas to his friends—appeared from the kitchen, a beer bottle in hand and a grim look on his face. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Naw…did you miss me?” Daniel tried for positive as he shook his mate’s hand. Because he understood exactly what he was going through. Their roles had been reversed when Dan got married four years ago. “I was at work and you knew that. One of us has to keep the good folks of Waiheke Island on the straight and narrow. We can’t all swan around in pre-matrimonial bliss and ignorance. Talking of which, how are you feeling? Like a condemned man? Or all good?”

  “I’m good now that you’re here. An hour late. And not even bothered to change into civvies.” Bas shook his head wearily at Daniel’s police uniform and took a slug of beer from the bottle. So yeah, maybe he should have gone home to change but that would have added more minutes and another whole level of groom-nag. Which was clearly already starting to escalate. “This is supposed to be a mix-and-mingle party for the out of town guests to get to know everyone else. And it’s painful, so I need some moral support.”

  “I’m right here, man. Tell me what you need.”

  “You’re the best man—you should be hosting the damned thing. It’s meant to be a wedding weekend, Dan.” Uncharacteristically, Bas was pacing. The man was freaked. By his own wedding. “We have something planned for each day, finishing with the ceremony on Monday—you can’t just saunter up for that and miss out everything else. Tell me you’re going to be around and not off mooching on your own on that rusting tin boat of yours?”

  “Whoa. Simmer down. Stop panicking. For you, my friend, I’ve gotten time off from the end of my shift tomorrow. I’ll be there. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. With Christmas bells on. I’d move in here for the duration if my presence is that important to you—but three’s a crowd and all that…” Daniel wandered through to the kitchen and helped himself to a ginger beer from the fridge. “I swear this time it was not my fault I was late. We got a drunk driver just before the shift ended and you know the crapload of paperwork that comes with that. You did the right thing taking a month off.”

  “If I hadn’t, Meg would have divorced me before we’d even got married.” Bas laughed. “Summer holidays are only just beginning, no doubt there’ll be a few more before it’s over. Waiheke is vineyard central and this is the season to be jolly after all.”

  “Sure, but not in charge of a vehicle. When will people learn?” Driving safely was hard enough, mix it up with alcohol and, man…At the far reaches of his brain Daniel registered a memory. A momentary panic. The ramped up heart beat. The sense of abject loss. But, where once he’d have sunk deep into the debilitating emotions, this time he acknowledged them and then let them go. No way was he going to allow the past to get in the way of this weekend, or any other weekend for that matter. Not any more.

  Bas scraped a chair out from underneath the table and sat down. “Anyone I know?”

  “Nah. Just a holidaymaker, partaken of a bit too much of the local vino.” Daniel pulled a beer out of the fridge, flicked the lid off and hande
d the bottle to Bas. “I love living here; I can totally live the island dream, but when it gets summer-crazy and Christmas-busy I want to jump on the first ferry off.”

  “Yeah, and sometimes I want to push you off it too. Like right now. You’re off duty, so switch off work and put your wedding head on. How’s the speech prep going? You still got the rings?”

  “And I thought it was the women who went all Bridezilla.” Daniel slapped his mate on the back and sat down opposite him. They went a long way back. Their mums always laughed about how the two boys had met in the sandpit in kindergarten and on first sight had started a discussion about whose digger was the bestest, fastest, biggest. They’d been locked in a sort of competitive mateship ever since. Of course Daniel wouldn’t let his friend down. But it was a long time since he’d seen him freaked out like this. “Chill a little, it’s all under control.”

  Bas nodded, shoving a hand across his regulation cop buzz cut. “Between you and me, bro, I’m getting a little out of my comfort zone here. For a start I don’t care what color the place cards are or who sits next to who and I definitely don’t know anything about wedding favors.”

  “Believe me, they are not what you’re thinking.” More’s the pity. Plus, Daniel knew exactly who he didn’t want to sit next to at the wedding breakfast, but he had no doubt that Best Man and Maid of Honor protocol meant they’d have to sit close. Unless he could convince the bride and groom to go against centuries of tradition—- he doubted they’d do that, even for him.

  He threw his mate a conciliatory grin. “You were born for this, Bas. All that ‘til death us do part bit…you’ll be just fine. And Meg—well, she’s definitely the girl for you. Anyone who can put up with your ego needs a bloody medal. And…well, it’s clear you love each other.” There, he was getting a little soppy in his old age. “You’ll both be great at the husband and wife stuff.”

  Not like him.

  “Talking of wives…” Bas leaned closer and jerked his head towards the backdoor, for once genuine concern showing on that ugly face of his. “She’s here. Flew in last night. Outside, talking to Meg.”

  “Shit, where’s the emergency exit?” Daniel’s stomach tightened. Worse, his heart raced and jittered like a puppy with a new toy. He glanced around, making a joke of being nervous.