A soft smile spreads across her lips, still swollen from our kisses. “Good morning.”
I can’t stop the grin on my own face. “Good morning. Though I think there’s a pretty good chance we’re firmly in afternoon territory now.”
She sighs and snuggles deeper into my chest. “I don’t really care what time it is as long as the coffee cart is still open and serving peppermint mochas.”
“Some things never change, I see.”
Her fingers begin a maddening trail, tracing over the lines of my stomach. “Some things change quite a lot.”
“Jess…I want you to know that my feelings for you, they never changed. I never stopped loving you.”
She props her chin on my chest. “You made that quite clear last night.”
I search for the deeper meaning, the hidden messages in her words, but her eyes give away nothing. “I want to tell you everything. Explain what really happened. If you want to hear, that is. If not, and last night was just some kind of closure you needed to get to move on, well, then I understand.” Letting her go will be like removing my heart from my chest and shipping it off to the North Pole, but something tells me to hold back a little on the dramatics.
“I want to hear what you have to say,” she says quietly, pressing her lips to my chest. “I don’t know what last night was yet, but it certainly didn’t feel like closure.”
My heart swells three sizes, but I can’t let myself jump too far ahead. I’m scared to say anything else, worried I’ll frighten her away, so I take her chin in my hand and lean down to meet her for a kiss.
Jess slips out of the bed first, heading into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. The sound of the water running doesn’t drown out the Mariah Carey Christmas song she hums, and when she emerges, there’s a grin etched on her face. She’s pulled her hair back into a bun and left her face bare, but I have to latch on to the sheets to keep me in place when I see she’s wearing just her jeans and that blasted lacy red bra.
She heads over to the closet, where I unpacked and hung up all my clothes on our first day here. She rifles through my things, finally selecting a soft gray hoodie, which she tugs over her head. And somehow she looks even better in my sweatshirt than she did in her lingerie.
I groan and flop back onto the pillows, my eyes glued tothe ceiling. “You know how much I love seeing you in my clothes, Jess.”
“Just so you know, you’re never getting this sweatshirt back.”
“Keep it. I’ll only end up sleeping with it to remind me of you.”
She snort-laughs. “You’ve been reading too many romance novels, Matthews.”
I throw a pillow in her general direction, but since I can’t look at her, I’m sure it misses the mark.
She crosses over to the bed and tugs on my arm. “I need coffee. Get your lazy ass out of bed.”
I begrudgingly let her pull me off the mattress and into the bathroom. After splashing some water on my face and brushing my teeth, I run my fingers through my hair, not bothering to brush it because I like the way it looks after Jess has had her hands in it. I pull on my own pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and hold the door open for her as we make our way into the hallway.
She stands right next to me in the elevator, our shoulders pressed together. So I take a chance and reach for her hand, tamping down my grin when she laces her fingers through mine. Everything about this morning has brought back all the old feelings—not just the sexy ones, but the soft ones. We feel connected and comfortable. Jess feels like home.
It sounds like a cliché, something I’ve probably written in one of my books, but nobody ever saw me the way Jess does. I went my whole childhood feeling like an outcast, misunderstood. But with Jess, I never needed to defend myself or explain why I loved the things I do. She just knew, intrinsically, and supported me without question.
When we finally reach the lobby, it’s not nearly as full as it has been the past couple of days. Either we’re right in the middle of the breakfast and lunch rush, or the weather really did clear up. I know which one I want to be true, but something tells me Jess isn’t going to be held captive here at the inn for much longer.
We order our coffees and turn to head to the restaurant to see if we can beg for a late breakfast.
And we almost literally run right into Lauren, SVP’s executive director of publicity.
“Nick! Jessica!” Her eyes dart furiously between us, widening as they drop to where our hands are still joined.
I wait for Jess to pull away, but she doesn’t, and I tighten my grip in response. “Lauren. Good to see you again. Are you heading home?” I gesture to the suitcase she’s pulling along behind her.
She nods. “Yes. Finally. The trains are back up and running, and I’ve already got a car on the way.” She turns to Jess. “Did you want to grab a ride with me to the station? I know you were only supposed to be here for the one night.”
Jess sneaks a quick look at me, but I keep my eyes on Lauren, not about to answer for her. “I think I’m going to stay a while longer. Thank you though.”
Lauren nods and a genuine smile crosses her face. “Sounds good.” She leans in a little closer to Jess, but not close enough that I can’t hear. “I really hope whatever is going on here has nothing to do with what we talked about before.”
This time I meet Jess’s eyes when they dart over to mine. I raise my eyebrows because what the fuck is Lauren talking about?
