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When Jess woke later that morning, the house smelled of Christmas. She wasn’t sure whether it was the pine branches on the fire, the smell of roast turkey, or Rufus beside her that smelled the most delicious. Or maybe it was this exact combination. Perhaps if Rufus could bottle it and sell it, it would solve all his financial troubles.
She propped herself up on an elbow and looked down at Rufus, still fast asleep on the pillow next to her. How had she ended up here? Well, she knew how. And why. Because Rufus was officially scorching hot, and she had a lot less self-control than she’d thought she had. But how had she found herself with a guy that she really genuinely liked, and—it turned out—was incredibly compatible with, and really, really, didn’t want to leave. This was the sort of situation she had spent her whole adult life avoiding. She could tell herself that she was just going to walk away when the snow cleared, but sooner or later she was going to have to face the fact that she felt...more...just more than she had for anyone else for a long time. And when they finally got out of here, maybe walking away wouldn’t be as easy or as painless as she had convinced herself it would be before they’d slept together. Not that she had any regrets on that front. Some things were worth a little pain, and sex with Rufus definitely fell into that category.
‘You know it’s creepy to wake up and find someone watching you.’
She smiled as Rufus rubbed sleep from his eyes and then leaned in for a kiss. She had meant to keep it light, teasing, until Rufus’s fingertips brushed the nape of her neck, holding her close to him, and her whole body sank into him, hot against his side from her shoulder to her toes.
‘I have to go and baste the turkey,’ Rufus said at last, breaking their kiss.
‘That had better not be a euphemism,’ Jess said, falling back on the pillow and watching as Rufus pulled trousers and what looked like half a dozen sweatshirts on. He laughed and leaned in for a last kiss.
‘Nothing weird. Just your actual, literal, Christmas dinner to cook.’
‘I must have been really, really good in a past life,’ she mused, noting the smug smile that turned up the corner of Rufus’s mouth.
Really, it was a good job that they weren’t going to get a chance to get used to this, because he would be seriously hard to walk away from in the real world.
‘I’ll jump in the shower then come and help,’ Jess said, dragging herself upright and wrapping one of the blankets around her shoulders.
‘Thanks, but I think I’ll have enough to do without you randomly throwing things on the floor.’
She threw a cushion at his head. ‘One time! I dropped the mince pies one time.’ She laughed as the cushion landed back on the bed beside her and Rufus blew her a kiss.
Half an hour later, she followed him into the kitchen—it had been nearly impossible to drag herself out of the scalding hot shower. The fire wasn’t kicking out much heat yet, and when she checked the dial on the electric heaters they were already turned up as high as they would go.
She pulled on enough layers to keep the chill out, and then added a scarf for good measure.
‘You look toasty,’ Rufus said, grabbing her for a quick kiss before turning back to the pots steaming away on the stove.
‘It’s nice and warm in here,’ she said, unwinding the scarf and pulling up a stool. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?’
‘I’m sure,’ he said, checking the potatoes quickly, and then coming to the table with a cup of coffee for them both.
‘Merry Christmas,’ he murmured, tucking her hair behind her ear and brushing a lingering kiss to her lips. She moaned, wondering if they couldn’t just skip Christmas and spend the day in bed instead.
Except she had felt her phone buzz in her pocket twice already, and she guessed it would be Lara hassling her about the pictures they had promised her.
‘I’ll take the action shots, then,’ she said as Rufus pulled out a knife and started chopping carrots. As she pressed the button on the camera, the lights flickered and for a second she wasn’t sure if she had blinked and imagined it until she saw the expression on Rufus’s face. It wasn’t just her who’d seen it—he had too, and he was worried.
She slid her arms around him from behind and rested her face against his back. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. Not that she understood why he was so tense about the power going out. This house was more than four hundred years old. She was sure that they’d manage if they lost power for a while.
‘It could be fun,’ she said. ‘A blackout, I mean. Candles. Fires. Just each other for entertainment...’
‘No phones. No heating. No way of contacting the outside world in an emergency...’
‘Presupposing an emergency happens, when we have no reason to.’
‘Yes, well, emergencies don’t tend to announce themselves in advance. They just sneak up on y
ou and your life is suddenly changed and you don’t know how it happened.’
She thought for a moment. ‘Like your dad’s heart attack.’
He directed a scowl in her direction. ‘My dad’s heart attack has nothing to do with this.’
She crossed her arms, not prepared to let him off the hook. ‘If you say so. That traumatic event must have barely affected you at all. I don’t know what I was thinking.’
