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“What?” he asked, feeling a little self-conscious.
“That touched you, didn’t it? To hear how Ava thinks of you?”
Jacob made a big show of looking over his shoulder before he leaned in closer to answer. Becca leaned closer, too. He caught a faint breath of her perfume that almost made him forget what he was about to say. It made him forget pretty much everything except the desire to take her upstairs. But he forced himself to focus. Ava – they were talking about Ava.
He smiled. “It did. It means the world to me, but these guys all think I’m heartless, so do me a favor and don’t give away my secret?”
His heart sank when she didn’t laugh. He shouldn’t have admitted that most people thought of him as heartless. The women he usually dated were more interested in him being powerful and wealthy than caring. But he could already tell that, to Becca, those things didn’t matter.
He met her gaze, wondering how he could talk his way out of what he’d just said, but he relaxed when she smiled. “You’re not heartless; I don’t think you’re fooling anyone.”
It felt good to know that she saw him that way. He’d wondered over the last few years whether his reputation was true – whether he had lost his ability to care. He got the feeling that spending time with Becca might prove that he really did have a heart. He was just trying to get a grasp on what that might mean when he felt a tap on his head. He looked over his shoulder to see Ava standing behind the sofa with a big grin on her face.
She waved a limp sprig of mistletoe at him. “You and Miss Taylor should do the mistletoe thing, Uncle Jacob.”
He turned back to Becca. Her cheeks were pink, but her gaze darted from him to the mistletoe and back again. She sealed her own fate when her gaze dropped to his lips before coming back up to meet his. He knew how to read women. This wasn’t ideal, but it was a gift he wasn’t about to overlook.
He could feel a small smile playing on his lips as he rested one hand on her leg. “Do you want to do the mistletoe thing with me?”
Her tongue darted out and ran across her bottom lip as she gave the slightest nod. It was all he needed. He brought his other hand up to cup her cheek as he leaned in closer. His eyes closed as she leaned in to meet him, and her sweet scent surrounded him. He pressed a brief kiss to her lips. He had to keep it brief because if he didn’t pull away, he could get lost in the feel of her lips against his. He wanted to close his arms around her, explore her lips, her mouth, her body. But he used all his willpower to lean back and smile at her. Her gaze locked with his; she looked as dazed as he felt. He shifted on the sofa, his cock pressing uncomfortably against his zipper when she ran her finger over her lips.
“Wow!” she breathed.
His heart clenched in his chest. She felt it, too. It was written all over her face and shone out of her green eyes. He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out slowly. “Wow is right.”
The sound of laughter cut through the moment. Becca glanced over to where Grady and Hannah were standing with Xander and Antonio. Her cheeks colored up again and she sat back. “I should get going.”
Jacob grabbed for her hand before he could stop himself. He’d known that he shouldn’t kiss her in a room full of people – not even such a chaste, mistletoe-induced kiss.
“Please don’t go.”
She gave him a pained look. “I really should. I just made a fool of myself. And …” She looked back to where Hannah and Grady had been standing, but they’d gone. They were rounding up Ava and Scooter, looking like they were about to leave. Antonio and Mary Ellen were saying their goodbyes, too. If that were the case, then Jacob knew it was better to let Becca go. Being left here alone with him would only make her more uncomfortable.
He gave her a resigned smile. “You did nothing of the kind. If anyone made a fool of themselves, it was me. And I apologize.”
~ ~ ~
Becca managed to fake a smile as she said goodnight to everyone. She felt a bit better that they were all leaving at the same time. When Jacob opened the passenger door of his SUV for her, she got in with a mumbled thanks. She fastened the seatbelt, then did her best to snuggle so far down inside her coat that she might disappear. She felt stupid. She’d been caught up in the moment, carried away by the mistletoe – more than that, by the way Jacob made her feel like she was the only person in the room.
That kiss – wow! But that kiss shouldn’t have happened. If he could make her feel the way he had with nothing more than a chaste peck on the lips, then she needed to get away from the man – and to stay away.
Hearing the others laughing had brought her back to reality with a bump. They might not have been laughing at her, but it had felt like they were – and they had good reason to. No way was a guy like Jacob Jacobs going to be interested in her – to be kissing her – for anything other than one thing. And tempting though it might be, she wasn’t that kind of girl. After months of living alone, she might possibly consider a one-night stand. But if she did, it would be with some … some guy. It wouldn’t be with someone like Jacob. That would feel all wrong. She didn’t want to be just some insignificant, local girl he picked up, screwed, and then discarded. And that was how she feared the others were seeing her when she heard them laughing after Jacob kissed her.
She realized that she’d been all caught up in her thoughts when he brought the Range Rover to a stop at the end of the long driveway that led off the estate and turned to her.
“Becca?”
“Yes?” She was grateful for the darkness; she didn’t want him to see how red her cheeks were.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Jeez. She didn’t need to be so wimpy about it. She could tell him the truth. She popped her nose up out of her coat and pushed the hood back a little way so that he could see her – it was only fair. “I’m sorry. I embarrassed myself back there. I’m not that kind of girl.”
He cocked an eyebrow. She really didn’t want him to ask what kind of girl – it was totally obvious what she meant.
“I know.”
She gave him a puzzled look. “If you know, then what was that all about? Is it a challenge for you to see if you can … sleep with girls who aren’t like that?”
