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I blinked back tears. How this man could ever have believed he was such a horrible person was beyond me. Bad men didn’t purchase cooking supplies as an apology. While it didn’t make up for me not being with Gran, his thoughtfulness eased the hurt a little more.
When they took out a Kitchen-Aid mixer, still in the box, my startled gaze connected with Jareth’s. “You got me a mixer too?” It was the exact model and turquoise color I’d been drooling over for the past few years. I never found a way to justify spending the money on it, and here it was, preening like a peacock on the kitchen counter in all its shiny glory.
He cleared his throat. “Your grandmother is expecting a call in a few hours to make cookies with you.”
My heart stuttered, and in seconds my feet flew across the floor. Jareth didn’t miss a beat. As I launched myself at him his arms banded tightly around me. The anger and frustration I’d felt at being whisked away disappeared. I still didn’t love how he went about this, but he was doing his best to make things right. My hands gripped the black fabric of his shirt as the tears I tried to hold in burst forth, soaking the front of it. He ran soothing circles across my back.
He held me until my eyes had dried and my sniffles had ceased. “How am I supposed to stay mad at you for bringing me here when you do sweet things like this?”
“It’s the least I can do.” His stilted tone drew my attention upward. My gaze studied his tight jaw and the slight tick of muscle that told me he was angry. Not at me, but at himself.
This was the Jareth I knew that existed beneath the hardened exterior he showed the world. He knew he messed up, and instead of just apologizing, he showed me with his actions that he regretted how it all went down.
“Thank you.” I tugged him toward the kitchen, now empty of staff. They must have snuck out while I bawled in his arms.
His gaze swept across the multitude of baking items covering most of the kitchen surfaces. “Is this everything you need?”
I laughed. “It depends.”
A frown caused grooves around his full lips. “On what?”
When he looked like he was about to call the staff back and demand they get whatever it was I needed, I spoke up. “It depends on how many cookies you think we’re going to bake.”
His frown deepened. “We? I don’t bake.”
I ran my hands up his shirt and looped my arms around his neck, loving the way his eyes darkened. I pressed my curves into his hard body. “You do now.”
The look of horror on his face went a long way into feeding the part of me that wanted to get back at him for bringing me here without my permission.
I slipped the colorful apron provided by the hotel staff over my head and tied the strings around my waist. I stood on my tiptoes and tugged Jareth down for a quick kiss before grabbing the second one and looping it over his head.
He’d grumbled the whole time about not baking until we’d reached out to Gran through FaceTime and she expressed how happy it made her that Jareth would be joining us.
I tapped the computer screen to bring up my video chat and waited for her to join us. She appeared seconds later and greeted us with a wave. “Merry Christmas Eve, Gran!”
“Merry Christmas Eve, sweet girl. Franny and I are ready.”
“So are we.” I grinned broadly and slipped my arm around Jareth’s waist, loving the warmth of his arm as it curled around me in return.
A tight smile crossed Jareth’s face and I feathered my fingers across his lips until they relaxed. My heart turned over and squeezed in happiness that he was willing to do this with me. I shifted out of his embrace and picked up a bowl. “Can you grab the sugar for me?” I asked.
Jareth grabbed the already pre-measured amount I’d poured before we started. As the butter and sugar creamed, I stepped back and handed the next ingredients to Jareth. “Add the egg and then the vanilla. Once it’s done, we can add the baking powder and salt.”
With an uncertain look at the gyrating paddle inside the bowl, Jareth tossed in the next two ingredients.
Gran smiled at us as she and Franny added their ingredients and conversed about the next steps. “Jareth, thank you so much for the lovely mixer.”
He grunted his acknowledgement. Apparently, he’d rush-ordered supplies to Gran, too.
I turned down the speed of the mixer and pointed to each of the ingredients as we needed them. I loved that Gran and I made these so many times, neither of us needed a written recipe as a guide.
“Can you lay out a sheet of plastic wrap?” I asked Jareth. Once we’d finished mixing the dry ingredients for our sugar cookies, I scraped at the edge of the bowl, working the dough into a big lump. “We need to let this sit in the freezer while we make the others.”
Muttered cursing had me stopping to giggle over watching Jareth fight with the finicky plastic.
“Need some help?” I asked.
“I’ve used plastic wrap before,” he mumbled, continuing to strip off small pieces instead of the longer sheet we needed.
