“It’s freezing out here, buddy,” Jack said, his hands deep in his pockets, shivering a bit as he said it. “You shouldn’t be rolling the windows down.”
“I only roll them down when we’re at a stoplight, so no wind blows in. Noelle said it was okay. Please?” he said, dragging out the word to the full extent his lungs could manage.
Rachel and Jack both looked at Noelle as if asking for permission. So she smiled at the adorable kid. “Sure thing, kiddo.”
True to his word, he only rolled down the window when they were stopped. But it was at every stop sign and stoplight on the way home. At least they were already used to the cold temperatures.
After getting Aiden and Rachel inside their home and saying their goodbyes, Jack walked her out to her trusty car.
He leaned against Elfie, which made her smile. It meant that he wasn’t planning to leave super quickly, and she was in no way ready for him to go. “Thanks for making me come tonight. I actually rather enjoyed it.”
She grinned and stepped a little closer to him. She didn’t lean against the car—that thing was freezing cold—but she got within a foot of Jack’s warmth. “Are those negative feelings about Christmas changing yet?”
This time, he reached out for her hand. And, even though they were wearing gloves, the feel of his hand in hers still sent shivers of happiness up her. “They are. I think they started changing before I even noticed it.”
His voice was low and gruff, yet with the perfect amount of smoothness, too. It was mesmerizing, and she just wanted him to talk to her with that voice all night long. It didn’t even matter what he said—it could be his to-do list for tomorrow, and she’d still be enthralled.
He gave her hand the slightest tug. An invitation to come closer if she wanted to, but still slight enough that she could pretend she didn’t notice. But it wasn’t like she was going to ignore it. She stepped even closer, her leg pressing against his. “I am more than happy to keep helping with that exposure therapy. You’re coming to the Santa Mystery Hat thing tomorrow, right?” They were so close that her words came out as a whispered breath in the crisp night air, the words making little puffs of warmth in the cold night air.
“Of course,” he breathed, his lips just inches from hers.
Her eyes searched his, trying to unravel everything he might be thinking, and his eyes searched right back, probably trying to guess what she was thinking, too. She could search his eyes all night long and not tire of it.
And then a car drove past, and whatever spell they had been under was broken in an instant. Jack stood up straight and said, “We shouldn’t. I’m your boss.”
“Yeah,” she said, acknowledging the part about him being her boss, wishing it hadn’t sounded like she was also acknowledging the “we shouldn’t” part.
He gave her hand a squeeze, then said, “I’ll see you tomorrow night?”
She nodded as he opened Elfie’s door, then she gave him a smile as she sat in her seat. At least they had tomorrow.
ten
JACK
The entire day,Jack had been thinking about how he’d almost kissed Noelle last night. A part of him wished they had kissed—he so wanted to. He had wanted to for the past couple of weeks. For the last year and a half, actually.
But a more significant part of him was terrified that he’d come so close to very nearly kissing her. She was his employee. He was her boss. Kissing Noelle wasn’t on the table.
Since it was a Saturday and he wasn’t hurrying to get off work, he told Noelle that he would pick Aiden up for the Santa Hat thing because he wanted to check on Rachel. When he walked into their house, though, Aiden didn’t come running to leap onto him to give him a hug.
Rachel poked her head out from the back of the house and held a finger to her lips, motioning for him to be quiet. As he got closer, she whispered, “Between the hayride last night and sledding this afternoon with Quinton’s family, he was tuckered out. We just ate, and he fell asleep at the table just a few minutes ago. I’m sorry I didn’t realize how tired he was before you drove all the way here.”
“It’s no problem.” He walked into the kitchen and saw his little nephew slumped back into his chair, soundly asleep. He was glad he came; he would’ve hated for Rachel to have had to try to carry him into his room. She might have been doing better the past few days, but something like that would’ve been too much.
He scooped Aiden into his arms and carried him to his room, placing him on his bed and pulling the covers up to his shoulders. Then he gave his hair a ruffle and stepped out of his room, carefully pulling the door closed behind him.
He was surprised at how disappointed he was that they wouldn’t be going to the activity with Noelle’s family. He was actually starting to really like those celebrations so much more than he thought he ever could.
He looked around Rachel’s kitchen and family room area. “Since I’m here, what do you need help with? I can clean or do dishes...”
Rachel shook her head. “No. I’m pretty tuckered. Since Aiden is asleep this early, I’d like the chance to go to sleep this early, too.” She paused. “But you should still go to the activity.”
He should. He told Noelle he would be there, and he didn’t want to let her down. And he had agreed to the exposure therapy thing. But they had also very nearly kissed last night. He had been so successful at keeping things professional with her for so long, and last night, he came so close to completely failing. Could he even trust himself to be with her more?
“You told her you would go,” Rachel said in a stern voice. “You should keep your word.”
Rachel knew him well enough to know exactly what to say to get him to go. He really didn’t want to go back on his word. The part of him that had wished he had just kissed her last night celebrated.
