Christmas Baby for the Billionaire (South Shore Billionaires 1)

“I know. So my pick tonight, yours tomorrow?”

“Sounds fair.”

He scrolled through a streaming app until he found the movie, and then it was on, complete with Thanksgiving Day parade, a drunk parade Santa and Mara Wilson looking adorable. Halfway through he disappeared to make her a cup of tea—apparently said housekeeper had stocked up on a few things before their arrival—and after sipping at the comforting brew, Tori found herself blinking slowly.

She shouldn’t be tired. She’d had a wonderful nap before dinner.

Jeremy shifted on the sofa. “Here. Lean against me. You’ll be more comfortable and have some support for your neck.”

He lifted his arm and she curled in against his side, the soft blanket covering her from waist to toes. He was so warm and stable, and her belly rested against his hip as if it were perfectly suited for the angle. And oh, he smelled good. Like clean clothes and the expensive cologne he always wore. She closed her eyes and inhaled.

On the screen, Dylan McDermott was proposing to Elizabeth Perkins, a huge ring in a red box. Tori opened her eyes and sighed.

“What?”

“I never understand why she’s so mean to Bryan in this moment.”

“Well, she’s afraid.”

“I know that. But it makes her stupid.”

Jeremy chuckled, low in his chest. “Then there’s the fact that there’s still a lot of movie to get through and the happy ending. Why would people keep watching if she said yes?”

She looked up at him. “To see if Kris Kringle is real, of course.”

He shook his head. “Uh-uh. You know as well as I do that the love story is the main attraction here. And the question of whether or not Susan gets her house and a dad and a baby brother for Christmas.”

“I hate it when you’re right,” she mumbled, but curled up against his shoulder again, where it was warm and inviting.

CHAPTER NINE

JEREMY WATCHED THE end credits roll and leaned his head back against the sofa. He could shut off the TV right now but he didn’t want to disturb Tori, who had finally drifted off just before the courtroom verdict in the movie. She’d missed the happy ending, the perfect house and family and a new brother on the way. Emotion clogged his throat for a moment as he turned his head an inch and looked down at her, lashes against her cheeks, warm belly pressed against his hip.

She would be so easy to love, if he were capable of it.

As it was, he definitely had feelings for her. She was the purest person he’d ever known. Always seemed to find a bright side, a positive angle. Cared about people.

Cared about him.

At least she made him believe she did. And she was snuggled up to him right now, trusting.

He felt pretty damned unworthy of that.

The credits ended and the app went to a home screen with “suggested for you” thumbnails of other holiday movies. It wasn’t late, but it was late enough, and clearly she was exhausted. She’d been working long hours for days, and carrying the baby, too.

As carefully as he could, he shifted his hips so that her head was cradled in his elbow, then turned so that he was off the sofa, leaning over her. With as much gentleness as he could muster, he slipped an arm beneath her legs and the other beneath her shoulders, keeping her head snug against him. He lifted her in his arms and adjusted her weight as her lashes fluttered.

“Jeremy?”

“Shh... You fell asleep. I’m taking you to bed.”

He got halfway down the hall before she actually lifted her head. “You really are carrying me. You’re going to give yourself a hernia.”

He couldn’t stop the burst of laughter that started in his chest. Lord, but she made him laugh sometimes at the most unexpected moments.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle it,” he replied.

He nudged open the door to her room and laid her down on the bed, but she was awake now and scooted up so that she was sitting. “That was very sweet of you.”