His Christmas List

He frowns. "You travel a lot?"

"I do." I frown as I remember Clancy. "Oh shit. She's going to be freaking out."

"Who is?"

"My assistant, Clancy. I have no internet on my phone, and I couldn’t check in, she'll be worried sick."

"You can use my phone if you want, I have coverage."

"Would you mind?"

"Sure." He gets up and hands me his phone and I dial her number. "Hello." She answers.

"Clancy it's me."

"Oh, thank fucking God. I thought you were dead. I was about to send out a search party."

I smile. "No, I'm fine. I did crash my car but I'm okay and the weather is horrendous so I'm staying with a …." My eyes flick up to Jack and I pause as I try to think of the right description… a hot mountain man. "At a farmhouse; a very kind person brought me in. I just wanted you to know I'm safe and I'll call you in the morning. You can reach me on this number."

"Okay, great. I'm so relieved."

"Speak tomorrow." I hang up and pass the phone back to Jack.

"You have an assistant?" he asks.

"I have three."

He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Well you have six," I reply.

"I guess." He sips his drink, amused. He refills our glasses.

Two hours later

I hate to admit it, but the cranky mountain man is actually quite witty.

And dare I say it…. a little gorgeous. We've chatted about everything, with no real deep subject. He's easy to talk to, and smart. A lot more intelligent than I first gave him credit for.

"Are you working tomorrow?" I ask.

"No, there’s more rain in the forecast."

"You don’t work in the rain?"

"Depends where we are in the job. If the roof is already on, we do."

I smile as I imagine him being all rough and rugged with a hammer. "So, what do you do for fun up here?"

He shrugs. "Not much. There's a few bars in town."

"Not much?" I tease. "I imagine you would have Alaskan women falling at your feet."

He smiles bashfully. "Well……I'm a one-woman kind of man."

What does that mean? "You don't have a girlfriend or someone you see?"

"No. Not since…." His voice trails off.

"Not since your wife?" I frown.

"No."

I stare at him and blink in disbelief. "I didn’t think men like you existed."

"We do."

The air crackles between us as we stare at each other.

"I should get you to bed." He murmurs.

"You should," I whisper.

He stands and picks me up and I put my arm around his neck. We walk into his bedroom and he places me down to sit on the bed. He pulls the covers back and I notice a photograph of a woman on the side table. "Is that your wife?" I ask. I pick it up.

"That’s Tara."

She has blonde hair and is laughing, she seems kind. "She's beautiful." I smile.

"She is…. was."

He opens the bottom drawer and puts her photograph in it. "About time I put that away," he mutters to himself.

"Don’t do that," I say as I open the drawer and pull her picture back out. I put it back on the side table. "She should always be next to you when you sleep, and when you meet your new love, she will want to sleep next to her as well…. because she's a part of you."

He stares at me as his jaw clenches.

A closeness runs between us and I reach up and run my hand down the stubble on his jaw.

His forehead creases and he stands in a rush and turns his back to me. "Do you need anything else?"

"No."

He drops his head and stares at the floor as if contemplating a decision. "I'll see you in the morning."

I close my eyes, shit…. I crossed the line. "Okay, goodnight."

He walks toward the door.

"Jack."

He turns back.

I give him a soft smile. "Thank you."

He nods and leaves. The door clicks closed. I turn the lamp off, flop back to lie on my back and stare at the ceiling. I wasn’t joking, he really is one of a kind.

I wake to the sound of rain, hard on the roof and I lie and listen to it for a while. I need to go to the bathroom. It's just getting light and I can see the glow of white through the crack in the curtains as the sun gets closer to rising. I climb out of bed and wince while I do so because my ankle is still sore.

I hobble over to the door and peer out. Jack is asleep on the couch. I tip toe past him and make my way down the hall to the bathroom.

After finishing, I wash my hands and open the bathroom door to see Jack standing there waiting for me. "You alright?" he asks.

I nod with a smile. "I'm fine."

He bends and picks me up like a bride once again.

He holds me close and his eyes drop to my lips; my heart stops.