Christmas Ever After (Puffin Island 3)

His response to that was to hold out his hand to Lizzy.

“Now?” She hissed the word in a theatrical whisper, and when he nodded she scrambled out from under the tree carrying a large parcel. She handed it solemnly to Alec, who in turn handed it to Sky. “Merry Christmas.”

Emily looked puzzled. “I thought we agreed to do presents after lunch?”

“This isn’t a Christmas present.” Alec had his eyes on Skylar. “Open it.”

Wondering why he was giving her a gift now, and why Lizzy was involved, Sky slid her finger under the tape and opened the present. It was soft and bulky and the paper fell away to reveal a down jacket in a pretty shade of blue.

“Oh. It’s great. I love it. Thank you. It will be useful for Maine winters, especially if I can’t borrow yours.”

“You won’t be wearing it in Maine.” He was talking just to her, as if no one else was in the room. And no one said anything. No one moved. “You said there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. I hope you still think that when you’re shivering with me in a tent in Antarctica.”

Her brain was having trouble making sense of what he was saying. “Why would I be shivering with you in a tent?”

“Because you’re coming with me. At least, I hope you are. You said you wanted adventure. I’m offering you adventure. It’s only for a few weeks, but after that I’m going to Iceland with a film crew to make a documentary on the Vikings. If it fits with your own plans, I hope you’ll come with me there, too. Jewelry was important to the Vikings. I think you’d be interested.”

Antarctica? Iceland?

“You want me to come with you?” Her head was full of questions, but she was afraid to ask any of them in case she humiliated herself more than she already had. “But you do these things by yourself. You don’t like feeling trapped or restricted.”

“I never feel restricted with you, and if I was ever trapped, I hope you’d be there with me. In fact I’m adding you to my list of essential items to have with me next time there’s a storm warning.”

To her acute embarrassment she felt her eyes fill. “Alec—”

“You said that hearing that phone call scared the crap out of me, and it did. But not because I heard you say you loved me. I already knew that. I knew you loved me, but I didn’t trust myself not to hurt you. I didn’t trust myself to be able to make you happy. After everything that has happene with your parents and then Richard, you didn’t need another person crushing your dreams. And when it comes to love, you have big dreams, Sky. I’d convinced myself that the best way of helping you to be happy was to stay away. So when you said you were leaving me, I didn’t stop you even though watching you leave was the most painful thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Alec—”

“I proved to myself that day that I’m not as selfish as I thought, because if I was I would have stopped you going. Letting you walk out of that door almost killed me.” He took a deep breath. “And then I heard that phone call. I heard you tell your friends that being with me was the happiest time of your life. I heard you tell them that I made you happy and those were, without doubt, the best words I’d ever heard. The second best was hearing you say you were coming back for Christmas Day.”

“You went dashing out of the house,” Brittany muttered and Alec nodded, his gaze still fixed on Sky.

“Because the shops were only open for a short time. I needed to do something to convince you that you aren’t the only one with strong feelings. Words aren’t enough, we both know that.”

From him, words would have been enough.

“You have strong feelings?” She didn’t dare believe it. She didn’t dare. “How strong?”

He strode toward her and her eyes widened as she saw the look in his eyes.

“Oh, Alec—”

He kissed her.

His mouth was warm and sure and he kissed her as if she were as essential to him as breathing. She could feel the strength of him, the hard power of his body as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close.

They’d shared hundreds of kisses over the past few weeks, but this one felt different and she couldn’t work out why. Her brain tried to decipher the signals, to understand, but it was like reaching up to touch a cloud. There was nothing she could grab.

Through the mists of her brain she heard Lizzy giggle and Brittany clear her throat.

Finally, Alec eased her away from him.

“Put the jacket on, sweetheart.” His voice was husky and she was shaking so much she dropped it twice.

She still wanted to know why the kiss felt different.

“Sorry. I feel like jelly.”