The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 2)

For the longest time, he just looked at it, and then his body shuddered as his arms swept around her. He pulled her in close, his mouth near her ear as she slipped onto his lap and just held him. His grip was tight, his pain palpable. But eventually she felt him relax, and a shiver rolled over her skin when he spoke.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she said softly, stroking his hair. She waited a second and then squirmed out of his arms, smiling when she caught sight of the Rudolph boxers she hadn’t noticed the night before.

Jake smiled and shrugged. “My mom.”

Her eyebrow slanted at a devilish angle. “So have you been a good boy for Santa?”

“I’m a bad boy, remember?”

Raine nodded, smiling saucily as she reached for the belt that kept her robe closed. “Good. Santa’s helper loves bad boys.”

She let the robe fall to her feet.

“Yes, good thing,” he managed to get out before lunging forward and pulling her back onto his lap.

“We have three hours before your parents expect us for Christmas dinner,” she said in between kisses as his hands skimmed her back and landed on her butt.

“Three hours? Babe, that gives us enough time to fool around and eat some French toast.”

She straddled him and reached for the Rudolph boxers. “Good to know,” she whispered and then proceeded to spend exactly two hours and forty-five minutes showing Jake Edwards exactly how much she loved her bad boy.

***

They arrived at Marnie and Steven’s laden with several bags of gifts. And Jake hadn’t been wholly honest. He’d done his share of shopping when he was in Boston, which Lily had been more than happy to help him with.

He settled against the wall a few feet from the massive Christmas tree in his parents’ family room. His long legs were spread out and Raine was between them, leaning back on him as they watched Lily struggle with the ties on one of the last unopened presents. Gibson rolled onto his belly at her feet, and when she finally freed the package and pulled out an ice-blue silk scarf, she barely got it away from his lunging puppy teeth.

“Wow, this is lovely.” Lily smiled, her eyes on Raine.

“I’m glad you like it. It…” The two women stared at each other for several seconds. “It matches your eyes.”

Lily folded the scarf and was silent. Jake knew she didn’t do real well with this kind of stuff, so he cleared his throat, aware that his parents watched from their perch on the sofa.

“There’s one more.”

Lily was closest to the tree and reached for the pale peach-colored bag tucked away near the base.

“It’s for Raine.”

Raine squealed like a kid and Jake’s heart caught, suddenly not sure if he’d done the right thing. Shit. He glanced at Lily helplessly. What the hell had he been thinking?

But Lily wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes and those of his parents were on Raine as she dove into the bag like a small child.

Her hair swung around her face in a controlled yet mad mess, the waves sexy as they spilled across her cheek. Her skin was flushed, her eyes sparkled, and he knew that if they were alone, he’d have had her out of the jeans and simple red blouse she wore in less than a minute.

His heart began to beat harder, and Jake sat up. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, and he didn’t realize his fists were clenched so tightly until she glanced up at him.

He stared into her midnight-blue eyes and slowly things loosened. His hands. His chest. His heart.

In her palm was a small box. A small box that changed everything.

Raine slowly made her way back to him. He was aware of the audience watching, but to Jake, in this moment, it felt as if there were only Raine.

She slid along his thighs until she straddled him, her eyes huge and shiny as if there were unshed tears hanging in the corners.

For the longest time he just stared at her, drinking in every detail of her face and remembering what it had felt like to hold her the night before. To cuddle her in the morning. To share breakfast and jokes and the shower.