Christmas Nights(26)

A week had passed since Travis had spent the night with her with Stella’s teasing blessing. In the time since, Janie discovered herself craving every minute of time with him. If she let herself, she might admit she was falling for him. Hard. He hadn’t been with her every night, but roughly every other night. She could only imagine how ridiculous she might be if she wasn’t a busy single mother. Life didn’t allow her to throw everything to the wayside and dive recklessly into a relationship. That detail didn’t change the fact that a rather large part of her heart wished she could.

Even more startling was the fact this was happening against the backdrop of Randy’s inglorious return to Diamond Creek. A police officer getting assaulted was news anywhere, but it was serious news in Diamond Creek. Randy’s bad history around town didn’t help matters. As Janie had worried, her mother was inundated with friends and acquaintances asking her how she was doing, if she heard what happened and so on. The last time Randy had made the news in Diamond Creek, it had been for his assault against Janie.

With the buzz going on around Randy, Janie was almost relieved to be so absorbed in Travis. Perhaps if her mother hadn’t seemed as rock solid as she did, Janie might’ve been distracted. Time passed in a blink and next thing Janie knew, Thanksgiving was upon them. Travis was going to Anchorage for the day and night to see his family. Janie hadn’t been surprised by his plans, yet a part of her wanted him to be able to share the day with her and her family.

Late in the afternoon before Thanksgiving, she paused in the middle of rolling dough for pies, startled to realize she’d slipped right into a place she’d promised herself she’d never go. In a short span of time, Travis had become a part of her life in more ways than one. It wasn’t just the time he spent with her, but the amount of space he took in her heart, mind and body when he wasn’t around. In many ways, she could say she was making up for lost time when it came to their searing and body melting sexual encounters. Dear God, the man was uniquely endowed with the ability to make her completely lose her mind. As a woman who’d thought she missed the boat when it came to good sex, Travis was more than making up for her short list of underwhelming encounters before.

Yet, this was what she didn’t want. This lingering wish he’d be here for the holiday. This fuzzy, vague hope for a future with him. She didn’t think Travis would turn into someone like Randy, but she didn’t know if he was falling for her the way she was for him. It was hard to imagine he was. He was too together to get this ridiculous. With a shake, Janie started moving the rolling pin again. She’d find a way to get her wits about her. Whatever happened, she didn’t want to make a fool of herself over any man.



Travis drove along the highway, heading south from Anchorage to Diamond Creek. Thanksgiving had been fine, yet he’d missed Janie the whole time. He usually spent the holiday with his parents and a few other relatives in Anchorage. It was always a relaxing, comfortable gathering. Yet, Janie’s absence had rung like a bell for him. The only factor holding him back from returning a day early had been a nasty storm through the mountain pass. The Kenai Peninsula, where Diamond Creek was situated roughly halfway down, was south of Anchorage with a mountain range between Anchorage and the peninsula. Travis was generally unbothered by driving through snowstorms, as most Alaskans had to be to get anything done in the winter, however he wasn’t stupid. Trying to get through the pass in the snowstorm yesterday evening would’ve been risky and plain dumb, so he’d stuck to his original plan to return to Diamond Creek the day after Thanksgiving.

As such, he was now damn impatient to get there. He’d texted Janie about stopping by this evening and had yet to hear back. He crested a hill south of Kenai and picked up his speed slightly. The highway that wound its way south on the Kenai Peninsula, Sterling Highway, offered nothing but spectacular views. Cook Inlet, the inlet fed by the Pacific Ocean, was visible almost the entire drive south. Gorgeous vistas of the ocean waters set against the backdrop of the mountains on the far side peeked in and out of view. By the time Travis crested the hill into Diamond Creek, the sun was setting. In Alaska in late November, that meant it was only late afternoon. Diamond Creek came into view where it was nestled into the foothills of the mountains against a blaze of color in the sky—a swirl of pink, red and lavender.

Travis swung by his apartment to drop off his bag, checking his phone once he was in the kitchen. Janie had finally replied to his text, saying it was ‘fine’ for him to stop by. He raced through a shower to wash the drive off of him and headed over to her house. Stella answered the kitchen door with a wide smile.

“Hey Travis! Come on in. Mom’s upstairs changing. She just taught me how to change a flat tire,” Stella offered by way of greeting.

Travis returned her grin and followed her inside. Stella was in her usual attire, which landed somewhere between goth and outdoorsy. At the moment, she wore black leggings with a denim skirt over them and a large flannel button-down thrown over a t-shirt. A pair of beat up black leather boots completed her ensemble. As he reached the counter, he suddenly realized her cast was off. “Hey, no cast!”

Stella spun around, another smile splitting her face. “I know! This morning Mom took me in for the first follow up check. Dr. Marshall said I’m all set. I’m supposed to be careful for the next six weeks. No sledding or anything like that. I’m just so happy I won’t have to clunk around in my cast for recitals.”

Travis snagged a stool by the counter across from Stella. “When is your first recital?”

“Tomorrow. Are you coming?”

“As long as it’s okay with your mom.”

“As long as what’s okay?” Janie asked.

The mere sound of her voice sent a jolt of lust and longing through him. Holy hell. Two days away from her, and he felt like he was lost in the desert, parched for thirst. She was the water he needed. With a mental shake and the clear awareness that Stella was sitting right there as their witness, he spun on his stool to look in Janie’s direction. His heart gave a hard thump at the sight of her. Her dark hair, so often tied up and out of the way, fell in damp waves around her shoulders. Her porcelain skin was slightly flushed and her eyes were bright. Lust lashed him like a whip. She elicited an intense combination of feelings—raw lust mixed with an emotional need he’d never experienced. He forced himself to stay where he was. He had to recall what she’d just said. Oh right, Janie’s recital.

“Stella wants to know if I’m coming to her recital tomorrow.” His voice came out huskier than he intended. He forced himself to breathe slowly in a weak effort to get his body under control.

Janie had paused at the bottom of the stairs. She caught his eyes, and he lost his breath again. The air between them came alive, and she was all the way across the room. For a flash, he sensed a guardedness to her, but the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. She nodded, a smile curling the corners of her mouth—her delectable, eminently kissable mouth. “Of course! I go to all of them. There’s one every week between now and Christmas.”

“And two during Christmas week. I think you should come to all of them and bring us pizza after,” Stella added with a sly grin.

Travis chuckled in return. He was unaccountably pleased Stella was comfortable enough to joke with him. If he meant to be a part of Janie’s life, that included Stella, so he could only hope she’d accept his involvement. Joking around over pizza didn’t mean much, but it was something.

Janie walked across the kitchen and opened the oven. As she pulled out a casserole pan of something that smelled amazing, she replied. “You can come to as many as you’d like, but don’t let Stella guilt you into buying pizza for them.”

Travis glanced to Stella who looked unabashed. “It can’t hurt to suggest, right?”

He shook his head with a laugh. “Definitely not. Anyway, I’ll be there tomorrow night, and I might get pizza for afterwards.”

Janie removed the foil from the casserole pan and got plates out of the cabinet above. “Tonight it’s lasagna. Grab a plate,” she said with a wave for them to come over.

A few hours later, Travis leaned his head back on the couch with a sigh. He was getting rather comfortable with evenings here. He hadn’t spent tons of time around teenagers, yet he found Stella pretty easy to be around. He had enough sense to realize she was likely on her better behavior around him, but she was sly and funny and also content to do her own thing, usually finishing her homework before heading off to her room to play video games and text with friends. Janie had checked on her a few minutes earlier to make sure lights were out.

The television news rumbled in the background and the fire was slowly dying out in the fireplace. Janie was sorting through spelling homework at the moment. Her hair fell forward, catching glints of light from the fire. Without thinking, he let his arm slide off the back of the couch to sift through her hair, brushing it away from her neck and stroking his thumb along the soft skin there.

Her breath hitched and she glanced sideways at him. The air sizzled to life between them. Her eyes locked with his as she slowly angled toward him. The papers in her hand fell to her lap and slipped to the floor in a rustle. She spun to face him, straddling his lap and instantly sending the low hum of need inside into an inferno. He was rock-hard and burning for her the moment she settled her hips down. He’d come to love the way she was—a mix of hesitant and bold. Once any initial shyness wore off, she was abandoned in every kiss and every touch. In a flash, her lips were against his, her hands gripping his hair. He poured himself into their kiss, delving deeply into her hot, sweet mouth while his hands traced her curves. She rocked her hips against him, sending surge upon surge of need scoring through him.