Let It Snow(44)

“Perfection is not always measured in wins.”

“That sounds like something a loser would say,” Jake teased.

Tessa gasped. “I am not a loser.”

“No”—Jake tilted his head and tugged the bill of her baseball cap down—“but your team is.”

“Psshh.” Tessa adjusted her hat then reached up pushed his chest hard with both hands. “Whatever.”

Instead of backing up from the force of her shove, instinctively Jake moved forward, wrapped his arms around her small frame, and pulled her towards him, closing the small space between them. It wasn’t until she sucked in a startled breath and looked up at him, her body pressed tightly against his, that he realized what he’d done.

Her slender fingers fanned out across his chest, and even through the several layers of clothes he wore, he could feel the touch. The connection. His body was filled with a deep ache as his heart beat erratically.

Her eyes widened as his hands flattened against her lower back and his thumbs traced the line along the hem of her jeans. It felt like every ounce of blood in his body rushed below his belt. He could almost hear it like a raging river in his ears. The only other sound he heard were the pants of his labored breathing.

Her sky blue eyes looked up at him the same way they had when she was seventeen. Filled with passion, lust, and—unless Jake was reading it wrong—love.

At that thought, his fingers gripped over her rounded backside and his thumbs slipped beneath the hem of her sweatshirt, grazing along the soft skin of her lower back. The moment they touched skin to skin, Tessa’s eyes closed and her full red lips parted as a whimper of need escaped her mouth. His grip tightened and he pulled her harder against him, his rock-hard erection pressing against her pelvis through the layers of their denim jeans.

Jake almost felt lightheaded with his fevered, hot desire. All he’d ever wanted, all he’d ever needed, was here in his arms.

His love. His passion. His heart. His soul. His Tessa.

“Tessa,” Jake rasped.

Her eyes opened and locked with his. He felt a tremor run through her body and it caused his rock-hard shaft to twitch in his pants. He wanted to feel her trembling body, naked, beneath him, while he was buried inside of her.

In the back of his mind, Jake knew that he might regret this. A small voice—that sounded a lot like his brother’s—was in his head saying that he needed to talk to her before anything happened. His protective instinct was kicking up in full force with warning signals, cautioning Jake this wasn’t a good idea.

But Jake didn’t give a shit about any of that. Looking into Tessa’s baby blue eyes, caressing the smooth skin on her lower back, his hands filled with the rounded globes of her perfect ass, Jake could only think about kissing her, making love to her.

His head lowered slowly and he felt her rising up on her tiptoes. Just as their lips brushed, a loud honk sounded in the air, startling Tessa and causing her to jump back from his arms.

Turning, they saw not one, not two, not three, but about a dozen cars pulling onto the street. It was led by Eric’s truck, which held not only Lily, but also Shadow, their golden retriever, between them. They were followed by what looked like the entire town of Hope Falls.

As the cars all found parking spots on the small street and people began getting out, Tessa looked up at him with a questioning look. He could see that she was worried about what he might be thinking. In that moment, Jake knew his brother was right. They needed to talk.

But this wasn’t the day. Not wanting her to think that he was upset about what had just happened—or almost happened—between them, Jake said dryly, “Thanks.”

Tessa’s eyes widened at his insincere tone.

“This bad boy is gonna be real fun to walk around with all day.” He motioned down to the large bulge his straining erection was causing in his jeans.

Tessa’s hand flew over her mouth as she giggled, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Jake shrugged. “It’s a permanent condition when you’re around.”

She stilled and searched his eyes. Even though he hadn’t meant it to be a serious statement, he could see that his words affected her and she was trying to see if he was serious.

Did she really not know how he felt about her? How could she not know?

“Hey, kiddos.” Sue Ann bustled around the car and just like that Jake’s boner deflated.

Well, at least that problem’s solved.

“I brought sandwiches for lunch. Where do you want me to have Ryan put them?”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Tessa exclaimed. Then she looked up at Jake, her hand gesturing inside the car. “I got donuts for everyone. Do you mind if we put the food in your kitchen and let people eat there? It’s a lot cleaner than Gran’s.”