Let It Snow(6)

“Oh,” Eric said as understanding dawned on his face.

“Ew gross,” Courtney said with disdain as she somehow managed to plaster herself even closer to Jake. “She did ask me where the bathroom was when she came in. She looked panicked,”

“Okay, soooo…” Tessa’s plump lips made a perfect O shape and Jake’s body immediately took notice. His gut clenched and his pants were growing tighter by the second.

Damn, he’d missed her mouth.

Seemingly unaware of his body’s response to her, she pursed her lips together and her brows lifted as she rocked back on her heels then onto the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together before she pointed towards the door.

“I’m gonna go.”

He watched the sway of her hips as she navigated through the crowded bar. Her damp jeans had molded to her perfect ass. They didn’t just showcase it, they advertised it. His palms tingled with desire to fill his hands with her firm backside. Thirteen years had not done anything to lessen his insatiable hunger for her.

The next thing Jake knew, his feet were moving quickly in her direction. He was vaguely aware of Courtney protesting his leaving but he ignored it.

“Tessa,” Jake spoke just as she reached the door.

She froze, and he wasn’t sure if she was going to turn around or just keep going. After several beats, she slowly turned her head and looked up at him.

When their eyes met, he realized he had no idea what he wanted to say to her. So many questions were clogging up his brain that he couldn’t think straight. So he went with the first one he could clearly make out.

“Where’s your jacket?”

“What?” she looked at him like he had just grown another head.

He nodded his head down towards her wet clothing.

“Oh,” she said, gesturing outside, “it’s in the car.”

He continued staring at her, mainly because he just couldn’t make himself look away.

Perhaps mistaking his silence for judgment, she explained in a defensive tone, “What? I really had to go.”

Jake pulled one arm out of his jacket.

As soon as she saw what he was doing, her hands flew up in protest. “No, Jake, I’m fine. Really. My car is in the first row.”

Ignoring her, he took it off and wrapped it around her small frame. He was careful not to touch her as he placed the coat around her shoulders.

“Seriously, I don’t need this. I have a jacket in the car,” she protested as she tried to shrug it off and move towards the door.

“Take the coat.” His authoritative tone must have taken her by surprise because she stopped, looked back up at him, and then slowly slid her arms through the sleeves.

Jake’s heart clenched as he looked down at her standing in front of him, drowning in his jacket, her purple toenails peeking out beneath her jeans. She looked so small and vulnerable. So many emotions flooded his system that he felt himself begin to shake from the power of it. Jake didn’t shake. Not on the job and definitely not in his personal life.

Even under his large down jacket he could see her chest moving up and down with her shallow breaths, her clear blue eyes brimming with emotion. “Jake,” she whispered hoarsely. His name sounded so good on her perfect lips. Too good. It made him begin to forget the last thirteen years.

That couldn’t happen.

“Sue Ann’s waiting for you,” he snapped harshly as he reached above her and pushed open the door.

She flinched, either from the cold air that gushed in or the tone of his voice, but she quickly recovered. Her jaw tensed and she nodded her head once before turning and rushing to her car.

He stepped outside, drawn to her like a magnet, and watched as she glided across the gravel in her sandals. A small smile tugged at Jake’s mouth. It looked more like she was ice skating than walking. Just as she slid into her car, Eric stepped outside.

“So Tessa’s back,” his brother said, stating the obvious.

“Yep.” Jake almost felt like the last five minutes had been a dream, and he still wasn’t sure if it was a nightmare.

“And she has your coat.” Eric again had pointed out a fact that Jake was well aware of.

Yep. Tessa was back. And she had his coat.





Chapter Three




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Tessa was slipping and sliding across the parking lot—Ice Capades style!—as fast as she could. She had a lump in her throat so big she couldn’t swallow. Her chest felt like a two-ton elephant was sitting on it and her stomach was so upset she thought that there was a very real possibility that she would actually throw up before she made it to her car.

Of course she’d known that if Jake still lived here she would inevitably run into him. In a town the size of Hope Falls, it was bound to happen. But why, why, did it have to be the second she’d crossed the city limits while she looked like a drowned rat and had just driven for twelve hours straight with an audience of not only his brother but his girlfriend too?!