The Kiss Before Midnight: A Christmas Romance. Sophie Pembroke
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“So, we’ll just go back to being… friends.”
“Yeah. Friends.” With the memory of how close he’d come to stripping off every inch of her clothing still fresh – not to mention how much he still wanted to do so – he really wasn’t going anywhere near ‘I’m like your brother.’
“Who just happened to, well—”
“Yeah. That.” Jake cut her off. If he heard her say the words there was no way he’d be able to keep up with the resisting.
“Okay then,” Molly said, and Jake nodded.
Which meant the conversation should be over. They’d decided everything they needed to, agreed to put things behind them. So why were they still in the car park? Why were her eyes still so dark in the light of the falling snow? Why were these car seats so damn close?
“Jake…”
She didn’t need to say any more. He could read every iota of longing in her eyes. Could she see it in his? Saying the words was one thing, but sticking by them? A whole different proposition.
He was going to tell her no. Really he was.
Except a banging on the window interrupted him.
“Hey, you two! Excellent timing!” As the snow slipped down the windscreen, Tim’s beaming face appeared; he was clearly plastered and full of Christmas spirit. “Saved me a walk home!”
“Guess we’re not going to the pub, then,” Jake muttered, as he opened the car door. Which was a shame, because he could really, really use a drink around now.
-
Molly watched Tim and Jake undertake a snowy man hug, before her brother stumbled into the back of the car, tipping almost entirely sideways as he grinned at her.
“Moll! You made it! At least I’ll have one sister home for Christmas this year.”
“Dory will be here too,” Molly pointed out, only half paying attention. Jake had settled back into the driver’s seat, and she could smell his aftershave. It make her want to lick down the line of his throat, and she really couldn’t be having those thoughts in the presence of her brother, however drunk and oblivious he was.
“Not if her plane gets snowed in and can’t land.” Tim sprawled across the backseat as Jake started up the engine again. “Then it’ll just be the three of us and Mum and Dad.”
“More mince pies for me, then,” Jake said, not even glancing over at Molly. She tried not to feel offended by that.
He’d been about to kiss her, she was sure of it. Or, in honesty, she’d have totally kissed him. One way or another, kissing had been about to happen.
And now it wasn’t.
“She’ll get here,” Molly said, staring out at the snow. “You know Dory. She won’t let a bit of weather get her down.” After all, this was perfect Dory they were talking about. The over achieving big sister who had departed for London the moment she graduated from university and landed the sort of job mum could boast about. Then, not satisfied with that, she’d moved to New York for her dream job and dream fiancé. And then – then! The ultimate insult to less successful younger siblings – she’d lost it all, lied to her family for months, and still somehow managed to return home for Christmas last year with a rich, gorgeous, besotted boyfriend and the promise of an even better job lined up.
It really, really wasn’t fair.
Tim had almost dozed off in the backseat by the time Jake pulled into the driveway of her parents’ house. Her dad’s cab was still missing, but the lights were on in the kitchen and lounge, which meant that mum had to be home. Philippa Mackenzie was obsessive about turning everything off before she left the house – even unplugging small appliances – in case of fire. The Christmas tree lights in the front window wouldn’t be twinkling if she wasn’t there.
“Are you ready?” she murmured to Jake as the car stopped. She wasn’t even really sure what she meant by that – but he seemed to know. His face, so smooth and expressionless on the drive from the pub, suddenly tightened, and the nod he gave her was too sharp, too precise.
Was this hard for him too? Not really knowing where they stood? It seemed to be.
That made Molly feel ever so slightly better about the whole thing.
She got out of the car first, treading carefully on the snow to get to the boot and pull out her case. The last thing she needed was Jake being chivalrous and carrying it for her – the chances were that, the way she felt tonight, it would send her hormones into overdrive and she’d throw herself at him right there and then. Which would mean her brother and probably her mum would witness her humiliation when her advances were knocked back.
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