Page 36 of Getting Wrapped Up

He gave her a wry smile. “I’ll tell you about it, but not until we’re out cutting down a tree and decorating. You’ll be more forgiving of me then.”

She studied his face. There was something there, something hopeful, and something that looked like…fear. He was afraid that he could tell her something that would make her not want to be with him?

That should probably freak her out.

But it didn’t. Because he was worried about it. A true jerk, someone she couldn’t trust, wouldn’t care. And that was what she saw in his eyes. He cared. About what she thought and felt about him.

Besides, this was Joe’s brother.

“Okay,” she agreed. “Let’s go.”

He gave her a relieved grin and turned into the house, pulling her with him by the hand. “I’ll get dressed.”

“Okay.” She laughed. Talk about relieved. So he wasn’t the guy she was supposed to be spending this Christmas with. He was the guy she wanted to spend Christmas with.

He was dressed and at the door twenty minutes later.

Kate was through her third cup of coffee. And her sixth cookie. She quickly brushed the crumbs from her mouth and the front of her shirt while surreptitiously rearranging the cookies on the tray so it wasn’t quite so obvious she’d eaten half a dozen, then she turned to face him.

“Ready?”

He looked excited. And sexy.

His hair was still wet, even blacker than when it was dry. He hadn’t taken time to shave so his jaw was sexily scruffy. He was dressed in blue jeans and a blue T-shirt that made his eyes glow even brighter blue.

Damn.

“Don’t forget the candy canes,” she said as she made a beeline for the living room where her coat and gloves and purse were on a chair near the front door.

He grabbed her hand as she passed. He pulled her in and dipped her back, kissing her hot and sweet before setting her back on her feet and grinning. “I dreamed about candy canes last night.”

“Maybe the tree can wait.”

He laughed. “No way. If we’re going to get to know one another, I’m going to need all the brownie points I can get.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Shameful.”

“Shameful? Or shameless?”

He tipped his head. “A lot of both.”

“Sounds like fun stories.”

“Stories that lead to a car accident, a concussion and me here in Sapphire Falls changing my life.”

A car accident and concussion? She lifted a hand to his head. “Are you okay?”

“I’m getting better every second I’m with you.” He took her hand and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm.

She felt tingles shoot through her body, but she still asked, “Is this the result of the concussion?”

He shrugged. “If it is, I never want to get over it.”

She smiled and then frowned. “Wait, you mean this might actually all be a product of a brain injury?”

He kept hold her hand when she tried to pull away. “It’s not a brain injury. It’s a concussion.”

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