Page 53 of The Mistletoe Trap
His heart threw itself at her mercy, and then he was the one who was about to drop to his knees and beg her not to stop. Her eyebrows arched the tiniest fraction, and he placed his hand on her hip to steady himself.
Not that he felt anything close to steady.
“Gav—”
A loud rap of knuckles broke the spell, and they jumped apart as the door swung open. “Oh, good,” Nikita said, her labored breaths suggesting she’d been sprinting around the house in a mad rush. “You two are ready to go.”
“Almost,” Gavin replied, and hopefully his rasp didn’t give away the desire laying waste to his insides.
“Wow, Julie, you look amazing.” She strode farther into the room and bumped her shoulder into his. “Doesn’t she, Gavin?”
This wasn’t about his sister or how she put her nose in his business. Obviously, Julie needed to hear it and, since he’d already admitted his attraction to her, it made it safer to flash her a smile, and say, “Absolutely. I’m completely captivated—which is the opposite of bored, in case you didn’t know.”
That dimple in her right cheek was seriously going to kill him. Her red lips were like the line of an exclamation point, and that indention was the accent. “Aw, thanks guys. Speaking of amazing, that white and gold dress is fire, Nik. With those pin curls, the bright red lipstick, and matching nails, purse, and heels, you look like a festive, pinup girl.”
Nikita completed a bow, and Mom called that it was time to go.
“Did you grab your coat?” Gavin asked Jules. While it would be a shame to cover up a single inch of her skin or that dress, she’d freeze without one.
“Thank you for reminding me. Your mom is clearly ready to go, and I don’t want to make us late by having to sprint upstairs in heels while in a hurry—that usually ends with me tripping.” She snagged her black wool peacoat off the nearby chair and draped it over her arm. Then she secured her hand in the crook of his elbow.
They headed downstairs and, as they were about to exit the house, Jules tugged him to a stop.
She readjusted his collar, smoothed her hand down his tie, and gave the end a tug. “You look rather dashing yourself, by the way.” She moved her lips dangerously close to his ear, reigniting the fire that’d blazed to life the night they’d decorated cookies. “And I’m definitely the opposite of bored whenever we’re together.”
Chapter Nineteen
The pageant had been its usual charming self. Nearly every resident in town showed, the kids were gratuitously blushed and hair sprayed, not to mention adorable and fun to watch. One of the little girls sang three times as loud as anyone else, either oblivious or unconcerned that she was off-key.
An angel fed Herod his lines, which made for an interesting twist where the heavenly messenger was seemingly on the wrong side. Mary also dropped baby Jesus a couple times, but luckily, he was played by a plastic doll.
As for the unusual? Near the end of the second act, Gavin reached over his armrest and slipped his fingers between hers. While Julie did her best to play it cool, internal squeeing was absolutely occurring.
Does he not care whether anyone sees us holding hands?Not that holding hands necessarily signaled anything more than friendship. The whorl of heat unfurling in her gut, however, spoke volumes.
As the entire cast bowed in their best approximation of unison, the crowd applauded. Clusters of people popped to their feet, setting off a wave. Never in the history of the pageant had the production received anything less than a standing ovation, and not only because it felt wrong not to cheer for the son of God and all his angels.
Julie secured her hand in the crook of Gavin’s elbow and spoke over the roar of the audience. “I know I say this every year, but that was for surefor surethe best pageant yet.”
Gavin did a double take in her direction, as if he’d forgotten how she looked, and she internally fist-bumped herself for splurging on the dress. Originally, she’d planned to wear it to make the guy she was having a fling with drool. If it affected the guy next to her the same way, though, even better.
As they made their way out of the theater, Gavin pressed his hand to her lower back, each one of his fingertips radiating heat. Getting through the crowd was a slow process. Not only did they know everyone, the entire town wanted information on their football star’s shoulder and what he thought their odds were in the playoffs. Oh, and did he think the Mustangs could seriously go from last in the league to first?
“I never say die,” Gavin responded each time, “but I’m also too superstitious to get too cocky.”
The overhead lights reflected in the shiny bald spot atop the mayor’s head as he jockeyed his way into front and center. “But you’d bet on the Mustangs heading to the Super Bowl.” Mayor Foster added an over-the-top wink that made her reconsider winking as a flirty move. Others might be able to pull it off, but she and the mayor definitely didn’t belong to that group.
At long last, they made it to the exit.
Julie gripped Gavin’s injured shoulder and dug her thumb into the front of it, gently rubbing at the knotted muscles. “How you holding up?”
Darlene popped her head between both of theirs. Before Julie could fully recover from the sudden intrusion, Mom squished her way into the bubble, the two of them forming a maternal totem pole. “Who’s ready for a carriage ride through town to marvel at the lights?”
While Julie loved checking out the various Christmas decorations, she preferred to do so in a warm car with the heater blasting, not the slower horse-drawn kind. “I worry about Gavin’s shoulder.”
A mischievous grin accompanied his sidelong glance. “I’m sure your willingness to jet early has nothing to do with the frigid temperature.”
Before Julie could offer a rebuttal about being perfectly capable of multitasking the things about the ride that concerned her, Mom whipped out her dressy gloves with the fleece lining. “We reserved a sleigh just for you two, since you’re both grown adults who need your space.”
