Page 3 of Winter's Surprise
They walked down the street, arms linked, as they pointed out different holiday decorations in store fronts. Jake was easy to talk to. He listened and commented appropriately as she told him about her parents and her sister in Florida.
His genuine interest in her life was refreshing and added to his smoldering good looks. The man belonged on a cover of GQ. He was the type of man to give women wet dreams. Sure, he had run her over, but on the short walk, he had shown his funny-and-sweet side.
“Do you come here often?” Jake asked as he opened the door for her.
Michelle looked back at him. “No, I prefer cooking at home,” she whispered.
Jake’s face froze. “What? Well shit, what are we doing here?” He made a show of pretending to escort her back outside. “No? Damn, can’t blame me for trying,” he teased. Grabbing her uninjured hand, he pulled her to the counter and stopped. “Do you have a usual whenever you do come here?”
Michelle told him and watched as he called their food order back toward the cook. While she loved staying at home and cooking for one, it seemed that Jake frequented the diner.
“Come on, let’s go—”
“Jake! How are you holding up?” Annie, Lukas’s wife, asked.
“Hey, Annie! One day at a time.”
Michelle watched the curious exchange and noticed how Jake avoided her eyes. What he couldn’t avoid was the sadness in his words.
Jake wrapped his hand around hers and took a step forward when Annie called out again. The smirk on the woman’s face made Michelle’s stomach clench with nerves.
“Yes, darling?” Jake asked Annie.
She signaled to them both to look up. Sure enough, above them by the counter hung mistletoe. A fresh one, not a fake plastic one. Michelle gasped with surprise and looked at the woman. Annie’s grin filled her face, and it took ten years off her.
“It is tradition,” Jake whispered.
Michelle looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Running women over, spraining their wrist, bringing them here, and kissing them under the mistletoe is tradition?”
Jake chuckled. “No, sweetheart. Kissing under the mistletoe. The rest was a blessing in disguise.”
The last part came out low and seductive. Michelle found herself surprised and aroused by his confession. She never would have called being knocked down a blessing. Hell, there still was time for this night to go to shit. Let’s face it, she was out to dinner with a complete stranger. He could be a serial killer for all she knew.
Look at what everyone said about Ted Bundy. He was a charming and intelligent man when he wasn’t killing women. Michelle bit her lower lip at the gruesome thought.
“Unless I read you wrong, and you’re taken or are only being polite?” Jake asked with a frown.
“No,” she blurted.
“No, you’re not taken, or no you won’t kiss me under the mistletoe?”
Michelle smiled. “I’m single.”
“Phew…” Jake exaggerated a long breath. “You sure know how to make a man squirm.”
She found herself giggling at him. “Do you do this a lot?”
Jake’s brows furrowed. “Do what a lot?”
“Make a girl wait to be kissed?” Michelle whispered.
The bold words slipped from her lips before she could have processed them. Her nerves were going haywire as she focused on his full lips.
Time slowed as Jake registered her words. “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey and the quiet chatter of the few patrons created the soundtrack to the moment.
“You sure?” Jake asked as he searched her eyes. “We’ve just met. I’m not expecting anything from you.”
When her day had started, she hadn’t anticipated anything different from her routine. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was that defining moment in her life where things would change.
