Page 14 of His Christmas Gift

“No promises there gorgeous, no pressure on anything still, just you spending time with me.” She nodded reaching up to drop a kiss onto his cheek before moving around the desk to handle the items on it. “I’ll call you after my dinner tonight. If it were with anyone but Carter I’d take you with me, but he’s an absolute jerk and I won’t force you to deal with him.”

“I’d like that.” She glanced at her computer before looking back up at him with a grin. “Now go work, can’t slack off with the boss watching.”

“No, I can’t,” he teased dropping a kiss onto the top of her head before heading into his office.

He wasn’t able to tell her goodnight when she peeked her head around his door thanks to his conference call running long, but he made sure she knew he’d still call her later tonight. He’d talked to her daily since they met especially if he didn’t manage to see her that day, and he couldn’t begin to stop from talking to her right before bed now. He’d prefer to have her beside him for bed, but he’d wait until she knew he was serious about their relationship.

Jasper slid into the backseat of the car after dinner, taking out his phone to call her. He sat back against the seat as it went to voicemail, and he gave it a few minutes before trying her again. When the third call went to voicemail as well, he dialed the number for Victor, the man he’d hired on to keep watch over anyone, including Callum, attempting to go after Melissa, and he answered on the first ring.

“Jasper, I have eyes on Melissa, she’s fine. They’re not sure when they’ll be let back into the building still,” he stated shocking him entirely.

“What are you talking about? I was trying to reach Missy and it went to her voicemail three times.”

“The building and half of the street was evacuated. We’re not sure why just yet but there are city workers here, leading me to think it’s a gas leak,” Victor said, and Jasper slid the partition down to tell Keith to take him to Melissa.

“We’ll be there in fifteen,” Jasper told him. “Make sure no one bothers her even if it means alerting her to your presence.”

“I will,” the man replied and the entire way there, Jasper worried about her being outside in the cold. There were very few places in her neighborhood to sit inside and if it were a gas leak, it could be hours before it was fixed.

“I’ll pull in here that way we can get back out again,” Keith said stopping a couple blocks from her apartment.

“Thank you,” Jasper said as he moved quickly down the blocks towards her street.

He spied Victor on the other side of the road and breathed easier knowing he wouldn’t have stayed that far away if he hadn’t been certain she was safe. She wasn’t far from a police officer, and he smiled, glad that she was wise enough to protect herself even mildly in a situation such as this.

“Missy,” he said slipping under the tape stretched across the street.

“You can’t go in there…” a city worker shouted drawing attention his way.

“Like hell I can’t,” he countered moving to Melissa who shivered slightly even in her jacket. It wasn’t heavy enough when compared to the outfit she wore beneath it. He slid his coat off not caring about the bite from the wind, as long as she was warm, then he’d be fine.

“Jasper, how did…” Melissa stopped as the body heat from the coat wrapped around her making her smile slightly. It grew as he pulled her into a strong hug, holding her to his chest as his gloved hand slipped up to brush the hair from her cheek.

“I tried calling you three times. You didn’t answer and I wasn’t about to go home without knowing why,” he said as the police officer closest to them chuckled waving the city worker off from his complaint.

“I must have left my phone upstairs when the alarm went off.” She wrapped her arms around his waist to hold onto him better.

“Alarm? Was there a fire somewhere?” he asked spotting the trucks down the block.

“I don’t know what it is. I didn’t see any smoke anywhere.” She was glad to have him there with her. It soothed the part of her that was still worried despite staying near the police officer after the evacuation.

“What is going on?” Jasper asked the officer, the look he shot the man had him answering with the truth.

“Gas main break, the alarm went off due to CO2emissions, until they find where the break occurred, they can’t turn the gas back onto the street. Might be a bit so if there’s somewhere warm you have to stay, I’d suggest finding it,” the man said with a glance at Melissa’s lightweight pants and slip-on shoes.

“You can come home with me, I don’t want you standing outside in this weather,” Jasper said watching her to see how she would react to the offer. “I didn’t like you staying here from the moment we met, let alone now.”

“For tonight I suppose,” Melissa replied making him smile as his head dipped down to hers, stealing her lips in a soft kiss that made her heart flutter.

“Keith has the car just down a couple blocks, we couldn’t get closer with the traffic backed up.” He tucked her into his side making it flutter more. “Will someone let us know when it’s safe to go back into the building?” he added to the officer still watching them with interest.

“Check with city works in the morning, they’ll know,” the man told them. “Which building were you in, miss?”

“Bartlet,” she said, and he gave them a nod.

“Already marked cleared, have a good evening miss, stay warm,” he said as Jasper turned to move them out of the area.

“Thank you,” she replied staying next to Jasper on the walk to the car. The heat inside warmed her cold toes finally and she sighed snuggling down into the seat with him.

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