Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(45)

There might be a bar open somewhere, maybe, full of people without families, but she just didn’t have the heart to go look for it. She could manage one night, anyway. Not like she hadn’t done it before.

She padded across the loft in fuzzy socks to get more eggnog. Halfway there, her buzzer sounded, and Jordan glanced at the clock in surprise. Almost midnight.

The buzzer again.

She shrugged. “What the hell. Might as well see who it is. Probably just some curious drunk.” She hit the button. “We gave at the office.”

“Now, darlin’, would that be any way to talk to a man bearing gifts?”

Will. “I’m not speaking to you. Go away.” Where had he been while she’d been on pins and needles to know what he thought of her present? Giving him a window had been a stupid idea—hadn’t she known that? “Why are you here at this hour?”

“Santa Claus has much territory to cover. I just finished sneaking off Marly’s roof.”

“You played Santa Claus for them?”

“I’m thinking that up there where you’re warm is a better place to have this discussion, sweetheart. That is, unless you have company.”

“I should say yes.”

“Open up, sweetheart.”

“Don’t call me sweetheart.” But she hit the buzzer. “You better mean that about gifts.”

“Now, would Santa be coming to such a good girl empty-handed?”

His cheer made her grind her teeth—but even Will was a welcome distraction.

She heard his footsteps on the stairs and yanked the door open. “Where have you been? Why haven’t—” She burst out laughing.

The transformation was amazing. His powerful frame made an impressive Santa, but he looked much plumper than normal. Friendly blue eyes gleamed at her above a snowy-white beard, and he brandished a large package. “Lovely to see you smiling, even at my expense.”

Jordan stepped back and let him inside. “What’s padding you? You’re not that big.”

Will waggled his fake white eyebrows at her. “So nice that you’ve been paying attention. And here I was thinking you only noticed my handiwork.”

She moved closer, and he stepped away. “Oh, no. No prodding and poking at St. Nick. Inappropriate behavior, Ms. Parrish. Only good girls receive gifts.”

His good humor was infectious. For the first time in nearly a week, Jordan’s heart lifted. “All right, spoil-sport. So what’s in the package?”

“Perhaps some child is waiting for this one.”

“Uh-uh. You’re too honorable. You’d never wave a package under my nose and then take it away. Now give.”

“Now give,” he echoed. “A cheeky bit of baggage you are. It’s not Christmas morning. This will be going under the tree.” He looked around the room, then back at her. “No tree?”

“A waste of resources.” She jutted her chin.

“Not even artificial?”

One string of lights haphazardly draped over the bookcase, and a couple of poinsettias. For the first time, she saw how sterile this must look, especially if he’d just been at Marly’s.

“Never mind that. Perhaps you’d be sharing a little of that eggnog with Santa?”

Jordan glanced back at him, peering closely for any sign of pity. If it was pity, he’d be back out the door before he could blink.

He smiled and sat down on her big overstuffed chair, setting the package to one side and patting his lap. “On second thought, why don’t you come sit here, young lady, and tell me what you want Santa to bring you?”

“Santa as a dirty old man. Now, that’s more my style.”

Will shook his head, his gaze never leaving hers. “No, Jordan. It isn’t. Now, come here and let me give you your present.” He held out a hand in welcome.

She felt suddenly shy. “No eggnog first?”

“Not yet. I’m halfway to melting in this outfit.”

More eager than she wanted to admit, Jordan approached. She had no idea what could be in the box, but she couldn’t resist the unexpected treat. “But I don’t have a present for you.”

“A little elf delivered one to my back door.”

“That was a housewarming gift. Did you—never mind.” If he hated it she didn’t want to know.

His gloved hand turned her face to him. “’Tis a beautiful window, Jordan. Perfect.”

“So why—” She clamped her mouth shut.

“I needed to think,” he said. “And I had something to finish. This is not the night to argue, sweet. This night all the world brims with love. We’ll speak more of the window, but for now, end the debate and let me see your face when you open this.”

At that moment, the child inside her that Jordan had long thought dead chose to make its appearance. Though she knew it was Will in the costume, that little girl wanted to sit on his lap and open the present, one she hadn’t anticipated, hadn’t begged to receive. A gift, in the purest sense of the word.

She pulled the box to her as she settled on his lap, feeling unaccountably shy but also supremely protected. Even more than she wanted to open the gift, she longed to cuddle against him, to lean her head on his shoulder and be a different Jordan than the world saw every day.