The Billionaire's Christmas Baby(15)

“You’re sure I didn’t hurt you?”

She nodded frantically as she watched his hands move to gently grasp her wrists. He looked them over. She couldn’t say anything because she had lost her voice. His hands were warm, large, and a delicious, molten heat began swimming through her as he held on. His thumb grazed the soft, velvety underside of her wrist and the innocent touch felt anything but. She quickly slipped her wrists out of his hands, needing her body to not be in contact with his, but she wasn’t prepared for the loss she felt at not having him touch her. Not good. And there was no way she was going to acknowledge the meaning behind the fact that he was the first man she found herself wanting to touch her since… a long time.

“You didn’t hurt me.” Why did her voice have to sound so breathy? She couldn’t break his gaze. The air was warm and like a cocoon, capturing them in a false sense of familiarity. She needed to get out of the room and away from an enticingly half-naked Jackson. Because right now, more than anything, she wanted to reach out to touch his bare skin. She was drawn to him and she shouldn’t have been. As soon as she got back into the safety of her own room she was going to list each despicable trait the man had and then do a personality comparison list to Ebenezer Scrooge. That should sufficiently deal with any sort of misplaced desire she had.

“I’m still sorry.” He braced himself on his forearms, watching her closely. She could make out the lighter shades of cognac in his eyes, and the softness, the warmth was still there. She didn’t say anything. Couldn’t. She should be concentrating on the list.

“It was no big deal.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?” Why had she asked that? Why wasn’t she moving? Get off the darn bed, Hannah.

“For waking me up.” His eyes fell to her lips and she felt a heat bloom from deep within her. Then his gaze wandered up to her eyes and traveled the length of her body. Suddenly she felt like she wore absolutely nothing. She tugged roughly at the T-shirt to cover a little more of her exposed legs. And then he smiled again, a sort of sexy, satisfied grin. The kind that told her he knew exactly why she was so uncomfortable, and that he liked it.

She needed to get out of here. Again, her body wasn’t getting the message her brain was frantically communicating, so she didn’t move.

“Hannah?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you come here, really?”

She turned to look at him. “Here? Like your room?”

He shook his head. “The cabin.”

She frowned at him. “I told you, I want you to adopt your sister’s baby.”

He nodded and shrugged gently. She refused to be taken in by the display of muscles that that one little move caused to ripple through his upper body. Concentrate.

“I know, you said that, but you can’t possibly do this for all your cases. You drove through a blizzard. You tracked down a guy who changed his name, which you must’ve pulled a hell of a lot of strings to do. This goes beyond job dedication, don’t you think?”

She stared up at the ceiling, trying not to reveal any emotion. She couldn’t exactly explain something that she’d barely figured out herself. “I feel responsible, you know? I got to know your sister. I never thought she would have—” She paused for a moment. “Killed herself and then when I found Emily on the church doorstep, I—” She tried to hide the emotion in her throat but couldn’t control the catch. “I knew I had to do what’s best for her. I brought her home that night and held her. She’s this tiny, perfect, innocent little girl. She deserves the best, not to be cast aside and left with strangers. She needs someone to protect her, to give her a wonderful, happy childhood.” She stopped talking because she wouldn’t be able to hold back her pain anymore, or the rest of the truth. Lying in his bed like this made her realize how much was missing from her life. In the darkness of the night, in the warm shelter from the storm, the enigmatic man beside her made her yearn for so much—someone to speak with in the dead of the night, someone to share a bed with.

“I should go… to sleep.”

He grabbed her hand. She didn’t want to turn and look at him. She took a steadying breath and channeled that self-control that she’d perfected years ago.

“You completely caught me by surprise,” he said slowly. She didn’t know if he meant her or the news about Emily. When she raised her eyes to meet his, they were filled with a desire she didn’t want to acknowledge. She stood quickly, still holding down the hem of the T-shirt. She walked as fast as she could to the open door, the floorboards creaking as loudly as the beating of her heart. She needed to get to work on that list right away.

“Hannah,” he called out, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.

She turned to look back at him, trying to look calm, cool, and collected. Do not look below his chin. Do not look at the display of muscles and abs, Hannah.

“Yes?” She cringed at the high-pitched sound of her voice. She sounded like the chicken she began to resemble.

“Did you poke me with a book?”





Chapter Five



The storm wasn’t over.

The roads weren’t getting plowed.

Hannah and the baby weren’t going home today.

Jackson leaned forward, bracing his hands against the marble kitchen counter. It was so dark and windy that it barely looked like morning. Even if he had wanted to enforce what he’d said about her going home today, there was no chance. The weather wasn’t showing any signs of relenting.