The Billionaire's Christmas Baby(47)

“So what do I do?”

“We’re going to roll this out and then make different Christmas shapes. Since you don’t have any cookie cutters, we have to make them by hand.”

He frowned. “Christmas shapes?”

He watched as she rolled the dough until it was thin and smooth. She let out an exasperated sigh. “Christmas trees, bells, angels, you know, anything Christmas-y.”

“Right,” he said with a decisive nod. He grabbed a piece of the dough and concentrated on making a tree, while the sound of Christmas songs floated into the kitchen. Before Hannah, not one Christmas carol had ever been heard in his penthouse.

“What is that! That looks like some sort of alien!” Hannah’s shriek of laughter made Jackson look down at the cookie he was making. It did resemble an alien. He frowned and looked over at hers. Sure enough, she could make a perfectly shaped tree. He thought of something then, the memory of that night that now seemed so long ago.

“Hannah,” he said, grabbing her by the waist, not caring that both their hands were filled with cookie dough as she willingly stepped into his arms. “I’m sorry about those damn cookies,” he said gruffly, leaning down to capture her lips. She kissed him back easily and lovingly.

“You’ve been sampling cookies,” he said between kisses. She pulled him closer, tugging at the back of his neck, and pretty soon Jackson was trying to decide whether or not she’d yell at him if he swept all her cookie dough off the counter and made love to her right then and there.

Jackson spotted her book bag by the kitchen table, reminding him that she still hadn’t unpacked. Whenever she was done studying for the night, she’d pack up her books and stuff them into that Christmas bag. Even though he’d offered to share his home office space with her, she insisted it was more convenient for her to just store everything in her bag. She hadn’t used her side of the closet for more than the wedding dress. She just kept a suitcase open on his luggage rack in the corner.

“Can I ask you something?”

“You’re actually asking my permission?” she said with a teasing smile.

“I try to be a gentleman,” he said making a subtle attempt at snatching a cookie. She swatted his hand away.

“Why haven’t you used any of the money I gave you?”

Her face went white then red.

“I haven’t needed it.” She shrugged, and then busied herself with plucking apart the gobs of dough he’d grouped together on the cookie pan.

“You haven’t needed it?” He tried to be patient. She shook her head, tossing her hair over her shoulders, and he had to stifle a ripple of desire as the scent of her shampoo wafted over. “How did you pay for your tuition?”

She averted her eyes. “I charged it to one of my cards.”

“It’s ridiculous for you to go into debt when I’ve got more than enough to pay for your tuition.”

She lifted her chin defiantly. “I’m not going into debt.”

“Really? Then why would you charge your tuition to your credit card?”

“To get Air Miles, Jackson.”

Air Miles. He took a deep breath. He needed to count to ten. “Planning on going somewhere?”

She shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. “But I would bring you along if I were planning a trip.”

“That’s good to know,” he said, moving a step closer to her. It was hard to stay mad at her. “But remember the deal we made. I’m paying your tuition.”

“The deal I was forced into?”

“As I recall, Hannah, you were the one pounding down my door during a blizzard—”

“Only to have you slam it in my face.”

The phone rang. It took them both a moment to register what the interruption was. Jackson leaned down to give her one more kiss, loving how disheveled she looked.

“Who is that?” Hannah asked, trying to straighten out her clothes as he glanced at the caller ID.

He put the phone back in his pocket. “Just work.” He hated lying to her, but he’d have to call Nick back later. Guilt shot through him as Hannah stood there smiling and trusting.

“Want to go Christmas shopping?”

Hannah’s eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry, I could have sworn that you just asked me to go Christmas shopping.”

He snatched a cookie. “That’s right. You, me, Em.” He looked down at the cookie. “These are good. I don’t think Ethan needs six of them. Two is more than enough. Give him the alien cookie I made.”

“No, even Charlie wouldn’t eat those,” she said. Charlie lifted his scruffy head at the sound of his name, looked at the alien cookie, and shut his eyes again.

…

Jackson took a sip of the spicy, smooth Starbucks Holiday brew that Hannah had been relentlessly gushing about the last two weeks, while guiding Emily’s stroller along the sidewalk.

“That’s your new favorite coffee, isn’t it? Admit it,” Hannah said. He laughed, walking alongside her as they made their way home. “You’re very pushy.”

“Don’t you love the Christmas design on the cup?”

Jackson held up his cup. Huh. Reindeer. “I never noticed before.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “It’s the first thing I look for in November,” she said, taking a swig.