SIX

She quickly brought her hands up to his chest and held him there on the threshold between her breath and his. A nanosecond more and she’d have his taste on her forever, inside her where she’d never be able to get away from it. “Wait,” she whispered.

He stopped, but didn’t move back. He stared at her mouth, the ache and the anticipation was almost as good as the kiss in his mind and if she wanted to hold onto it, who was he to judge?

“I don’t kiss strange men,” she said with one last ditch effort of control.

“Good thing you know who I am,” he said and leaned in again.

Her fingers tightened on his chest and she felt the burn of him through the thick wool and cashmere. Go for it! Shut up! She stomped down the evil twin sitting on her shoulder and ducked under his arm and away from him. “I need to think.”

Jon rounded on her and caged her against the opposite wall. “No thinking,” he said on a near growl. He wasn’t letting her get away from him that easily. He could feel the want inside of her creeping out through every sigh and every breath. He wanted to hold onto it, to build on it. Wanted to feel alive again.

Bella gripped his forearms and held on. She let her head fall back along the cement block wall, hoping the cold would knock her brain back into working order. She didn’t know him. She knew who he was, knew a little about him, but she didn’t know him. She had a feeling the man was far different than the public persona he wore like the casually elegant cashmere. Even just a few hours in his company and she could see that. “Then think about your kid,” she said and immediately regretted it.

He took a huge step back and she watched in horrified fascination as his face simply shut down. The teasing, flirty eyes shuttered and the open, eagerly attentive man was nothing but ice. And right there, she knew it was Jon the Rockstar that had stepped into his role. She stepped forward and grasped his hand, “Wait.”

His lips pursed and an eyebrow rose. “For what? I do believe you said it all.” Fuck! Part of him wanted to shake her and the other part was so genuinely shocked that he could forget his purpose for even a minute that he needed a moment to process everything. He wanted her. Wanted her enough that he forgot he was there for one purpose and one purpose only.

He took a breath and squeezed her hand back. “You’re absolutely right, I’m here for my kid.” He quickly dropped her hand and pushed his hand through his hair. “Wanna see the very best shepherd ever?”

Instinctively she stood on her tiptoes and brushed a kiss on his slightly rough cheek. “I’d like that.”

He sighed, and the ice that had lodged itself into his chest seemed to dissolve. Realizing the quick seduction wasn’t going to be a part of his evening, he let himself enjoy the idea of having a woman enjoy him for nothing else than his company. He looked at her, really looked at her, for the first time. Izzy, with her wild blonde hair, was interesting enough to forget about the chase for a bit. He tugged on her hat, until it was slightly skewed in the way fluffy hats always seemed to be and let his fingers slide through a lock of curls. “I think I would too.”

They walked down the hall to the auditorium, the echoing sound of “Frosty the Snowman,” filled the room until Jon had no choice but to smile. He opened the door quietly and tucked them both into the back of the room. Spotlights framed the third grade class while snow fluttered around the stage dusting the large felt-made Frosty. The well known song went into the ending that saddened every child and ended in a promise of renewal.

Even without the religion, there it was.

Renewal.

Bella grinned as the kids twirled around the bulky snowman with his skewed top hat as the curtain closed. The house lights lifted as Joe came up to the microphone. “First graders will be up in a wiggle of Frosty’s nose.”

Jon took his cue and started walking down the incline to find his family. He turned around and just looked at her. “Well c’mon then.”