Highlander for the Holidays (25 page)

“You . . . you do realize you don’t have to move in
tonight
. Brad won’t be here for another four days.”

Ian shook his head. “I’m worried we’re going to need a few days of practice if you hope to persuade him that we’re lovers. It’ll be okay, Jess,” he repeated. “Nothing’s going to happen between us until you’re ready for it to happen.”

She stared at him, still clutching her stick in a death grip, then finally nodded and silently walked to her car. She let Toby in the backseat, then opened the passenger door and slid the tip of her stick on the floor to lean it against the console.

“Jess,” Ian said quietly.

She turned, still not saying anything.

“Just so long as you know that it
is
going to happen.”

She took another moment to study him, then nodded again and got in the car. Ian walked into the cabin with a sigh, wondering what Jessie had been doing with her staff—likely unwittingly—as well as how long it might take her to notice its burls were slowly disappearing.

He checked to make sure the fire in the stove was nothing but embers before looking around to see if he needed to bring anything else. He walked over and took down his rifle hanging out of reach of anyone under six foot three and slung it over his shoulder, then grabbed Jessie’s coat and purse and climbed back up the mound, turned to kick some of the snow out of the way, and pulled the door shut. He headed to the rear of her car, snatching up his satchel on the way by, put everything in the back of the station wagon, got in behind the steering wheel, and backed out of the driveway.

The short ride down the Frog Point peninsula was made in silence, until Ian suddenly braked to a stop in the middle of the road and sat staring at the blinking lights strung up the length of Jessie’s porch, using every ounce of willpower he possessed not to roar. “What in hell were you doing climbing on a ladder to put up that garland and those lights?” he asked very softly.

Not that she would have heard the edge in his voice, since she was excitedly clapping her hands together. “Oh, Ian, that was so sweet of you. And look,” she said, pointing at the porch, “you even bought more lights and decorated the cultured tree.” She looked over with a lopsided smile and touched his arm. “I tried to hang them this morning, but they tangled into a mess. It must have taken you an hour just to get that knot out. Did you see the snow angel I made when I fell off the porch?” she asked with a laugh, pointing toward the front lawn. “I nearly gave Toby a heart attack and then frostbite when he waded through the snow to see if I’d broken my neck.” She pressed her hands to her chest. “Oh, Ian, thank you. My home is beautiful.”

“I didn’t hang the lights, Jess.”

She snapped her gaze to his. “You didn’t?” She looked back at the house. “Then who . . . when . . . Please tell me Roger did this,” she whispered, looking back at him. “Or Alec or Duncan or . . . or . . .” She dropped her gaze to the stick tucked between her and the console, and slowly leaned away until she was plastered up against the car door. “Ohmigod,” she whispered.

Ian leaned closer. “Do ye feel like you’ve just been knocked on your butt, lass?”

JESSIE STOOD IN HER STEAM-FILLED BATHROOM, STARING
at the definitely male can of shaving cream, a five-bladed razor, and Ian’s damp toothbrush all sitting on the shelf over her sink and wondered what sort of mess she’d gotten herself into. Because she still couldn’t believe she was about to crawl into bed with a man she was afraid already had the power to break her heart.

“Jess?” Ian called from the other side of the wall. “Could you come in here and settle a little matter, please?”

Giving a quick glance in the mirror to make sure her boobs were even, Jessie tightened the belt on her robe, took a really, really deep breath, and opened the door. “What’s the problem?” she asked as she boldly walked into her bedroom on rubbery legs, only to find Toby lying in the middle of her bed glaring at Ian, who was standing at the foot glaring back at him.

“It would appear Toby doesn’t understand that a double bed is barely designed for two warm bodies, much less three,” he said, gesturing at the dog.

Oh God, she’d completely forgotten about Toby. Thankful to see that even if Ian wasn’t going to wear pajamas he at least was willing to wear boxers, Jessie tried not to notice how the soft light emphasized his muscles when he folded his arms over his utterly glorious naked chest. She smiled to see if she couldn’t lighten the mood. “I think Toby thinks sleeping with me is part of his job description.”

“Then I guess you’re going to have to explain to him that I’m taking over the night watch.” Ian gestured at the living room wall. “So tell him he can guard the house from beside the stove.”

“I can’t just kick Toby out of bed; it would hurt his feelings.”

“Well, all three of us won’t fit in that bed, which means
one
of us is going to have to sleep on the floor.”

Dammit, when she’d hoped and dreamed of making love again, she hadn’t even considered she might have to evict one male to make room for the other. Oh God, what if Toby heard them and thought Ian was hurting her? Jessie turned and sat down on the bed and hid her face in her hands. “I . . . I don’t know what to do.”

Her hands were gently pulled away to reveal Ian kneeling in front of her. “How about if we bring Toby’s bed in here and set it on the floor beside you, and you try to persuade him to spend the night there?”

“But what if he hears us or he sees you on top of . . . What if he thinks you’re hurting me?” She dropped her head to his wonderful-smelling chest. “This isn’t going to work, Ian. I never even thought about the logistics of us making love.”

He cupped her face to look at him, his smile making his eyes glitter with warmth. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll go get Toby’s bed and set it on the floor beside you, and you see if you can’t coax him down.”

She nodded inside his hands, and Ian pulled her forward and gave her a kiss on her forehead, then stood up and disappeared into the hall. Jessie turned to recline next to Toby, who now had his glare trained on the bedroom door.

“Tobias Pringle,” she whispered, holding his snout to make him look at her. “Don’t you mess this up for me because it’s really important. I’ve finally found someone I trust as much as I trust you, and if I don’t make love to Ian tonight, I might lose my nerve. This is a big part of why we came here, Tobes; so I can get back
all
of my life. Please cooperate and let Ian have your side of the bed.” She kissed the soft fur on his cheek. “Please?”

Ian came in with Toby’s ratty old bed—because the big lug wouldn’t have anything to do with the nice L.L.Bean bed she’d bought him on their way up—and placed it on the thick wool area rug at Jessie’s feet. He then pulled Toby’s squeaky toy from under his arm, gave it a squeak as he bobbed his eyebrows, and tossed it down on the dog’s bed.

Jessie sighed when Toby went back to glaring at him. She stood up and patted—a tad forcefully—Ian’s gloriously naked chest. “You’re the one who has a way with animals;
you
persuade him to sleep on the floor.” That said, she slipped off her robe, tossed it on the chair beside her bureau, shut off the lamp, pulled back the blankets, and climbed into bed.

Toby immediately cuddled up against her back with a loud doggy sigh.

Jessie felt the blankets lift away and was picked up and lowered down to Toby’s bed, and before she could even finish gasping, Ian was cuddled up to her back.

“Are you serious?” she said, trying to hold in her laughter. “You expect us to make love on the floor?”

“No, I expect us to
sleep
on the floor, but only for tonight. I’ll figure out our sleeping arrangements tomorrow. I thought Dixon was my competition,” he muttered, “not some fur-covered, woman-hoarding, overgrown baby with sensitive feelings.”

“We . . . we’re not going to make love?”

“I forgot to stop by my truck.”

“Um . . . I have condoms.”

She felt Ian stiffen. “Why?”

Jessie gave a laugh as she turned inside his embrace. “Merissa bought them for me when she got groceries, only she hid them in the linen closet and didn’t tell me until she shouted it out in the airport as she was walking to her boarding gate.”

“Nice friend,” he said, spooning her back up against him. “Go to sleep, Jess.” She felt the bed moving above her and Toby’s head lowered over the side with a pathetic whine. She started to reach up to pat him, but Ian captured her hand and tucked it back inside his embrace. “Don’t reward him for making you sleep on the floor.”

“
You’re
making me sleep on the floor.”

“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t drag you up the mountain to sleep in a tent until Dixon gets the hint and leaves.”

“Are you forgetting I have a bad back?”

He gave her a squeeze. “What I’m
not
forgetting is that you have a magical wand you seem to think can fix anything.”

Jessie stared into the dark cavity under her bed. “Are . . . are we really not going to make love tonight?”

“Yes,” he said on a sigh. “We’re really not.”

Dammit, what was his problem? “Then
when
?” she snapped.

“When ye no longer feel the need to wear your bra to bed, Jess,” he said quietly, adjusting his position to tuck her head under his chin. “Or your pajamas. Now go to sleep,” he growled, giving her another squeeze. “I’ve had a really trying day rescuing a woman who finds having three males vying for her affections to be entertaining.”

Why, of all the ner—

“And Jess?”

“What?” she snapped again.

“Don’t go sneaking around in the dark trying to get up in bed with Toby. I’m still a bit quick to react when I’m startled awake, thanks to my tours in Afghanistan.”

Jessie went very still. “Are you serious?” she whispered.

He shrugged, shrugging her with him. “It’s only a worry that hasn’t actually been tested, as I haven’t had any sleepovers since returning.” He sighed heavily again. “I do hope ye don’t snore too loudly, though.”

Lovely. Not only did she still have getting naked hanging over her head, but now she had to worry about
Ian
having a flashback.

 

 

JESSIE PATTED HER FACE DRY IN THE SKI LODGE’S LARGE
public bathroom, then grabbed another fistful of paper towels as she smiled at the four-year-old girl sitting on the counter trying to talk to Toby while her mother washed her sweet cherub face. After patting it dry, the mom lifted the precious little heathen off the counter and sat her in the child-sized wheelchair with a sigh. “I’m really sorry about that, Jessie,” the woman said with a sheepish grin as she glanced at Toby and shook her head.

Jessie ruffled the cherub’s soft blond curls with a laugh. “I guess that’s why it’s called Camp Come-As-You-Are. Don’t worry, Jane, Toby and I have survived worse disasters. But when you go back to the crafts area, could you tell Megan that I had to take Toby home and give him a bath?”

“Sure, Jess.” Jane reached down and tentatively patted Toby, then had to grab her daughter when the girl nearly fell out of her chair attempting to give him a good-bye hug. “Come on, hot wheels, let’s go finish painting Daddy’s Christmas present before he gets back from skiing,” she said, pushing the girl out through the door while making the sound of a revving engine and squealing tires.

Jessie dampened the fistful of towels she was holding then led Toby out of the restroom, keeping the huge, twostory-tall granite hearth between them and the chaos, and quickly slipped out through the lodge door leading onto the massive deck.

Four nights, she thought as she sucked in the snow-cooled air. She’d spent four nights sleeping curled up in Ian’s arms, and Jessie couldn’t decide if she felt like a frustrated virgin or an idiot for not knowing what to do about it. Not only had they not made love yet, but last night Ian had walked in the bedroom from his shower minus his boxers, climbed into bed, and pulled her against his gloriously naked body—the evidence pressing against her backside that if he wasn’t willing he certainly was
able
to make love to her.

He’d solved their little sleeping arrangement problem quickly enough if rather diabolically. The next day when they’d arrived home from TarStone after both working at Camp Come-As-You-Are, Jessie had walked in her bedroom to find Ian’s giant four-poster bed sitting where hers used to be. And the mattress was so far off the floor that Toby couldn’t jump up on it because the monstrous thing took up so much space that he couldn’t get a running start.

Jessie didn’t mind that Ian had brought over his bed, considering hers was only a double and barely large enough for him alone. But she sure as hell minded that he’d obviously had Alec and Duncan help him move it, which meant that they—and likely now everyone else—knew Ian was living with her.

That was probably why Ian’s mom had been spontaneously hugging Jessie over the course of the last three days, and Morgan had been . . . well, one minute Ian’s dad was eyeing her speculatively and the next he was soliciting her advice on ramping up their European marketing campaign for the ski resort.