Here at Last (14 page)

Pulling
back
, JT
looked at me
with a serious expression
, and his brows furrowed.
"Are you sure?"
he asked.

I couldn’t help but smile.
A little s
urprised at myself,
I nodded. He
studied my eyes for a moment. Then, he
led me by the hand to my bedroom where he closed the doors behind us.
The room was dark.
Standing
at the foot of the bed, he removed his tuxedo jacket and placed it on
a nearby chair
. Then, he took off his tie and cufflinks. I reached up to unbutton his shirt, and
he patiently waited for me to finish.
I moved my hand
over
the
dark
hair
on
his chest and down his belly
, and he
leaned forward
to kiss me before stepping
a little
closer
to unzip my dress. I
t
fell
to the floor
,
and
I
kicked off my shoes
and shivered
.

“Are you cold?" he asked.

I smiled. “A
little."

“Why don't you get into bed?" he
suggested
.

“Okay.” Feeling a little nervous, I walked around the r
ight side of the bed and slid
in
under the covers.

He
took off
his shoes, pants, and socks before getting in on the other side of the bed and joining me somewhere
near
the middle.
When he reached for me
and realized
that
I had already removed
the rest of my clothes
, he ran
his hand
s
behind my
back
and
kissed me deeply. Again, I inhaled his musky scent, and it excited
me nearly as much as the kiss
did. I reached into his briefs and stroked him
with one hand as I wrapped my other arm around his body to pull him closer. He was very hard, and I used both hands and one foot
to
slide his briefs down his legs w
h
ere they got lost somewhere in
the
sheets.

Chuckling, he said softly,
“I’ll never find those again
.”

I smiled as h
e rolled over on top of me and began to kiss my neck and breasts.
As
I continued
stroking
him, he opened his eyes and looked at me. “
You’re
sure?"

I searched the recesses of my conscience, but
Nicholas
was nowhere
to
be seen. “I’m sure.”

JT
slid his
tongue into my mouth
. When
I
opened
my legs for him
,
he d
eftly moved into me, and
I inhaled
sharply
.
He stopped, stroking my cheek with one hand and looking into my eyes. “Are you okay?"

I looked
at him
and nodded, reachi
ng my hand behind his ba
ck and
pulling
him
closer
. We kissed, and he began the rhythmic movement that begat
so many
of us and didn't stop until we were both done.
When
he rolled off of me and took me into his arms,
he
kissed me on the neck and
said,
“I'm never letting you go again."

Chapter
1
4

And s
o it was that JT and I became a couple.
It amazed me how much had changed
since San Diego
. JT was warm and loving
.
I couldn't quite put my finger on it
, b
ut, somehow, I felt
like we were ready for one another
.

The next morning, I awoke to find him
lying on his side
watching me.
I
lay on my back with my head turned toward him and smiled
, and he reached for me
,
wrapping
his arms around me
and kissing
me on
the forehead
.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Mm-hmm,” I replied sleepily,
turning over to face him and
resting
my head
against
his chest.

“Sophia?” he said quietly
, and
I pulled back
to look
at him.
“I don’t w
ant this to be a one-time thing between us.
And I don’t want just a physical relationship with you. I want this to be more.
”

As h
is words sank in, I
smiled
.
“
I want that
, too.” My life had changed overnight, and I was excited to see where this
would lead
.
I kissed his chest, and h
e smiled.

“We’re on the same
page then?
”
he asked.

I giggled. “Yes,” I said, touching his lips with my finger. “We’re on
exactly
the same page.”

Grinning, he
pulled me closer to him
and kissed me
, and we fell
back
a
sleep.





When we awoke, again, it was nearly
ten o’clock
. I had taken
the period
between Christmas and New Year's
off from work
so I didn’t have to be anywhere. JT wasn’t due back in San Diego until January 2
nd
. We had a lazy morning and planned to shower,
dress
, and eat breakfast.

JT thought that he
’d have to wear
his tuxedo
, again,
until he remembered that he had some gym clothes in the back of his
sister’s SUV
.
After going outside to fetch
his gym bag
, he returned
to the apartment
and changed into a white t-shirt and
navy
blue sweatpants and sneakers
.
Meanwhile, I made blueberry pancakes with
Vermont
maple syrup
, and we reheated our hot chocolate from the previous evening before sitting down to breakfast.

As much as we would have loved to have spent the entire day together, JT had to leave after breakfast to pick
up
his parents from the airport.
They
still got along well
and
were flying in from Houston and Boston to be with their two children for
the holiday
.
JT would spend the evening with
Denise
and his parents and return to my apartment after lunch the following day.

He
invited me to join them
on Christmas Day
.
Although I didn’t want to interfere with their family time together, he assured me that I would be a welcome addition
and that he wanted me there
.
JT
also
asked if he could stay with me from Christmas Eve Day until we left for
Denise
’s
on Christmas
morning; s
ince
Denise
’s parents were with her,
he
didn’t have to worry about leaving her alone
and
could spend
time with me
.
I didn’t have to answer him.
He could tell by the smile on my face that it was more than okay.

He left shortly after breakfast, and I busied myself with loading the dishwasher and straightening up the house. Since I would be going to
Denise
’s for Christmas, I realized that I had some shopping to do. After all, I couldn’t show up empty-handed.

JT had given me a few
shopping
hints before he left, which
were extremely helpful
since I didn't know
what
kinds of gifts his family
would like
.
I spent much of the afternoon
making my way
through
the
multitudes
crowding
the Magnificent Mile. The densely clustered shops along this mile-long shopping district made
the
day’s tasks
much easier.
I worked my way
through
the
throngs
that were
going into
and
coming out of the Garrett Popcorn Shop before stopping in
at
Crate & Barrel and the Hershey's store. I picked up some wine for
Denise
, some chocolate for JT's dad, and cooking spices for his mother. For JT, I would need to shop elsewhere. I called around in advance and found the perfect gift for him at an antique store
on the outskirts of
town
.





He showed up on Christmas Eve day
with
a container of
soy nog in one hand and a
long thin
gift-wrapped
box in the other.
I had just finished wrapping
presents
so his timing couldn't have been better.

“Hi," I said.
I was
so
happy
that I
couldn’t
have
wipe
d
the smile off my face
if I
’d
tried
.

“
Hi
," he said
grinning at me
.

We kissed, and
I took his coat and hung it in the closet
as h
e put the soy nog in the refrigerator and the box on the
breakfast bar
.
I walked into the kitchen, and he
wrapped
his arms around me
,
resting
his hands in the small of my back. I felt intoxicated.

“JT,” I whispered.

“I
’ve
missed you," he
said into
my hair
.

I pulled back and looked into his bright blue eyes.
“I've been thinkin
g about you ever since you left.
"

"
Same here
,” he said, reaching up to touch my face. “
How do you want to spend Christmas Eve?"

I shrugged. "I
don’t care
as long as we
’
re together."

"Is there anything you need to do before Christmas?"

“No," I shook my head.

“Then, I have an idea."

JT pulled a
folded
paper bag from h
is pocket, opening it and pulling
out
a small green plant tied with
string.
Walking into the living room, h
e reached up and fastened it to the
light on the ceiling fan
in the middle of the room and turned to look at me.

"Mistletoe," he
smiled
.

“You think of everything,” I said, laughing.

He took my head in his hands and kissed me. I had no idea what we would do the rest of the evening, but I did know one thing. JT Knight knew how to sweep me off my feet.

Chapter
1
5

JT suggested that we bundle up and take a walk through town to enjoy
some
of the
holiday
lights.
At first, I thought he was
kidding
since i
t was freezing outside. Nonetheless, a
fter we dressed in layers and made ourselves nearly immune to the cold
and wind
, w
e walked along
the
city streets
where a
growing
quiet
was
descending on the city.
Although
gobs of shoppers
had been out earlier, many had gone home to
wrap and cook and otherwise
prepare
for the holiday
.
O
nly a few shops remained open for those
running about in last-minute desperation.