Читать книгу Kissed By Christmas - Jamie Pope - Страница 13
ОглавлениеHallie snuggled into the warm, hard surface she was sleeping on. She had slept on softer mattresses but she liked the feeling of this one. She had been so cold since she had been in New York, like a chill had seeped to her bones and never let up. But tonight it was finally gone and for once she felt warm and protected. It was when she felt a hand gently rest on her cheek that she realized that her warm, hard mattress was a warm, hard body.
She remembered where she was and she knew that she should move, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to lose this feeling that she was sure she would never have again while she was here, but she lifted her head and looked up at Asa. “I can’t believe you let me fall asleep on you.”
“You needed to sleep. You injured your brain. It needs rest to recover.”
She was feeling a little better despite the stiffness in her body. The Andersens had really taken care of her today. Dr. Andersen had bossed her around, ordered her to put her feet up and eat more and drink extra fluids. It was heavenly. She hadn’t been mothered in a long time. It was nice to experience it, even if it came from someone else’s mother. “Where is your mother? She must think I’m awful.”
“She went home about two hours ago.”
“Two hours ago! How long have I been out?”
“You went down about a half hour before she left.”
“You let me sleep on you that long?”
“It started out with just your head on my shoulder, but you curled up like that a half hour ago or so.”
“You should have woken me.”
“I didn’t see a reason to.”
“What did your mother say about me? ‘Where on earth did you find that dizzy girl? And do you always let women you barely know use your bathroom?’” She could only imagine what the beautiful, proper professor thought about the strange woman with the head injury who had somehow gotten involved with her son. “I can’t imagine a worse first impression to make.”
“She likes you.”
“She was being polite.”
Asa shook his head. “Trust me, Hallie. If my mother didn’t like you she would make it known. My mother may have excellent manners, but she has no problem stating her opinion. She had my last girlfriend in tears their first meeting.”
“Oh. I can see that. She scares me a little. Why didn’t she like your last girlfriend?”
“She called herself Bambi and when she met my mother she was wearing a top that was so low-cut you could see... All the gifts God gave her. Plus she wore jeans that were cut so low you could see her thong.”
“I think your mother should have made you cry. Why would you bring home a woman like that when you knew your parents would be disapproving? It’s like you set that poor lady up.”
“I didn’t. My parents were in the city and asked if they could take us to lunch. I wasn’t planning on introducing them that day. Bambi was dressed like that when I picked her up and I didn’t feel like it was my place to ask or tell her to wear something that would please my mother. Would you want a man telling you how to dress?”
He had a point. “No. My ex was like that. I was supposed to dress a certain way. Speak a certain way. Behave a certain way. All to keep up with the image he had crafted. I hated it.”
“What’s wrong with the way you speak, dress and behave?”
“I just wasn’t right. My ex-fiancé is a Realtor who specializes in luxury properties. It was a small family business that he had grown over the years. He wanted to cater to the wealthy jet-set crowd and celebrities and I was supposed to be.... I’m not sure who or what he wanted me to be, but in the end I couldn’t deliver.”
“Thank God for that. You shouldn’t be with a man who doesn’t think you’re good enough.”
“I knew it was going to end when he asked me to straighten my hair. I had worn it straight sometimes, but he asked me to wear it straight whenever I accompanied him somewhere special. I told him no. He barely spoke to me for three days. When we broke up, I cut it short and haven’t seen a flatiron since.”
“I like your curls. They’re beautiful.” He lifted his hand to her hair and sunk his fingers deep inside her ringlets. It was not something she normally let anyone do. But she didn’t mind him doing it. She liked his soothing touch and the way his fingers felt as they gently scratched her scalp.
She closed her eyes again. This was how she had fallen asleep before. He lulled her with his deep voice and calming conversation. She was comfortable around him. “Tell me more about Bambi.”
“There’s not much to tell. She was a cocktail waitress. Fun, sweet. Someone that was easy to hang out with but not someone you would discuss anything deep with. She was exactly what I was looking for at the time.”
“How did your mother make her cry?”
“She asked her a question,” he said evasively.
“Are you going to tell me what it was?”
“I don’t think my mother meant it the way it sounded. She’s an academic. She’s from a very conservative family. Her only option in life was to use her brain.”
“You don’t have to explain your mother to me, Asa. I can tell that she’s a good person.”
He nodded. “She asked Bambi what her future plans were. She wanted to know what she was going to do when her body stopped being in that kind of shape and she could no longer use her sexuality to get good tips. And then she said something about sagging skin and breasts and that’s the first time I had ever wished for a huge natural disaster.”
“You could have used a big meteor striking the restaurant.”
“I think Bambi said something about getting married and raising a family. I’ll never forget what my mother said then. ‘Being a wife and mother are wonderful things, but haven’t you ever considered that you have more to offer the world? Haven’t you ever thought about how you were going to leave your mark?’ Bambi burst into tears then. We broke up after that.”
“She never wanted to see you again after that meeting?”
“No. She was looking to get serious and I knew there was no point. I want to be with someone who has more to offer the world than their body. I hate it when my mother is right.”
Hallie smiled and leaned in to kiss Asa. As soon as she felt her mouth press against his, she realized what she had just done. It was just a simple kiss, just two sets of lips pressing against each other, but as she did it she knew she had felt more kissing him than she had felt kissing Brent for the last five years.
There was nothing sexual, nothing hot or explosive between them, but she felt a lovely warmth spread throughout her entire body and a very sturdy tug on her heart. Almost like it had been kicked awake.
“Oh.” She pulled away from him. “I didn’t mean to do that. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No. You shouldn’t have,” he said just before he tumbled her backward on the couch and kissed her again.
She knew that they shouldn’t be doing this, but his heavy body settled on top of hers and it felt right. His kiss was deeper. More sensuous. It was open mouths and tongues sweeping across each other. It was slow and shocking. She knew it was too much for her senses and yet she wanted so much more. She knew without a doubt that this was the best kiss of her life and then he broke it. She lay there with her chest heaving and her eyes closed. It was a beautiful moment.
“I’m not stopping because I want to, but because I know we shouldn’t go any further.”
She opened her eyes and looked up into his handsome face. “I know.” She let out a long sigh.
“I’ve wanted to kiss you all day. I wanted to be in the bathtub with you and run a washcloth over your naked back. I wanted to pull you close and keep you there more times than I could count today.”
Hallie felt another painful tug in her heart again. Why was this happening now? Why did it have to be him who responded to the call yesterday? She was still heartsore from her broken engagement. The last thing she needed was a romantic entanglement, especially if she wasn’t sure if she was going to last much longer in this city. “Asa. Don’t say that to me.”
“Why? It’s true. I won’t lie to you.”
“I don’t need sex right now, but I do need a friend.” She surprised herself by saying so. It would be easy for her to go back to her apartment. For her to ignore him, forget about this day and all he had done for her. But she knew that would be too hard. It wouldn’t be easy to just be his friend, but she knew she’d rather have him in her life like that, than to go back to being completely alone in this big scary place. “Can you be my friend?”
He sat up, pausing for a moment, before he nodded. “I can.”
“Good. You can start by walking me home.”
* * *
Asa got up and walked Hallie down the hall. He could still feel her lips on his, could still feel how her body went pliant beneath his. He could taste the sweetened tea on her lips and when she’d returned his kiss by sweeping her tongue into his mouth he’d felt jolted, a rush that he couldn’t put into words.
She’d curled his fingers into his shirt. She had wrapped her leg around him. She’d let out a little moan when he broke the kiss. He had wanted to kiss her all day—he just hadn’t expected it to be an experience.
He’d stopped because he was growing too aroused, far too quickly. She was still suffering from a concussion and as much as he wanted her he knew that he couldn’t take things any further that night.
And then she’d asked him to be her friend. It was like someone had thrown cold water on him. She had every right to ask him that. He could see things going too quickly with her. The kind of attraction he had for her was dangerous. He barely knew her, but he knew she wasn’t the kind of woman to jump into bed with a man. She was alone in this city and still recovering from a bad breakup.
It would be foolish to jump into something with him.
They stopped in front of her door and he watched her as she opened it and stepped inside. She turned to face him. “Good night, Asa.”
“Good night.”
“And thank you.” She reached to hug him, pressing that sweet, curvy body against his once again. “For everything.”
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, holding her tightly against him. He would be her friend, but he knew he would kiss her again, too. He wouldn’t be able not to. There was no way to prevent it if she was anywhere near him.
* * *
There was a knock at Hallie’s door just before 6:00 p.m. that next evening. It was her second day off work and she was feeling only slightly better. Her body was still stiff and sore, although the constant heavy throbbing in her head had lessened and her dizziness had mostly subsided. She’d thought she was nearly back to normal when she left Asa’s last night and that she would be ready to go back to work again. The pain had been completely gone when she woke up on his chest last evening. There was no dizziness at all, maybe just some headiness. His kiss had kept her floating all night. It had her thinking of him and his soft, firm lips when she went to bed. It had her dreaming of him on top of her, beside her, his hands roaming all over her, his breath tickling her skin. But she hadn’t slept as well in her bed as she had when she was curled up against him. It had been one time, for a few hours, but as she lay in her bed alone, she felt like something was missing, like he was missing.
Her heart sped up as she walked to the door. It was probably him, coming to see how she was.
She opened the door to find a woman there. She was short, Hispanic, very pretty with long black hair that had a dramatic gray stripe running down the center of it. She was dressed in some kind of a uniform and holding two large paper bags. “Ms. Roberts?” There was a touch of an accent in her voice.
“Yes.”
“My name is Rosa Nieves. I’m Charlie’s mother.”
“Oh, hello. It’s nice to meet you. I spoke with your husband during conference week.”
“Yes. Charlie told me that you had fallen in front of the school and hit your head. He’s been worried. All the kids are worried about you.”
“They’re sweet. The doctor wants me to stay home for at least a week. Hopefully, I’ll be cleared to go back to work by Monday.”
“We hope so, too. My son never used to tell me anything, but he told me about you and I figured you must be special. He likes your class. He told me you taught him about the Nuyorican movement and he’s become very interested in that playwright Miguel Piñero. He’s talking about going to college to study writing. He’s never talked about going to college before. I don’t know how we’ll pay for it, but we’ll find a way.”
“Charlie is incredibly bright. I have a list of scholarships that he’s eligible for. We’ll figure it out. He’ll have the life you hoped he would.”
“Thank you. That’s why I’m here. To thank you. The school gave me your address so I could deliver this. I work around the corner in an office building and I swear I’ll never come back here to bother you. But I wanted to do this. Me and a couple of parents from the school made you enough food to last you a week. Some of the dishes are still hot. I made you coquito cupcakes and there is some breakfast stuff, as well as some lunch meat. Some of the kids wrote you letters, too.”
“Oh.” Hallie was breathless. Her vision had gone blurry. “This was so kind of you. Thank you. That doesn’t feel like a big enough word but I really don’t know what else to say.”
“Don’t cry, honey. Just get better and get back to school. Those kids need you.” She placed the bags on the floor inside the door, just as Asa walked up. He was wearing his uniform.
“What’s the matter? Why are you crying, Hallie?”
“The parents at my school are very kind. Thank you, Mrs. Nieves.”
“You’re welcome. Just get some rest. I’m glad you have someone here to take care of you.”
“But...”
Mrs. Nieves walked away before Hallie could clarify things. Asa was standing there, looking extremely handsome and slightly concerned. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I am. Come inside. My students had their parents send me a care package.”
“Is that what smells good?”
She nodded. “Can you grab the bags? My head feels like it’s going to explode when I bend over.”
“Yeah, of course.” But instead of turning away he took a step toward her and placed his hand on her cheek. “How are you feeling?” he asked her, studying her face closely. Part of her wanted to close her eyes and savor the feeling of his touch on her skin, but a bigger part of her wanted to remove his hand from her face and push her body closer to his.
But she did neither. She just looked into his concerned dark eyes. “I’m feeling better.” She was, really. Better now than she had been feeling all day. There was something about Asa... She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about him that made her feel like she was having an out-of-body experience.
“Good. I’ve been thinking about you all day.” His thumb briefly stroked along her cheek, and Hallie swallowed hard as tingles ran down her spine. How could one simple touch be so affecting? “My mother called and asked about you. I promised her I would see how you were.” He took a step backward and stripped off his jacket, revealing his powerful arms and chest. As he turned to pick up the bags, she saw how his muscles worked beneath his uniform shirt. She wanted to fan herself. She wasn’t used to being around a man with Asa’s kind of body. Her ex was much, much different.
“Your mother is very kind to ask about me. I thought you weren’t working today.” She hadn’t meant to say that. But thoughts of him had been on her mind all day, wondering if and when he might show up at her door.
She had told him that she just wanted to be friends but her thoughts about him today hadn’t been exactly friendly.
“I got asked to switch shifts.” He unloaded the bag on the counter. There was fried chicken, beef patties, a rice dish, and some homemade macaroni-and-cheese among the staples that the parents included. “I now see why you were crying. This food looks amazing.”
“Stay with me and have some.” She paused. Asa might have kissed her last night, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have plans with someone else tonight. He was a beautiful man. She would be surprised if he didn’t have some woman waiting in the wings. “That is, if you want to, or don’t have any other plans.”
“I don’t.” He looked through her cabinets, pulling out plates and glasses. “If you think you’re getting rid of me after I smelled this food, you’re crazy.”
A little bit of pleasure flowed through her. “How was work today? Did you run into any other slip-and-fall victims?”
He grinned. “One this week is enough.” He piled the plates high with food and motioned for her to go sit on her couch. “Go sit, I’ll bring your food over.”
“I can carry a plate.” She reached to take one from him.
He gave her a look and shook his head once firmly. “Go sit. I’ll bring it over. But tell me what you want to drink first.”
“I’ve got cranberry juice in there. I wish I could offer you something fancier.”
He gave her a small smile. “I don’t need anything fancy. I’ll be there soon.”
A few minutes later he had brought their food over and sat next to her on her love seat, his body completely pressed against hers. Suddenly she felt shy. Like she was in high school again, sitting next to the most handsome boy in school. “Were you popular in high school?” she asked as she took her first bite of the rice and pigeon peas.
“Yes. Why do you ask?”
“You just seem like you were. I wasn’t. I always had my nose in a book.”
“I played football. In my hometown, being on the varsity football team was a very big deal.”
“My town was so small we didn’t even have a football team. Did you love the game or did you do it just because you knew it would get you girls?”
“A little of both,” he admitted with a smile. “I didn’t love it as much as my best friend, Marcus. Or at least I thought he loved it. I was sure he was going to go pro but he turned down a few full football scholarships.”
“College is so expensive. What made him do that?”
“I’m still not sure. I thought he was crazy. It had something to do with my sister’s best friend. They had been secretly in love all through school and broke up right before we graduated.”
“So he gave up his scholarship because of that?”
Asa nodded. “He had put the game before her. I guess he was trying to prove something. He worked in public relations in DC until he gave all that up to become a teacher.”
“Did they get back together then?”
“Yes, but last year. They met again at my sister’s wedding in Costa Rica. They’re expecting their first baby.”
“Do you see him a lot?” she asked, knowing she was full of questions.
“He lives in New York now, but I don’t get to see him as much as I should. He’s got a wife and a baby on the way. His life is a lot different than it used to be. We used to catch a plane to Vegas on a whim. Now when I see him, he’s planning out how they are going to do their nursery.”
“It must be tough, having your friendship change like that.” Hallie could identify. Her best friend had had a baby a few months ago, a baby Hallie had never met, but even before that she had been seeing less and less of her friend. Marriage and family often did that.
“It’s the way things are supposed to be, though. I would be a selfish bastard if I blamed him for not hanging out with me as much. He’s happier now than I have ever seen him. Plus, I love his wife. We grew up together. They’re like my family.”
“It’s nice to have friends like that,” she said softly, missing home tremendously then.
“It is.” He picked up his glass and took a long drink before he smiled at it.
“Why are you smiling?”
“I was just thinking. Cranberry juice reminds me of Christmas.”
“Really? Why? I would think Thanksgiving. Ugh. I was just reminded that I didn’t get to have any cranberry sauce this year. Plopping that stuff out of that can is my favorite thing about the holiday.”
“My mother hates the stuff from the can and refuses to serve it, but I love it. But cranberries remind me of Christmas because my mother used to make us string them for garland every year.”
“That seems like a lot of work,” she said, but she could tell by his smile that it was a good memory.
“It was, and my sister and I hated it. But looking back, it was fun. My mother used to go crazy when we were kids. My father would take us to cut down a huge tree every year and my mother would pull out the old ornaments that she got from her grandmother and each one of them had to be placed just right. And in the front, under the star were the ornaments that my sister and I made in first grade. They didn’t go with the antique stuff, but they got a place of honor every year.”
“That’s very sweet. Does she still do that?”
“No.” He shook his head and an almost sad expression crossed his face. “She hasn’t put up a tree in years. Our house used to be decked out in lights, but after my sister and I graduated from college she stopped doing all of that. It was too much work.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t do it again. I’m sure your mother would like it if you wanted to do it again.”
“She told me they’ve put the house up for sale and that they are moving to Florida. That’s why she stopped by yesterday, to tell me she’s retiring. There won’t be any more snowy Christmases at that house.”
“But what about this Christmas?”
“We’re going to my sister’s place.”
Hallie put her plate down on the table and wrapped her arms around his middle, feeling the need to comfort him. “Your childhood home is something you feel should always be there, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t realize I’d missed all those little traditions until I knew they weren’t going to happen anymore.”
“You can make your own traditions, you know. You’ll get married and have kids and you’ll do things for them like your parents did for you.”
“You’re right.” He draped his arm around her and rested his lips on her forehead. She closed her eyes, liking the closeness, the intimacy she had with him. She had never had this with Brent. They’d never just sat like this, their skin touching, their arms wrapped around each other, each lost in their own thoughts.
The only time Brent touched her was when he wanted to take her to bed. She barely knew Asa and yet was sitting this close to him on the couch. She felt closer to him than the man she had been planning to spend the rest of her life with. And then it dawned on her what she was doing.
She sat up quickly, retrieving her plate so that her hands would be full and not reach for him.
She barely knew him.
They were just supposed to be friends.
She wasn’t supposed to feel this kind of pull toward him.
