Excerpt from Frost~
I couldn’t let him go. Allowing him to walk away would mean I failed. No matter what the history was between us, I couldn’t let that happen. Without thinking, I grabbed his arm, leaned in close enough to smell the scent of cool pine-laced breezes wafting off his skin, and whispered, “I don’t want you to go.”
He turned his head slightly, his lips brushing against my cheek as he spoke. “Why?”
The slight contact wreaked havoc on my nerves and I began to tremble. He was so close. All I’d have to do is reach out and take him. But I couldn’t. Doing so was against regulation. He was my assignment. Taking him into custody and returning him to the North Pole was a direct order given by Santa himself. Giving in to my own wishes and desires was not an option.
“I…wrapping.” My voice sounded far off and distant. Like I was having an out-of-body experience. Around Jack, I always wanted to be present in body, at the very least. I started to hyperventilate.
“Oh.” A small, swirling pattern of snowflakes appeared to take form in the depths of his eyes. “Walk with me.”
He placed his hand at the small of my back, briefly brushing my handcuffs. “You were going to handcuff me?”
“Last resort only.”
“Really?” He pulled at my over shirt to reveal my gun and the corners of his mouth drew up in amusement “And this is purely an accessory?”
“Want me to shoot you?”
“Not if it’s filled with one of Doc’s tranqs. Wouldn’t want you to take advantage of me.” He chuckled as we walked through the crowd towards Macy’s.
“It’s no spiked eggnog.” I said, unable to keep the past at bay.
“Still equally as powerful.” With a wink, he maneuvered me into a corner. “We could test it if you like, you know, for old times.”
I didn’t like feeling boxed in, my back against a wall. It did give me a good view of the area though, allowing me to plan my escape route if I should need one. Around Jack, I’d learned to be prepared for the unexpected.
With his hands splayed on the wall on either side of me, Jack rested his forehead against mine. “Why did you leave that morning?”
Of all the questions he could have asked me in that moment, that one caught me off guard. I couldn’t think while he touched me and his breath warmed my cheeks. “It was a drunken night of wild abandon—”
“And wrapping paper,” he interjected.
“Yes, and while it was fun, it was one night. It didn’t mean anything.” Or so I’d been trying desperately to convince myself.
“Didn’t stick around long enough to find out, did you?” He leaned in and pressed his lips gently to mine.
***
Want to read the rest of the Frost story in it’s entirety you can find it on my Bookshelf page.
