A Marvell Country Christmas by Jeannie Watt

Author:Jeannie Watt
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance
ISBN: 9781949707304
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Published: 2018-10-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The scent of spiced wine filled the air and Christmas music played softly as Cody and Murphy finished decorating the prickly spruce, each of them carefully keeping to their own side of the tree. All the better to think deep thoughts and regain emotional composure, Murphy thought as she rehung a carved wooden angel that was pulling down a branch too far.

Kissing Cody had been a mistake. It had changed everything and solved nothing—except for the mystery of what it was like to kiss and be kissed by Cody Marvell. Had that been worth giving up the cozy feeling that had been developing between them before they’d left the house to chop ice?

The ambience was still cozy, but the humming tension that surrounded her and Cody negated the effect of soft music and holiday smells.

“You okay over there?” Cody asked, finally breaking the silence. Murphy’s nerves jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Just finishing up.” She felt a whisper of relief as she reached for the last ornament in her box, a plain red ball with sparkly snow frosting the top. Maybe now things would go back to the way they’d been. They’d pretend the kiss had never happened and carry on.

“Yeah. Me, too.”

Murphy walked around the tree as Cody held up the ornament he’d just unwrapped from a tattered square of tissue—a hand-carved snowman.

“My grandfather made it. It’s my favorite.” After he hung it, he rubbed the side of his face, his fingers drifting over his chin as he regarded first the tree and then her, as if having a hard time believing either one of them was in his house. It was a little crazy that she was sharing Christmas with Cody Marvell, former crush, former nemesis. Crazy that they’d kissed.

“What do you think?” he asked. “Christmassy enough?”

“Perfect.” She lifted a hand-blown glass icicle with one finger. Many of the ornaments were handmade and all of them were old. She bet there was some history hanging on the prickly spruce.

“Yeah. I agree.” He regarded the tree with an air of satisfaction. “It looks good.”

As did he. The woodstove in the basement had done its job, so he was wearing a Copper Mountain Rodeo T-shirt with his jeans, and when he moved, she could see taut muscles playing beneath the cotton knit.

He met her eyes, his expression guarded even though his voice was pleasant enough as he said, “Shall we test the spiced wine?”

“I’d like that.” She needed something to take the edge off.

They went into the kitchen where Cody pulled a ladle out of a drawer and used it to fill two mugs with steaming spiced wine. Then he reached for the package of cinnamon sticks and popped one in each cup.

“Fancy,” Murphy said with a smile as she picked up the mug from the counter before he could hand it to her. She gave a quick sip, burning the tip of her tongue, then set the mug back down. “It needs to cool.”

“Singe yourself?”

“A little.” She leaned closer to the cup to blow on it, breathing in the spicy aroma as she inhaled.

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