All I Want for Christmas by Esme Taylor

Author:Esme Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781471403385
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Published: 2013-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

I see Joe as soon as he turns the corner and I’m not sure how to arrange myself while I wait for him to reach me. He’s looking past me down the street, but then he sees me and his face transforms. He really is sickeningly gorgeous in his big black coat, red scarf and beanie hat. I can see people checking him out as they pass him. It’s not just his looks, it’s his confidence; he is totally at ease with himself.

‘Hey,’ he says as he reaches me. I’m stamping my feet against the cold. ‘You look freezing.’

He wraps his arms around me and rubs his face against mine. His skin is warm. How can it be warm?

‘Are we eating here?’ he asks me, pointing at the Italian restaurant I’m standing in front of. The windows are steamed up and the smell of garlic has been driving me mad. I’m so hungry.

‘No, it’s full,’ I tell him. ‘I asked before you got here.’

‘Do you want to walk along Deansgate and find somewhere?’

We cross Blackfriars Street and head towards Kendals. There are only a couple of shopping days left before Christmas, so it’s really busy, but there’s a sense of excitement – and, yes, panic – in the air.

We try a couple more restaurants, but everywhere is rammed. We end up in St Ann’s Square at a pizza stall in the Christmas market.

‘It’s a bit cold to sit outside,’ Joe says.

‘We could get it to take away. And eat it after.’

‘After what?’ Joe asks.

I raise one eyebrow.

‘Right,’ he says, grinning. He orders the pizzas and we practically run up Market Street towards my flat.

‘Amy? Lee?’ I shout as I open the door. ‘They’re not here.’

Joe shuts the door behind us and I push him up against it, pulling his coat off, undoing his trousers, kicking off my boots.

We drop our clothes on the way to the bedroom and by the time we hit the bed, we’re both naked.

Afterwards, I fetch the pizzas from where we abandoned them on the hall floor and bring them into bed along with a bottle of wine and two glasses.

‘I could get used to this,’ Joe says, tipping his head back to lower a huge slice of pizza into his mouth.

‘The pizza? The wine?’ I ask.

‘The pizza, the wine, you.’ He kisses my shoulder. ‘I love these freckles. I always wanted freckles.’

I tip my head back and look at him. ‘You haven’t even got any freckles? God, you really are perfect.’

He laughs. ‘Oh, I’m not perfect. I’m far from perfect.’

‘Really? How?’

‘I bite my nails.’

‘Oh, pfft. Everyone bites their nails.’

‘Toenails?’

‘Ew!’ I laugh.

‘If I’m in a restaurant and they start clearing up around me, it completely freaks me out.’

‘Big. Deal. Tell me something bad you’ve done.’

‘I stole a CD from a shop.’

‘A CD? When you were a kid?’

He frowns. ‘I was maybe seventeen?’

‘Teenagers steal. Doesn’t count. Something worse.’

He lowers his head, then looks up at me from under his long eyelashes. ‘I killed someone once … ’

My stomach clenches, but Joe grins.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.