Jingle Bear: BBW Paranormal Holiday Shape Shifter Romance (North Pole Book 1) by Ruby Shae

Author:Ruby Shae [Shae, Ruby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-11-02T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

Chloe woke early the next morning alone. A pillow replaced Quinn’s warm body and the quilt had been tucked around her tight. She could barely move her arms and she had to wrestle with the coverlet to gain her freedom. The power had been restored and the Christmas lights sparkled in the dimly lit room. The fire had fizzled out long ago, but the heater kept the room nice and toasty.

One glance around the room confirmed Quinn had left. Little traces of him remained, though, and her heart ached more than it should. She’d only known him a day, but that day had felt like a lifetime. Even though she’d known he didn’t feel the same about her, something deep down inside had wished he would’ve stayed and spent Christmas Day—or forever—with her.

She shook her head and lay back down. Wallowing in self-pity wouldn’t get her anywhere, but one more hour might do the trick. Maybe the sun would melt away some of the snow and she could visit Christmas Town in the afternoon.

The door to the cabin opened and Quinn barreled in. Her breath caught and she could only stare as he made himself at home.

“Oh, good, you’re up,” he started. “The snowplow and clean-up crew woke me, so I went out to see if they needed some help shoveling the walkways. It’s safe to go into town now, and it’s supposed to be warm today, so the paths shouldn’t ice. If we want to go sledding, we should hurry before that hill back there shrinks.”

He stared at her a moment and she realized she hadn’t taken a breath since he came into the room.

“What’s wrong?”

She jumped off the couch, ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The knee-jerk reaction seemed extreme and her cheeks heated until he completed their embrace by encircling his arms around her. Then her cheeks heated from arousal as she felt his hard, warm, body surround her.

“What happened? What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” she said into his sweater, and then the tears started to fall. In that moment, she realized how deeply she’d fallen for him. To make the situation worse, it was too late to try and hide her feelings. Tears soaked through his sweater and her voice broke when she spoke again. “I thought you’d left.”

“Hey,” he said and pulled back to look at her.

She kept her head down, unable to meet his disapproving gaze. She’d broken the one rule she’d set for herself, and she’d broken his trust. He’d made it clear he only wanted friendship from her, and now that he knew she’d fallen for him, he’d leave and she’d never see him again.

He placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head. When she wouldn’t meet his eyes, he issued a gentle command.

“Chloe, look at me.”

Might as well get it over with.

She looked at him through the tears that hadn’t slipped away, but instead of anger, censure and pity, she saw something akin to love. She knew her eyes must be deceiving her, so she wiped away the tears and met his gaze again.

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