Mistletoe Kisses with the Billionaire by Shirley Jump

Author:Shirley Jump
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

HENRY stood at the top of the hill, bundled up like a giant marshmallow. His snowsuit covered him from head to toe, and every time he moved he had the jerky movements of a robot, not a little boy. But happiness radiated from his features, and laughter spilled from him in a steady stream.

And J.C. felt like he could breathe for the first time in a month.

His mother wasn’t a hundred percent involved with Henry yet, but she had made the first attempts at setting up for the holiday season, and when J.C. had left today there’d been a roast in the slow cooker. One step at a time, he told himself, and it would all be okay. Henry’s mood was brighter, his smile bigger. He had that magic look in his eyes, the one that radiated from children at Christmas. The very look J.C. had worked so hard and so long to bring to his nephew.

Grace made her way up the snowy hill, looking both sexy and practical in a thick blue winter coat and matching snow pants. The boots she wore—zebra patterns that came nearly to her knee and had a thick faux-fur top—were all Grace. Quirky, yet fun.

“Sledding? That’s what you want me to do?”

“Yep.”

She cast a dubious glance at the long wooden sled in J.C.’s hands. “Well, if I’m going, you’re going.”

“I’m no good at sledding. Not exactly my area of expertise.”

“One little accident, J.C. And it was years ago. I’m sure you’ve improved your driving abilities since then.”

Henry tugged on J.C.’s sleeve. “Are we gonna go, Uncle Jace?”

J.C. had invited Grace along so that she would do this, and he could get back to work. Maybe make a few phone calls while Grace and Henry rode the slopes. He hadn’t expected to be part of it himself. As much as he wanted to, he had details of a merger breathing down his neck, with lawyers, accountants and other suits all waiting on his responses. Carson Investments needed some attention, too, even as the snowy hill and Henry’s big blue eyes beckoned. He didn’t have time for fun or sledding or anything but work. “Sorry, buddy, no can do. Grace is going to take you down the hill.”

Henry pouted. “I want you to go, too.”

“That’s two votes for J.C. to go,” Grace said, then waved at the sled. “You’re not chickening out, are you?”

The challenge in her voice awakened something inside him. Something he hadn’t listened to in a long, long time. Something that reminded him of who he’d used to be...before.

Before the emails and board meetings, the to-do lists and the power suits. He could take one ride, and just for a minute forget all those things. The part of him that had pretended for a little while on those hot summer days that his father wasn’t waiting at home with lists and chores and extra homework for J.C. to do. For those moments J.C. could just...be. The urge to do that called like music, rising in his chest.

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