God, he might even have to buy a tree.
Was Glen trying to let him down gently, give him the hint that things would no longer be the same, after this year? And if so… he might never really see Molly again, not like this. Not a whole week living in the same house, enjoying each other’s company, being a family.
He may never get another opportunity to be close to her, if nothing else.
Maybe the worst thing wouldn’t be to have her once and then have to go back to just being her friend. Maybe the worst thing would be never seeing her again, and knowing he’d missed his only shot with her.
Jake took a bite of mince pie and glanced casually over at where Molly was chatting again with her friends. She looked happy. Vibrant, alive, and happy. She’d found what she wanted in life, and he wouldn’t be the one to take that away from her.
But if this was his last Christmas with the Mackenzie family, he damn well intended to make it memorable, too.
Chapter 11
Something had changed. Molly wasn’t sure what, exactly, but it had. Jake hadn’t taken his eyes off her all afternoon. She could feel him watching her as she said goodbye to her friends, made plans to meet them in the pub later. Even Lara had confirmed that she wasn’t imagining it when Molly had texted her, moments after her best friend left the house.
It’s the mini kilt, Lara had texted back, not entirely helpfully. After all, Molly knew full well that Jake was attracted to her. She just couldn’t figure out what had encouraged him to accept and enjoy that.
Or how far he planned to take it.
By the time all their guests had headed on their merry way, and they’d had their traditional Christmas Eve dinner of Tesco frozen canapés cooked by the tray load and more mince pies, it was time for church.
Molly didn’t go every year – in fact, she hadn’t been for quite a few. For the past few years, when the midnight service was actually at midnight she’d usually been in the pub if she wasn’t working. This year, however, the service had been moved to nine thirty, which sounded a lot more manageable. Of course, she wasn’t sure any of them should be allowed near the advent candle, given the sheer quantity of brandy in the mulled wine, but otherwise she was actually looking forward to it.
Maybe she was more homesick than she’d been ready to admit to her mum.
“Your coat, milady.” Jake held out her duffel coat for her to slip her arms in, wrapping it around her to keep her warm. For a moment, she closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace, letting herself imagine how it would feel to do that without all those pesky clothes between them.
Then she heard her dad clearing his throat in the doorway and her eyes flew open again.
“Everybody ready?” Glen asked, and Molly nodded.
“Think so. Come on, we can save everyone seats if we leave now.”
The midnight service was the one time of year that church was filled to capacity, according to Auntie Susan, who was rather better than the ‘every Sunday’ part of church going than the rest of them. She waved cheerfully from the row of pews third from the front, and they made their way forward to join her. She’d kept them the whole pew, but by the time everyone had crammed in, Molly found herself pressed closer to Jake than she’d expected him to be comfortable with.
But, to her surprise, he simply let his arm rest along the back of the seats behind her, and allowed his thigh to press up against hers as if it were perfectly normal for them to be so close.
Molly had to admit; it felt normal.
In fact, she thought as she stood for the first carol, it felt more than normal. Sharing a carol sheet with Jake, hearing his low voice singing Once in Royal David’s City softly by her ear, being there with him and her entire family… it felt right. Every bit as right as it felt when he kissed her, or when she was wrapped up in his arms.
God, she was in trouble.
Molly Mackenzie, don’t you blaspheme at Christmas! Her mother’s voice was so sharp in her mind that Molly had to glance across to make sure Philippa hadn’t actually read her mind and chastised her out loud.
Some days, she wouldn’t put it past her mum. Especially if she’d been able to telepathically tell what Molly had been imagining while Jake’s leg was pressed against her thigh. Very inappropriate for church.
The service seemed to go on forever, but Molly suspected that was only because she was so desperate to get Jake alone and talk to him. As they finally finished up the closing carol, she turned to him, ready to try and articulate in whispers and facial expressions the need for them to get alone and fast.
“Right. Pub,” Tim said, grabbing Jake’s arm and effectively destroying all of Molly’s plans. A crowded pub filled with her siblings was not where she wanted to have this conversation.
Still, it couldn’t be any harder than having it at home with Mum knocking on the door asking if they wanted mince pies every five minutes, right?
With a sigh, Molly followed Tim, Jake, Dory and Lucas out of the church, back into the snow, reminding herself that it was still only Christmas Eve. Technically, she had until New Year’s Eve to figure all this out with Jake.
Except she was pretty sure she’d go crazy if she didn’t get him alone before then.
-
Jake sucked in the cold winter air and tried to find some sense of calm and balance. Or, at the very least, some way to forget how short Molly’s skirt was, and how good her body felt next to his. As much as he wanted to just drag her off to some hotel room somewhere, that wasn’t on the cards for tonight. Instead, he had the rest of the evening in the pub with her brother and sister, followed by a whole day with her parents tomorrow.
Sex was very firmly off the cards.
But somehow, that was almost all right with him. If this were to be his last Christmas with the Mackenzies, he wanted to enjoy it. Tomorrow, he’d talk to Molly about the possibility of something more – maybe they could even escape to his house for a day or so between Christmas and New Year. He could claim he was working, she could say she was visiting friends…
And they’d both still be lying to people they cared about. But what was the alternative? Get caught screwing in her childhood bedroom by her father? No thank you. Jake had moved past that level of risk and humiliation almost a decade ago.
But if he didn’t find some way to have her before the holidays were over, there was a fair chance he was going to lose his mind.
The pub was conveniently situated across the road from the church, and already packed with people leaving the service by the time they got across. Dory, Lucas and Tim grabbed the last free table, while Molly somehow wound up at the bar with him – something he suspected was the result of planning rather than chance.
“What am I buying?” Jake asked, as he jockeyed for position at the bar.
Molly leant against him, stretching up on her tiptoes to put her mouth near his ear as she answered. “Three pints, a gin and tonic and a glass of white wine.” Jake tried not to shiver as her breath brushed across his
skin.
“Pints of anything in particular?”
She shrugged, and the movement made the robin on her jumper bounce. There was absolutely no way that should be attractive. Except… he knew exactly what was under that sweater. Had explored the territory early that morning. And God, he wanted to again…
“Tim said you know what he wants, and Lucas said he’d try whatever you were having.”
Easy enough. Jake forced himself to focus on getting the barman’s attention, not on the way Molly had leant back against the bar, her elbows resting on its polished surface as she surveyed the pub.
“You know, no one can see us here. I mean, no one we know. They’re all hidden behind that pillar over there. And they definitely can’t hear us. So if there was something you wanted to say – or do – now might be a really good time…”
The woman was temptation incarnate.
“I have too many things I want to say to you to get them out in between drinks orders.” If he just didn’t look at her, maybe he’d be all right.
Except then she shifted, turning to face him, one elbow still on the bar and her chin in her hand, looking up at him from under thick, long lashes.
“Which just leaves us with something we could do…”
Damn it. No man had enough willpower to resist this. Certainly not him, with his registered weakness for everything Molly Mackenzie.
He risked a quick glance over his shoulder, but she was right; there was no way anyone they knew could see them. Which didn’t mean this was a good idea, but it did mean he’d run out of arguments against it. Even to himself.
Swearing under his breath, Jake grabbed her waist and yanked her closer to him, his mouth finding hers more on instinct than through aim. His body had known what it needed to do for months now – it was only his brain getting in the way.
Her lips were sweetly parted ready for him, and she gave out a tiny sigh as they sank into the kiss. It sounded like relief, which Jake could understand. Something inside him had been winding up, tighter and tighter, all year now. And this kiss, this decision, released just an iota of that tension.