12 Christmas Romances To Melt Your Heart (53 page)

J
ake Denton stuck
his plumbing tools in the bed of the truck and slammed the tailgate closed.

Unlike the majority of the townspeople, he was grateful for the snow. Cold weather was a plumber’s dream. It meant more jobs, and he sure as hell could use more money right now. Before the winter hit, business had slowed down—way down—and he needed a shot in the arm.

He’d just finished a job at Granny’s Little Italy Restaurant on Main Street and he wanted nothing more than to go home, grab a beer, and catch the football game he’d DVR’d on TV. The wintry mix was coming down fast and heavy, and he didn’t want to wait much longer or the roads would be too bad to travel on.

He opened the door of his truck to get in when he heard a woman’s voice.

He stopped and listened. The best he could tell, it was coming from down the alley off Main Street.

He shut his door, zipped up his winter coat, and headed in the direction of Main. Beer and the game would have to wait.

T
aking off at a jog
, Eliza wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she’d grabbed her coat and rubber boots before heading out into the miserable winter weather. She stopped in front of the darkened grocery store. Hoping against hope, she tried the door.

Locked.

She pressed her face against the window and peered inside. She saw no movement in the dark shadows of the store.

She headed next door to Granny’s Little Italy Restaurant. Once again, she tried to the door, but it wouldn’t budge either.

“Damnit.” She leaned in and looked into the closed restaurant. “If I was a cat and it was snowing, I’d be in there with all that Italian food.”

“Eliza, what are you doing?”

Eliza jumped at the familiar sound of the deep male voice. She slowly turned around.

Jake Denton.

“And why don’t you have a coat on?” he asked.

Usually whenever she saw Jake, she would turn into a puddle of female neediness right in front of him. But today she was too worried about Miss Kitty to give much thought to her hormones.

“I can’t find Miss Kitty. She ran out when my last customer left, and I can’t find her anywhere.” She blinked back the tears that stung her eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’ll help you look for her.” Jake smiled, unzipped his winter coat, and handed it to her. “But you need to put this on first. You’ll freeze to death out here.”

“I can’t take your coat.” She tried to hand it back to him, but he shook his head.

“Take it. I’ve got enough meat on me to keep me warm.” He grinned as he draped the oversized coat over her shoulders.

He might be big, but the man didn’t have an ounce of fat anywhere on his muscled body. His dark hair brushed the tops of his shoulders as he moved, and his dark blue eyes seared into her.

She blinked and looked away, embarrassed that she might cry in front of him.

His warm male scent lingered on his coat and wrapped around her in a comforting embrace. She couldn’t help but snuggle down farther into the warmth as she pulled it tight around her.

“Did you try Granny’s Little Italy?” He nodded at the restaurant.

“It’s locked. I tried the door.” She stepped up to the window and peered inside.

“Mrs. Wentworth’s car is still parked in the alley, so the back door is still unlocked.”

Mrs. Wentworth was the owner of Granny’s Little Italy and had run the restaurant for years. She was neither a grandmother nor Italian. But the woman could cook Italianfood like nobody’s business.

Jake rested his hand at the small of her back as they walked down the alley to the back entrance.

Her heart jumped in her chest at his touch. Even through the thick coat, she could almost feel the warmth from his body.

She shook her head, clearing away random romantic thoughts. This was Jake. She’d gone to school with him. He’d been the high school jock who dated cheerleaders. She’d been the bookworm who studied incessantly so she could stay in the library around her books. He’d been the popular guy who everyone wanted to be friends with. She’d been the one who never had a date in high school because no one ever asked her. He’d even gone off to college on a football scholarship and gotten his degree in business, and he now owned his own plumbing business. She’d gone to college, gotten a degree in English, and now owned her own bookstore.

They were polar opposites and clearly didn’t fit in each other’s world.

It made sense for her to return to her hometown, but it didn’t make sense that Jake had come back. He could have been anything, done anything. He could be in New York City with a supermodel, living the dream, playing for the New York Giants.

Yet he’d returned to Cloverton.

The snow fell faster and the ground was getting slicker by the second. The back door of Granny’s was propped open by a large green trashcan.

“Come on in.” Jake motioned with his hand, letting her step inside first.

He might be the town’s most eligible bachelor, but Jake Denton was always a gentleman.

A blast of warmth from the kitchen sucked her in and she sighed. She shook her head, and snowflakes and sleet fell to the ground. She ran her fingers through her cold, wet hair and looked around the kitchen.

Industrial-size ovens and stoves, along with two large stainless-steel refrigerators, occupied the space. Thick rubber mats lined the concrete floor at each prepping station in the kitchen. Though everything was clean and had been scrubbed down for the day, a faint hint of cooking oil and cheese hung in the air.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she’d forgotten to eat lunch. When the snow had started falling, she’d gotten busy with customers buying books to prepare for the impending blizzard. She didn’t mind, though; she liked the uptake in business.

“Missed lunch?” Jake grinned.

She felt her face heat a thousand degrees, and she glanced away. She was almost twenty-six years old, and every time she was around him she felt like she was sixteen years old and back in high school.

“Yeah, I got too busy,” she admitted as glanced around the kitchen for Miss Kitty. Nothing moved among the shadows, and her anxiety mounted within her chest.

“Me too. I had to work straight through noon. It seems like with this winter weather, I actually have a boost in sales.” He rolled his massive shoulders. His muscles bulged against his plaid shirt, reminding her that he was still in shape. He might not play football anymore, but he was still built like an athlete.

Her stomach twisted with guilt at letting her mind wander. She should be focusing on finding her cat and not checking out Jake. She shrugged out of his coat and held it out to him.

He shook his head. “No, you keep it. You’re still shaking from being outside.”

She was shaking, all right, but it had nothing to do with the cold.

“Jake, I appreciate your help, but I’m all right by myself.” She nodded toward the door. “You can go. I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“Women who say ‘I’m fine’ are never fine.” He arched his eyebrow. “I know how to interpret women code.”

No doubt about that. Jake Denton looked like he knew everything about a woman, including how to please one.

“What’s that?” He stilled and held a finger to his lips.

M
eow
.

“Miss Kitty.” She broke into a grin as she hurried through the swinging kitchen doors into the restaurant.

Eliza halted her steps. Through the dim light seeping in from the windows she could make out shapes of chairs upended atop tables.

“I don’t see anyone.” She glanced up at him over her shoulder and then scanned the room again. “I thought you said Mrs. Wentworth was still here?”

“I think she said something about having to run to the drug store before it closed.” Jake whispered close to her ear.

Her eyes lashes fluttered of their own volition and her body trembled at his nearness the urge to lean back into his chest overwhelmed her.

“Yes well,’ she cleared her throat and tried to focus her fuzzy head on the task at hand. What were they here for? Miss Kitty, that’s it! “I guess we need to hurry up.”

Meow.

“Miss Kitty, where are you?” Eliza called into the dimness. She took a cautious step forward near one of the corners.

Her foot caught the edge of one of the uneven tiles and she pitched forward. She gasped as she stumbled in the dark. Jake’s strong arms grabbed her from behind and wrapped around her waist pulling her toward him.

“Easy. You okay?” His husky voice sent electric shocks of pleasure through her stomach and her heart speed away like a train. It was all she could do to keep from resting her head against his warm embrace.

“Yeah, thanks.” She sucked in a calming breath and stepped away from his warmth, grateful for the darkness. At least he couldn’t see how red her face was.

Meow.

She eased forward to one of the many booths lined against the wall, following the sound of her cat. The sound grew louder with each step.

She reached the last booth and knelt, craning her neck under the table. Something darker than the shadows moved under the booth as two yellow eyes stared back at her through the darkness.

She sighed as relief poured over her.

“Come here, Miss Kitty.” She held out her hand. Her fingertips brushed against the familiar silky black fur. The cat purred against her touch as she rubbed her face against her fingers.

A loud slam came from the direction of the kitchen.

“What’s that?” She looked up at Jake in the darkness. She gathered the cat in her arms and stood.

“Sounds like the door. The garbage can probably got blown out of the way and the door shut.”

Her heart jumped in her throat.

He laughed at the panicked look on her face. “Don’t worry. It’s not locked. I made sure to check when we came in.”

“Good.” She laughed and shook her head. “I can’t imagine getting locked in here with you.”

He frowned.

“I didn’t mean it like that sounded.” She shifted her weight as her throat went dry. “I mean it would terrible if we had to spend the night together.”

His frown deepened and he cocked his head.

Ugh. She was making everything worse. Maybe she should just stop talking.

She slammed her mouth shut and made her way to the kitchen. She didn’t dare look at Jake as he followed silently behind her. When she reached the back door, she gave him a hesitant smile.

“Thank you, Jake. I appreciate you helping me find Miss Kitty. I know you have better things to do than to rescue runaway cats.”

A slow grin crossed his mouth. His dark eyes twinkled under the lights of the kitchen.

“My pleasure. It’s not very often that I can be the hero to a beautiful woman.”

Her heart caught for the briefest of seconds. Was he flirting with her? She blinked and looked away. Nah. Jake was just teasing. He’d always been kind to her, but he’d never really showed her that much attention. She wasn’t his type.

“Right.” She turned and reached for the doorknob. A sliver of panic slid up into the base of her throat when the knob didn’t turn.

“Let me try. Sometimes it sticks.” Jake smiled as she took a step back to allow him access to the door.

He reached for the doorknob and turned. When the door didn’t open, he turned and frowned at her.

“Don’t give me that look.” Her chest squeezed with uncertainty.

“It won’t open,” he said carefully.

“Well, put your weight behind it.” Her heart jackhammered in her chest and she squeezed Miss Kitty. The cat meowed and squirmed in her arms.

“I am.” He rammed his shoulder into the steel door. It creaked but didn’t budge.

“I thought you said it wouldn’t lock.” Every movie with this exact situation popped into her head. None of them had good outcomes.

“It doesn’t. But when the owners lock up for the night they put a padlock on the outside. There have been some burglaries in the next town over and they are taking precautions.” He raked his fingers through his dark hair. The disheveled look would have caused her to swoon any other time, but right now she was too consumed with panic to care how hot he looked.

“Then call her to come back to unlock it.” She shrieked and squeezed Miss Kitty a little too tight. The cat hissed and sprang out of her arms and ran back into the restaurant.

He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips into a firm white line.

“What?” The rising panic in her stomach was now cresting over into her heart. “I don’t like the look on your face. Why do you have that look on your face?”

“I left my phone in my truck.” He leaned against the door and let out a sigh. “What about you?”

“I left my phone in the bookstore.” She’d run out into the snow looking for Miss Kitty and hadn’t thought to grab her phone. Her knees buckled and she grabbed the stainless-steel counter to steady herself. “Oh, God. The bookstore. It’s not locked.”

“Easy.” He gripped her by the elbows and forced her to meet his gaze as he held her up. “It’s fine. There’s a phone here. Let’s find it and call the police. I know Sloan Jackson is on call this weekend.”

She nodded her head. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?” She laughed. “Up front. The phone is up front by the cash register.” Not wasting a second she bolted through the swinging doors into the restaurant.

She ran her fingers along the wall, looking for the light switch. Her palm brushed against the plastic toggle and she flipped it up.

The room was awash in a bright flood of light.

She hurried to the phone, picked up the receiver and pressed it to her ear. Her eyes widened, and she looked at him.

“What’s wrong?” He frowned as he made his way over to her.

“The line is dead.” She held the receiver out to him. He held it up to his ear.

No dial tone. Nothing.

“What are we going to do, Jake?” Her eyes began to glaze over with unshed tears.

“Just call down. It’s fine. We just have to wait it out until someone comes.”

“
W
e’ll turn
on the lights. Someone will notice and alert the owner.” He gave her a reassuring smile that was all dimples and confidence.

“Right.” She nodded as she sucked in a calming breath. “If the lights are all on someone will have to come turn them off. That’s good thinking.”

“I’m pretty useful when I need to be.” He nodded toward the front of the restaurant. “Let’s get the rest of them turned on.”

The panic in her chest began to dip and go down. She shook her head as she went around the left side of the room while he took the right flipping switches and lighting up the darkened restaurant. Someone would come and there would be nothing to worry about.