Chapter 16
Snowfall – sometimes cold but always sweet
Jett
“A urora,” I whisper as I tiptoe into her room.
She’s sleeping on her side with the covers pulled up to her nose. The only part of her body exposed is her curly blonde hair. Hair I happen to know feels like silk when I fist it in my hands as I bury myself in her.
My cock perks up. It doesn’t care how Aurora’s pregnant with my child and all the problems her pregnancy brings. It wants a repeat of what happened in her apartment in San Diego. Come what may.
I inhale a breath through my nose and blow it out as I order my cock to calm down. There will be no repeats.
No matter how much I long to have my hands on her curves again. Or to feel her warmth surrounding me. It’s not happening.
Aurora deserves someone who knows how to be a partner. Who knows how to be a parent to her child.
I am not that man.
“Jett,” Aurora murmurs as she rubs her legs together.
Is Aurora having a sexy dream about me? I knew she missed me as much as I missed her. I knew her prickly outside was hiding a soft inside. I knew she didn’t hate me.
I’m nearly to her bed before I realize I can’t act on my wishes. I order my feet to stop.
“Aurora,” I call again.
Her eyes fly open. “What? What’s wrong? Is someone injured? Are the police on the way? I hope there isn’t a fire. Is there a fire?”
“Nothing’s wrong. There is no fire.”
She narrows her eyes on me. “Are you sure? The last time you said there was no fire, I had to pay the hotel an obnoxious amount of money to keep the ‘fire’ out of the news.”
I roll my eyes. “It was a few scorch marks. The hotel exaggerated to extort money out of us.”
She sighs. “If there’s no fire, what’s wrong?” She reaches across the bed for her phone. “Who do I call? Police? Doctor? Lawyer?”
I snag the phone from her. “There’s no one to call. I have a surprise for you.”
Her eyes light up and I want to give her surprises every day. “A surprise?”
“But you need to get out of bed to get it.”
Her brows rise. “You’re certain this surprise isn’t how much blood I can mop up without throwing up?”
I scowl. I never want to witness her throwing up again. One time was one too many. “Are you having morning sickness more often?”
She throws her covers off revealing miles and miles of skin. Skin I’ve touched with my hands, with my tongue. Curves I’ve felt beneath me while I pounded into her.
My cock twitches. It remembers how good it felt to be inside of her. I clear my throat and turn away before she realizes the effect she’s having on me. Aurora might not hate me but she won’t appreciate me drooling over her.
“What’s this surprise?” she asks again.
“It would hardly be a surprise if I told you, now would it?”
She sighs as she shuffles to me. The tension in my body releases when I notice she’s now wearing a robe covering her naked skin.
“Okay, but I need my phone if I’m going to prevent a PR disaster.”
“Have a bit of faith,” I say as I lead her out of her bedroom.
“A bit of faith?” She snorts. “Sell that line to someone who hasn’t worked for you for a decade.”
“We aren’t that bad.”
“And I don’t have a lawyer in each state in the continental United States on speed dial.”
“You can’t have forty-eight people on speed dial.”
“I don’t have forty-eight people on speed dial. I also have doctors and newspaper editors and PR spin doctors and—”
I cover her mouth with my hand. “Stop. You make it sound as if we’re troublemakers.”
She bites my hand and I release her. “Because you are.”
“You get caught stealing a sign one time,” I grumble.
“Considering you had the hots for the bartender, I think you wanted to get caught.”
I wrinkle my nose. “I didn’t think she’d call the police.”
“You ripped the sign off of the wall creating a gigantic hole. And you forgot to unplug it and somehow managed to short out her electrical system. Of course, she called the police.”
“Things didn’t exactly work out the way I intended them.”
“Ya don’t say.”
“Be nice or I won’t show you your surprise.”
“You got a pregnant woman out of bed in the middle of the night. I am getting my surprise.”
Is waking a pregnant woman bad? Should I have let her sleep? I should probably do some research about pregnant women. Not because I’m claiming this child as mine. But because Aurora is pregnant and living in my house. It’s common courtesy is all.
She elbows me. “Where’s my surprise?”
Ah yes. The surprise. I motion down the stairs.
Once we’re in the foyer, I place her boots near her feet. “Put those on.”
“Why? Are you kicking me out in the dead of night? Are you hoping none of your bandmates will notice? Did you steal my phone to stop me from calling for help?”
I begin to roll my eyes but stop when I realize she isn’t joking. She seriously thinks I’d kick her out of the house. Damn it. I’m not a complete asshole.
I cradle her face with my hands. “I’m not kicking you out, Aurora. I may not be happy you’re pregnant. I may not know what I’m going to do about this child. But I’m not kicking you out.”
She searches my face for clues I’m lying. I drop my guard and let her see everything. My conflict about the baby. My desire to have her in my arms. My fear I can’t be the man she wants. She gasps and I slam my guard back up.
I kiss her nose. “You’re safe with me.”
She blows out a breath. “Okay. I’m trusting you here.”
My heart pounds in my chest. She trusts me. Me. The man who doesn’t deserve one ounce of her trust. Warmth spreads through my body and a smile spreads across my face.
“Now. What is this surprise?”
There’s my feisty girl.
I wrap a blanket around her shoulders and nudge her toward the door. She appears confused but she doesn’t fight me. I open the door and she gasps.
“I know you’ve seen snow before. I’ll never forget the time we got snowed in and ended up spending the night on the floor of the airport in Detroit.”
She cringes. “I got gum in my hair.”
“But the first snowfall of the season is special.”
“It’s beautiful,” she murmurs as she steps off the porch into the front yard.
She throws her arms out and twirls around as she giggles. It’s a beautiful sight to see. A sight I’d love to see every year with each first snowfall of the winter season. I shove those thoughts away.
Now is not the time to contemplate what I will never have. Now is the time to live in the moment. And if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s living in the moment.
I jump down the porch into the front yard.
“Can you catch a snowflake on your tongue?” I don’t wait for her to answer before tilting my head back and sticking out my tongue. “There. Got one.”
“You have the maturity of a five-year-old.”
I bow. “Thank you. Last week you said I was four. I’m maturing.”
“As much as a boy stuck in a man’s body can mature.”
I wiggle my hips. “But what a body it is.”
She shoves me. “Man child.”
“Can a man child do this?” I ask before doing a cartwheel.
She holds up six fingers. “Six out of ten.”
“Six? I can do better.”
This time I do a roundoff. When I land on both feet, I raise my hands in the air before bowing.
Aurora claps. “Better. Definitely a six point two.”
“A six point two? I’ll show you a six point two,” I mutter before attacking her ribs.
She giggles as she tries to push me away. “Don’t. I’ll pee my pants.”
I freeze. “Do pregnant women have bladder issues?”
“Nope. But I got you to stop, didn’t I?”
I go after her again but she flees from me. I give chase. Of course, I do. I will always chase Aurora.
“Caught you,” I shout as I reach her. She slaps away my hands and I realize she’s freezing.
“Time for some hot chocolate,” I declare as I drag her inside.
“Hot chocolate? You have hot chocolate?”
“ We have hot chocolate.”
I settle her in a chair in the dining room before continuing to the kitchen. I open the refrigerator and pull out a jug of milk and a bottle of squeezable chocolate. I raise the items in the air for her to see. “Tada!”
She whistles. “Good job.”
“You’re patronizing me but I’m okay with it. I am an international sex symbol after all. I’m used to being objectified.”
She giggles as I heat the milk in the microwave. When it’s finished, I set the mug on the table in front of her.
She cautiously picks it up and blows on the liquid before taking a small sip. Her eyes widen in surprise. “This is actually good.”
“You should never underestimate, Jett the hot chocolate maker.” I pretend to twirl my cape around before sitting across from her.
She giggles again and my heart warms. I want to make her happy. I want to hear her giggle every evening as we sit across from each other at the dining table. I want to spend my life finding ways to make her laugh.
But it isn’t to be. I’m not the man for her. No matter how much I may wish it otherwise.