Kissing Under The Mistletoe: The Sullivans (Contemporary Romance)
Page 23
Jack loved to hear her speak about her childhood. Rosciano was in the heart of the Abruzzo wine region of Italy, so when a friend of his who owned a winery in Napa suggested they come up for the weekend to be a part of the crush celebrations, Jack had known Mary would love it.
“What do you think about chucking it all in and opening up Sullivan Winery?”
“Maybe one day,” she said as they headed down the hill toward the winery buildings. “But for now I’m rather partial to our life just the way it is.”
His friend David waved them over when they got to the stone-walled barn. “Up for crushing some grapes?” He pointed to a barrel full of grapes. “If you are, hop in.”
Jack grinned at Mary. “What do you say you show me how it’s done?”
She was clearly thrilled with the plan as she kicked off her heels. After she took off her stockings and he rolled up his pants and both of them quickly washed their feet, they got into the barrel, laughing as the grapes squashed beneath their toes. They were quickly covered in juice, not just their feet but their legs and clothes, as well.
He would never get enough of the sound of her laughter or the taste of her kiss. And later, as they sat out under the night sky and sipped the juice they’d made together, followed by one of his friend’s vintages, Jack made a wish on the stars above.
His wish was that the children he and Mary would have together one day would also find a love this deep and true for themselves.
November
The Sullivans had agreed to gather together at Mary and Jack’s house for Thanksgiving. Max and Claudia arrived first with Ian and Adam, and Mary was amazed by how much both boys had grown. Ian immediately ran into the backyard to play, and Mary scooped Adam into her arms where he happily settled while Jack poured his brother and sister-in-law drinks.
Mary was holding the baby on one hip when she answered the door to find Ethan on the doorstep.
“Hey, Beautiful,” he said in his typical flirtatious way. “You look good with the kid. When are you and Jack going to start popping them out?”
Mary was laughing as she gave him a kiss hello. “You sound just like my mother. No wonder she adored you so much when she met you at our wedding.”
“All those pretty Italian girls,” he said with a wistful look. “I really should get back to Rosciano soon.”
“Let me know when you’re done flirting with my wife,” Jack called out to Ethan, “and I’ll get you a drink.”
Mary was about to close the door when a shiny black limousine pulled up. Finally, she was going to meet William Sullivan. Every time she and Jack made plans to see him, his trips to San Francisco had been rerouted to other cities at the last second. Mary sympathized, as her travel schedule had once been just as hectic.
As he emerged from the vehicle, she noted that he was just as good-looking as his brothers, but unlike Jack, Max and Ethan, she couldn’t read William’s expression. She knew he was an artist, a very talented one, but even Jack seemed to find his brother a bit of a mystery.
“You must be Mary.”
She held out her hand. “It’s lovely to finally meet you.”
His gaze softened as he stroked a hand over Adam’s soft dark hair, and Mary finally saw there was more than a physical resemblance between William and his three brothers.
Howie, Larry and Layla arrived a few minutes later and helped fill the house with laughter and love. And when they all sat down a short while later to the huge spread of food, Mary wished both her parents and Jack’s could have been with them, too.
Hands down, it was the best Thanksgiving she’d ever had.
Mary had so much to be thankful for. Jack’s love. A relationship with her parents that was better than ever. Being a part of the amazing Sullivan family. Her flourishing career.
And, just maybe, if her suspicions were correct, she and Jack would soon have even more to be thankful for….
December
“Happy anniversary, Angel.”
Jack and his brothers had finished building the Lake Tahoe cabin a few weeks earlier, and tonight Mary and Jack were lying tangled around each other on the soft rug in front of their new river-rock fireplace.
Mary felt so warm and safe with her head cradled against Jack’s chest, listening to his heart beating steady and strong. Normally, she would have stayed right where she was. But she had a surprise for Jack that she just couldn’t wait another moment to give him.
When she got up, his heated gaze followed her every step as she took something from the bags they’d dropped just inside the front door and then returned to kneel in front of him.
She held out a small wrapped package, but instead of opening it, he stroked his hand over her cheek.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
A moment later, he pulled back the red-and-green wrapping paper and uncovered the beautiful ornament inside. It was a handcrafted clay Christmas tree, with Mary’s and Jack’s names together at the top. Off the edge of each of the branches along each side of the miniature tree was room for additional names to be added.
“If our first child is a boy, I’d like to name him Marcus after my father. And if it’s a girl—”
Jack interrupted before she could finish speaking. “Are you pregnant?”
“We’re going to have a baby, Jack.”
“I thought last Christmas was the best I’d ever have,” he said in a reverent voice as he pulled her close and laid one hand over her stomach. “But you’ve made every day better than the one that came before it.”
Together they rose to hang the new ornament on the tree next to the angel he’d given her last year on their first Christmas together.
One year ago, both Mary and Jack had been looking for a Christmas miracle, but they’d given each other so much more than either of them could ever have dreamed of having.
“Look,” he said as he pointed up to the ceiling. “Mistletoe.”
And as Mary and Jack Sullivan kissed beneath the sprig of mistletoe, both of them knew there were many more miracles to come….
Present Day
Glancing down, with tears in her eyes, Mary looked at the two Christmas ornaments sitting in her lap, which were more precious to her than anything else she owned.
From that first Sullivan Christmas through all the Sullivan Christmases that followed, these two small ornaments represented the deep and true love between her and Jack. She felt so incredibly blessed by the exciting life she’d led, the children who made every single day a delight…and most of all, loving, and being loved by, Jack Sullivan.
The sounds of happy voices coming up the walk brought Mary from her memories. Wiping her damp eyes with her fingertips, she stood up and carefully placed the two ornaments on the tree.
Looking up, she whispered, “I love you, Jack.”
When she opened the door, her family was standing in the fresh snow smiling at her. Marcus and Nicola were on the front steps with Chase and Chloe. Gabe, Megan and Summer were coming up the path laden down with brightly wrapped gifts.
“Merry Christmas,” they all said as they kissed and hugged her, and then began to pile into the cabin.
It was time for another Sullivan Christmas to begin.
~ THE END ~
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Watch for IT MUST BE YOUR LOVE (Mia Sullivan’s story, The Seattle Sullivans) coming Winter 2013!
And don’t miss previous books in Bella's New York Times & USA Today bestselling Sullivan series!
THE LOOK OF LOVE
(Chase & Chloe)
FROM THIS MOMENT ON
(Marcus & Nicola)
CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE
(Gabe & Megan)
I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU
(Sophie & Jake)
IF YOU WERE MINE
(Zach & Heather)
LET ME BE THE ONE
(Ryan & Vicki)
COME A
LITTLE BIT CLOSER
(Smith & Valentina)
ALWAYS ON MY MIND
(Lori & Grayson)
ONE PERFECT NIGHT
(A novella guest starring Mia Sullivan and Rafe Sullivan)
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
(Rafe & Brooke, The Seattle Sullivans)
IT MUST BE YOUR LOVE
(Mia Sullivan's story, The Seattle Sullivans, coming Winter 2013)
* * *
Please enjoy the following excerpt from the first book in Bella Andre’s New York Times and USA Today bestselling Sullivan series...
THE LOOK OF LOVE
Chloe Peterson is having a bad night. A really bad night. The large bruise on her cheek can attest to that. And when her car skids off the side of a wet country road straight into a ditch, she’s convinced even the gorgeous guy who rescues her in the middle of the rain storm must be too good to be true. Or is he?
As a successful photographer who frequently travels around the world, Chase Sullivan has his pick of beautiful women, and whenever he’s home in San Francisco, one of his seven siblings is usually up for causing a little fun trouble. Chase thinks his life is great just as it is—until the night he finds Chloe and her totaled car on the side of the road in Napa Valley. Not only has Chase never met anyone so lovely, both inside and out, but he quickly realizes Chloe has much bigger problems than her damaged car. Soon, Chase is willing to move mountains to love—and protect—her, but will Chloe let him?
Enjoy the following excerpt from THE LOOK OF LOVE...
Chase almost missed the flickering light off on the right side of the two-lane country road. In the past thirty minutes, he hadn’t passed a single car, because on a night like this, most sane Californians—who didn’t know the first thing about driving safely in inclement weather—stayed home.
Knowing better than to slam on the brakes—he wouldn’t be able to help whomever was stranded on the side of the road if he ended up stuck in the muddy ditch right next to them—Chase slowed down enough to see that there was definitely a vehicle stuck in the ditch.
He turned his brights on to see better in the pouring rain and realized there was a person walking along the edge of the road about a hundred yards up ahead. Obviously hearing his car approach, she turned to face him and he could see her long wet hair whipping around her shoulders in his headlights.
Wondering why she wasn’t just sitting in her car, dry and warm, calling Triple A and waiting for them to come save her, he pulled over to the edge of his lane and got out to try and help her. She was shivering as she watched him approach.
"Are you hurt?"
She covered her cheek with one hand, but shook her head. "No."
He had to move closer to hear her over the sound of the water hitting the pavement in what were rapidly becoming hailstones. Even though he’d turned his headlights off, as his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, he was able to get a better look at her face.
Something inside of Chase’s chest clenched tight.
Despite the long, dark hair plastered to her head and chest, regardless of the fact that looking like a drowned rat wasn’t too far off the descriptive mark, her beauty stunned him.
In an instant, his photographer’s eye cataloged her features. Her mouth was a little too big, her eyes a little too wide-set on her face. She wasn’t even close to model thin, but given the way her T-shirt and jeans stuck to her skin, he could see that she wore her lush curves well. In the dark he couldn’t judge the exact color of her hair, but it looked like silk, perfectly smooth and straight where it lay over her breasts.
It wasn’t until Chase heard her say, "My car is definitely hurt, though," that he realized he had completely lost the thread of what he’d come out here to do.
Knowing he’d been drinking her in like he was dying of thirst, he worked to recover his balance. He could already see he’d been right about her car. It didn’t take a mechanic like his brother, Zach, who owned an auto shop—more like forty, but Chase had stopped counting years ago—to see that her shitty hatchback was borderline totaled. Even if the front bumper wasn’t half smashed to pieces by the white farm fence she’d slid into, her bald tires weren’t going to get any traction on the mud. Not tonight, anyway.
If her car had been in a less precarious situation, he probably would have sent her to hang out in her car while he took care of getting it unstuck. But one of her back tires was hanging precariously over the edge of the ditch.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Get in my car. We can wait there for a tow truck." He was vaguely aware of his words coming out like an order, but the hail was starting to sting, damn it. Both of them needed to get out of the rain before they froze.
But the woman didn’t move. Instead, she gave him a look that said he was a complete and utter nut-job.
"I’m not getting into your car."
Realizing just how frightening it must be for a lone woman to end up stuck and alone in the middle of a dark road, Chase took a step back from her. He had to speak loudly enough for her to hear him over the hail.
"I’m not going to attack you. I swear I won’t do anything to hurt you."
She all but flinched at the word attack and Chase’s radar started buzzing. He’d never been a magnet for troubled women, wasn’t the kind of guy who thrived on fixing wounded birds. But living with two sisters for so many years meant he could always tell when something was up.
And something was definitely up with this woman, beyond the fact that her car was half-stuck in a muddy ditch.
Wanting to make her feel safe, he held his hands up. "I swear on my father’s grave, I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay to get into my car." When she didn’t immediately say no again, he pressed his advantage with, "I just want to help you." And he did. More than it made sense to want to help a stranger. "Please," he said. "Let me help you."
She stared at him for a long moment, hail hammering between them, around them, onto them. Chase found himself holding his breath, waiting for her decision. It shouldn’t matter to him what she decided.
But, for some strange reason, it did.
...Excerpt from THE LOOK OF LOVE by Bella Andre ©2012.
Buy THE LOOK OF LOVE
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COMPLETE BOOKLIST
The following Bella Andre titles are available in electronic and paperback format.
The Sullivan Family series
The Look of Love
From This Moment On
Can’t Help Falling In Love
I Only Have Eyes For You
If You Were Mine
Let Me Be The One
Come A Little Bit Closer
Always On My Mind
One Perfect Night
The Way You Look Tonight
Kissing Under The Mistletoe (Mary & Jack’s story, coming September 24, 2013)
It Must Be Your Love (Mia Sullivan's story, coming Winter 2013)
Bad Boys of Football series
Game For Love
Game For Seduction
Game For Anything
Take Me series
Love Me
Take Me
Stand-alone Novels
Candy Store
Ecstasy
Red Hot Reunion
Tempt Me, Taste Me, Touch Me
Hotshot Firefighter series
Wild Heat
Hot As Sin
Never Too Hot
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Having sold more than 2 million books, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Bella Andre’s novels have appeared on Top 5 lists around the world. Known for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice, have been translated into nine languages, and her Sullivan books are already Top 20 bestsellers in Brazil. Winner of the Award of Excellence, The Washington Post has called her “O
ne of the top digital writers in America” and she has been featured by NPR, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and most recently in TIME Magazine. She has given keynote speeches at publishing conferences from Copenhagen to Berlin to San Francisco, including a standing-room-only keynote at Book Expo America on her publishing success. Harlequin MIRA is releasing her bestselling Sullivan series in print throughout 2013 and 2014 in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, swimming or laughing. Married with two children, Bella splits her time between the Northern California wine country and a 100 year old log cabin in the Adirondacks.
For a complete listing of books, as well as excerpts and contests, and to connect with Bella:
Visit Bella’s website at: www.BellaAndre.com
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