Page 41 of The Wedding Gift
“Jorja, a little help here,” he whispered.
“Help nothing!” she said loudly. “I’m making sure I’ve still got all my clothes on the right way. We didn’t…” She leaned over and stared right past the evil creatures dancing the mambo right above his head. “Did we?”
“We slept together.” He was surprised that he could move his lips to speak. “We didn’t do any more than that. Would you please kill these two varmints so I can see if I broke any bones when I fell off the bed?”
“What are you talking about? Is there a snake?” She headed in the direction of her chest of drawers to get her gun.
“No snake,” he whispered. “It’s damn spiders. Please don’t try to kill them with a bullet. You might miss and hit me.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” she asked as she leaned over the bed, grabbed both webs, and brought the dangling devils her way. Once she cleared the bed, she lowered the things to the floor and stomped on them. “Two of them. Do you believe what I’ve been telling you about signs now?”
“I’m a believer.” He sat up. “Evidently even spiders and snakes need partners.”
“You can check for broken bones. Do I need to take you to the hospital?” she asked. “I’m not good at driving on slick roads, but I’ll do my best.”
He sat up and shook his head. “Everything seems fine, but we’re damn sure having this place exterminated as soon as we can get a man out here to do it.”
She sat down on the edge of his bed. “Let’s don’t make this a part of our Christmas tradition.”
“What? Falling asleep together or the spiders?” he asked as he got up and moved his bed back to its usual place.
She opened her mouth to say something but abruptly whipped around and went to the stove. “I’m making cinnamon rolls for breakfast. They won’t be the fancy kind likeMama makes in Hurricane Mills, but they’ll be what we have on Christmas morning.”
“What can I do to help?” he asked. “And, honey, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Who knows where we’ll be next year at Christmas, but I really think it would be all right if we made it a tradition of falling asleep together. I liked the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night with you keeping me warm.”
“You can get out the brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. I’m just going to roll out some biscuits from a can.” She tried to sidestep replying to what he had said, but it didn’t work. “And I had a wonderful Christmas Eve. Thank you for making me laugh, for dancing with me, taking me out to eat, and for”—she stopped and looked up into his eyes—“and for just sleeping with me.”
“What does that mean?” He brought out the ingredients she’d asked for.
“It means, ‘Thank you for being a gentleman,’ she answered.
“Like I said before, I’m not afraid of snakes, bullies, or redheaded women, but I am afraid of spiders and my mama, even though I’m thirty-one years old. I’m glad you’re here to kill the spiders for me, but, honey, not even you with your cute little pistol could protect me from my mama if I was anything less than a gentleman. And just forthe record, I’m more afraid of her than I would be of any tarantula,” he said.
Her smile turned into a giggle. That soon became laughter, and then they were both guffawing. Cameron grabbed up a dish towel and dried her eyes with it and then his own. “You might think I’m kiddin’, but that, darlin’, is the gospel truth.”
“I would like your mama,” Jorja said.
“You’ll have to meet her someday.” He moved to the other end of the short cabinet and put on a pot of coffee. His mother would love to see her baby boy settled down, and there was no doubt that she would adore Jorja’s sass.
Holy smokin’ hell! What was the matter with him? He’d been runnin’ from commitment and serious relationships since he was a teenager. He’d known Jorja less than a week, and he didn’t even stumble or stutter when he thought about “settling down.”
Chapter 9
“I was right, wasn’t I?” Chigger grinned as she leaned in between two cowboys on barstools and ordered a pitcher of beer. “Christmas is over, and folks are ready to get out of the house. They’re tired of turkey and fixin’s, and they’re probably like me and just want some good old greasy burgers and fries.”
“Christmas isn’t over until midnight.” Jorja set two burger baskets in front of the guys at the bar. “But you were sure enough right. Did you have a good Christmas?”
Chigger flashed a diamond ring at her. “Frankie and I are engaged. I said yes, but the wedding ain’t happenin’ for a long time.”
“Why’s that?” Cameron handed her the pitcher of beer.
“It took five years for me to say yes to the ring. I’m in nohurry to say yes to the wedding cake or the dress either one.” Chigger grinned. “Did y’all have a good Christmas?”
“The best,” Jorja answered and went back to work on the next order.
“Really?” Cameron asked. “We didn’t even have presents.”
“Yes, we did,” she protested with a bump of her hip against his. “I killed spiders on Christmas morning for you, and you made me laugh. Those things are more important than material things.”