Never Been Snow Lucky (Snowed Inn Romance)

Chapter 9

9

IRIS

S tarting my Christmas Eve off with a mind-blowing orgasm given to me by the sexiest man I’d ever known had set a high bar for the rest of the day. One that was easily met when I learned that Jack didn’t have any pressing business today since all of the ski trails were closed and the inn’s guests were safely tucked away inside until the storm passed. I got to have my very own ski patroller to myself all day, who made sure that I didn’t overdo it with my wrist.

Unwrapping the bandage, he peered down at my arm. “It’s looking better already. The swelling has gone down even more, and the bruising isn’t too bad. Where’s your pain level at?”

“Around a three, and I’m due for more ibuprofen, so that’s basically unmedicated.”

“Fantastic,” he murmured, shooting me a satisfied grin. “You’ll be back to normal in no time at all.”

That was my hope…and not just because having a sprained wrist sucked.

Having Jack go down on me this morning had been amazing, but I wanted more. And that wasn’t going to happen until he thought I was recovered enough for a little physical activity of the horizontal kind. If babying my wrist was the price that I had to pay to make that happen—while he basically waited on me hand and foot—it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make.

Wiggling my arm, I smiled back at him. “I guess you’d better get me wrapped back up so we can make cookies.”

He did as I requested, but when I went to open the fridge, he stopped me. “No cookie baking until you take those meds. And while they’re in the oven, ice your wrist again.”

I gave him a sassy salute with my good hand. “Aye aye, captain.”

He shook his head with a chuckle. “Remind me to tell Gavin that I’ve been promoted to captain the next time he calls to check in.”

I giggled at the thought of his boss’s reaction to that request. Although I hadn’t met him yet, I did chat a little bit with him and his wife when he called a couple of hours ago. They were super cute together, and their kids were downright adorable. But I couldn’t picture Gavin calling Jack captain. At least not with a straight face.

“Next thing you know, he’d be ordering you to grow out your hair and wear a headscarf and take a vacation to the Caribbean.”

He quickly caught onto my joke about the famous movie pirate with the same first name and added, “Why not? I already found treasure that’s better than silver and gold, mate.”

Those butterflies that only swirled in my belly for him took flight again at the meaningful look that accompanied his words. “You make a very convincing pirate. Maybe we should do a few treasure-themed cookies.”

“Whatever you want, angel.”

My lips curved into a grin of pure feminine satisfaction as I reached into the freezer to grab one of the ice packs that he’d put in there. Then I took a couple of pills while he got out everything we needed for the cookies. While I preheated the oven, he dug through the selection of holiday-themed cutters.

Snuggling into his side while I took in the options, I giggled. “Christmas trees, angels, and stars don’t really fit the pirate vibe, but I bet we could turn some of the gingerbread men shaped cookies into swashbucklers.”

“Good call.”

The dough was already rolled into convenient sheets, so it was easy for us to cut out the shapes. We worked as a team with me pressing the metal shape into the dough and Jack peeling it off the tray. Once enough for a dozen cookies were transferred to the cookie sheet, he popped it into the oven, and I set the timer.

There was still lots of dough left. “How many cookies can you eat?”

“Can or should?” he joked. “Because there’s a big difference in my answers.”

“It’s Christmas Eve, so I vote that calories don’t count today.”

“I like how you think.” He brushed his lips against mine. “We better make another dozen so you can have at least a few.”

“Oh, I see. Your plan was to sweet-talk your way in here and eat all my cookies?”

Gripping my hips, he pulled me flush against his body. His hard length pressed against my belly, making my panties damp. “I didn’t hear any complaints this morning when I was eating your cookie.”

Him calling my pussy a cookie probably should’ve made me cringe, but that wasn’t even close to how I reacted. My inner walls fluttered at the reminder of how hard I came when he had his mouth on me. “I think you should leave the puns to me.”

He stroked his palm up my spine, sending a tingle of awareness in its wake. “I suppose my talents lie in different areas.”

“You can say that again,” I mumbled, burying my face in his broad chest.

“I’d prefer to give you another demonstration again. Soon.”

I was sorely tempted to take him up on the offer right now, but the timer had only seven minutes left. Not nearly enough time for what I wanted to do with Jack. It’d have to wait until later…and maybe by then, I would have convinced him that my wrist had healed enough for more than just him eating me out.

As amazing as that was, I wanted more. Now that I’d taken that first step with a man, I was chomping at the bit to experience so many other things with Jack. I’d finally found the guy who I could see myself with, and waiting even a few more days seemed impossible. I’d never been impatient to hop into bed with someone for twenty-five years, but Jack was too much temptation for me to handle. The man was the whole package—sexy as all get-out, intelligent, and kind.

I’d hit the trifecta with him, which was why I wasn’t playing it safe like I normally would. I wasn’t much of a risk-taker, preferring to be cautious. But being careful seemed as though it would be the bigger risk in this unusual situation. I wasn’t sure how long I would have with Jack, and I didn’t want to miss out on seeing what could happen between us while I had the chance.

“Soon works for me.”

“Good,” he rasped, lowering his head to claim my mouth in a deep kiss that lasted until the buzzer went off.

I shook off my sensual fog as he pulled the baking sheet out of the oven. After we transferred the cookies to a plate, we repeated the process all over again. Ten minutes later, we had two dozen cookies, and the first batch was almost ready to decorate. This was a long-standing tradition that I had with my mom, and having Jack here to do this with me helped to ease the sting of my parents’ absence.

We mixed up several batches of colored frosting—red, blue, green, yellow, and white. Then we put the variety of sprinkles to good use. By the time we were done, the kitchen was a mess, but the cookies looked amazing. “Seems as though we found something else you’re especially talented at.”

He winked at me and grinned. “You’ll soon find out that I have all kinds of talents, angel.”

I was looking forward to it.