Page 137 of The Rescuer

More clapping and laughing and drinking followed. Even Neve felt her heart lifting a few inches from where it had been mired in the hollow of her chest.

Maybe she did belong here after all.

Neve awoke Christmas morningwith her good side nestled against Reece’s front, his heat making their space beneath the covers a toasty cocoon. He began rolling away from her, and she reached out, grabbing the cut ridges of his abs. Had her arm been longer or the angle different, she might have grabbed his cock instead. She was a winner either way.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest. “Uh, whatcha looking for there, sweetheart?”

“My heater. Where are you going?” she protested. It was still dark out.

He turned and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Pearl has to go out. You stay here and sleep.”

Normally, she woke when Pearl became restless in the morning, but apparently she’d slept right through the signal because she hadn’t heard a thing.

“Are you coming back?” God, she sounded like a pathetic little kid begging for her Binky when it came to this man.

“Eventually.” The amusement was obvious in his tone.

She stretched onto his side of the bed, pulling his scent from his pillow and his warmth from the covers. As she drifted, she heard unusual rustling and clinking from the living room. The quiet that followed was what brought her to full consciousness, though. It wastooquiet.

She slipped into sweats lying beside the bed and padded to the bathroom, did her business, and tried to shape her hair and face into a semblance of attractiveness. With a defeated snort, she flapped her hand at her reflection and switched off the light. Good thing itwasdark out.

Pausing by the window, she took in the vast midnight-blue sky. The Milky Way was sprayed across the inky backdrop as if a painter had taken silver paint and, with a stroke of his brush, left his mark on a dark velvet canvas.

Breathtaking. The night sky, without the light pollution from a big city, was one of the things she loved best about living in the mountains.

Wait. Night sky? Her phone lay on the nightstand, and she flipped it over and blinked at the numbers. Four thirty? In the morning? No wonder her eyes felt like they had grit in them. Why was Reece up so early?

She tiptoed down the hallway, avoiding the creaky spots in the wood floor, and peeked around the corner. He was crouched over, fiddling with something under the beautiful tree he had put up for her. Pearl was curled up on her dog bed, looking completely uninterested. Neve got it—the dog wanted to sleep. Mr. Whiskers, however, trotted over and began batting at something shiny.

“Knock it off,” Reece hissed. “You’re just making it worse.”

Neve crept a little closer, which, unfortunately, alerted Pearl, who popped to her feet. Reece whirled and fell on his ass, his eyes as big as the Christmas balls hanging from the tree limbs. “You’re not supposed to be up yet!”

Neve shrugged. “You left, and I was cold. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas,” he grumbled in return.

She pushed up on her tiptoes and tried to peer around him. “What are you up to over there?”

He acted like a goalie, throwing out his arms and legs to block her view. She ducked under his arm and snuck past him. Her eyes fell on an oddlyshaped bundle of wrapping paper with a cockeyed bow and miles of scotch tape. Mr. Whiskers batted at a piece of ribbon that had come loose from the bow.

Reece puffed out a defeated breath. “I was trying to wrap your present. Turns out I’m really shitty at it.”

“I thought you weren’t picking it up until after Christmas.”

“I pulled some strings to get it on time.”

“Strings?” Crap! Now she felt even worse about not havinghisgift ready. She’d thought she had more time. Getting abducted tended to put a dent in the schedule.

“Yeah, strings … named Charlie and Joy. They happened to be close to the place where your gift was, so I asked them to pick it up for me.”

Neve bit back a laugh. The scene was too damn adorable. “What did you get me?”

“Not just you. I have some presents for Pearl and Mr. W, but I don’t think they’ll care how badly wrapped they are.”

“You got presents for the animals? And wrapped them?”

“Of course.” He gave her a “duh” look.

---