Page 28 of A Very Crumbleton Christmas
He could just ask her what she fancied when she came down. He had white wine in the fridge… and there were beers… and some kind of cordial stuff…
‘Okay, you’re spiralling, man,’ chuckled Jack. ‘Stop being a knob!’
Grabbing a cube of cheese, he popped it into his mouth and chewed, just to give himself something to do.
Okay… maybe he’d put the kettle on… and open a bottle of red so that it could breathe. Then he’d have all bases covered.
CHAPTER 9
CAROLINE
Holy Santa Clause and all his reindeer, this was the most amazing bath she’deverbeen in. It didn’t even come close.
Of all the places to get stranded in a snowstorm, Caroline had to admit that Jack’s house might just be right at the top of the list. Up to her neck in bubbles, there was a good chance she might have just died and gone to heaven.
Of course, it had taken her stupid pulse a while to calm down after Jack’s impromptu visit… mainly because she’d had a hard time stopping herself from “accidentally” opening the ensuite door… just to see what happened.
Grinning at the thought, Caroline wriggled her toes in the warm, scented water. This. Was. Bliss. She hadn’t realised just how much she’d missed having a bath - and that was just anormalbath. This tub was on a whole other level!
Right now, she was staring out of a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out over a snow-covered beach. There wasn’t much to see right now as it was almost dark, but she could hear the white-tipped waves as they crashed onto the sand.
Caroline leaned her head back and let her eyes drift closed as she did her best to let it all sink in. She was in a real movie star’s house. Hell – not just his house, either – his private ensuite!
Jack was nothing like she’d dreaded him being. Far from an aloof, spoiled, entitled celeb, he was warm, funny… and seriously cute.
‘And look what you wrote about him,’ sighed Caroline, considering sinking under the bubbles with shame. She’d torn him apart. More than once. Despite the fact they’d already talked about it, and he’d joked and shrugged it off… Caroline couldn’t help but feel sorry for it now.
She’d been wrong… especially about him buying this house. He was clearly desperate to make a proper home for himself here. It was also pretty obvious that he was having a hard time figuring out how to bridge the gap between being the Hollywood star who was hounded wherever he went, and the charming, funny, dorky man who cared enough to let her use his ensuite and check what she wanted for tea.
He’d asked her to help him decorate his Christmas tree for heaven’s sake. Could he be any sweeter? This was all her Christmas fantasies rolled into one.
As for the Crumbleton Christmas lights… she hadn’t given them a second thought since she’d asked him if he’d be willing to help her out. She’d simply been having too much fun. It might have been a bit of an accident waiting to happen when she’d decided to drive to Crumbleton Sands with the snowstorm looming large, but it just went to show that not all accidents had to have sad endings.
‘Don’t think about endings!’ she whispered through the steam.
‘Caroline?’
Caroline yawned, her eyes fluttering open.
‘Helloo? You okay in there?’
A soft knock made Caroline sit bolt upright. Deep water swirled around her – and it was decidedly cooler than it had been a few seconds ago.
Or… maybe not just seconds?
‘Hi!’ she said quickly. ‘Hi… won’t be a sec!’
‘There’s no rush,’ came Jack’s amused voice from the other side of the door. ‘I just wanted to check you hadn’t managed to fall asleep and drowned yourself.’
‘Nope – not drowned!’ said Caroline. ‘Still wide awake!’
‘Well, that’s good,’ chuckled Jack. ‘Because there’s no way the press would believe you’d died in some tragic, fluke accident.’
‘Huh?!’ said Caroline, sloshing to her feet and praying that he didn’t burst in just to check she really was okay.
‘Come on – do you really think anyone would believe there hadn’t been some kind of foul play on my side of things after all those mean reviews you wrote about me?!’ said Jack.
Caroline paused mid-way through wrapping the voluminous bath towel around herself and cocked her head. ‘Okay… you might have a point there,’ she said with a wry smile. ‘Sorry to disappoint – but I’m alive and kicking. I’ll be out in just a sec.’
