Page 35 of A Very Crumbleton Christmas
Even if she didn’t want to.
CHAPTER 12
JACK
‘Did I wake you?’ said Jack, turning to find Caroline standing in the doorway, watching him with wide, sleepy eyes.
‘What time is it?’ she yawned.
‘Stupid o’clock,’ said Jack with a sheepish smile. ‘Sorry… my body clock is refusing to catch up – it’s all over the place!’
‘It wasn’t you. I think it was the smell of coffee that did it.’ Caroline yawned again and wandered over to the kitchen island, toasting him with her half-empty mug. ‘Thank you. For future reference, that’s definitely the best way to wake me up!’
‘Noted,’ said Jack, his stomach flipping in time with the pancake in the pan in front of him. The idea of doing this again with her in the future held more appeal than he’d ever imagined. ‘Want a top-up?’
‘Depends,’ said Caroline.
‘On what?’ he said, his voice coming out all weird and husky.
‘On what’s in the pan,’ she said with a sleepy smile. ‘Because if it’s what I’m hoping it is, I don’t want you to get distracted.’
‘Pancakes. I’ve got bacon and maple syrup,’ he said, glancing at her over his shoulder only to see her crinkle her nose. ‘Or, if you prefer, there are strawberries, chocolate chips, honey…’
‘Now you’re talking!’ she said, her eyes twinkling at him.
‘Excellent, more bacon for me!’ he said with a broad smile, turning back to his pan before he really did cremate the pancake he was working on.
No one should look that cute after spending a night fully dressed on the sofa!
It had taken a ridiculous amount of self-control when he’d pottered downstairs in the middle of the night, only to find Caroline fast asleep in the living room. Jack had only left his bed because he’d spent a whole hour lying in the dark, staring at the ceiling as her mischievous smile danced in front of his eyes.
When he couldn’t take it any longer, he’d hopped out of bed with the plan of adding another log to the wood burner so that it would still be going in the morning. Instead, he’d found her cuddled up in a chilly ball amongst the cushions.
Reigning in the temptation to run a finger across her cheek to brush the stray strands of hair away, Jack had hurried straight back upstairs and returned with a duvet. He’d draped it carefully over her, doing his best not to wake her in the process, and had then banked up the fire so that she wouldn’t wake up stiff and cold to the bone in the morning.
He hadn’t brushed her cheek. He hadn’t kissed her forehead… but ithadtaken a ridiculous amount of willpower to dim the lights and walk out of that room.
‘So… you’re an early bird, huh?’ she said, interrupting his slightly uncomfortable train of thought.
‘It’s partially the jetlag, and partially because of the last film I did,’ said Jack, sliding another pancake onto the stack he was working on. ‘I mean… I get up pretty early most of the time anyway, but this was a four a.m. start every day because of the makeup. It was brutal to start with, but I got used to it and now I can’t get out of the habit.’
‘I’m…nota morning person,’ she shuddered. ‘I think four a.m. starts would just about finish me off. I’d be a grumpy nightmare.’
‘Uh-oh – also noted!’ said Jack.
‘Don’t worry, you’re safe,’ she said.
‘How come?’ said Jack.
‘Coffee and breakfast!’ she said, as he turned and placed a stack of half a dozen perfect, golden pancakes in front of her and then pushed a bowl of strawberries and a bottle of honey towards her.
‘Now you’re talking!’
Jack grinned at her pure appreciation. It was ridiculously refreshing.
‘You’re definitely going down as the hostess with the mostest!’ she said, drizzling honey all over her plate before taking a huge bite and letting out a loud groan of appreciation.
Jack’s knees gave a treacherous tremble at the sound.
