Page 36 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
“Morgan,” Andrew interrupted, his eyes dancing, “you do realize you’re protesting too much, don’t you?”
Morgan paused, realized he was right and then clamped her mouth, saying nothing aside from a quick goodbye to the others. Four sets of Butterfly eyes were on them as they headed toward the exit. When they stepped outside, the wind bit into Morgan’s face, cooling it and whipping at her hair. She shivered beneath her jacket and felt a twinge of guilt that Andrew was coatless.
“I should have pulled the car up next to the door,” she said, wishing she’d thought to do so.
“I’m fine. Greyson in my arms is warmer than a coat, anyway.”
Morgan smiled. She agreed that cuddling with Greyson’s warm little body was better than a jacket. She opened the back door of her car and stepped aside so Andrew could place Greyson into his car seat.
“Need me to buckle him in?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I got this.” And he proved that he did.
“Okay, you did that like a pro.”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” he said with a laugh, checking to make sure the latches had properly caught.
“I just didn’t imagine you having any reason to know how to buckle a kid into a car seat,” she admitted.
“I’ve not, but I’ve unfortunately had reason to unbuckle a few while working motor vehicle accidents.”
Morgan had forgotten that the fire department was often called to help with more serious wrecks and that they used the Jaws of Life tool. The solemness in his tone suggested he’d worked some he wished he hadn’t. With how great he was with Greyson, Morgan suspected he was phenomenal when working with scared, hurting kids during an accident, too. Her admiration for him kicked up yet another notch.
Andrew straightened and turned to face her. Morgan hadn’t realized quite how close she still was until she found herself pinned between the open car door and his six-foot frame. Her gaze lifted to his and she gulped as she stared up at him.
His gaze searched hers. “When am I going to see you next, Morgan?”
Dragging the cold air into her lungs felt difficult. Or maybe it was breathing at all that was difficult with how close Andrew was, and the way he was looking down at her.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted.
“We need to make it soon. Friends shouldn’t go too long in between seeing each other and we can’t have you missing me.”
She bit into her lower lip. “No, we can’t have that.” Because she suspected she would be missing him, the moment she got into her car and drove away from the church.
At her soft reply, his brow lifted. “You softening to me, Morgan?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“You sure?”
There was such a mixture of teasing and sincerity in his question that Morgan’s head spun. She reached out to ground herself by touching the car, but the world still seemed to be shifting beneath her feet.
“No,” she admitted, barely above a whisper. “I’m not sure of anything where you’re concerned. How I feel when I’m with you, and when I watch you with Greyson, scares me.”
Morgan’s soft reply sent Andrew’s pulse pounding.
Between the moonlight and the glow from the church’s parking lot lampposts, Morgan’s face appeared ethereal. Hadn’t he always found her angelic, though?
“I’d never hurt you or Greyson,” he promised. Quite the opposite: he wanted to protect them and make them happy, to somehow make up for all the bad things they’d gone through.
Her eyes wide, full of so much emotion, she nodded. “I believe that you wouldn’t intentionally hurt us, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t hurt us accidentally, Andrew. Greyson has been through so much. It worries me how attached he is becoming to you. I couldn’t bear to see his heartbreak if...well, if you got bored with him.”
He couldn’t imagine any circumstances within his control in which he’d do so.
“Greyson is a great kid, Morgan. I’d never get bored with him.” Unable to resist, he reached up, brushing his thumb across her cheek he heard himself say, “Or you.”
“Andrew, I...” she gulped as she stared up at him with her green eyes glittering in the moonlight. Looking into them made him feel as giddy as if it was Christmas morning.
