Page 19 of Melting His Grumpy Heart
As they turned to go back to the house, a sudden, hard gust of wind caught them, making Ru stumble. A strong arm clamped itself around his waist, pulling him into Jake’s side with a casual strength that made Ru’s breath catch.
“All right?” Jake asked, his voice close enough that Ru could almost taste his breath.
“Y—yes,” Ru stuttered, acutely, painfully, deliciously aware of their bodies pressed together, of Jake’s arm still firm and strong around his waist. “Just lost my footing for a second.”
Jake glared at him, his brow creased in thought. “Take this.” Jake lifted the hessian bag, strapped across his body, and transferred it to Ru.
Before he had even a second to wonder, Ru was plucked from the snow and crushed against Jake’s chest as he was cradled in his arms.
“What—”
“You’re cold, you’re pale, you’re slower than you were when we were coming out and, believe me, you’d have lost a race against a snail. Plus, you’ve stumbled once and you’ll keep on doing it. If we go at your pace, it’ll take us a month of Sundays to get back. So no arguments, you understand?”
Ru opened his mouth, ready to protest, before slamming it closed. Because the truth was, he didn’t want to argue, he didn’t want to fight his way through the snow, because all he wanted to do was lean into Jake’s warmth and strength and let him take his weight.
Ru closed his eyes and gave himself up to the inevitable.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Back inside, the farmhouse’s warmth enveloped them in a tight and welcoming embrace.
“Here, let me help you,” Jake said, putting Ru down before tugging off his gloves to unzip, unfasten, and unbuckle Ru’s layers.
A part of Ru didn’t mind Jake fussing over him but he didn’t want to come across like an inept and useless kid who couldn’t even deal with his shoelaces.
“Now we’re back in the warm, I’m fine.” Reluctantly, Ru eased Jake’s hands away.
“Your fingers are still too cold. Look, you’re fumbling with the fastenings on the coat. For fuck’s sake,” Jake barked, irritation rolling off him, “give me your hands.”
Jake took Ru’s hands and pulled off the gloves before clamping them between his own and rubbing them briskly, generating friction heat that sent tingles of returning circulation up Ru’s arms.
“Better?” Jake eyed him, almost daring Ru to disagree. “Go and sit in the living room and I’ll make some tea. And take this.” Jake opened up a cupboard and pulled out a soft fleece blanket.
“Honestly, Jake. I’m feeling a lot better now we’re back.” And he was, but it had nothing much to do with being back in the warm. It was about care, somebody looking after him, when it had felt like nobody had truly cared for him for so long.
“Don’t argue with me on this.”
“So that’s an order, is it?”
“Let’s just say it’s not a request, nor an invitation. But it’s my fault you got so cold. You’re not used to extremes of weather.”
The self-recrimination in his tone, as though Jake had failed him, made Ru’s chest tighten. “I’m hardly going to get frostbite from collecting some holly.” He smiled, wanting to lighten the atmosphere which had grown heavy around them.
“I didn’t look after you as well as I should have. That’s both dangerous and unforgivable. Some bloody survival expert I am.”
There it was again, that protective instinct, so natural it was as much a part of Jake as his green eyes or the small scar across the bridge of his nose that, so close, Ru was noticing for the first time. But, Jake’s deep frown and the downwards droop of his lips told Ru more than any words could that Jake believed he’d somehow let Ru down.
No. No way was Jake going to believe that of himself.
“Well, thank you for preventing my tragic case of greenery gathering frostbite,” Ru said, resting a now warming hand on Jake’s forearm. “It truly is a Christmas miracle.”
Jake’s mouth twitched in an almost-smile that Ru suddenly and desperately wanted to trace with his fingertips.
“Will you just do as you’re told and go and sit down?”
“Yes, sir.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
