Rockin'
Around the Christmas Tree
©
2011 Delia Latham
Part 1 if you missed it
Part 2 if you missed it
Part
3
Raising her gaze to his, not even
bothering to bemoan what she knew must be a swollen, splotchy, make-up stained
face, Jo shook her head.
"You're here now. What has changed?"
"Monty Colafax was killed
yesterday in a shoot-out with police and FBI. He won't be bothering me or
anyone I love, ever again."
"Oh." Jo digested this
information slowly. "What about his people?"
Dean shrugged. "FBI says with
him out of the picture, the operation will almost certainly dissolve.
Immediately. However…" He lifted her chin and met her gaze. "If
you'll have me back, Jo—and you can't possibly know how much I hope you
will—I'd feel much safer somewhere else. Some other town, even another
state."
"Another state?" Jo's mind
whirled. It was too much, too fast. "Just…leave?"
"Just leave. With me. And
become Mrs. Paul Kent." Dean eased her away from his chest, far
enough to place a hand on each of her shoulders and pin her under a pleading
gaze. "Do you love me enough to do that, Jo?"
She caught her breath and held it,
and a sudden weird silence fell between them.
No sound at all. Just the pounding
of her heart and the spinning of her mind.
Until Mariah Carey burst in with the
lilting melody and oh-so-appropriate lyrics of "All I Want for Christmas
is You."
The somewhat cheesy words echoed
deep within Jo's heart. He really was all she wanted for Christmas—for every
Christmas, the rest of her life.
She tucked her lip between her teeth
and scooted closer to Dean.
No, not Dean. Paul.
"I rather liked the sound of
Mrs. Dean Barrister."
He chuckled. "So did I. But I
can live with Mrs. Paul Kent, as long as she's you."
"Yeah?" She leaned in to
place a soft kiss just at the corner of his lips. "Well, she is."
"She is?" He jumped up,
tugged her up beside him, then hauled her into his arms. The kiss he gave her
then removed any doubt about whether or not he loved her.
He did. Jo felt it in every inch of
her body.
"Jo, darlin', I've wanted to
hold you in my arms for so long."
"And I have wanted to be in your arms, for just as long."
"Are ya sure ya still love
me?" Dean spoke as if in jest, but Jo read the deep seriousness of the
query in his eyes.
"As sure as I've ever been
about anything in my life," she whispered. "I love you Dean…or Paul,
or whoever you are."
"Doesn't matter what you call
me, darlin'—at least, not for the moment. All that matters is that you stay in
my arms forever."
"I can handle that." She
pulled his face close to hers just as Brenda Lee's all-too-familiar voice filled
the room.
Grinning, Jo changed direction—took
his hand and pulled him closer to the big tree in the corner.
Obviously puzzled, he nevertheless
followed her across the room. "Where we goin', darlin'?"
"Right here." She took his
hands in hers and swayed to the upbeat melody. "I feel like rockin' around
the Christmas tree. Join me?"
Dean's deep rumble of laughter
caught her by the heartstrings, and Jo knew without a single doubt that he'd
hold them forever.
With a sudden, unexpected motion, he
spun her around one way and then the other before pulling her back into his
arms. "I'll rock with you any day, anytime, anywhere, Jo Leigh Callihan.
That said…"
He danced her across the room in the
silence between songs, stopping under the arch between the kitchen and living
room.
"What are you doing?" Jo
said, laughing at his antics.
He pointed upward, and she lifted
her gaze, bursting into laughter when she spotted the sprig of mistletoe
hanging above her head.
As if on cue, music once again
filled the air. Jo gasped at the familiar lyrics, rendered in the familiar
gravelly voice of Randy Travis.
"Meet me under the mistletoe on
midnight, Christmas Eve…"
"Hmm." Dean lowered his
head and nuzzled her neck as he pulled her closer. "Seems like maybe we're
exactly where we're s'pose to be, right at this moment."
"Seems that way," Jo
murmured.
And then there was only the sweet
Christmas music, dancing and swirling around them as their lips met and they
melted against each other.
But all Jo heard was the pounding of
her heart and the singing of her soul.
He could be Dean or Clark or Santa
Claus. She didn't give a fig what this man called himself, where they lived, or
what signature she used to sign their checks. He was still the only man she
would ever love.
Every day, every year, every
Christmas.
And through every single, silly
Christmas song.
(c) Delia Latham 2011
Comments
Merry Christmas to all of you - and thanks for enjoying my silly little tale with me. :)