Two weeks before Christmas, Mitch decided he had waited long enough.
"Come on, mutt." Mitch grabbed his coat and a pair of work
gloves. "Let’s go find the twins."
Gabe bounded to his feet and bumped the doorknob with his nose. He
sniffed and marked around the yard while Mitch pulled the Ferrari out of the
garage. As soon as the dog jumped into the car, Mitch drove to a lot selling
Christmas trees. He selected one that would fit nicely in Julia’s small
apartment and strapped it to the top of the car.
The mutt hung his head out the window, riding in silent watchfulness
until the apartment building was in sight. "Woof!"
"You have to be quiet or we’ll get caught smuggling you in."
Under cover of the falling twilight and a bushy evergreen tree, Mitch and the
dog walked quickly toward Julia’s apartment.
As soon as Julia opened the door, the dog pushed inside and sniffed out
the twins, quickly falling back into their game of hide and seek. Within
seconds, the twins’ giggles let Julia know the dog had found the children.
"I brought a tree." Mitch stood the evergreen upright.
"I see that." Julia bit her lip as she walked around the tree.
"Nice choice. Bushy all around."
"I had three picky sisters who trained me in the fine art of
Christmas tree selection."
Julia smiled. "They trained you well."
"I thought we could decorate it tonight and maybe have cookies and
hot chocolate."
The wistful look on Mitch’s face tugged at Julia’s heart. She didn’t
want to disappoint him--or miss the chance to spend time with him. "That
would be great. Except..."
"Except?"
"All the decorations were left behind."
Understanding dawned in Mitch’s eyes. "I’m sorry, Julia. I didn’t
think--I’ll go buy some."
"Wait--" Julia didn’t want to owe Mitch anything more, and she
couldn’t afford to buy decorations for an entire tree right now. "Let’s
make decorations. We have construction paper for paper chains and snowflakes,
and we can pop corn to string together. I haven’t done that in years. It will
be fun."
"How about the angel for the top?" Mitch asked.
Julia tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Origami. We can do a fancy
folded paper one." She hoped.
"Sounds great to me." Mitch took off his jacket. "I did
remember a stand."
While Mitch set the tree in the stand, Julia gathered supplies for
ornaments and explained to the twins what they were going to do. The twins were
delighted, as they hadn’t been allowed to touch the fussy tinsel and glass
ornaments on the tree in the West Hills house. Just one more reminder of how
suppressed her children’s joy had been. Julia much preferred this homemade
Christmas tree.
The tiny apartment soon became littered with scraps of paper, as loops
of red and green chains took shape. The popping of corn rattled a cheerful
accompaniment to the giggles of the twins as Julia brought another bowl of
popcorn for Mitch to add to the string the dog snitched pieces from.
"Why don’t you just give him some popcorn?" Julia asked.
"He won’t eat it except off the string." Mitch threw a
disgusted look toward the dog. "It must be a new game."
Julia turned away to hide her smile. The tree was shaping up
beautifully, even if Angelina insisted on hanging all her handmade ornaments on
the same three branches. "Anyone want refills on hot chocolate?"
When Julia returned from the kitchen, the room had grown quiet.
"Your helpers are asleep," Mitch said.
The twins lay curled like cherubs next to the dog beneath the spreading
limbs of the now decorated tree.
"Do you want to move them to bed?" Mitch asked.
Julia nodded. Soon the twins were settled in their beds for the night.
"Sometimes I just want to watch my children." Julia’s heart
swelled with joy as she gazed at Abraham and Angelina. "If I could have
one thing for Christmas, I’d ask for my children to be safe."
Julia and Mitch lapsed into silence for a moment, absorbing the
innocence of the twins as they slept. "What would you ask for,
Mitch?"
Mitch stared at Julia for a moment longer. His gaze caressed every inch
of her face and finally settled on her mouth. "A kiss from you."
Startled, Julia tried to cover a thrill of excitement by folding her
hands primly in front of her. "That’s all?"
"Maybe that kiss could be delivered early." The hunger in
Mitch’s eyes generated a tingle between Julia’s breasts.
"Maybe it could." Julia didn’t believe the words slipped from
her mouth. However, the expectant look in Mitch’s eyes confirmed Julia had
spoken her thoughts aloud. And now she felt honor-bound to carry through. She
could do this without acting like a fool. It was just a kiss, right?
On stage, band leader Zach Zacata controls the emotions
of thousands of fans, but he can't control his middle-aged body. When he has a
heart attack, best friend and sometime lover Lauren Westover provides a place
where Zach can heal. And Zach realizes he has one more chance to win Lauren's
love--if a killer doesn't get to them first.
The
Rock Star by Genie Gabriel
The
Long and The Short of It Reviews called this sensual romance "an excellent
tale of love and the power of healing."
BLURB:
Fifteen
years and many heart-wrenching experiences after their disastrous first
meeting, a reformed rock star and the woman who idolized him as a teenager get
a second chance to prove songs of the heart are the sweetest music of all.
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