Jen_C’s Reviews > Holiday Kisses: A Rare Gift / Mistletoe and Margaritas / It's Not Christmas Without You / This Time Next Year > Status Update

Then again, he didn’t trust his senses for much of anything right now. They’d been scraped raw, peeled to the core, sanded down until they were numb. She’d done that to him, Brenna. Taken all he had. Demanded more. He couldn’t remember the last time… No. There had been no last time. He’d never known a woman like Brenna Keating.

It was too much, all these conflicting emotions. Wanting what she couldn’t have. Wishing he’d come into her life before she’d turned her world upside down. Wondering how hard it would be to make room for him, what it would cost her? Breaking away from the kiss, she dropped her forehead to his chest and shuddered. “We’ve really got to stop doing this.” “And I’m really going to have to disagree.

Heat rose between them, a hazy column of lust and surprise. He’d never expected this, never expected her, but hell if he was going to question any of what was happening, or stop to define whatever this was making him feel so alive. The coil at the base of his spine squeezed and desire grew.

“You’re feeling okay? I mean, I know you’re a nurse—” “But you’re still a doctor,” she said, and laughed, the sound tickling and sweet. “No ill effects at all. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t come along.” Thing was, his coming along hadn’t been totally random. He’d known from Donota that her granddaughter was overdue.

Her car was nose down, no longer running. Her door, when she tried it, wouldn’t budge. And her phone, when she found it, still had no bars. She collapsed against her seat. Wasn’t she the picture of a damsel in distress? Stupid deer. Stupid car. Stupid driver. At least Gran knew she was on her way and would eventually call out the cavalry, right?

“I love you,” Justin said against her hair. “I’ve waited so long to say that you’re probably going to get sick of hearing it.” “Never.” She tilted her head back so he could kiss her. “Merry Christmas.” “Merry Christmas. And did I mention that I love you?”

Even if he came back, things would never be the same between them again. Now she knew he’d loved her—he’d used the past tense—and she loved him in the present tense, but he was right. They’d both loved Brendan too much for him to ever be gone. And, while she could accept she was lucky enough to love two great guys who happened to have been best friends, Justin couldn’t.

As she set two mugs of coffee on the table, he watched her and, no, she didn’t look any different than the last time she’d done it. But everything was different because now he knew. He knew what it felt like to hold her. He knew what her body felt like under his and what her long legs felt like wrapped around his hips. And he didn’t know if he’d ever get to feel it again. And he already wanted to.

She didn’t feel that way about Justin. He moved closer, trying to see around her, and when his hip bumped hers, it took every ounce of self-control she had not to react. Okay, so maybe she felt that way about Justin a little. But it would pass. As long as he didn’t catch on, things wouldn’t get weird and eventually her body would find somebody else to lust after. She hoped.

“So you get with that yet?” Chris asked, and Justin realized he’d been watching Claire through the window. “I told you, it’s not like that.” “I don’t know what the problem is. She’s hot and you hang out more than a married couple.” “We’re friends, Chris. It’s possible for a man and a hot woman to be friends without having sex.” It wasn’t easy, but it was possible.