Jingle Bell Rock Read Free Page A

there was nothing friendly in the tongue that briefly teased her lower lip.
    This was so not fair.
    “I could give up music,” Jimmy said as he pulled his mouth reluctantly from hers.
    Jess couldn’t answer him immediately. Her heart was pounding, her knees were weak, and every primitive instinct within her demanded that she reach out, grab Jimmy by the front of his denim shirt, and pull him in so she could kiss him again. Hard, this time.
    She didn’t, of course.
    Before she could come up with a sufficiently flippant answer, Jimmy reached above her head and snatched the mistletoe from the door frame. “You’d better put this somewhere safe, before the boys start to line up for their Christmas kiss. I might be a patient man, honey, but that’s one sight I couldn’t take.”
    He sounded almost... jealous.
    “Tomorrow?” he whispered as he placed the mistletoe in her hand.
    She shook her head slightly. “No way, Blue.” Her voice wasn’t as strong as she would have liked, but it didn’t tremble, either. Considering how her heart was pounding, that was a wonder.
    “Merry Christmas, Jess.” Jimmy spun on his boot heel and walked away. With a soft smile on his face he wished each and every person he passed a Merry Christmas. Everybody liked Jimmy, male and female, old and young. He was one of those people who appealed to everyone. And why not? He was, attractive, friendly, talented, and beneath it all he was a truly great guy.
    He shook hands and kissed uplifted cheeks as he made his way to the door, and when he reached it he snatched his black cowboy hat from the nearly full hat rack and placed it on his head. A heavy denim jacket hung nearby, on a peg by the hat rack, and as he slipped it on he turned to face her.
    That was when Jess realized that she hadn’t moved since Jimmy had kissed her. She hadn’t even exhaled.
    As he left she stepped back into her office. Retreating like a coward, denying everything she felt. Before she could close the door, Lorraine was there. “Was it wonderful?” she asked as she closed the door behind her. Jess did her best to glare at Lorraine. Facing that wide grin and holiday getup, it was difficult.
    “You ambushed me,” Jess accused as she took her purse from the bottom desk drawer and slapped it on the desk.
    Lorraine’s smile faded, but not much. “I don’t get it, girl. If Jimmy Blue had the hots for me, I sure wouldn’t be running as fast as I could in the other direction.”
    Jess gave her friend a warm smile. “Now, what would Felix say if he heard you say that?”
    “Okay,” Lorraine conceded. “If I wasn’t married, and Jimmy Blue had the hots for me...”
    “Good night, Lorraine.” Jess grabbed her coat from the coatrack at the corner by the window, and slipped it on. Three floors below, in the parking lot, Jimmy was making his way to his pickup truck. His shoulders were hunched and his head was down against the cold wind and rain that would probably turn to sleet and maybe even snow before the night was over.
    Lorraine was right on the money. He had the hots for Jess, probably because she was the only woman in Nashville who didn’t offer to have his children when he smiled at her. Physical attraction, a chemical reaction, that was all it was.
    True, he was a nice guy, but nice guys didn’t make it in this business, and Jimmy Blue was here to stay. Something had to give. She’d seen it happen to “nice guys” before.
    She wasn’t going to fall into that trap again.
    “What’s it like out there?” Lorraine asked.
    Jess glanced over her shoulder. “Cold and wet. I’m going to head for home before it gets any worse.”
    Home, for a pleasant, quiet, crisis-free holiday.
    When she reached for her purse she realized she was still holding the mistletoe Jimmy had placed in her hand. Without another thought, she slipped it into her coat pocket.
    She liked the people she worked with at Vandiver Records. They were, for the most part, hardworking and