The Christmas Wife by Elizabeth Kelly Read Free Book Online Page B

door
open in case Hattie called for her in the night, and she glanced up to see
Deacon standing in the shadows.
    “Hi,” she said.
    “Hello.”
    “How did your meeting go?”
    “Fine, thank you.  Was everything okay with you and Hattie?”
    “Yes,” she said.  “Everything was fine.”
    “Good.”  He paused for a moment longer.  He was still
wearing his suit, she had never seen him in anything but a suit, but he had
loosened his tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons. 
    “Good night, Claire,” he said finally.
    “Good night, Deacon.”
    * * *
     
    “Where’s mama?”
    The soft whisper pulled him from slumber and he squinted at
the little dark-haired girl standing next to the bed.
    “Hattie?”  He said hoarsely.  “Is that you?”
    “Yes.  Where’s mama?”
    “What are you doing in here?”  He fumbled for the light,
blinking owlishly as he sat up.  “It’s two in the morning.”
    “There’s monsters under my bed.”
    “There aren’t monsters under your bed,” he said.
    “Yes there is,” she argued.  “Where’s mama?”
    She stared at the empty side of the bed before giving him a
scared look.  “What did you do to my mama?”
    “I didn’t do anything to her, Hattie.  She’s um, she – “
    “I’m right here, honey.”  Claire came hurrying into the room
and Deacon breathed a sigh of relief.
    “Mama, where were you?”  Hattie threw her arms around
Claire’s waist and clung tightly to her.
    “I was just downstairs getting a drink of water.  I told you
to call for me if you got scared, honey.”
    “I couldn’t!”  Hattie said dramatically.  “The monsters
under the bed would have heard me if I said anything!”
    “Honey, there aren’t any monsters under the bed.  Here, I’ll
show you.”
    “No way!” 
    Hattie let go of Claire and climbed on to Deacon’s bed.  He
grunted in pain when her knee jabbed him in the balls and Claire winced and
mouthed, ‘I’m sorry’.”
    “I’m not going back in there,” Hattie announced.  She
climbed under the covers on the far side of the bed and put the pillow over her
head.
    Her voice muffled, she said, “I’m sleeping with you and Mr.
Stone.”
    “No, honey, you’re not,” Claire said firmly.
    “I have to!”  Hattie wailed as Claire removed the pillow
from her face.  “Please, mama.  Don’t make me go back in there.  Please!”
    “I’ll sleep with you in your room, okay?”  Claire said.
    “So we can both be eaten by the monsters?”  Hattie gave her
a horrified look.  “No, mama!”
    Big crocodile tears were beginning to form in her eyes and
she stared sadly at Deacon.  “Please, Mr. Stone, tell mama I can sleep with
you.”
    “Hattie,” Claire said, “You’re a big girl and big girls
sleep in their own – ”
    “It’s fine,” Deacon interrupted.
    Claire stared at him in surprise as he ran a hand through
his hair.  “You can sleep with us, Hattie.”
    “Deacon, she doesn’t need to – “
    “Yay!”  Hattie shouted, the tears disappearing immediately. 
She patted the bed.  “Climb in, mama.”
    Claire pulled at the bottom of her nightgown as Deacon
stared silently at her.  She blushed when his gaze dropped to her chest and she
plucked the fabric away from her breasts self-consciously.  She really should
have worn her damn bra to bed and maybe her jeans.  And a sweater.
    His chest was bare and she couldn’t stop herself from taking
a quick peek at his body.  Shit, she had been right.  The man did have a great
body.  Dark hair covered his broad chest and his arms bulged with muscles.  It
was kind of hard to tell with him sitting that way but he undoubtedly had a six
pack.  She followed the thin trail of hair from his navel until it disappeared
under the waistband of his pajama bottoms. 
    That would be a delightful treasure trail to follow ,
she thought dimly and then blushed when Deacon cleared his throat and pulled
the covers up.
    “Scoot over, Hattie,” she