Christmas In Virginia Read online

  Jack caught the surprised look the younger woman gave the older one, and saw the blush steal up over her tanned cheeks. He nodded and agreed that it was quite tasty. He looked at Laena and asked, "What do you do for a living, Ms. Hunt?"

  Before Laena could reply, his mother answered, "Laena isn't working right now, John. She is staying with me, at the house."

  Jack was aware of his mother staring, and from the look on her face, he could tell that her mind was actively working on something.

  A few moments later, his mother questioned him. "What did you think of my new car, John?"

  Jack looked from Laena to his mother, hoping for a moment his confusion wasn't grossly obvious on his face. "New car?" he asked tersely. It appeared his mother had experienced a number of new things since this young woman entered his family's lives. "When did you buy a new car?" Taking a deep breath, he silently reminded himself to stay calm. After all, he was supposed to be relaxing and taking it easy from the rigors of his job. But he also knew that his mother had bought only two cars since his father's death, and he had been with her both times.

  Ruth grinned and glanced at Laena before she turned back to her son. "I thought for sure you would have seen it, dear. The red convertible next to the house."

  Jack choked on the bite he had just taken. He coughed, and his mother hopped up and hurried around to pound on his back. He heard through the commotion that Laena told everyone to leave him alone because he was still getting air in. If he started to truly choke, she would perform the Heimlich on him. She handed him some water and told him to sip it slowly. He did and stopped coughing a moment later. He had tears in his eyes as he met her steady gaze. She was the only one who had remained calm, other than his brother, Michael, the doctor in the family.

  As his mother resumed her seat next to Laena, both his sisters sat on either side of him.

  Janet spoke first. "Are you all right, Jack? What upset you?"

  Jack turned to look at his youngest sister. He recognized the look on her face and knew that she was fishing to see if he was as worried about what had the two of them concerned. He didn't have to guess the worry was the beautiful woman seated across from him. He smiled at Janet. "I had just taken a bite and was a little surprised to discover Mother has a new car."

  Before Janet or Cindy could say anything, Ruth spoke, "I quite adore my new little car. I don't drive it much. Laena is usually the one doing the driving and running my errands for me. And I must say that all of the boys have certainly enjoyed taking rides with her in the car."

  Laena flushed at Ruth's words. She had caught the looks Jack had given her when the boys were at the table. She figured he was seeing her as a femme fatale, and a stealer of young men's innocence. Those boys were far from innocent. From some of the things they had told her jokingly so far, she had no doubt the twins had enjoyed a broad high school and then college experience.

  Laena grabbed her plate and stood. "I'll start cleaning up. The rest of you enjoy your visit." She darted across the lawn and was inside in just a few seconds.

  Jack was aware his sisters had already started talking to their mother, and rather heatedly. He quickly learned Laena had come to live with their mother a few months ago. Ruth experienced a few dizzy spells, and the doctor suggested several different options. She could sell the house and move in with one of the children. The next option was for Ruth to move into a retirement community, or lastly, get a live-in companion. Obviously, she had taken the latter course. And it was clear the two sisters thought the young woman was going to take advantage of their mother.

  Jack stood abruptly. "I hope you don't mind if I go in and change out of this suit, Cindy."

  Cindy shook her head and told him he had the room at the front of the house.

  Jack nodded and reclaimed his bag. He made his way upstairs and found the room his sister always saved for him. The room was unusually large, and it connected to another bedroom. Cindy never put anyone else in the other room, knowing that Jack needed as much privacy and quiet as possible. When he managed to get some free time away from the political hubbub, he often used the other bedroom as a mini-office, setting up his computer and fax. During those times, his rooms were off-limits to everyone.

  He unpacked quickly and was glad he had thrown in a pair of jean shorts. A few minutes later, he made his way down the backstairs. He walked into the kitchen, stopping as he saw Laena standing at the sink, up to her elbows in soap bubbles.

  As silent as a panther, he walked into the kitchen, glancing out the window at the backyard. He saw his sisters and three sisters-in-law still sitting and talking. His mother was playing with the younger children, and his brothers were back to fiddling with the net. He moved over until he was just a foot or so behind her before he spoke. "Who made you the kitchen maid?"

  Laena jumped, spinning in surprise. She slipped on the splashed water, and Jack reached out to grab her arms and steady her. Startled, she glanced up and met his gaze. She wanted to deny the electricity her body was feeling at his touch. Her brain was telling her body these feelings were ridiculous. She raised her hands and pressed against Jack's broad chest. She planned on pushing him away, but she felt the muscles ripple beneath the soft T-shirt he wore. Her soapy, wet hands lingered.

  Big mistake-no, huge mistake-she realized as her body absorbed the warmth coming from his body. More than just comfy-cozy heat surrounded her. This was hot, uncomfortable and had her feeling certain things in places she'd hoped were dead, at least for a while longer. The last thing she needed... No! She pushed the unfinished thought out of her head. This man was nothing more than the son of the woman that she was caring for at the moment. He'd be gone soon, surely!

  Jack argued with himself to let her go, but his hands wouldn't release the grip he had on her. If anything, he moved a little closer as he met her eyes. The searing heat he felt when he touched her was unnerving. He had been living a basically celibate life for ten years. And now, he was getting hard at the sight of her curvy, womanly body.

  He argued with his logical, rational side. But his body was winning, and his arms pulled her closer. And then, she raised her hands to his chest. His heart started racing at the feel of her wet hands pressing on his chest. He pulled her more firmly, overcoming her strength pushing against him. He wanted to kiss her. Hell, Jack acknowledged reluctantly to himself, he wanted to press her down on his sister's kitchen table and fuck her. His head bent towards her. He would have kissed her, if the screen door behind them hadn't slammed shut.

  Laena moved away from Jack at the same instant he released her. She spun back to the sink, and Jack greeted his youngest niece.

  Kristi instantly started chattering away, completely unaware of the tensions or of the confrontation she had interrupted.

  Jack finally figured out why the little girl had come into the house and helped her fill a small saucer with milk for the new kittens living in the garage. He turned after holding open the door and looked at Laena's stiff back. Quietly, he moved across the large kitchen and rested his back against the counter beside her, arms folded across his chest. He watched the play of emotions across her face, even though she didn't say a word. He finally asked her softly, "Who are you and why are you living with my mother?"

  Laena started in surprise. She had not been expecting him to question her on this subject. Not that she was getting used to the sly innuendoes and half-asked questions from the others. But after the tension-filled seconds a short time earlier, she had thought he would have something else on his mind. After all, it remained first and foremost in her thoughts. And of course, it was absolutely the only thing her body was focused on. Every part of her sensed his nearness, and yearned to turn towards him.

  She took a deep breath of relief. Her subconscious recognized it wasn't real, but thinking that seemed to help. She lifted one hand, pushing her hair back off her face, before she continued to wash the dishes. She could shrug his question off, but she doubted he would accept that.

&n
bsp; Jack watched the simple movement and his gaze moved down to her full breasts. From this angle and proximity, he could see the deep cleavage between her breasts. His eyes fell just another few inches and he saw her nipples now poked little tents into her white cotton shirt. He couldn't stop the small smile from curving his lips. He was glad to see she was just as aroused as he had been. Though a fair amount of time had passed, he admitted that he was probably rusty in knowing whether a woman was attracted to him or not. His gaze returned to her face as she answered him.

  "I like Ruth. She needed someone to stay with her, and I needed somewhere to live for a bit. Then we luckily discovered that we had a lot of interests to share." She paused. "And you all have quite a gem in Ruth, though I think some of you have forgotten it." She pulled the plug, letting the water drain. She picked up the hand spray and turned on the hot water to rinse the dishes one more time.

  Jack watched as she slowly and carefully rinsed the dishes. "I'd recommend you start wearing a bra. We've got too many teenaged boys here with raging hormones for you to be shaking your tits at them all day."

  Laena gasped in surprise at his words. The nozzle slipped from her hand, spraying water madly for the few seconds it took Jack to reach over and turn off the water. His words had caught her totally by surprise. She had given no thought to what she wore lately. Her appearance had sunk to the bottom of her priority list, and she usually just pulled on old clothes. If she could find her makeup, it was probably dried and beyond use. To be honest, her mind was rarely on what was happening around her. She had taken the boys' attention as just being friendly. Mostly she brushed off their antics as teen hormones.

  She turned to look at Jack. It took a moment to realize that he was looking at her chest. She glanced down and gasped in surprise. Obviously, her chest had taken the brunt of the water spray. Her shirt was damp and plastered to her breasts. Coming on top of his suggestion a few moments earlier, it was too much. If the spraying had lasted longer, she would now look naked. She should be grateful for small graces.

  She glanced up, wanting to say something really biting and scathing. Her half-formed words died though as she saw the look of blatant lust on his face as he looked at her body. Her nipples were tight and distended, making obvious tents in her shirt. Her breasts looked even bigger than her usual D cup. She gasped and spun away from him in disgust at herself. Before Jack could come up with something to say, she ran up the back staircase to her room.

  Chapter 3

  Jack turned to follow, when the door opened and closed, admitting his brother Pat. He was grinning as he came in, and Jack wondered how much he had heard outside the screen door.

  Pat went to the refrigerator and pulled out more ice from the top freezer. He turned and was still grinning.

  Jack glared. "What are you grinning about?"

  "Well, funny thing actually. I was helping little Kristi give some milk to the kittens, and she was telling me the strangest story. Of course, I didn't believe her. And then she said her 'Uncle Jack had handprints on his shirt'."

  As Pat paused, Jack looked down at his shirt. He saw that Laena's hands had indeed left two obvious hand marks on his shirt, just over his pectoral muscles. He saw that his nipples were poking against his shirt. He looked back up angrily and found Pat was still grinning.

  Pat moved to the door. "I would change shirts, though, big brother." Pat grinned, glancing over his shoulder. "Unless you want Cindy and Janet to tear you apart." The door slammed shut behind him.

  Jack sprinted up the back stairs to his room. He didn't think about there being one extra person than usual in the house until he was passing the small bedroom next to his. The door hadn't closed completely and even though his logic, and just about everything else except his body, told him to walk on, he didn't. He gave a gentle push to the door and it swung open silently. He stepped into the room and saw a wet white shirt tossed onto the twin-size bed. He heard sounds coming from the bathroom that connected the two bedrooms. He quickly backed out and went around to his room. He tossed off his own shirt and, as nonchalantly as he could, pushed open the bathroom door.

  Laena froze in surprise as she saw Jack reflected in the mirror. She had never considered that he would be in the next bedroom. And then, she remembered where they were. She dropped her arms, covering her half-clad breasts. She had put on a bra, but it was more revealing than anything else, leaving almost the entire top half of her breasts exposed and just barely covering her nipples.

  The reflection showed Jack as he leaned against the doorframe, not even bothering to look away. "That might fit the category of a bra, but it's not really much of an improvement."

  Laena felt the fiery flush of embarrassment that moved up her chest and finally heated her cheeks. Her breath dragged harshly and unevenly in and out of her lungs. Telling herself that she hated feeling this way, still hesitating to call it an attraction, she slowly set down the brush. Quickly she moved her hand back to its protective stance. "I'm sorry if my clothes don't meet your standards, but I didn't pack to impress for this holiday. I'll run home and get some other clothes after I get dressed."

  Jack shifted his stance, taking a half step forward and raising his hands to either side of the doorframe. His move only made his appearance more intently masculine to Laena, and more arousing. He smiled as he spoke, "Throw a shirt on and I'll drive you."

  "That won't be necessary, I can drive myself." She turned her back and walked into her bedroom. She found a navy blue T-shirt and pulled it on over her head. She turned and found that Jack had followed her into her bedroom. She could feel her cheeks flushing even brighter.

  "You've got five cars blocking you in, and mine's the last. It only makes sense for me to drive you over there," Jack told her.

  Even though he didn't smile, she sensed that he was pleased with the information he had just imparted. She opened her mouth to protest.

  Jack reached out and grabbed her hand. He pulled her behind him, back into his room, releasing her only to pull another white T-shirt over his head. "Come on, if we hurry, no one will even miss us."

  In less than five minutes, Laena found herself seated next to him in his luxurious large car, speeding down the back roads towards his mother's house. They reached the lovely, large older home within twenty minutes. He found his key for the front door and let them both in.

  Jack looked around slowly, realizing that it truly had been a long time since he had been home. He had a very chic apartment in DC, but it wasn't really a home. He turned as he heard Laena start up the stairs. He followed her and was curious when she walked into his parents' room. He stopped in surprise to find the room completely redecorated. Laena was standing at the long bureau, looking through the drawers, hastily pulling out things. He couldn't believe she was living not just in his mother's home, but was occupying the largest bedroom in the house. That certainly wasn't the way he thought the companion relationship was supposed to work.

  Jack saw that the old full-size bed had been replaced by a new king-size one. As he looked around the room, it was obvious that the room had been changed for her. "Why are you in my parents' bedroom?" He couldn't keep the anger from his voice.

  Laena turned, her surprise he had followed her evident in her lifted brows and the little "O" formed by her mouth. She brought her hands from the drawer, clutching an assortment of panties and bras. "Your parents' room? Your mother had a room downstairs fixed up for herself the day I moved in. She insisted I use this one."

  Jack snorted, revealing his disbelief. "What happened to the bed that was in here?"

  "Ruth said it was old and needed to be replaced. She chose all the furniture in here." Laena tossed the lingerie on the bed. "Your mother is a marathon shopper. She wears me out every time we go out for the day." She walked back to the dresser, opening another drawer.

  Jack wasn't sure what to make of this woman. He had thought he knew his mother well. Even though she was getting older, she was still completely alert, and pretty shrewd
. All this shopping and changing things around didn't make any sense. Suddenly he remembered something that had been bothering him since he'd first arrived at his sister's house earlier. "Didn't my brothers have enough time to help put up Mother's Christmas decorations this year?"

  Laena spoke without stopping what she was doing. "Ruth said she didn't want any decorations put up here at the house. I dug out the light forms and a few other things to use at Cindy's house for the big party."

  Jack shook his head. "I find it hard to believe that Mother didn't want a wreath or some small things around."

  Laena turned to face him this time. "Ask her yourself, but her reasoning was that you weren't staying here, and none of the kids were coming over, so it wasn't worth the effort. I offered several times to buy a tree and bring it in, but she wasn't interested."

  Shrugging, he moved over and sat on the bed, watching Laena as she rifled through the drawer once again. He shifted to lean back on his elbows and found he was right next to the pile of lingerie.

  Immediately he noticed the rainbow of colors. He realized, with a start, that more than ten years had slipped by since he had been this close to a collection of women's lingerie. He picked up a pair of panties and saw they were cut high on the hips and emerald green. He shook his head as he marveled at the changes since he had last seen a woman's panties up this close. Jack held them up with both hands, and looked at Laena beyond. He looked from the panties, to the luscious curves of her buttocks. From there, it was almost too easy as he imagined what her curvy bottom would look like wearing these sexy panties.

  Laena turned to see Jack holding up a pair of her skimpiest panties. She blushed brightly, wondering what he had been thinking. She knew so much about the man lying across her bed that at times she had felt that she had met him long before they actually came face-to-face today. And now, here he was, larger than life itself. He was a man who had political power beyond the sheer imagination of most people. And meeting him now, he was a man who had personal power as well. She had felt the instant attraction to him, and she still couldn't believe what she had felt at his slightest touch.