Sealed With a Kiss (17 page)

“You just don’t want to admit that you had
fun.” Rachel took the mug that Tank held out to her and looked
inside. “You made me hot chocolate?”

“I thought you’d like it better than
milk.”

The smile Rachel sent Tank made John frown.
“Is there anything else you’ve planned and haven’t told me
about?”

Bella put a plate of cookies on the table.
She sat on the other side of John, leaning in close. “We bought you
some presents,” she whispered, “but Rachel said I can’t tell you
what they are. They’re a surprise.”

He glanced at Rachel. She was sipping her
drink, watching Bella. She hadn’t learned that his daughter was
hopeless at keeping secrets. After a few hours, the excitement of
keeping information inside her was too much, and she’d tell
everyone what she knew. “Have you gone decoration crazy in the rest
of the house?”

Bella shook her head. “Mrs. Daniels had
already unpacked the fairy lights for the kitchen. We decided to
hang our decorations in the entranceway and living room.” She
walked across to the reindeer beside the blow-up Santa and hugged
him tight. “Isn’t Rudolph amazing? He’s as tall as me, dad. Do you
think we could go back to Walmart and buy a snowman? He’d look
amazing beside Rudolph.”

John focused on his daughter’s face. Bella
had always looked forward to Christmas, but she’d never been this
animated or excited. Each December, he tried to make up for what
she’d lost - what they’d both lost - by not turning Christmas into
a big deal. But Bella was happier than he’d ever seen her. After
all of the issues he was having at work, maybe this Christmas would
be different.

“I’ve got another idea,” John said. “Instead
of going to Walmart, why don’t we make our own snowman in the
backyard?”

Bella’s mouth dropped open. “Out of real
snow?”

John nodded. “You could ask Mrs. Daniels if
she has any carrots that we could use for his nose.”

Bella’s arms dropped from around the
reindeer. She ran toward the kitchen, yelling over the Christmas
carols for Mrs. Daniels.

Tank bit into one of Bella’s cookies and
stood up. “You’ve made one little girl happy. I’ll let the rest of
the team know that we’re heading outside.”

Tank left the room and Rachel’s worried gaze
met John’s. “You’ve got more bodyguards outside? Why?”

This was one of the few times in his life
when John didn’t know what to say. Too much information could scare
her, too little could be deadly. “I’ve got something I need to tell
you, but you’ve got to promise that you won’t repeat this to
anyone.”

Rachel put down her mug of chocolate. “It
sounds serious.”

“It is. I received a death threat this
morning.”

***

Rachel watched Bella pat a lump of snow into
a ball with John. Their faces were inches apart as they worked
together to make the snowman’s head.

She didn’t know what it was about John and
Bella, but the more time she spent with them, the faster something
seemed to unravel inside of her.

“They’re having a good time.” Tank stood
beside Rachel, watching the fun taking place in the snow.

“They always have a good time together. I
just wish John was home more often. Then he’d really see how much
Bella loves spending time with him.”

Tank gaze traveled along the trees
surrounding the property. “He knows.”

“Why doesn’t he do something about it?”

Tank glanced quickly at her before
transferring his gaze back to John. “He tries. You need to cut him
some slack. He’s got a lot happening at the moment.”

Rachel didn’t need to be reminded. John had
explained about the threat to his life, the steps that had been put
in place to make sure everyone was safe.

Tank nodded at Bella. “She’s a great kid, but
it hasn’t been easy. After his wife died, John took Bella to
physical therapy classes for a long time. You’d never know that she
had trouble walking for about a year. While he was looking after
Bella, he was trying to figure out what he wanted from life.”

“He figured it out pretty well.” Rachel
watched John lift the snowman’s head onto its body. “Starting
Fletcher Security was either the smartest business move he made, or
there’s more to his business than I know.”

Tank crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“You’ll need to talk to John about that.”

John glanced up at Rachel and his smile
dimmed.

“You confuse him,” Tank muttered. “He’s used
to planning everything down to the last detail. He doesn’t know
what you’re going to do from one minute to the next.”

Rachel turned to Tank. “That’s unfair. You
and Tanner have been following Bella and me around ever since I
started working here. You know exactly where I am at any given time
because you’re right behind me.”

“We weren’t supposed to go to the mall.”

Rachel scuffed the snow in front of her with
the toe of her boot. “I needed to get my clothes from my apartment.
Walmart was one stop on the way back here.”

“It was one stop that could have been
dangerous.”

Rachel bent down and picked up a handful of
snow. “I couldn’t stay here over Christmas with no decorations.
It’s not Christmas without lights, tinsel, and a tree.”

She rolled the snow into a ball and aimed for
John. “Maybe your boss needs to unwind and let you and the police
worry about the baddies?” The snowball flew through the air and
landed with a thud on the back of John’s jacket.

He turned around and looked at Rachel. She
shook her head and pointed at Tank.

John didn’t look convinced. He kneeled beside
Bella and whispered something in her ear. She looked at Rachel and
smiled.

Tank stuck his hands in his jacket. “John’s
my friend. Make sure you don’t break his heart. He couldn’t go
through that again.”

He started to turn away, but Rachel held onto
his arm. “Wait, Tank. I don’t plan on getting anywhere near his
heart. John is my…” Rachel’s words were cut short by a snowball
exploding against the side of her face. She turned just in time to
see another one hurtling toward her. She ducked low, narrowly
missing the missile.

“What the…?” Tank ended up wearing the
snowball on his jacket.

Rachel dropped to the ground. “Don’t worry,
Tank. I’ve got you covered.” She quickly scooped together enough
snow for a decent snowball and aimed it at Bella and John. They
were hiding behind the snowman, throwing a stockpile of snowballs
straight at her and Tank.

Tank fired a couple of his own snowballs
across the yard. “You’ve got me for two minutes. After that, you’re
on your own. I’ve got work to do.”

Bella giggled as a snowball hit Tank’s
shoulder. He recovered quickly, picked up a handful of snow, and
threw it straight at John.

While John and Tank traded snowballs, Rachel
ran toward Bella with a small snowball in her hand. She threw it at
Bella’s bright red jacket and smiled at the look of excitement on
her face.

Bella picked up one of her snowballs and
threw it at Rachel, reaching for another one as soon as the last
snowball had left her hands.

Rachel was so focused on Bella that she
forgot to keep watch of John. By the time she realized where he
was, it was too late. John had snuck up behind her and dropped a
huge handful of snow on her head.

Rachel yelped as the cold snow melted against
her skin, trickled down her back, and left a trail of goose bumps
in its path.

Bella laughed as Rachel turned and faced her
grinning adversary. “Sneaky move.”

“I thought so, too.” John’s blue eyes were
alive with laughter. For the first time since she’d met him, he
looked happy.

Rachel felt the weight of the snowball that
she still had in her hand. It wasn’t big, but if she was quick and
accurate, it could do what she needed it to do. She took a step
closer to John.

He took a step backward. “I have to warn you
that I’m an expert snowball maker.”

“Really?”

“And that Bella’s coming up behind you with
another snowball.”

“You can’t distract me that easily, John
Fletcher.” Rachel took aim, fired her snowball at him, then ran as
fast as she could to try and miss Bella’s snowball. She didn’t get
far.

John grabbed her around the waist and pulled
her into his body. “Quick, Bella.”

Rachel twisted against his arms. “Not fair,”
she laughed as John’s arms tightened.

“Everything’s fair when you’re having a
snowball fight.”

Bella’s snowball landed on Rachel’s shoulder,
showering her in soft, white powder. Another trickle of cold water
ran down her neck, making her squirm against John’s body. “I give
up. The war is over.”

Bella ran toward her and hugged her around
the waist. Rachel felt John lose his balance. She tried falling
sideways, but his arms kept hold of her and they all toppled
backward. His grunt of pain was enough to let Rachel know that he
was hurt.

Bella was the first person to move. She slid
off Rachel and sat in the snow, staring at her dad. “Are you
okay?”

John took a deep breath and winced.

Rachel scrambled off his body. “Where does it
hurt?”

John sat up. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing doesn’t make you go as white as the
snow.”

He slowly pulled himself to his feet. “I
knocked my arm, that’s all.”

Rachel frowned. She’d landed against him hard
and could have easily hurt him.

“Will you need to go back to the hospital?”
Bella asked. Her little face was scrunched in a knot. She was
worried about her dad.

Rachel leaned down and smiled. “Sounds to me
like your dad needs a hot chocolate to make him feel better.”

Bella looked at John. Her face relaxed into
its normal smile when he nodded at her. “I’ll go and tell Mrs.
Daniels.” She ran as fast as she could toward the house.

Rachel turned to John. Regardless of what
she’d said to Bella, she was worried about him. He had enough to
deal with over Christmas without aggravating the bullet wound on
his arm. “How bad is it?”

“Nothing that a painkiller won’t cure.”

She didn’t believe him. “Do you need help
getting back to the house?”

He looked cautiously at the hand she was
holding out to him. “You’re not going to try one of your
self-defense moves on me are you?”

Rachel grinned. “Only if you misbehave.”

John slipped his hand inside of hers and
stepped closer. “How bad would I have to be?”

Rachel’s heart pounded in her chest. “Are you
flirting with me?”

John blinked. A deep red blush stained his
cheeks. “No. I…”

For a split second, Rachel saw something so
deep and real clouding his eyes that it made her sad. He was lonely
and worried. She wanted to give him a hug and tell him that
everything would be okay.

He took a step backward and let go of her
hand. “Thank you.”

She pushed away the sadness and tried to
smile. “For landing on your arm?”

“For making Bella’s Christmas special.”

“What about you?” she asked softly.

“My life’s complicated.” John looked across
the yard. Tank was moving through the trees, talking on his cell
phone. “I’ve forgotten what special feels like.”

Rachel took a step forward and slipped her
hand under his elbow. “One day you’ll remember. But for now, how
about we head inside for some hot chocolate?”

John looked down at her and brushed a wet
strand of hair out of her eyes. “I’m glad I came home early from
work.”

“I’m glad you did, too.” They started
walking, arm-in-arm, across the icy ground toward John’s home.
Rachel breathed in the cold, crisp air and prayed that he would
find something special in his life. He was a good person and had so
much to be thankful for.

He also had a lot of responsibilities and
worries. “Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if
you hadn’t become a billionaire?”

“All the time,” John said with a sigh. “But I
probably wouldn’t have met you. Just think how less complicated my
life would have been.”

Rachel smiled. “And less exciting. Who else
comes home to find a blow-up Santa and a reindeer in their living
room?”

“Do you think Bella wants a snowman as
well?”

“No. You gave her what she really
wanted.”

“What was that?”

“Time with you.” Rachel let go of his arm and
opened the back door. “Your hot chocolate awaits, kind sir.”

John walked inside and turned around. When
she was halfway through the doorframe he lightly kissed her lips.
“Happy Christmas.”

While Rachel was dealing with the butterflies
racing around her stomach, John pointed above her. Hanging from a
green ribbon was a bunch of mistletoe.

“You kissed me.”

“I know,” John said with a shy smile. “I
thought you might like a surprise, too.”

***

John hauled another basket of wood into his
living room and passed it to his brother.

“Tell me your new home is going to have a gas
fireplace?” Grant started stacking the wood beside the pile he’d
just brought inside.

“You’re getting old.”

“Not so old that I don’t see what’s in front
of my face.”

John wasn’t sure that he wanted to hear what
his brother had to say. It was six days until Christmas, Bella was
beyond excited, Rachel was driving him crazy, and someone was
threatening to kill him.

“What are you talking about?”

Grant threw another log on the fire before
going back to John’s basket of wood. “Since Jacinta died you’ve
hardly put one Christmas decoration in your home. Now look at the
place. You can probably see the glow from the moon with the number
of lights strung outside.”

John cleared his throat. “We went overboard
at Walmart. They had a sale.”

Grant’s eyebrows nearly shot off his face. “A
sale?”