Harlequin Romance March 2021 Box Set Cara Colter (the mitten read aloud TXT) 📖

on the banks of the pool, and he decorated the dog’s collar and then he threaded them through her hair. And then she picked wildflowers and added them to the dog’s collar and threaded them through Jonas’s hair.

They laughed until she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.

They’d stopped for dinner at a little roadside hot dog stand, that Jonas claimed had the best hot dogs ever. He still had a flower in his hair, and she didn’t tell him.

The stand featured more varieties of hot dogs than Krissy had known existed. She ordered a chili dog, Jonas ordered the hot dog version of a Triple Chocolate Volcano Sunday. Chance had two plain dogs, no bun.

Halfway through she traded hot dogs with Jonas.

Funny how wonderful it felt, just one of those little intimacies that couples shared. They lingered over refills of sodas until the sun went down, laughing, chatting, teasing.

Krissy never wanted this day to end. And then it didn’t.

Because when they got back to her house, Jonas walked her to the door and leaned into her.

She thought he was going to kiss her. Again. She ached for the taste of his lips. Even though they had been kissing all day, she felt she could not get enough.

His lips had become her drug.

But it was even better than a good-night kiss.

His voice raw with need, he said, “Can I come in, Krissy?”

* * *

Jonas woke up the next morning to his feet asleep under the weight of the dog, and Krissy nestled into his arm.

He was aware of the sound of rain hammering the roof of her little cottage, and contentment unfolded in him like a cat getting up from in front of the fire to stretch.

He slipped out of bed before her, found her washing machine and tossed his clothes in. With a towel tucked around his waist, he made coffee and brought it to her.

She blinked at his towel. “Is that what you’re wearing today?”

“I certainly hope not,” he said, and let the towel slip.

After that, they drank coffee gone cold, and they shared a real newspaper in her bed. Jonas usually read his on his tablet, so reading the paper like this felt old-fashioned and delightful. But as they read snippets of articles to each other, he wondered what didn’t feel delightful with her.

They had cereal for breakfast and put his clothes in the dryer. She walloped him at Scrabble. They finally got dressed. They squeezed under one umbrella and took the dog for a walk. Being wet again had the same predictable effect on them.

They showered the chill away; they ate macaroni and cheese for lunch and then baked cookies and ate them in bed, warm chocolate from melted chips dripping down their lips and inviting the most delightful cleanup.

Jonas was a man whose life had taken him in many unexpected directions and given him many surprising adventures. The nature of his work led him to experiences most people would never have, perfect tens on the scale of excitement.

He had traveled the globe, to some of the most exotic places in the world.

He had helicopter skied in the Rocky Mountains and been on beaches in Saint-Tropez. He had zip-lined and been on a photo safari.

He had been a guest at castles and estates and ranches.

He had hobnobbed with royalty and some of the world’s most celebrated stars and athletes, been to their galas and games and award shows.

And all of that—every single bit of it—paled in comparison to a rainy afternoon, with the dog smelling damp and Krissy in her robe, sprawled across the bed reading him the funnies from the Sunday morning paper and sharing a chocolate chip cookie with him.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“WHAT THE HECK is that?”

It was Monday morning, and Krissy was in the school staff room. It was the last week of school and there was a certain giddiness in the air.

And a giddiness inside of her, unlike anything she had ever felt. Jonas had left late yesterday afternoon.

And so far, she had received half a dozen texts from him and a video of him doing an impression of Kermit and making frog sounds. In the video, which Krissy had watched more times than she could count, she caught glimpses of the sumptuous apartment he lived in.

Fellow teacher Artie Calhoun grabbed her hand and hooted. “Engaged! Look guys, Krissy is engaged!”

Shocked, she realized she had not taken off her ring. Shocked, she realized the ring already felt like part of her. She had not even considered removing it this morning. But now she was swarmed by her fellow teachers, congratulating her, asking questions, excited for her.

“I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend!” Martha Montrose crowed. “Who is it? What’s his name?”

Krissy wasn’t sure of the wisdom of making any of this public. It would have been such a simple thing to take off that ring! In September she’d come back to school. She’d still own the ring, but would she still wear it? Explanations would be needed.

On the other hand, was it possible she and Jonas would still be going out as summer wound down?

After the weekend together it seemed impossible that they wouldn’t be! It felt as if her life could no longer be complete without him, and from the nature of his texts, he was feeling the very same way.

“Jonas,” she said. “Jonas Boyden.”

Martha’s phone came out of her purse, and she plucked at it furiously. She squealed. “Krissy, he’s gorgeous! Look at this,” she called to the other staff members. “Krissy’s guy is a multimillionaire. He owns a company called Last Resort. Good grief, he is part owner of Yummy Mommy.”

Thankfully, the bell rang, and Krissy was able to get away from the awed well-wishers all around her.

Excitement was high in the classroom, and she found herself relaxing into it, instead of trying to control it. She giggled with the kids. She played games with them. They sang songs together.

At the end of the day, Georgie came and regarded her