A Christmas Blessing

you think?” he asked as he stood before the tree, admiring the sweep of its branches against the ten-foot-high ceiling. Placing it in a stand, assuming he even had one that would fit its thick trunk, definitely would require a little trimming at the top.
Angela seemed fascinated. He echoed her approval. “Pretty awesome, huh? Wait till you see it with lights and decorations. You won’t be able to take your eyes off it.”
The only problem was the lights, the decorations and the tree stand were all stored upstairs. He had a hunch she wouldn’t tolerate being put back in that drawer again. “Now that is a quandary,” he said to Angela. “But we can solve it, can’t we? I’ll just settle you right here on the floor so you can see, put some pillows around you in case you happen to be precocious enough to roll over. I think that’s a little advanced even for someone of your brilliance, but there’s no point in taking chances.”
Angela’s face scrunched up the instant he deposited her among the pillows. He propped her up so she had a better view of the tree, an arrangement which seemed to improve her disposition. “Now don’t let me down, angel,” he cajoled. “No crying, okay? I promise I’ll be back before you can say Santa Claus.”
He darted worried glances over his shoulder all the way out of the room. The baby seemed to have settled into her nest without a fuss. He doubted her contentment would last, though.
Thankfully, Consuela was the most organized human being he’d ever met. The Christmas decorations were tidily stacked and labeled in a storage closet, where he’d insisted they remain this year. She’d succeeded in sneaking a fat, pine-scented candle and a table decoration into the dining room, but that was all she’d dared after his firm instructions.
Luke managed to get all the boxes into his arms at once, then juggled them awkwardly as he made his way back downstairs. The boxes began to wobble dangerously halfway down. The top one tumbled off, then the one after that. There was no mistaking the tinkling sound of glass breaking. Mixed with his muttered oaths and Angela’s first faint whimpers, it was apparently more than enough to wake Jessie.
He’d just turned the corner to the living room when she came staggering out of the bedroom, sleepily swiping at her eyes. “What’s going on? Where’s Angela?”
Luke stepped in front of her and blocked her view of the living room. “Everything’s under control. Why don’t you go back to bed? You must be exhausted after being up half the night.”
“I’m awake now. What broke?”
“Nothing important.”
“What’s all that stuff you’re carrying?”
“For someone who’s half-asleep, you ask a lot of questions. Did you get a job I don’t know about as a reporter?”
Ignoring the question, she blinked and took a step closer. Her heavy-lidded gaze studied the boxes. When the contents finally registered, her face lit up with astonishment. “Christmas decorations?”
Luke sighed. So much for his surprise. “Christmas decorations,” he confirmed, then shifted out of her way so she could see past him.
“I thought Angela should have a tree for her first Christmas,” he admitted sheepishly. “You made it pretty clear last night how you felt about the lack of holiday spirit around here. I decided you were right.”
Jessie’s eyes widened. “Luke, it’s…”
“Awesome?” he suggested, after trying to study the tree objectively. Despite the impressive size of the room, the tree took up a significant portion of it.
“Huge,” Jessie declared.
“I know. It didn’t look nearly as big outside.”
Before he realized what she intended, Jessie turned and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she said, kissing him soundly.
Her lips were warm and pliant against his, impossibly seductive. The impulsive gesture almost caused him to drop the remaining boxes. “Jessie!” he protested softly, though there was some doubt in his mind if he was warning her away to save the decorations or his sanity.
She regarded him uncertainly for the space of a heartbeat, but apparently she chose to believe he was worried about the ornaments. She claimed several of the boxes and carried them into the living room. Then she took a thorough survey of the tree and pronounced it the most incredible tree she had ever seen. The glint of excitement in her eyes was enough to make Luke’s knees go weak. If she ever directed a look half so ecstatic at him, he could die a happy man.
“Don’t do a thing until I get back,” she demanded as she headed from the room.
“Where are you going?”
“To get dressed and to make hot chocolate.”
He thought she looked exquisite in her robe, a pale pink concoction that was all impractical satin and lace. As for the hot chocolate, he was plenty warm enough as it was. “Not on my account,” he said.
“On mine,” she said, visibly shivering. “I’m freezing in this robe.”
The innocent comment lured him to look for evidence. He found it not in the expected goose bumps, but in the press of hard nipples against the robe’s slinky fabric. “I’ll turn the heat up,” he countered eventually. Anything to keep her in that softly caressing robe.
Apparently she caught the choked note in his voice or the direction of his gaze, because her expression faltered a bit. A delectable shade of pink tinted her cheeks. “It’ll only take a minute,” she insisted. “Besides, we can’t possibly decorate a tree without hot chocolate. I’m pretty sure there’s a law to that effect.”
Luke found himself grinning at the nonsense. “Well, we are nothing if not law abiding around here. I’ll test the lights while you’re gone.”
“But don’t start stringing them on the tree, okay? I want to help.”
“You mean you want to give orders.”
She grinned back at him and his heart flipped over. “Maybe,” she admitted. “But you wouldn’t want to end up with blank spaces and have to do it all over again, would you?”
He shot her a look that was part dare, part skepticism. “Who says