Married for Christmas (Willow Park) by Noelle Adams

it anyway. It’s been a really long
weekend. You look like you need some rest.” He took off his jacket and tie and
started unbuttoning his shirt.
    She felt a jittery excitement as he undressed in front of
her, evidently not even self-conscious about it. It felt intimate in a way she
just wasn’t used to. “You do too. You must be even more exhausted than I am.”
    She sat on the bed and slid off her shoes.
    “I’m not that tired.”
    “You had to preach this morning, and you didn’t get much
sleep last night.”
    “You’re not going to start nagging now that we’re married,
are you?” He pulled his white t-shirt over his head, baring a very attractive
abdomen, and undid his pants.
    “I’m not nagging.” She tried very hard to focus on the topic
at hand and not on the sudden desire to pull Daniel into the bed with her. “But
it’s Sunday. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t rest.”
    “I don’t take naps.”
    “Well, then at least—”
    “Jessica, enough.” The words weren’t harsh or angry, but
they were much terser than she normally heard from him.
    She jerked back in response to his tone.
    Obviously seeing her reaction, his expression changed
immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m really sorry.”
    “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” She was more upset than
she should have been, mostly because she didn’t know what had prompted his
sudden shift in mood. He’d felt a little distant today, but nothing that would
explain such an unusual response.  “I guess maybe I was nagging a little.”
    “You weren’t really.” He sat down on the bed beside her and
put his hand on her knee.
    She relaxed, feeling like she knew him again. “So what are
you going to do this afternoon?”
    “I’ve got some reading to do.”
    “Oh.” That didn’t sound bad. Reading was restful, after all.
“Okay.”
    “And I’ve got some a project to do out in the workshop.”
    He’d turned the shed in the yard into a kind of workshop,
where he’d put all his tools. As with cars, he liked to fiddle around with
carpentry. Jessica wasn’t sure how good he really was at it, since his projects
didn’t always turn out the way he planned. Micah, who was a contractor, never
got tired of mocking his brother’s efforts. But Daniel enjoyed his attempts
anyway.
    “What are you working on?”
    “This and that,” he said noncommittally as he pulled on a
pair of worn jeans. “Thanks again for coming to lunch with me.”
    “You don’t have to thank me for that.” She tried not to
sound frustrated, but surely he hadn’t expected her to be his wife and then not
perform any of the duties that came with it.
    He half-smiled. “Okay.”
    When he left the room, she picked up the suit he’d tossed on
the bed. It was still in good shape and didn’t need to be dry-cleaned yet, so
she hung it up. His shirt was not in good shape, so she put it in the laundry. Then
she changed into something more comfortable than her skirt and sweater set.
    When she went downstairs, she saw Daniel’s study door was
closed.
    Evidently, he was going to read in there.
    ***
    The next day, Jessica stopped
working in time to fix a lunch for her and Daniel.
    He’d said he would just grab something for lunch, and she
knew enough about his habits to understand this meant he would eat a protein
bar or a bag of nuts for lunch.
    So she made a sandwich—one she knew he liked with turkey,
ham, bacon, lettuce, mayonnaise, and Dijon mustard on it—and a salad, and then
packed it all up with some cookies in a baggie to take over to the church.
    Despite his study at home, he also needed to keep an office
at church to work and meet with members of the congregation. He’d set up his with
a good computer, a wall of bookshelves with all of his biblical commentaries
and sermon preparation books, and a conference table.
    He was working at the computer, with a big commentary and
his Bible open on his desk, when she tapped on his