The Kissing Season by Rachael Johns

pew in a hot and sticky church when he’d normally be in bed. He wondered who originally came up with the concept of midnight Mass and thought it a good thing they were probably already dead because if not, he’d happily do the honors. A devout churchgoer, his mother had insisted on their arriving early, which meant they’d found seats right at the front and he couldn’t turn around and scour the crowd for Hannah without causing disruption.
    He didn’t know what good would actually come from seeing her again, but he couldn’t help wanting to. She’d dominated his thoughts for the last thirty-six hours. No matter what he’d done—fixing some cupboards in his mum’s rental, putting up hooks for her paintings in her surprise house, pulling weeds from her garden, checking emails and doing a little work online—she’d been there. Even when he’d taken to the main street for some last-minute Christmas gifts for Claire and Cate, he kept seeing things that would be perfect for Hannah in some of the tourist shops. He’d ended up buying her something. And then, of course, because he couldn’t very well take her a present and not her family, he’d added at least ten extra gifts to his list.
Insane
.
    Now, as the congregation stood to sing “Away in a Manger,” Matt grabbed the chance to turn around and look. Although it was packed with pretty women, many of whom he knew were only in Wildwood Point for Christmas—perfect holiday fling material—he barely noticed any of them. And it was all Hannah’s fault. He shouldn’t want her anymore, not after she’d let him get as far as she had and then pulled away, not after she’d told him she was pregnant, but the bottom line was he couldn’t get her out of his head. It was as if her smile had put a spell on him that first day in the shop and made him immune to the allures of any other woman except her.
    Just when he’d decided that she hadn’t turned up, he saw her brother Shaun—his tall, dirty-blond curly-haired head poked up above the crowd—and Matt stood on his tiptoes, not at all discreet about glancing at the people sharing the hard wooden pew alongside him. And there she was. The breath whooshed out of his lungs as he focused on her rosy-cheeked face, her Christmas bow-shaped mouth open in song. He’d sell his soul to feel the touch of those lips on his again.
    As if she felt his heated gaze, her eyes swept sideways and widened as they caught him looking. Their pupils connected, and he was surprised the hair on the heads of the people between them didn’t singe and catch on fire with the intensity of the electricity between them. His whole body tightened, thinking about their time together at the house, and he lowered the hymnbook for propriety’s sake. He’d never contemplated a serious relationship before, especially not with someone who was having someone else’s child, but his reaction to this woman was seriously confusing.
    * * *
    H ANNAH COULDN ’ T BRING herself to look away from Matt’s intent gaze. She’d had her own eyes trained on the back of his sexy head for the past half hour, hoping she’d have the chance to talk to him while at the same time praying she wouldn’t. Now that he’d actually made eye contact, talking was the last thing on her mind. If she’d thought her attraction to him was bad prior to almost sleeping with him, it was now near impossible to live with. She didn’t know how she’d gotten through last night and today without hunting him down and begging him to finish what they’d started.
    A jolt of lust zapped through her innards at the thought and she tried to look away.
    If only she could tell them, her family might actually be proud of her restraint. But they were still none the wiser about her situation, and that was another reason she needed to talk to Matt. She had no reason to think he’d raise the subject of her pregnancy with her family, but she didn’t want to leave such things to chance. And she