Emily Forbes - His Little Christmas Miracle

Jess felt as if the ground was tipping beneath her feet.

If she could just reach out a hand she could feel him. See if he really was real. But she couldn’t move. Life seemed to be going on around her as she watched, too overcome to react.

Lucas turned towards her at the sound of his name.

‘JJ?’

She hadn’t been called JJ in years. She couldn’t believe he was standing in front of her. Lucas—undeniably Lucas. He still had the same brilliant forget-me-not-blue eyes and the same infectious dimpled smile as he stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. She fitted perfectly into his embrace and it felt as if it was only yesterday that she’d last been in his arms. Memories flooded back to her and her stomach did a peculiar little flip as her body responded in a way it hadn’t for years. She tensed, her reaction taking her by surprise.

He must have felt her stiffen because he let her go and stepped away.

Her heart raced as she looked him over. He looked just as good as she remembered. Maybe even better …

I can’t believe that after twenty-one books this is my first story with a Christmas theme—and not just any Christmas but a white one!

White Christmases are a foreign concept to most Australians—for us it is the subject matter of fairytales and dreams. Although I’m sure most of us would say it is something we’d love to experience. Many years ago I was lucky enough to spend a winter in Canada. While minus seventeen degrees Celsius wasn’t quite what I had imagined, it was a novelty to listen to Christmas carols about reindeers, snow and sleigh bells while I was surrounded by ice and snow instead of at a hot, sandy beach.

I love Christmas, and I love summer, but there’s no denying that a wintry Christmas, complete with sleigh rides, open fires and fir trees decorated with lights and a dusting of snow, is very romantic—and I did enjoy setting the scene for Jess and Lucas’s own fairytale Christmas.

I hope you enjoy their story and, wherever you may be in the world, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Emily

EMILY FORBESis an award-winning author of Harlequin Mills & Boon® Medical Romance™. She has written over 20 books and has twice been a finalist in the Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award, which she won in 2013 for her novel Sydney Harbour Hospital: Bella’s Wishlist. You can get in touch with Emily at emilyforbes@internode.on.net, or visit her website at emily-forbesauthor.com.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Emily Forbes won the 2013 Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award for her title Sydney Harbour Hospital: Bella’s Wishlist

Cover

Excerpt Jess felt as if the ground was tipping beneath her feet. If she could just reach out a hand she could feel him. See if he really was real. But she couldn’t move. Life seemed to be going on around her as she watched, too overcome to react. Lucas turned towards her at the sound of his name. ‘JJ?’ She hadn’t been called JJ in years. She couldn’t believe he was standing in front of her. Lucas—undeniably Lucas. He still had the same brilliant forget-me-not-blue eyes and the same infectious dimpled smile as he stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. She fitted perfectly into his embrace and it felt as if it was only yesterday that she’d last been in his arms. Memories flooded back to her and her stomach did a peculiar little flip as her body responded in a way it hadn’t for years. She tensed, her reaction taking her by surprise. He must have felt her stiffen because he let her go and stepped away. Her heart raced as she looked him over. He looked just as good as she remembered. Maybe even better …

Dear Reader

About the Author EMILY FORBES is an award-winning author of Harlequin Mills & Boon® Medical Romance™. She has written over 20 books and has twice been a finalist in the Australian Romantic Book of the Year Award, which she won in 2013 for her novel Sydney Harbour Hospital: Bella’s Wishlist. You can get in touch with Emily at emilyforbes@internode.on.net , or visit her website at emily-forbesauthor.com .

Title Page His Little Christmas Miracle Emily Forbes www.millsandboon.co.uk

Dedication

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

EPILOGUE

Copyright

‘AND SO IT BEGINS,’ Kristie said as she stuck her head into her cousin’s bedroom.

‘So what begins?’ Jess asked as she tied off her plaits and pulled a red knitted hat over her white-blonde hair. She picked up her sunglasses and ski gloves and followed her cousin out of their family’s five-star apartment.

‘Operation Find Jess a Boyfriend,’ Kristie replied.

‘What! Why?’

‘Because you’re almost eighteen and you have no idea what you’ve been missing. It’s time to find you a gorgeous boy. One you won’t be able to resist, someone who can kiss their way into that ivory tower of yours and sweep you off your feet. We’ve talked about this.’

They had but Kristie was always talking about boys in one way or another and Jess mostly ignored her. Kristie was boy crazy—she fell in love every couple of weeks—but Jess was different. Most boys Jess met seemed immature and silly. She didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Seventeen- and eighteen-year-old boys were just that. Boys. And Jess wanted Prince Charming. And Prince Charming would arrive in his own time. She didn’t think Kristie was going to be able to conjure him up.

‘I think you’re forgetting something,’ Jess said as they dropped their skis onto the snow and clicked their boots into the bindings, ready to tackle their first day on the slopes of the Moose River Alpine Resort.

‘What’s that?’

‘I’d never be allowed to find my own boyfriend. Everyone I’ve ever dated has been a friend of the family.’

‘ You’re not going to find him, I’m going to find him for you,’ Kristie explained. ‘And let’s be honest, you’ll never get laid if you only date guys your dad picks out. For one they’d be too terrified of what he’d do to them if he found out and, two, I’m sure your dad deliberately picks guys who are potentially gay.’

‘That’s not true,’ Jess retorted even as she wondered whether maybe it was.

But surely not? Some of those boys had kissed her and while the experiences certainly hadn’t been anything to rave about she’d always thought that was her fault. The boys had been cute enough, polite and polished in a typical trust-fund, private-school, country-club way, but not one of them had ever set her heart racing or made her feel breathless or excited or any of the things she’d expected to feel or wanted to feel, and she’d decided she was prepared to wait for the right one.

‘Maybe I don’t want a boyfriend,’ she added.

‘Maybe not, but you definitely need to get laid.’

‘Kristie!’ Jess was horrified.

‘You don’t know what you’re missing. That’s going to be my eighteenth birthday present to you. I’m going to find you a gorgeous boy and you’re going to get laid.’