Jingle Balls: A Holiday Romantic Comedy Anthology

by Dylann Crush

  He couldn’t help but stare. She was beautifully made with a full swell to her breast and a sprinkling of freckles that he wanted to play connect the dots with. Her areola was pink, the nipple ridged, waiting for his touch. Her left side was flattened but uneven with scar tissue, parts of her skin still darkened from radiation and the discoloration of scars.

  Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths.

  On an indrawn breath, he said, “You’re incredible.”

  3

  Alora’s head rang with adrenaline, the anticipation of seeing disappointment or disinterest in Nate’s eyes enough to turn her stomach over. But as his gaze slid over her, it heated, and a wolfish grin pulled at the corners of his gorgeous mouth.

  Relief was swift and left her giddy.

  With quick, efficient moves, he removed her jeans, then his hands found her rib cage. “May I?”

  She nodded, trying to keep a tight hold on her erratic heartbeat.

  With a light caress, he glided his fingertips just barely over her scars. The touch was nearly sensationless with all the nerve damage, but watching him touch her flesh with such adoration sent her reeling. At the same time, he gently cupped her other breast and flicked his tongue over her nipple, the action sending shock waves straight between her legs.

  His body was bound with muscle, his skin smooth, and that part of him that had grown at the sight of her was impressive, thick and heavy, and she couldn’t wait to feel him. His vulnerability meant everything. When he stood quietly, exposing so much of himself to her, she was humbled by his strength. And the rush of emotion scared her.

  He was missing one testicle, a small scar visible along that side while the other side was full and round and made her want to taste him. He was a beautiful man and smelled like the forest and the ocean and sex all at once. She thought it might be her new favorite scent. With nerve endings exploding in all different directions from his touch, she pulled him to her more tightly, trying to maintain some control.

  Dragging his tongue back up her neck, he nibbled and grazed her skin with his teeth.

  “God damn, you’re amazing.”

  She preened under his words and didn’t give a damn how that might look. She needed to feel wanted. She needed to feel sexy…after Adam, after everything. And though learning to do that on her own was her main goal, she was still learning, and right now, she was happy to step back and take the assist.

  Fuck that.

  Grabbing him by the back of the neck, she slammed her mouth to his. “Don’t be gentle with me. I won’t break.”

  Her words must have set something off in him because he grabbed her hips and yanked her toward him, sending a jolt of excitement through her limbs. After giving her ass a deep squeeze, his strong hands dragged against the sensitive skin of her inner thighs toward her center. He gently parted her folds and disappeared as her eyes slammed shut against the onslaught from his tongue.

  He worked her like magic, pushing her higher and higher, swirling, sucking in a rhythm that sent her soaring. As she reached her breaking point, he positioned himself at her core then slammed his mouth back to hers while filling her in one strong thrust.

  The feel of him inside of her was more than she could take, and the stretching, slick strokes sent her rocketing off her cliff into a blinding white abyss of pleasure, swirling and pulsing through her until settling into smaller flutters. She pressed her lips into the racing pulse of his neck as he found his own diving off point, his growl of appreciation low and satisfying to her ears.

  With one last slow thrust, he dropped to her body, and she relished that moment of his weight on her. Sliding away, he rolled to his back, bringing her with him to rest against his side.

  “Fuck. That was great.” His voice was gravelly, and it sent shivers up her spine.

  “Agreed.” She burrowed closer. Content, her body humming, she drifted off to sleep.

  The ringing of a phone made them both jolt upright in the dark, cool room.

  “Shit.” On a groan, Nate fumbled to grab his phone from his jeans pocket. Hanging off the bed, he answered, “Hello.”

  Alora turned on her bedside lamp, pulling her duvet up around her. Grabbing her own phone, she checked the time. Six a.m. Who the hell was calling that early in the morning, and what the fuck was she doing letting a man she’d just met spend the night?

  Before she had a chance to panic about that, Nate jerked upright and bounded off the bed. Yanking his jeans on with one hand, he kept the phone to his ear with the other. “What the hell? How did it start?”

  Alora slid from the bed, grabbed her clothes, and quickly took care of things in the bathroom while listening to Nate’s side of the conversation.

  It was bad. They’d lost their venue for the ball that evening due to a fire.

  Her brain went into overdrive, riffling through everyone she knew and every possible venue in town. As he cleaned up, she headed to the kitchen and made a few calls, hoping her friends wouldn’t kill her for the early hour.

  Nate walked in and leaned against her counter, dragging a hand through his dark hair, his mouth pressed into a thin line. “I can’t believe this. I don’t even know how to begin to contact everyone. Fuck. The TFA really needed this event.”

  “And they can still have it.” She stepped in front of him and raised her chin. “But it’ll cost you.”

  He stared at her as if his brain couldn’t quite make out the meaning of her words. Then confusion turned to a glint, and he dropped his lips to hers, holding them there for a few delicious seconds. “Will that do?”

  On a grin, she stepped back. “I just got off the phone with Claire Adams. She offered to help, but we’ll have to work.”

  The look of relief and gratitude on his face was adorable and sexy, all at once. “Seriously? I’ll do anything.”

  “She’s meeting us at the town hall.”

  “The town hall? I considered that building.” He shook his head. “Barn and friends is not quite the look we’re going for.”

  With a slight shake of her head, she challenged. “It’s not a barn, but even if it was, you don’t know Claire Adams and her event planning abilities. She could turn a cattle yard into a white tie event.”

  Nate let his breath out on a sigh as he looked up at the vaulted town hall ceiling with its exposed wood beams, hoping the jumble of attraction and intrigue he felt for Alora wasn’t blinding him to a big, fat, fucking mistake. He’d kill Parker if this unexpected blind date derailed his plans and his advancement. Even outside of work visibility, the charity actually meant a lot to him, and he didn’t want to let anyone down.

  He let his eyes travel over Alora’s curls, taking in her dreamy-eyed face then the swell of her breasts and that tiny waist. Her personality and reputation made her seem six feet tall, but she was all this independence and confidence bundled into a petite package as full of love and playfulness as she was spitfire and determination.

  Slapping her hands together, she glanced over Claire’s preliminary design ideas, her eyes glowing with excitement. “This is perfect! I knew it would be.”

  Now he knew where the look in her eye came from, and here he’d thought it might have been him. On a disgusted scoff, he joined them at the counter of the town hall bar. “You really think you can fix this?” He directed his question at Claire.

  Blue eyes filled with patience and understanding met his. “There’s nothing to fix, we’re just altering the plans,” Claire said. She tapped her fingernail to her tablet. “Look at this. We’ll drape white sheers from the center vault to the outer walls with a spiderweb of tiny lights glowing from the opposite side. Pure white pine trees covered in deep red ornamental balls will run the perimeter with a few placed strategically to allow for a purposeful flow of the room. We can place tall bistro-style tables covered in white cloth throughout, and large snowflakes will hang like chandeliers.”

  He felt her assess him as he looked over the plan renderings. The whole space would be a savvy winter
wonderland. One large tree sat front and center with red and green ornaments with hanging tags. “What’s this?”

  “An idea you don’t have to use, of course, but I thought it would increase the experience of gift-giving for the attendees. They’re gift tags that checks and money can be placed in. We can easily post someone from catering close by to monitor.”

  “Claire, you’ve outdone yourself,” Alora said. “Class and sophistication mixed with holiday cheer. I think it’s perfect. What do you think, Nate?”

  The weight of a thousand boulders fell from his shoulders. “It’s perfect. Now, how do we pull this off before tonight?”

  Claire and Alora exchanged mischievous glances. “You just have to know the right people.”

  With a wink, Alora opened the large side doors to reveal the North Cove Mavens and the South Cove Madams, Cape Van Buren’s oldest rivalry and most dedicated townspeople. The faux feud of these women went back a hundred years to a story of two sisters and the boy that came between them. The two groups caused a regular ruckus with their competitive natures, but that never got in the way of taking care of everyone in the Cape.

  Maxine Van Buren led the group of women into the hall with a large box in her hands and a red-painted grin on her face. Setting the box on the table before them, she opened the top, revealing a dozen cobalt blue mason jars.

  Alora slapped her hand to her chest and whispered, “Maxine’s moonshine…the finest kind.”

  Not sure how drinking would help them pull off the decorations in time, Nate struggled between being responsible and his very strong desire to drink every drop. Everyone in town would sell a limb for some of the woman’s magic drink. “What’s this?”

  Maxine raised her perfectly arched silver brows. “A special auction donation. You can auction them separately or together, all proceeds to the TFA. I’m proud of what you’re doing here.”

  He was shocked. Maxine didn’t come off her moonshine easy, so the gesture meant the world to Nate, and he found himself at a loss.

  But he didn’t have to worry, because Shelly Anne scoffed. “Quit showing off, Maxine. Let’s get to work, ladies!”

  More than a dozen faces from grandmothers to his sisters stared at him expectantly, and he froze. Alora and Claire, armed with matching tablets, snapped a few orders, and off they all went.

  As the women dove into their assignments, Alora grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come on, we’re hanging the lights and sheers.”

  Too distracted by the heat of her hand in his, he followed along, right up until they got to a mile-tall ladder. “Oh, hell, no.”

  Alora turned around with a brow raised. “Ummmm…you don’t like the sheers?”

  She gestured to the neatly stacked sheers and twinkle lights.

  Anxiety twisted his gut at the thought of climbing the ladder. “I don’t do heights.”

  “You don’t do heights?”

  “I don’t do heights.”

  She shook her head, curls bouncing about her temples. “This conversation isn’t helping.” As she cocked her head, her eyes shot wide. “Are you afraid of heights?”

  Crossing his arms over his chest, he narrowed his gaze. “A fear of heights is a natural occurrence for anyone with half a brain.”

  She climbed two rungs with a smug grin. “Well, lucky for you, I have a full one. Hand me the lights. I’ll do the hanging.”

  The sheers were light and smooth between his fingers, reminding him of her hair last night. “Fine with me.” He looped a few over her neck. “I have no problem letting you do the dirty work—I grew up with three sisters.”

  She laughed and grabbed his face, planting a hard kiss on his mouth. His heart took off on a race, and his dick stood at attention as if they connected to the same power source. With a grunt, he looped lights over her bent arm.

  They worked at a steady pace, telling anecdotes from their childhoods, bad jokes, and a few secrets, and before he knew it, the netting of lights and sheers impersonated a canopy of soft, airy clouds over the space. The white pines stood tall along the edges of the room, and the bistros spotted the floor with flowing white cloth. Faux crystal snowflakes hung from the ceiling, and one large red ornamental ball was showcased in the center. A side table was ready for a champagne fountain and white chocolate-drizzled strawberries.

  Some of the ladies left to get ready for the night’s festivities, and Maxine, Evette, Claire, Larkin Van Buren—Maxine’s daughter-in-law—and Blayne Astor stood with them in the center of the room. Nate looked the space over. “I don’t know how to thank you,” he said as he looked from Claire to each of the women.

  Alora nudged him. “You can start by featuring Eclectic Finds on the website and gala sign. After all, it’s her store that donated many of the decorations, sheers, and lights.”

  Blayne grinned, her dark lips stretched wide. “Oh, Alora, leave the boyo alone. He’s just barely skirted a catastrophe.” Her slight Irish accent made the comment too entertaining to ignore.

  “Fine.” Before Alora could celebrate, he pointed at her. “But not because you won. Clearly, Eclectic Finds and Mrs. Astor deserve recognition for helping to make this charity successful. Obviously, the same for Claire and all the women who helped. I’ll find an appropriate way to share the gratitude.”

  Maxine slipped her arms into a tailored blazer, buttoned it up, then smoothed her hands down the front. She dug inside her oversized bag a moment then handed a cobalt mason jar to him. “You earned this. Relax a little. Then we’ll see you tonight.”

  Nate could almost taste the moonshine as his fingers closed around the glass jar. “Thank you, Max—”

  “Look out!”

  With his heart in his throat, he turned to find six feet of furry moose bounding directly at him. He flinched, sending the mason jar sailing and letting out a string of expletives as he tried to grab the leash dangling from a blinged-out collar. The leash hit his palm and slid past, but he was able to clamp down just in time to be jerked then pulled behind Moby. He forced the fella to a stop just before it could run through a line of tables on its way to Evette.

  “Fuck.” He let out a breath.

  Evette clucked, covering Moby’s ears with her hands. The animal nuzzled her shoulder, almost launching her off her feet, but she only chuckled. “Did I take too long? You poor thing. Come on, let’s get you out of here.” She took the leash from Nate and headed toward the double doors. “Sorry for the excitement. He’s got a mind of his own.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to work out.” Nate gestured toward the duo as they made their way across the gardens toward the Fountain of Youth.

  Shelly Ann tossed her braid over her shoulder. “We’ve tried to take him back, but he’s smitten.”

  As the ladies took off, Alora closed the large double doors then approached with a sly smile on her face, her hands behind her back.

  He didn’t trust that look for a single second. “What?”

  “I just thought you could use a little help.” She lifted to her toes, waiting for him to move his face to hers.

  “What do you mean help?”

  She placed a kiss on the end of his nose, and his chest squeezed with something he didn’t want to acknowledge.

  She pulled her arm from behind her back. “A little celebration drink to relax?”

  This woman was an angel delivering moonshine. “You saved it?”

  Biting her lip, she grinned with a nod. “Let’s celebrate.”

  She led him to the large center tree, sinking down onto a bed of sheers that surrounded it like a blanket of snow. The lights were low, lending an air of warmth and privacy as they sipped from the mason jar. With her back against his chest, they watched the twinkling lights on the tree, and he didn’t know if it was the magic of the holidays or the moonshine, but a low, uncomfortable buzz vibrated around his heart.

  He fought with the meaning behind the sensation, still determined to live his life free from the guilt of ever passing cancer on to a son or
daughter. His wasn’t a story with a white picket fence or two point five kids. The cancer in his family would end with him. There was no room to take chances, so whatever the damn sensation in his chest meant, whatever emotions his misguided heart thought it was feeling…needed to stop.

  And the only thing he could do to calm it down was to kiss her.

  A hard, passionate kiss that she met with an answering intensity. She turned in his arms, pushing him onto his back. The twinkle lights were stars behind her, and the white light of the room formed a halo around her curls. She straddled his waist and pulled her sweater over her head.

  They only had a few hours before the building would be packed for the event, but in that moment, nothing could stop him from sinking into her invitation. And when the buzzing around his heart got stronger, he simply kissed her harder.

  4

  It was intoxicating to feel desired again.

  Alora braced herself against the rush of adrenaline and the topsy-turvy tilt in her stomach at the feel of Nate beneath her. His touch was more assertive than the first time, almost urgent, and though she’d mock herself later over it, the feeling excited her. And she wanted more.

  Stripping off her long-sleeved t-shirt, she reached behind to unsnap her bra but was stopped by the brush of his fingers against hers.

  “Let me.” His voice was hoarse.

  Holding her gaze, he unsnapped her bra. Her breath hitched, and she held the flimsy material and the small prosthetic in place for a heartbeat. Gently, he slid his palms down her arms to cover her hands then gave a little push.

  The material and prosthetic dropped, exposing her once again. Half woman, half…what?

  With a light touch, he glided his fingertips over the scars on her flat side. “Can you feel this?”

  She answered with a shake of her head. That whole side of her chest was a bit of a numb, nothing-there kind of feeling. It was weird because if she was touched a few inches out from it, and the touch moved toward the area where her breast was removed, the sensation increasingly lightened until there was nothing. Sometimes she had a weird sense of touch that was almost pressure, but it was mostly just numb.