Beau was dragging come morning. He’d not slept well, all things considered, and it took two cups of coffee and an energy drink to get him moving to complete the morning ranch chores. Once done he headed into town to see Leon. He wanted to convince his buddy that doing the piece on the trouble with the park was a great story. Not because he wanted to give a great story to the paper but because he wanted to walk into Mari’s office and see that smile cross her beautiful face, making her beyond gorgeous.
He pulled his truck into the parking lot and entered the small office building that housed the once-a-week paper for their little town. Beau almost turned around and walked out at the smiling face of the woman behind the reception desk. Leigh Cranston was the most clingy woman he’d ever had the misfortune of dating. After two casual dates she had latched on and started planning a wedding. It had been over a year since he told her in very brisk terms that there wasn’t any wedding and she wasn’t his girlfriend. Yet here she was bursting into a smile that left his feet cold. “Hi Beau, here to take me to lunch? I knew you couldn’t resist me forever.”
“Sorry to upset you Leigh, but I’m actually here to talk to Leon, is he around?”
She sniffed and glared at him as she pushed a button on the phone. “Mister Cox, Beau Hart is here to see you. He isn’t on your appointment schedule, do you want me to give him an appointment later in the week?”
Her glare turned into a frown. “Yes sir.”
She looked at Beau. “He said come on back.” She waved at the door beside her desk and he reached for the handle as she buzzed the lock. Just as he shoved the buzz stopped and he slammed up against the door. “Oops sorry, thought you got it.”
After two more false starts the door was opened from the inside and Leon stood there. “She playing door tag with you again?”
Beau sighed and rubbed his aching wrist. “Yeah, she seemed to think I came to take her to lunch. I just don’t get it, we had two dates; two. I told her then I wasn’t interested.”
Leon laughed. “You, Beau Hart, are the most eligible bachelor in North Pole. If those women knew how much you were worth, it’d be open season on you.”
Beau looked around making sure no one overheard his pal’s comments. “I should never have told you about my investments.”
Leon smiled. “Yeah, but you did. Now what brings you by today?”
“Got a story I think you’ll be interested in. Give you a bit of teeth in your department.”
Leon looked interested. “There is no bite in my section, you know that I write the community page. It’s all about who’s marrying who, what parties or events are happening, and new people or business in town.”
Beau smiled and nodded. “Yeah but what if in doing that you could write about a local Grinch trying to close down Santa’s Village park?”
Leon’s eyes got big. “What do you know?”
“Let me take you to lunch and tell you what I know. It’s a story and a half and you could help us save the park.”
Leon looked at him. “Us? Since when are you part of an us?”
“Since I found out my mom’s parents are alive and have lived in North Pole this whole time. Especially after I found out who they are and what my grandmother is trying to do to the park.”
Leon grabbed a small digital recorder off a charger on his desk. “Let’s go, this sounds like a few stories for the paper. I might even get a raise out of it.”
At the Polar Bear Bar and Grill the two friends took a booth in the back away from the bar and dance floor. They both ordered the cowboy burger with extra fries and then Beau told Leon everything he’d learned in the last week. About his grandparents, Nick and Dora’s retirement and what Mayor Goldie had told Mari. Then he told him his idea for helping Mari get letters to show the town council that the park was important to the people of North Pole.
Leon sat back and smiled after clicking off the voice recorder. “I like it; this could actually end up being a front-page article. I’ll need to meet Miss Christmas and check with the mayor and the city records department for the motion from the last minutes of the town council meeting. But if it all checks out, I bet old man White will want this on the front page. The plea for letters I’ll make on the community page separate from the story.”
Beau smacked his hand on the table. “Thanks Leon, I really appreciate it.”
His friend waved his thanks away. “Are you kidding, this could be the first front page story I get. But I want to know why you’re the one bringing me this story? Why not your sister or her boss?”
Beau shrugged. “My idea so I thought I’d pitch it to you. Besides, I could always pull out the you-owe-me card.”
“Yeah, you could but why would you? There’s more going on here than you being nice, and don’t try to tell me it’s because Vi works there. Half the town works there, so I’m guessing you got a thing for the new girl.”
“I don’t have a thing for Mari, she’s Vi’s friend and boss. She’s also walked into a situation my family created. That’s it.”
Leon leaned forward. “Is she hot? Maybe I should ask her out.”
Beau pointed at him. “You leave her alone. She doesn’t need to be another one of your love ‘em and leave ‘em girls.”
Leon smiled. “You are interested in her. What happened to your ‘I’m not getting serious with anyone until after Vivian is settled’ plan?”
Beau sighed. “Okay, fine I’m interested okay. I don’t know, she just calls to me. I can’t explain it and I still mean to not get serious with anyone until after Vivian is graduated and doing what she wants.”
“Yeah and do you think this woman you’re interested in is going to wait for that?”
“Doesn’t matter, for all I know she doesn’t have the same interest in me. She just moved here and got hit with a mess.”
“I hear what you keep saying, but there you are rushing in to be her cowboy hero. I’m sure if you end up helping save her family’s business she’ll be VERY grateful.”
Beau was getting irritated. While Leon had been his best friend since high school the man had never moved beyond the player reputation he’d built back then. The fact that he was trying to lay his type of motivation for helping a woman at Beau’s feet was starting to tick the rancher off. “That’s not what this is about, Leon. This is about not letting the Hollingsworths try and ruin this town because they didn’t approve of Mom and Dad marrying.”
“Whatever you say, Beau. Since you’re not interested then maybe I’ll ask her out when I interview her.”
“You leave her alone Leon, or so help me…”
His buddy laughed. “Yep you got it bad, buddy. I see a tux and that wedding march in your future.”
Beau leaned back and realized that idea didn’t really upset him as much as it would have before he met Mari.
Chapter Six
M ari sat at her desk trying to concentrate on putting the uploaded documents into the right files. Things would be easier if she hadn’t spent most of last night thinking about a certain cowboy with sandy blond hair and whiskey colored eyes. Even when she’d finally drifted off to sleep Beau Hart had been the star of all her dreams. Dreams that left her feeling empty when she woke to find they were just dreams. Dreams filled with kisses and weddings and children with dark hair and whiskey eyes. She didn’t have time for romance, she needed to save the park and make her family proud.
She looked up to see Vivian smiling at her from in front of her desk. “What?”
The younger woman laughed. “Where were you? I’ve been standing here for five minutes calling your name and you just sat there staring off into space?”
Mari felt her cheeks warm in a blush. “Just thinking about the park and everything we’ve got to do, I guess.”
Vi shook her head “Oh no you weren’t! Not with the smile that was on your face and the blush just now. You were thinking about some guy.”
Mari hung her head and refused to deny what was obvious as her cheeks heated again
. “Who? I know you don’t have a boyfriend back in Atlanta, you told me that much; so who were you thinking about.”
“It wasn’t like that Vi. I had a very realistic dream last night and I haven’t been able to shake it today, okay?”
Vivian laughed. “And who was the star of this very realistic dream, Mari Christmas?”
There was no way in the world Mari was going to admit to Vivian she was dreaming about her brother. “It wasn’t like that, Vivian. It was more like husband, children, family kind of dream, not really about a guy. Can we let this go and you tell me what you wanted?”
Vivian cocked her hands on her hips and leaned toward Mari. “You don’t have a very realistic dream about a husband, children and family without knowing who the guy was. So spill.”
“There’s nothing to spill, now can we focus on work.”
Vivian looked at her and opened her mouth when there came a voice calling from the outer office. “Hey Mari, Vi, you all here?”
Mari came to her feet as the voice of the man she’d been dreaming of came from the front office. Vivian’s eyes got wide. “Oh! My! Word! It’s Beau, you were dreaming about my brother!”
“Will you let it go?”
“For now, but after he’s gone we’re gonna talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. We’re in my office, Beau.”
Vivian shook her head. “There is something to talk about but it can wait.”
Beau entered the office with that smile on his face that had cause Mari’s stomach to erupt in butterflies and her pulse to pound through her body.
Vivian looked at her before turning back to her brother and smiling. Oh she was in so much trouble. “What brings you around, big brother?
Mari couldn’t pull her eyes away from Beau’s; it was like they were locked on each other. “I thought you’d want to know how my meeting with Leon Cox over at the paper went.”
“You’ve spoken to him already?” Dear Lord, why did her voice sound so breathy?
Beau nodded and moved closer to the desk and her. “I told you yesterday I’d go talk to him. Things were slow at the ranch and I knew how important this was so I went to see him this morning.”
Vivian spoke up. “How did it go?”
Beau never even acknowledged his sister had spoken. Mari finally repeated Vi’s question. “What did he say?”
Beau’s smile was increasingly sucking all the oxygen right out of the room and setting Mari on fire with its intensity. “He liked the idea so much he went straight to Mr. White, the paper’s chief editor. They agreed that the story is front page news with all the people you employ here in town, and how even the shops not directly associated with the park would suffer if we lost the tourists from the park. So they’re doing a front page story. Leon is over at city hall right now getting a copy of the motion and setting up to interview the mayor. I figure he’ll be by to see you as well.”
“What about helping us get letters and memories?”
“From what he and Mr. White said they’ll run a straight news piece on the front page and in it mention that there is a way to help in an article on the community page. The community article will ask for letters and testimonials that can be run in the paper and that every letter sent will be shared with the City Council. They’re also going to remind people of the meeting before it happens and suggest since City Council meetings are open to the public that any and all concerned citizens do two things. First, contact their City Council member, and then show up for the meeting.”
Mari found herself moving around the desk and wrapping her arms around Beau, pulling him close for a hug. “Thank you, Beau! That’s the most wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me.”
His arms wrapped around her and he looked into her face. “Anything for you, Mari!” Then his eyes drifted from her eyes to her lips and before she could comprehend what was happening his head dipped and his mouth sealed over hers in a kiss. Her body exploded with sensation. Cheese and Crackers! Beau Hart was an excellent kisser. Her arms slid around and up his chest feeling the rock hard muscles born of ranching and hard work before wrapping themselves around his neck, pulling him tighter to her lips. When he responded by deepening the kiss she was completely lost in the sensation of being kissed. She raised up on her toes pushing into him as his arms tightened, holding her close. His mouth moved over hers in all the right ways and just when he started to lick at the seam of her mouth there came a laugh at the doorway.
“It’s a good thing I don’t write a gossip column there, Beau old buddy. Because that kiss would be number one item of interest. I thought you told me your interest was in helping save the park. Seems to me I was right and it’s in the park’s new CEO.”
Mari jerked away from Beau. “Oh! No that wasn’t anything more than me thanking Mister Hart for his help in getting the paper to write about our trouble.”
The dark-haired man standing in the doorway smiled. “Then I guess I can expect the same thank you; seeing as how I’m the one actually writing the article.”
Beau turned and stalked up to the man. “Leon, I’m warning you!”
Vivian laughed. “As if any woman in this town wants to get near your mouth Leon, there isn’t enough disinfectant in the world to make you safe to lock lips with.”
The newspaper reporter raised his hands in surrender all the while smirking at Beau. “Hey, I give up. I know better than to try and poach on your territory, Beau especially not with Vi as your back up.”
That caused Mari’s hackles to rise. “I’m no one’s territory, sir. I may need your help but I don’t need your snide remarks.”
Leon laughed. “Miss Christmas, you my dear are going to fit in around here perfectly. Leon Cox at your service.”
“It is nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. Cox and thank you for being willing to help me fight for my family’s park.”
Leon moved into the room and shook Mari’s hand. He was handsome but he didn’t hold a candle to Beau Hart in her mind. “My boss and I both figure if your family’s park is closed it won’t be long before our town is in trouble and that could mean people like me not having work either. This just makes sense. Now tell me about you. That is, if you don’t mind giving me an interview right now?”
“Not at all. I’ll tell you anything you want if it will help keep the park open.”
Several days had passed since Beau had kissed her in her office and she couldn’t get the feel of his lips off her mind. No one had ever kissed her so thoroughly before. She relived it every night in her dreams. Yet he’d not once tried to repeat the experience. Mari saw him every day as he was spending almost as much time working at the park, helping her, as his sister who was getting paid did.
He’d brought her three teens from the high school. Two who had taken over the scanning of the documents and the last one who was building her a killer website, the teen’s words not hers, and taking her social media accounts into the stratosphere. Again, his words. Not only did she have a Facebook and Instagram page for the park now but also a Snapchat that the kid told her he’d keep posting cool stuff on in exchange for season passes for his family.
Mari was no fool and quickly had Vivian get passes for all three of the teens and their families. If they could help her move the park into the twenty-first century she was willing to make sure they were well compensated. She also had the three of them put on payroll through the holiday. Still she couldn’t help but wonder why Beau never tried to kiss her again or even ask her out. She considered asking him but she wasn’t raised that way and it felt weird to even consider it.
Today Beau walked into her office with a cup of hot cocoa for her. “So today while everyone else is working on paperwork, you and I are going to start looking at the park with fresh eyes. You need to think of a couple of rides that can be updated or replaced with something more cutting edge. Not everything and definitely not the carousel as that is a sacred cow to the town as well as the park. But let’s go talk to your people
that run the rides and see if we can figure out which ones have the least amount of riders on them.”
So he helped her into her coat and laughed. “We really need to get you something beside the Stay Puft marshmallow man costume to wear for winter.”
She looked at him and said, “I guess you think I should look like a female version of the Marlboro man like you?”
He shook his head. “No, I was thinking something more along the lines of Sexy Mrs. Claus myself.” You know, warm and red with white fur around the neck and cuffs and bottom just covering your lower bits.”
“You’re a real mess, Beau Hart.”
“I just thought it would be fitting for a woman named Mari Christmas to be dressed like Mrs. Claus.”
“Next you’ll say I should wear some of that Mrs. Claus lingerie under this winter coat you envision.”
He smiled. “While I personally wouldn’t be opposed to something like that, this is a family fun park; what are you thinking?”
She stopped and looked at him and put both her hands on her hips. “Do you really want me to answer that, Beau Hart?”
He looked into her eyes and swallowed. “You can tell me anything, Mari. So if you need to tell me what you’re thinking, I’ll listen with open ears.”
She moved close and laid a hand on his wool and suede covered chest. “I think you are the most confusing man I’ve ever met, that’s what I think.”
His eyes scrunched together. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you kiss me like you have every right to claim my lips and heart and then you don’t say or do anything for days. Now you want to tease and flirt. I don’t get you. Are you interested in me or not, because I can’t take these games, Beau? I’ve got too much riding on your help.”
Beau nodded. “I know and I’ll be honest with you, Mari. Every time I see you I want to pull you into my arms and kiss you until you’re a pool of desire at my feet. But I know right now you need to focus on the park and saving it. I’m trying to help you but if I’m a distraction then I’ll stop and just send my ideas with Vivian.”
Music Box Christmas (The Ornamental Match Maker Book 3) Page 4