Mistletoe & Cocoa Kisses

by Stacy Eaton

  “Good night, Chris.”

  I stepped out of his arms and walked away, afraid to look back and see the expression on his face—afraid that if I did, that I would return to his tender embrace and take up right where we had ended.

  I leaned my shaking body against my closed bedroom door and touched my lips. I’d kissed a lot of men in my years, but none of them had touched my soul like that one had.

  I was so totally screwed.

  Chris

  I turned off the lights and the fireplace and checked the doors to make sure they were locked before I headed back to my room. I paused at Robin’s door and hesitated, wanting so badly to knock and take up where we had left off, but I had to accept what she was willing to give and not push.

  While lying in bed that night, I replayed our conversation. Remembering her talking about her boss brought the anger back to the surface. Yeah, I hadn’t asked permission to touch her, but if she had said to stop, I would have. I’d never do anything to cross that line, at least not on purpose.

  The fact that her boyfriend had cheated on her with her friend irked the hell out of me. She deserved so much better. I was at least lucky that neither of the women I’d loved had ever cheated on me, at least that I knew about. I couldn’t imagine doing that to someone. In my mind, cheaters were lower than pond scum.

  I wondered if she was thinking about the kiss or if she was already asleep. That had to have been the most powerful and amazing kiss that I had ever shared with someone. Was that only one-sided? Had she felt it, too? Maybe I was just another man to kiss her and it hadn’t meant anything at all. That thought bothered me more than it should have. It didn’t really matter how I felt about it. She’d made it clear she was leaving, and I would be smart to keep my distance.

  The next morning I awoke early and went straight to the pool to get my morning swim in. I felt tense after not sleeping as well as I usually did, but I guessed that was from being up half the night wondering about the woman in the room next to mine.

  Twice I had thrown back my covers and started to get out of bed, both times instantly changing my mind and punching my pillow as I tried to get comfortable again. I forced myself to finally remove her image from my mind and concentrated on a string of code that I was working on for a program. After a long time, I’d finally drifted off to sleep.

  I’d been in the pool for about forty-five minutes when I finally felt the tension begin to leave my body. After a few more minutes, my head was clear, and I drifted to the side and turned off the machine. I was pulling my goggles off and climbing out of the pool when I noticed someone standing by the edge.

  Robin was wearing yoga pants and my sweatshirt again, and her eyes were taking in every inch of my dripping body. Her mouth was slightly parted as her eyes lifted from my legs and reached my face.

  I yanked a towel off the shelf—not to hide from her, but because with her looking at me that way, she was going to get more than she bargained for. “I guess we’re even now. You know what I look like with very little clothing on,” I commented fake-nonchalantly. I wrapped the towel around my waist and reached for another one to dry myself off.

  She cleared her throat, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  “That’s alright, I just finished. Everything okay?” I dried my hair the best that I could so it wasn’t dripping down my back.

  “Actually, no. Geri just climbed in my bed. She says she doesn’t feel well, and she’s a little warm.”

  I hissed out a breath. “I kind of figured she was coming down with something with her nap yesterday and going to bed early last night. Let me finish drying off and I’ll be right up.”

  She nodded but didn’t turn away as I pulled the towel from my waist and began to rub my bathing suit.

  I paused and hit her with a direct look. “Unless you want me to take longer, and I mean much longer, I suggest you turn and walk out that door.”

  “Oh!” She jumped and twisted around bumping into the door, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.” She ran out the door while I laughed.

  I’d had a hard time keeping myself from getting turned on by the desire I’d seen in her eyes, and the thought of holding her up against the glass wall and making love to her had been such a strong urge that I’d had to keep myself covered before I either scared the crap out of her or made my daughter wait longer.

  I grabbed my track pants once I’d dried my bathing suit and tossed the towels into the laundry room hamper on the way up the stairs.

  Geri was curled up in Robin’s bed while Robin leaned back against two pillows and cuddled with her. Robin did a quick glance my way, but not at my face, her eyes went straight to my track pants.

  “Hey, little guppy. I heard you’re not feeling so hot.” I sat down on the side of the bed and laid a hand on her forehead; she was definitely warm.

  She shook her head.

  “What hurts?”

  “My throat,” she said softly and winced.

  “Well, that’s yucky. Let me get the thermometer and take your temp.”

  I went to my bedroom where I stored the medical supplies in my bathroom cupboard and came back to find Robin making Geri’s favorite rabbit dance. Geri had just the hint of a smile on her face, and I knew then just how poorly she felt.

  “Here, let me do it.” Robin reached for the device and I handed it over, standing by the bed while she pressed it into Geri’s ear. A few seconds later it beeped, and she pulled it away, “102.1.”

  “Looks like someone gets to stay in bed today,” I announced.

  Geri screwed up her face in disappointment.

  “You want me to make a sick bed on the couch so you can watch television?”

  “Yeah.” She tilted her head back to see Robin, “Would you sit with me?”

  “Sure I will, sweetie,” Robin replied and kissed her forehead.

  “Why don’t you two hang here for a few minutes while I get the couch ready for you?” I stopped in my bedroom to grab the children’s fever medicine and took it out to the kitchen with me.

  After pouring the correct amount of medicine, I trudged up the stairs to get her blankets and a few stuffed creatures to make her feel better, all the while praying we all didn’t come down with what Geri had.

  I was just tucking the blankets around the cushions when Robin and Geri came out. Geri was tucked in Robin’s arms, her head resting on her shoulder, her one arm looped around Robin’s neck, and the other hugging her bunny.

  If my daughter hadn’t been sick, it would have been a photographic moment—a second in time where Geri felt safe in someone else’s arms. I tried not to wince. Please don’t let Geri become so attached to her that it hurts her when she leaves—or me either, I thought silently.

  “Your bed is all ready.”

  I reached for Geri and she let me take her away from Robin and put her in her sick bed. It was something I had started when we had first moved in this house. If Geri got sick, I made a bed on the couch and brought my laptop upstairs to work in the kitchen or from one of the side chairs so she wasn’t alone. “Do you want anything else?”

  “Juice,” she croaked and winced.

  “One juice and some medicine coming up.”

  Robin chuckled behind me as Geri scrunched up her face at the mention of medicine and growled, “I hate medicine.”

  “Do you have any popsicles?” I turned to see that Robin had followed me into the kitchen and was staring at my chest. I hadn’t had a chance to grab a shirt since she’d showed up in the pool room.

  “I might, why?” I asked as I poured a small glass of apple juice into Geri’s favorite cup.

  “Because if she has a sore throat, swallowing mouthfuls of juice will be painful, and she won’t drink very much, but if you give her a popsicle, it will help numb the pain, give her a little sugar in her system, and then she’ll want to drink more of her juice when it’s easier to swallow.”

  “Huh, I never thought about that.” I capped the apple juice bo
ttle and dug around in the freezer drawer. At one point, I glanced behind me and saw Robin checking out my backside. I should have felt self-conscious, but instead I twisted a bit to give her a better view. Man, I was such a dog.

  “I found some.” The box was at the bottom of the drawer, a leftover from the summer.

  “Great, I think you’ll find she will tolerate that better than just drinking.”

  “How did you learn that?” I asked as I began to unwrap a purple popsicle.

  “My grandmother used to do that with me when I was younger.” She picked up the little cup of medicine I had already poured for Geri and reached out to take the popsicle from me. “Watch this.”

  I followed her into the living room and stood aside while she hid the grape treat behind her back. “Okay, sweetie pie. Here is your medicine.” Robin held the small cup out to Geri.

  “I don’t want to take it. It tastes yucky.” She covered her mouth with her stuffed rabbit.

  “How about I make you a deal, you drink this medicine down and then you can have this,” she pulled the popsicle out from behind her back, and Geri dropped the rabbit and grinned, immediately reaching for the medicine cup.

  In no time at all, Geri had tossed back the medicine and was reaching for the frozen treat. Robin mussed her hair and winked at me.

  When she came back to the kitchen with the empty medicine cup, she blessed me with a huge smile. “See how easy that was?”

  I grinned in appreciation at her ruthless tactics as I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms. “I’ve never seen her take medicine so quickly. You have a way with children.”

  She rinsed the cup out in the sink. “Thanks,” she called out over her shoulder.

  “Do you want kids?” I asked her as I watched her hair swing back and forth over her shoulders as she pulled open the dishwasher and added a few glasses to the rack.

  “I do. I kind of thought by now, I’d have at least one, if not two, but I haven’t found the right man for the job.”

  “The job?” I arched an eyebrow at her.

  She grinned. “Yeah, the job of being a good husband and father. I have hopes that someday I will find a man who will sweep me off my feet, and treat me like I should be treated, and he will want 2.5 kids, a house with a picket fence, and all that goes with it.”

  I glanced at my house; there was no picket fence, but I could put one up. Mr. Logical laughed hysterically inside my head, What the hell are you thinking, man? I ground my teeth in silent agreement, What was I thinking?

  Robin

  Chris didn’t reply after I answered him, and I wondered what he was thinking as he shook his head. “Is there something wrong with wanting that?”

  Chris’s laugh was husky as he pushed off the counter and pulled out a coffee mug from the cabinet. “No, not at all. I want the same thing, minus the picket fence. I don’t think it would blend well with my log cabin.”

  “You know what I meant,” I chided him as he poured his coffee and swatted him with the dish towel with which I was drying my hands.

  “Hey,” he called out as the towel snapped on his buttocks. He reached out quickly and grabbed the end as it swung back, and I laughed at the playful glint in his eye.

  He tugged the towel, but there was no way I was going to let it go. When he realized that I wasn’t going to give it up, he jerked it and stepped forward at the same time, the momentum of the pull was enough to catch me off balance, and I tipped forward and right into his arms.

  “Well, that worked better than I intended,” he remarked as he looked into my eyes.

  My hands were on his bare chest and it took every ounce of my strength to not let them traverse the sculpted planes of his pectoral muscles. “Really, and what was your intent?”

  He studied me for a long moment. “To have you in my arms and kiss you good morning.”

  Both of my eyebrows arched high on my forehead, and his smile widened as he leaned down to gently touch my lips with his.

  It was one simple, tender kiss, yet it unleashed something in me that had been caged for so long. My lips parted as my breathing increased, and I saw his nostrils flair ever so slightly before he leaned in and took my lips again, this time, with much more intensity as his tongue whispered across my bottom lip and begged for entry. Who was I to stop a begging man from getting his wish? I opened for him and let my hands glide up his chest to his neck where I wound one hand around to the back and cupped his shoulder with the other.

  I loved the feel of his warm smooth skin under my hands and the soft texture of his hair on the back of his head. His kiss deepened and my knees threatened to buckle.

  “Oh!” Matt’s voice called out abruptly. “Get a room!”

  Chris and I jumped apart. When I glanced at Matt, he was struggling to hide a smile as he went into the fridge.

  Chris cleared his throat, “Morning, Matt. How are you today?”

  Matt pulled out a gallon of milk and widened his grin, “Not quite as good as you two are, but I’m still good.”

  Chris glanced my way, rolling his eyes and mouthing a sorry to me.

  I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing. “I’m just going to go sit with Geri.”

  Chris nodded to me and picked up his coffee, keeping his back to Matt to shield from view the tenting of his track pants in his groin area. I had sure noticed it.

  I sat on the couch, lifting Geri’s feet so they could rest on my lap and tried to get lost in the cartoon she was watching. As hard as I tried, all I could think about was the scene in the kitchen.

  The man knew how to kiss. In fact, he did it so well that I had completely lost track of where I was, and why. I glanced beside me at Geri. Man, I was in trouble.

  Yeah, this house didn’t have a picket fence, but out here in the wooded land, you sure didn’t need one, and there were already two kids, so just add in one more, and I’d have what I dreamed of and so much more.

  I worried my bottom lip. As much as I would love to curl up and stay here forever, I knew I needed to get my life on track. I couldn’t go from being a busy, well-known catering chef to a stay-at-home mom living in the mountains.

  Could I?

  Besides, I was just coming out of a nasty breakup. Staying here would be like the biggest rebound move ever, and Chris deserved more than a rebound woman. He and his kids deserved a woman who knew what she wanted out of life and was focused on loving them.

  I wasn’t prepared to do that, not yet. I had too many unanswered questions about what to do with my life.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and glanced up to see Chris holding a cup of coffee for me. This man was going to kill me with kindness. I gave him a soft thank you, and he brushed his knuckles over my cheek as he stepped away.

  Matt plopped himself in one of the side chairs and, after trying to hold back a smile, he let it explode on his face before he turned to watch the television.

  My heart and soul sighed as I sipped my hot coffee. I’d give anything to have a son like him. What a wonderful man he was going to grow up to be. He was responsible, patient, friendly, supportive, and loving—and from time to time that sixteen-year-old boy inside of him would sneak out and remind you he wasn’t quite yet a full grown man, but when he did grow into one, he was going to be an amazing person and make some woman very happy.

  Kind of like his father, the thought jumped into my consciousness. I glanced over my shoulder and studied Chris as he sat at the kitchen table, one hand wrapped around his mug, the other partially fisted under his chin as he read something on his computer and let his pointer finger slowly glide over his lips.

  Was he unconsciously thinking about the kiss we had shared? With the memory, my lips began to tingle and I licked the suddenly-dry skin.

  Suddenly, I needed to move. I slipped out from under Geri’s legs and carried my coffee mug back to my bedroom. I set the mug down and paced back and forth, pausing to stare out the window.

  The snow was still coming down, and everything wa
s white outside the glass. How much had fallen so far? Was it ever going to stop? If it didn’t soon, I was going to become so engrossed in this family that I would never leave, no matter what my plans might have entailed.

  I needed a dose of reality. I glanced over to the nightstand where my cellphone was plugged in and charging. I hadn’t turned it on yet, maybe I should.

  I sat cross-legged on the bed and powered up my phone. Within a few moments, my messages began to pop up.

  I had sixteen text messages, and I skimmed through them, bypassing the ones from Josh and Diana. I wasn’t quite ready for that reality yet, and instead read over the ones from some of my former coworkers.

  Most of them praised me for dumping the sauce over the jerk’s head, a few asked where I had disappeared to, and one of the women told me to let her know when I found another job and to advise her when they had another opening. She was ready to move on herself.

  Betsy was a good assistant. I’d always enjoyed working with her, and I could just imagine that now that I was gone, she was probably next in line for the harassment from my asshole of a boss. No wonder she wanted to get out.

  I finally went back to the text messages and let my thumb hover over Diana’s thread. I pushed it and read the dozen or so messages she had sent me. Most of them were apologies and supplications for me to answer her. I wasn’t quite ready to do that, maybe later.

  The last thread of messages was from Josh, and I finally clicked on them as I sipped my coffee and leaned against the headboard.

  As I read over them, all I saw was blah, blah, blah. He was sorry, he wanted me back. It had all been a mistake because I worked so many long hours, and he didn’t get to see me much. Of course, if he had wanted to see me, he could have tried, but on my nights off, he would always have plans to attend this sports game, or that poker game, or drinks out with the guys.

  I sighed as I glanced over my voicemails. I paid for the feature to have them translated so I could actually read them and not have to listen to them. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear Josh’s voice ever again.