Mistletoe & Cocoa Kisses

by Stacy Eaton

  He had left two voicemails, both asking why I had left him, both wondering when I was coming home. Neither of them took responsibility for his actions. Instead he tried to put the blame on me to make me feel sorry for him. I deleted the messages.

  Diana had left one, too, and the translation was so broken up, I couldn’t understand what she had been saying so I pushed the button to listen to it.

  “Robin,” she hiccupped on the message, “I’m so sorry,” I could tell she was crying. “I never meant to hurt you. I’m so sorry. Please call me. Josh means nothing to me.”

  “Yeah, he means nothing to me either,” I murmured at my phone and continued to listen.

  “Please, forgive me. It was a one-time thing. I never meant to hurt you, I swear I didn’t. You’re my best friend, I need you.” She sobbed into the phone, and I gritted my teeth. “Please, Robin, call me.”

  I sighed as I hit the delete button, closed my eyes, and put my head back against the headboard.

  “You alright?” Chris asked, and my eyes flashed open. He was leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed over his now-covered chest, his one leg crossed over the other. I must not have closed the door all the way; otherwise, I would have heard it open.

  I tossed my phone on the nightstand. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  Chris entered the room and sat down at the end of the bed. “I take it that was the girl who slept with your boyfriend.”

  “Yes, that was Diana, and Josh is not my boyfriend, not anymore.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “How long were you two together?”

  I calculated for a moment. “I guess about two years. We dated for about six months, and then moved in with each other.”

  “So it was serious?” he asked as he lounged back on the bed and wrapped one of his hands around my foot, his thumb pressing into the ball of it.

  “No, well, maybe at first it was kind of serious, but my work hours were mostly nights and weekends, and he worked days, so we didn’t see each other after a while, and when I was off, he usually had other plans.” I clamped my lips together, “I guess I had been looking for an excuse to leave, and he provided the perfect one.”

  “You weren’t in love with him then.” He kneaded my foot, and I wanted to sigh at the wonderful feelings he was creating, not just in my foot, but right up my leg and into my woman parts.

  “I thought I was, but that was a while ago. At the end, we were more roommates than anything else.” Chris kept massaging my feet. “What about you? What happened with Geri’s mom? Do you know why she left?”

  His hand stilled. “I gave her a choice. She made it, and she walked out.”

  “And you haven’t heard from her since?” I queried.

  Chris let go of my foot and sat up. “No.” I got the distinct impression he did not want to talk about it, and I wondered why he had given her a choice in the first place.

  He changed the subject in avoidance. “Matt wanted to know if you had tried out the pool yet.”

  I grinned, “No, but I’d love to. Can I?”

  He stood beside the bed. “Of course you can, but I would suggest wearing a bathing suit, if you have one. You might drive a few of the men in the house wild, if you don’t.”

  My cheeks heated slightly. “I think I can do that.” I glanced over to my luggage, wondering which one of them contained my bathing suits.

  “Let me know when you want to try it, I can show you how to use it.”

  “Thanks,” I threw my legs over the side of the bed, “I might do that now. I could use the exercise, might work off some of the frustration.”

  “What are you frustrated about?” he asked as I stood up.

  I lifted one shoulder, “I don’t know.” You, I wanted to say. This wild chemistry that makes my heartbeat erratically every time you are around and I know I need to avoid it. “I guess trying to figure out what I’m going to do next.”

  Chris’s gaze bounced around my face, and he stepped closer to me, cupping my cheek with one hand. “You could stay.”

  I could stay, and then I could completely depend on this man and his children and never feel like I was doing anything for myself.

  “Chris,” I whispered, not sure what else to say, but I didn’t need to worry about that because he would have silenced any further words when his lips claimed mine.

  There was urgency in his touch, a hunger that was reaching out through his lips and into my body. Only two days in the company of this man, and I was beginning to crave his taste like a chocoholic craved cacao. I clung to him, arching my body into his so that we touched from chest to thigh.

  He pushed his hips toward mine, and I whimpered into his mouth. His hands traveled down my back and one hand cupped my butt, pulling me more tightly to him.

  The desire was so strong to remove his shirt and lay him on the bed. He must have been thinking the same thing because he turned me so the backs of my legs were against the mattress. His lips left mine and trailed warm kisses down my throat to my collar bone.

  “Hey, Dad,” Matt’s voice called down the hallway, and Chris stilled.

  With a small groan, he lifted his head and stared at me. “What, Matt?”

  “Wade is coming over. Is that alright?”

  “Yes,” I replied, “but you need to shovel the sidewalks before you work out or play any of your games.”

  “Alright,” he called back down the hallway. “Hey, Geri is asking for something to eat.”

  “Okay, thank you,” he replied loudly, and then softer for my ears only, “How I wish the kids were in school.” He stepped away and adjusted himself. “One of these days, we might not get interrupted.”

  “Maybe,” I replied as I let him go—or maybe it was better that we did. At least then I wouldn’t know what I was walking away from when I left—and I needed to leave. Oh boy, did I need to leave.

  Chris

  That woman with her crystal blue eyes was a walking temptation. I couldn’t think straight with her around, and I constantly wanted her in my arms. The fact that I did want her there pissed me off in a way, but even as frustrated as I was with the situation, I still wanted that woman, badly.

  I found some pudding for Geri to eat and went back to my laptop to answer a few emails. I still hadn’t responded to the one from Molly, and every time I opened my email browser, it glared at me accusingly. Why couldn’t she just go away?

  I sighed as I opened the email and read it one more time. This time instead of closing it, I hit respond and typed in a quick response that I was done and that she needed to get over it. Hopefully, she would finally understand that it was over. I was tired of saying the same things to her. No, I do not want to try again. No, I do not love you. No, I do not want you in my life.

  I was opening another email when I heard Geri and Robin talking in the other room. I glanced up and froze, Robin stood over Geri with a towel wrapped around her body and her hair pulled back. Her shoulders were bare, slim, and two small purple strings wrapped around her neck and then disappeared under her towel.

  Well, there go any thoughts of business, damn.

  “So you decided to try out the pool?” Matt said as he walked in behind her.

  “Yeah, you want to show me how it works?” She turned to face him and I got a view of her slim shoulder blades along with a tattoo of a dragonfly on her right one. Huh, I hadn’t expected that. I wondered if she had any other tattoos.

  “Sure,” Matt replied, and the two of them disappeared down the stairs. It took everything in me not to follow, and I turned back to my computer and tried to shut out the picture of her sexy shoulders. Jesus, hadn’t I told that woman not to parade around in a towel?

  I tried to concentrate, I really did, but when I glanced at the small clock on my laptop, it had only been five minutes. Damned temptress.

  The sound of a snowmobile coming toward the house caught my attention, and I closed the lid to my computer. I peered over the top of the couch. Geri was napping, so I hustled down the stair
s to the basement.

  Matt was standing on the side of the pool watching Robin, and I popped my head in. “Wade’s here.”

  “Okay, thanks,” he said but never took his eyes off of Robin’s back. She was swimming freestyle slowly in the current and had a pretty good stroke. I almost groaned as I thought the word.

  “Why don’t you go meet him so you don’t interrupt Robin?” I called out to him.

  “What?” He glanced my way, peered back at the pool, and then seemed to realize what he was doing. “Oh, yeah. Okay.” He started to blush and approached me by the door. “You going to stay here and show her how to turn it off?”

  “Yeah, I’ll stay here in case she has a problem. Make sure you guys clear the paths, and be quiet upstairs because Geri is napping.”

  Matt took one last long look over his shoulder at the pool before he nodded and left. Poor kid was as affected by her as I was.

  After he left, I watched her swim for a few more moments before I rolled up the pant legs of my track pants and sat down on the edge of the pool, dipping my feet into the water.

  Robin continued to swim, never once breaking stride for another ten minutes before she slowed down and rolled to her back. Her breasts broke the surface of the water as she began to swim backstroke, and I hissed out a breath. She was wearing a small purple bikini, and the tops barely covered her ample breasts.

  Robin must have glanced around because, suddenly, she dropped her butt down and lifted her head to stare at me. “You’re watching me? How long have you been there?”

  “Just a few minutes, Matt’s friend showed up. I didn’t want to leave you alone in case you had a problem.”

  The current carried her past me and to the end of the pool where she put her feet down and stood up. I watched her body as it began to come out of the water and stopped midway on her breasts. Ho-ly shit. It was a good thing I was sitting, or I’d be showing off quite a pup tent in my pants. She lowered herself under the water, so only her neck was exposed.

  “So what do you think?” I asked her as I pulled my gaze from hers and tried to get control of myself.

  “I love it!” she replied and swam out of the current to the side where I was sitting. “It’s a great workout.”

  “That it is.” I stared down at her, noticing how alike the pool water and her eyes were. “You have the most beautiful eyes, Robin.”

  She smiled shyly, averting her gaze. “Thank you.”

  “Are you done swimming?” I asked when she glanced back up my way, and she nodded.

  “Yeah, I think I did enough, how long was I in here?” She held on to the wall and kicked her feet out behind her, her bikini bottoms just barely broke the surface of the water.

  “About twenty minutes.” My voice was husky as I replied.

  “Wow, that long, huh? I didn’t realize I’d been going that long.” She pulled her legs back in. “You’re lucky you have this. I might have to save my pennies and invest in one of these in the future.”

  I gritted my teeth for a moment to hold back the words, but they forced their way out, “Or you could just use this one.”

  Robin reached out and laid a hand on my calf, “I appreciate the offer, Chris.” Her hand slid slowly down my leg and back into the water, and I was helpless to stop my next move.

  I heaved off the edge, and surprised her when I landed in the water beside her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.

  “You’re fully dressed,” she laughed.

  “And I warned you before what would happen if you showed yourself in a towel again.”

  I crouched down in the water, so we were both submerged and she wrapped her arms around my neck, a sultry smile gracing her lips.

  My hands slipped to her bikini bottoms, and with just a little encouragement, she wrapped her legs around my waist. I closed my eyes briefly as she made contact with my erection. “Woman, you kill me.”

  “The feeling is mutual,” she purred as she curled herself around me more tightly. The current in the water pushed us toward the end of the pool, and I allowed it to lead us. I spun us at the last moment and put my own back against the wall, letting my hands roam over her body as I pulled her lips to mine.

  It was a good thing we were in water because if we hadn’t been, we might have both gone up in flames with the heat of the kiss. I couldn’t stop touching her as she ground herself against me. My hand slipped under her leg and worked its way inside the edge of her bathing suit. She moaned into my mouth as I ran my fingers over her soft sensitive flesh.

  “Woman, you drive me nuts,” I breathed into her ear as I trailed kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder. I slipped deeper into the water and lifted her so I could rain kisses over her breast, tugging the edge of her bathing suit over with my teeth so I could latch on to her nipple. She threw her head back and a soft meowing sound came out of her mouth. Her hands held my head to her chest, and she pushed her pelvis against me.

  My body was alight with sensitive nerve endings as her hands slipped down my chest to my abdomen. Her fingers stroking over the muscles as she made her way lower. I kissed back up to her neck, pulling her down so she could reach me as her fingers neared the waistband of my pants.

  “Robin, I don’t think I have ever wanted someone as much as I want you right now.” I nipped at her earlobe and she shivered.

  “I need you, Chris, I need you right now.” She bit my neck, and I gasped slightly as her hand slipped under the elastic and touched my erection.

  I took my left hand off her and shifted my pants lower so she could touch me more easily, then switched hands to lower the other side.

  Our lips came back to each other’s as she glided her hand down my shaft and then back up. I was already primed and ready to go off; if she did that much more, I was going to lose it.

  “Robin,” I murmured her name between kisses as my hands went back to the bottom of her bikini and shifted it to the side.

  “Yes,” she called out as she shifted her hips up against my shaft. “Please,” she begged.

  She wasn’t going to have to ask twice. I lined the head up and pushed my hips forward, and my head fell back with a moan as she surrounded me.

  “Shit,” I paused clenching my teeth as she peppered my jawline with kisses and nips. After a minute of getting a grip on the feeling, I pulled out slowly and slipped back in.

  The current of the water swirled around us and our hands touched anywhere they could while I pushed in and pulled out. She twisted her hips from time to time, and my eyes rolled back in my head.

  “You feel incredible,” I whispered before I took her mouth in another intense kiss.

  I slipped a hand down the front of our bodies and found her swollen clit, rubbing it with my thumb. She cried out almost instantly and clenched her legs more tightly around my waist. The clenching of her sheath around me spurred me on, and I slammed into her two more times before I let myself go over the edge with her.

  She was breathing heavily in my ear as she rested her chin on my shoulder, spent at our lovemaking.

  “Damn,” I murmured, “I’ve never had sex in the pool before.”

  She laughed and the movement squeezed me deep within her. “You haven’t?”

  “Well, I have in a pool, but never this one.”

  She pulled back and cradled my face in her hands. “Well, I’m glad I could help you christen it.”

  At her words, I froze and she cocked her head to the side, “What’s wrong?”

  When she said christen, it dawned on me that we hadn’t used any protection. What a shmuck I was! “Robin, I just realized we weren’t using protection. I got so wrapped up in you, I didn’t even think.”

  She giggled, actually giggled, “At least one of us was thinking. Do you honestly think I would have let it get that far if I wasn’t on birth control? Just so you know, Josh always used a condom, always, so I’m clean,” she paused, “and I’m going to hope that you are, too.”

  “My physical was six
months ago, and I was only with one woman after that and I used a condom with her, so yeah, I’m clean.” I shook my head, “I’m sorry, Robin, but I can’t seem to think when you’re around me.”

  She leaned forward and kissed me. “It’s alright. I understand. You do that to me, too, every time you touch me.”

  I glanced toward the weight room. “As much as I hate to part from you, it’s only a matter of time before Matt and Wade come down to work out. We might want to get out of the pool.”

  She snickered as she lifted her hips up and I slipped out. After adjusting her bathing suit, she walked to the steps and I fixed my own pants while I watched her climb out of the water. Her hips swayed back and forth and, immediately, I found myself getting turned on again.

  I followed her out of the water, and she tossed me a towel. I pushed my sopping wet track pants down to my ankles and stepped out of them while wrapping the towel around my boxers, all the while keeping my eyes on Robin as she rubbed her body dry.

  “Why don’t you go grab a shower? I’ll put some coffee on and then take one myself before we figure out what’s for dinner.”

  “Sounds like a good idea.” As she walked toward the door, she paused by my side and lifted up on tiptoe to kiss me. I clenched my hands to keep from wrapping my arms around her again.

  “Get out of here before I have you up against the glass wall.”

  She tossed her head back and laughed, “Would that be another first?”

  “Yes.” My arms began to reach for her.

  She jumped back. “Another time, when we don’t have to worry about someone walking in on us.”

  “Don’t tempt me, woman,” I growled as she rushed out the door. Once I saw her slip out of the weight room, I turned back to the pool. The current was still running, and instead of turning it off, I sped it up and measured out a small chlorine shock treatment for it.

  As I was heading up the stairs, Wade and Matt walked in the back door. “Hey, guys, give the pool an hour. I noticed the chlorine level was a bit low, I just shocked it.”

  “Alright, we’ll play a game before we work out, then,” Matt replied. “Why are you all wet?”