“It’s not a big deal,” Natalie muttered as she slipped out of her jacket. “You just saw me this morning.”
Amelia took both their coats to hang them in the hall closet. “It’s not about seeing you, it’s about seeing you at my Christmas party. That’s a pretty big deal, considering you’ve never bothered to come before.”
“You always held it at your cramped apartment before,” Natalie argued, although Colin doubted that the setting had anything to do with it.
“Whatever,” Amelia said dismissively. “The important thing is that both of you are here. Come in. Everyone is in the kitchen, of course. Thousands of square feet and everyone congregates there.”
Colin took Natalie’s hand and led her away from the nearest exit into the house. It was a massive home, large even by his standards, though it looked as if Amelia and her husband were still trying to accumulate enough furniture to fill it up. They had the place beautifully decorated for the holidays, though. A cluster of multiple-sized Christmas trees with lights sat by the front window like a small indoor forest. A decorated tree that had to be at least fourteen feet tall stood in the two-story family room. Any smaller and it would’ve been dwarfed by the grand size of the house. The banisters were wrapped with garland and ribbon. There was even holiday music playing in the background. Colin was pleased to drag Natalie to a proper holiday gathering.
“Everyone, this is another of my friends and coworkers, Natalie, and her date, Colin. He owns Russell Landscaping.”
A few welcomes and hellos sounded from the crowd of about twenty-five people milling through the kitchen, dining room and keeping room area. He recognized a few of them—the wedding photographer, Bree, and Gretchen, the decorator. Bree was hanging on the arm of a dark-headed guy in a black cashmere sweater. Gretchen was alone despite the huge diamond on her finger. He wasn’t sure what that was about.
“What would you like to drink?” Amelia asked, rattling off a long list of options.
“I also have a nice microbrew from a place downtown,” Tyler offered, holding up a chilled bottle he pulled from the refrigerator.
“Perfect,” Colin said, taking it from his hand. Natalie opted for a white wine that Amelia poured for her.
“Help yourself to something to eat. There’s plenty, of course,” Amelia said, gesturing to the grand buffet table along the wall.
Plenty was an understatement. The caterer in her had gone wild. He and Natalie perused the table, taking in all their options. There were chafing dishes with hot hors d’oeuvres like barbecued meatballs, chicken wings and fried vegetable eggrolls, platters of cold cheeses, finger sandwiches, crudités, dips and crackers, and more desserts than he could identify.
“She’s gone overboard,” Natalie said. “This is enough to feed a hundred wedding guests. She’s just no good at cooking for small numbers. You’d think being pregnant would slow her down, but she’s like a machine in the kitchen.”
After surveying everything, they each made a plate and moved over to a sitting area with a low coffee table. They ate and chatted with folks as they milled around. Eventually Gretchen approached with her own plate and sat down with them.
“I’m sorry Julian couldn’t be here with you tonight,” Natalie said.
Gretchen just smiled and shrugged. “It’s okay. He’s almost done refilming some scenes the director wanted to change and then he’ll be home. We’ll have a great first Christmas together even though he missed this.”
“Your fiancé is in the movie business?” Colin asked.
Gretchen nodded. “Yes, he’s an actor. You’ve probably heard of him. Julian Cooper?”
Colin hesitated midbite. “Really?”
“I know, right?” Gretchen said. “Not who you’d expect me to be with.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he countered. “I’m sure he’s very lucky to have you. I’ve just never met anyone famous before. Feels odd to be one degree of separation from an action hero.”
Gretchen smiled, obviously bolstered by his compliment. “You’re also officially four degrees from Kevin Bacon.”
Colin laughed and lifted his drink to take another sip.
“Excuse me, did I hear Amelia say you own Russell Landscaping?” the man beside him asked.
Colin turned his attention to his right. “Yes.” He held out his hand to shake with the man, turning on his bright, businessman charm. “I’m Colin Russell.”
“I’m in the construction business with Bree’s father,” he explained. “I’d love to talk to you about landscaping at our latest project. We’re breaking ground on an apartment complex in the spring and looking for a company to handle that for us.”
On cue, Colin pulled out his wallet and handed the man his business card. He lost himself in work discussions, realizing after about ten minutes that both Natalie and Gretchen had disappeared.
“Give me a call and we’ll set something up,” Colin concluded. “I’m going to hunt down my date.”
Getting up, Colin carried his empty plate into the kitchen and got a fresh drink. Amelia was buzzing around with Bree helping her, but the others weren’t in there. He wandered back into the living room toward the entry hall. Maybe they’d gone to the restroom as a pair, the way women tended to do.
He’d almost reached the entry when he heard Gretchen’s voice. Still cloaked in the dark shadows of the room lit only with Christmas lights, he stopped and listened.
“All right, spill,” Gretchen said.
Colin heard a hushing sound and some footsteps across the tile floor of the hallway. “Are you crazy?” Natalie asked in a harsh whisper. “Someone is going to hear you. What if Colin heard you?”
“Come on, Natalie. He’s all tied up in talk about shrubs and mulch. It’s perfectly safe. Tell me the truth. Bree and I have twenty bucks wagered on your answer.”
“You’re betting on my love life?”
Colin chuckled at Natalie’s outrage. He liked her friends.
“Not exactly. We’re betting on your emotional depth. That’s probably worse. See, Bree thinks you’re a shallow pool and believes your big talk when you go on about love not being real and blah, blah.”
“And you?” Natalie asked.
“I think you’ve changed since you met Colin. You’ve bebopped around the office for the last week like you’re on cloud nine. You’ve been texting him all the time. You haven’t been as cranky. You were even humming a Christmas carol this morning.”
“So, I’m in a good mood.”
“Natalie, you even forgot about a bridal appointment on your calendar tomorrow morning. Your mind isn’t on your work, and I think it’s because you’ve realized you were wrong.”
Colin held his breath. He was curious to hear what Natalie was going to say but worried he was going to get caught listening in. He leaned against the wall, casually sipping his beer as though he were just waiting for Natalie’s return. Even then, he strained to catch the conversation over the holiday music.
“Wrong about what?”
“Wrong about love. You are in love with Colin. Admit it.”
Colin’s eyes widened. Would his skeptical Natalie really say such a thing? If she did, it could change everything.
“I am not,” she insisted, but her voice wasn’t very convincing.
Gretchen seemed to agree. “That’s a load of crap. I get that you haven’t been in love before, and until recently, neither had I. But when it hits you, you know it. And it’s not biology or hormones or anything else. It’s love. And you, sister, have fallen into it.”
“I don’t know, Gretchen. This is all new to me. I’m not sure I would call this love.”
“Is he the first thing you think about in the morning and the last thing you think of at night? Is he the person you can’t wait to share good news with? Does your busy workday sudd
enly drag on for hours when you know you’ll get to see him that night?”
“Yes. Yes, yes and yes,” Natalie said almost groaning. “What am I going to do?”
That wasn’t exactly the reaction Colin was hoping for when a woman declared her love for him. Yes, she loved him, but she was miserable about it. Considering this was skeptical Natalie, he supposed that shouldn’t surprise him. She’d go down kicking and screaming.
“Just go with it,” Gretchen encouraged. “Love is awesome.”
That was enough for him. Colin was about to cut it too close if he loitered here any longer. He scooted silently across the plush living room carpeting toward the kitchen to get something to nibble on and wait for Natalie’s return. While he tried to look calm on the outside, he was anything but.
Could it be true? Was Natalie really in love with him? It had only been a few short weeks, but they’d technically known each other for years. Stranger things had happened. If he was honest with himself, he was having feelings for her as well. He could’ve answered yes to all of Gretchen’s questions. Was that love? He was as clueless as Natalie there. He’d loved his parents, his son, but his attempts to fall in love with a woman had failed.
He felt more deeply for Natalie than he had for any other woman, even Pam. He was mature enough to admit that whole marriage had been about Shane, not about love.
Love. Was that what this was?
It could be. It felt different, somehow. Despite everything going on in his life, he was preoccupied with the brunette who had challenged him at every turn. She was like quicksand, drawing him in deeper the more he struggled against her. Colin had gone into this fling keeping his heart in check, or at least he’d tried to. Natalie wasn’t the kind of woman he could settle down with and he knew that. But after spending time with her, he knew this couldn’t be just a fling, either. He wanted more, and if Natalie was honest with herself, he was certain she wanted more, too. It was just a matter of convincing her not to run the moment her emotions got too serious or complicated. She might believe in love now, but he got the feeling that getting Natalie to believe in the beauty and power of a good marriage would be the challenge of a lifetime.
Colin popped a chocolate mint petit four into his mouth, looking up in time to see Natalie and Gretchen stroll back into the room. Natalie looked a little pale from their revealing discussion, her ashen color enhanced by her black dress.
No, Natalie might be in love with him, but she was anything but happy about it.
* * *
“You’ve been awfully quiet tonight,” Colin said as they pulled into her driveway. “You’ve hardly said a thing since we left Amelia and Tyler’s place.”
Natalie shrugged it off, although she felt anything but cavalier about the thoughts racing through her head. “I’m just a little distracted tonight,” she said. To soothe his concerns, she leaned in and kissed him. “I’m sorry. Would you like to come in?”
“I would,” he said with a smile.
They got out of the car and went into her townhouse. Natalie didn’t normally feel self-conscious about her place, but after being at Colin’s and Amelia’s, her little two-story home felt a bit shabby. Or maybe she was just an emotional live wire after everything that happened at the party.
“Nice place,” Colin said as he pulled the door shut behind him.
“Thanks. It’s nothing fancy, but it suits me.” She led him through the ground floor, absentmindedly prattling on about different features. Mentally, she was freaking out, and had been since Gretchen cornered her at the party. Yes, she’d been quiet. She’d been analyzing every moment of the past two weeks. Was it possible that she was the one to break their casual arrangement and fall in love with Colin? Surely it hadn’t been long enough for something like that to happen. They’d only been out a few times together.
Then again, Gretchen and Julian fell in love in a week. Bree and Ian fell in love again over a long weekend trapped in a cabin. Amelia had given Tyler thirty days to fall in love and they hadn’t needed that long.
So it was possible. But was it smart?
Her brain told her no. Love equals heartache. But she couldn’t stop herself from sinking further into the warm sensation of love. Colin made it so easy by being everything she never knew she always wanted. She wished he hadn’t been so charming and thoughtful so it would be easier to fight.
But even if she was in love, it didn’t change anything. It didn’t mean she wanted to get married. Marriages seemed to ruin good relationships. Maybe it was marriage, not love, that was the real problem.
As Natalie turned to look at him, she realized he had an expectant expression on his face. “What?” she asked.
“I just complimented you on your large collection of classic country vinyl albums,” he said, gesturing toward the shelf with her stereo and turntable.
Natalie glanced over at her albums and nodded. “My father bought a lot of them for me,” she said. “We used to go to thrift stores looking for old records on Saturday afternoons.”
“I mentioned it twice before you heard a word I said.” Colin chuckled softly. “You’re on another planet tonight, aren’t you?”
“I am. I’m sorry.” Natalie racked her brain for a way to distract him. She certainly wasn’t going to tell him how she was feeling. Running her gaze over his sharply tailored suit, she decided to fall back on her earlier distraction tactic—seduction. She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. “Have I told you just how handsome you look tonight?”
He smiled, all traces of concern disappearing as he looked down at her adoringly. “Not in the last hour or so.”
“Well, you do,” she said, slipping her hands into his back pockets to grab two solid handfuls of him. “It’s enough to make a girl want to throw the bet so she can experience that amazing kiss you’ve promised.”
Colin shook his head. “There’s no throwing the bet. You either shed your humbug ways or you don’t. Either way, I’m not giving up until you’ve been converted. I don’t care how long it takes.”
“Even after I’ve won?” she asked.
“You bet. I think Christmas in Buenos Aires will be lovely, and I’ll see to it that it is.”
Natalie laughed. “You’re inviting yourself to my vacation prize? I don’t recall asking for company.”
“I don’t recall asking permission. I am paying for the trip, after all.”
Natalie twisted her lips in thought. She was both thrilled and terrified by the idea of Colin still being in her life a year from now. She was so confused about all of this, she didn’t know what to do. “So if I win the bet, will I ever get this infamous kiss? I don’t want to miss out on it.”
Colin narrowed his gaze at her. “How about this? How about I give you a little taste of how amazing it will be right now? That should be enough to tide you over until I’ve won.”
She certainly couldn’t turn down an offer like that, especially knowing that his talented mouth and hands would distract her from everything else she was worried about. “All right,” she agreed. “Lay one on me.”
Colin shook his head at her. “Before I do that, I think we’d better adjourn to the bedroom.”
“Why is that?” Natalie asked. “It’s just a kiss.”
“You say that, but this won’t be an ordinary kiss. You’ll be glad we waited until we’re in there, I promise.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t sure if he could deliver on the hype, but she was looking forward to finding out. Taking his hand, she led him up the stairs and down the hallway to her master bedroom.
Her bedroom had been what sold her on the townhouse. The master was spacious with large windows that let in the morning light. Even filled with her furniture, there was plenty of room to move around. “All right,” she said, standing beside the bed with her hands on her hips. “Let’s get a s
ampling of this infamous kiss of yours.”
Colin moved closer and Natalie couldn’t help but tense up. She didn’t know what to expect. This wasn’t even the kiss and she was nervous with anticipation.
“You look like I’m about to eat you alive,” he said with an amused smile.
“Sorry,” she said, trying to shake the tension out of her arms.
“That’s okay.” He stopped in front of her, just shy of touching. Instead of leaning in to kiss her, he turned her around and undid the zipper of her dress. He eased it off her shoulders, letting it pool to the floor.
“What are you doing?” she asked, curiously. What kind of kiss required her to be naked?
Leaning in, Colin growled in her ear, “I’m about to eat you alive.”
Natalie gasped at the harsh intensity of his words, even as a thrill of need ran through her body. Before she could respond, he unclasped her bra and pulled her panties to the floor. Completely naked, she turned around to complain about the unfairness, but found he was busily ridding himself of his clothing as well. In a few moments, it was all tossed aside and he pulled her close.
“When is the kissing going to start?” she asked.
“You ask too many questions. This isn’t a wedding you’re in charge of. There are no schedules, tablets and earpieces tonight. Go with it.”
“Yes, sir,” Natalie said with a sheepish smile. Admittedly, she had trouble letting go and not knowing every aspect of the plan. She didn’t think she had anything to worry about here, so she tried to turn off her brain and just let Colin take the lead. That was the whole point tonight, anyway.
His fingers delved into her hair as he leaned in for the kiss. Natalie braced herself for the earth-shattering impact, but at first at least, it was just a kiss. He coaxed her mouth open, letting his tongue slide along hers. His fingers massaged the nape of her neck as he tasted and nibbled at her.
Then she felt him start to pull away. His lips left hers, but technically, they never lost contact with her skin. He planted kisses along the line of her jaw, the hollow of her ear and down her throat. He crouched lower, nipping at her collarbone and placing a searing kiss between her breasts. He tasted each nipple, then continued down her soft belly until he was on his knees in front of her.
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