He got to his feet and stretched, bidding adios to his dream of hot sex and an early night. “On your feet, Prentiss. We’ve got a houseful of guests who—I’m willing to bet—would love to chow down on Christmas cookies while they watch Jimmy Stewart.”
Her head snapped up, her expression equal parts hope and uncertainty. “Do we have time?”
He opened one of the recipe books and thumbed to the back. “Hazel has a few ‘cheating’ recipes. Stuff she throws together in a hurry. These sugar cookies will do the trick. Add some red and green sprinkles, and the Denmans will think you’re Martha Stewart.”
* * *
An hour later, Hallie curled up on the sofa with Daniel’s arm tucked around her shoulders. The scent of freshly baked cookies filled the air, but the only remaining evidence of their existence was a smattering of sprinkles stuck to the empty plates sitting on the coffee table. On the TV screen, townspeople dumped baskets of money in George Bailey’s living room to save him from financial ruin.
All around Hallie and Daniel, the Denmans—Timothy included—sprawled in chairs and sofas and on the floor, enjoying the evening. Hallie stared pensively at the television as the classic movie wound to a close. George Bailey was a man who had everything that was important. . . a loving wife, sweet children, a boatload of friends. But when something went terribly wrong in his life, it took a dramatic experience to make him realize that his life was worth something.
Braving winter in Alaska wasn’t quite the same as having an angel send you into an “alternate ending” experience, but even so, this unexpected trip was a pretty drastic change from Hallie’s normal life. She had to admit that being here, especially with Daniel and the Denmans, was causing her to do some hard thinking.
Closing her eyes, she absorbed the moment. None of the people in this room were related to her by blood. But she had welcomed them, had provided a home away from home for them, so they could share the holidays with their son.
And then there was Daniel. His family was far away, but he seemed comfortable and happy here. He was everything a man should be. Honorable. Caring. Not to mention sexy as hell.
She stirred restlessly and felt him press a kiss to the top of her head. Was it really so simple? Could she start something new amidst the ashes of the life that had once seemed so complete?
What if Daniel changed his mind? What if his interest in her was fleeting? It would be foolish to base a decision on the romance of northern lights.
The credits rolled, and the grown-ups made a united push to get the kids upstairs to bed. In the resulting commotion, Hallie and Daniel picked up plates and straightened the room. They bade their guests good night. Daniel began turning off lights.
When Hallie finished loading the dishwasher, she turned to find Daniel staring at her. Her heart skipped two beats. “Are you headed to bed?”
He reached for her hand, smiling a crooked smile. “Not alone.”
What happened next was inevitable. He tugged her down the hallway toward her room, passing his on the way. Her suite was at the far back corner of the house. There would be no reason for any guests to wander this way. The hour was late. For once, privacy was virtually assured.
Daniel matter-of-factly locked the door behind them as they entered. The quick snick of the mechanism sounded abnormally loud to Hallie. She could feel her heart beating in her ears.
He faced her, no longer smiling. The planes and angles of his face seemed sharper, more defined. Nothing was left of the jovial Santa from earlier in the week. This man looked predatory . . . determined. He slid his hands into her hair, cupped her head, and ravaged her mouth in a hungry, desperate kiss. Her knees lost their starch. She leaned into him, matching him kiss for kiss.
Daniel muttered as he teased the shell of her ear with his tongue, “I had a hard time keeping you out of my head when I was supposed to be working. You’ve bewitched me, Hallie Prentiss.”
“The house seemed empty without you.” She shivered as she made the confession. It was true. This exile in Alaska wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun without Daniel.
He chuckled. “I doubt that.” He removed her clothes with stunning speed and helped her do the same to his. She let him deal with the condom.
When he was done, he lifted her up and urged her legs around his waist. “Are you getting used to the cold in Alaska?” he asked hoarsely.
She sucked in a sharp breath, feeling him fill her completely from this intriguing angle. “I’m never cold when you’re here, Daniel,” she whispered. She tightened her arms around his neck.
His arms rippled with muscle. He made her feel dainty and sexy, even though she was far from petite.
He flexed his hips, causing them both to gasp. “You’re perfect, Hallie. In every way.”
Her throat tightened. She wanted so badly to believe him. Was Daniel her own personal Christmas miracle? Or was he a bright, shiny toy that would lose its sparkle in the light of day?
He pressed her bottom against the door and pumped with firm steady strokes. She buried her face in his neck and held on, not sure if the sensation of vulnerability was exciting or disturbing. She had lost so much this year. She didn’t want to set herself up for more pain. . . more disappointment.
But with Daniel making love to her as if she were the only woman in the world who mattered, her heart beat an extra stroke or two in hopes that this crazy, unexpected relationship was not as ephemeral as the aurora borealis. She needed desperately to know that some things lasted.
His fingers dug into the yielding flesh of her butt. He drove into her relentlessly. Wild, sharp bursts of pleasure rolled through her pelvis and into her chest, stealing her ability to speak. Their bodies were slick with sweat. His breathing was labored. Hers had long since deteriorated into oxygen-starved whimpers.
He was hot and hard, all over. She was boneless in his embrace, totally dependent upon his strength. Just when she thought she would die if she didn’t come, he backed away from the door, carried her toward the bed, and dropped her on her back. “Roll over,” he commanded hoarsely. “On your hands and knees.”
She obeyed mindlessly and felt him fill her in this new position. His thighs were warm behind her legs.
With one hand, he reached between her legs and found the spot that begged for attention. His touch was like a match to tinder. Hallie cried out, hitting the peak hard and fast.
But Daniel wasn’t done with her yet.
He gave her barely a second to recover before rearranging their damp, heated bodies and sliding inside her again. This time, his mighty control unraveled rapidly. His thrusts were jerky, unrestrained. He took her wildly and shook all over as he came. He groaned loudly in her ear and slumped on top of her.
Daniel’s weight was not unpleasant. She liked it, in fact. In bed with him she felt secure. She believed, in the intimacy of their embrace, that nothing bad could happen. Sex with Daniel was perfect and comfortable. Right up until the moment he nuzzled her neck and whispered in her ear, his words barely audible, “I think I’m falling in love with you, Hallie.”
Six
The days on the calendar tumbled by rapidly, like reindeer scrambling across the sky to meet their December 25 deadline. Hallie cooked, shopped, cleaned, and then started the cycle all over again.
The Denmans soon tired of eating out. Since they were the B&B’s only guests, Robbie cajoled Hallie into letting them take over the kitchen for lunches and dinners. Soon the smells of lasagna, pork roast, spaghetti, and fried chicken filled the air.
The refrigerator overflowed with all sorts of goodies. When Robbie bought a dozen Christmas tins and began filling them with cookies of every size and shape, Hallie wondered if her waistline would ever recover.
Hallie and Daniel remained in a holding pattern, no pun intended. The evening he mentioned love and she pointedly didn’t respond, things between them became strained. But they still made love every night, sometimes in his bed, sometimes in hers.
It stunned her
that he had learned her body so quickly. He could bring her to a gasping, desperate peak in bare moments, or he could drag out the anticipation of release with long, slow, achingly wonderful lovemaking that made her melt in his arms.
She’d stopped telling herself that she wasn’t crazy about him. Daniel was the man she had been looking for all her life . . . at least when she wasn’t too busy trying to climb the corporate ladder. But he’d shown up at the wrong place, the wrong time.
Her life was in chaos, the future murky and uncertain. She had to decide where to go next. She had to rewrite her five-year life plan.
One morning, when the house was amazingly empty and quiet, Hallie collapsed on the sofa and stared balefully at the two-foot-tall ceramic Santa on the coffee table. His arms were stretched over his head supporting a candy dish filled with peppermints. His red-suit-clad belly was appropriately rotund, and his black, painted eyes sparkled with mischief.
Hallie propped her ankles near him and leaned back, feeling the pleasant ache of well-used muscles. She had just finished scrubbing bathrooms and making beds. In the process she realized, much to her surprise, that she actually enjoyed the hands-on labor.
At the hotel in Seattle, her job had been more managerial—arbitrating disputes, juggling crises. But here at the Dancing Elves B&B, she was the whole staff . . . from maintenance to housekeeping to concierge and everything in between.
Her tenure was almost over. Tomorrow night was Christmas Eve. Robbie and Hallie had coordinated plans for a big evening meal. Timothy would be in attendance, but unfortunately Daniel was slated to work until nine.
A tight knot of panic crowded Hallie’s chest. Nothing had been resolved between her and Daniel. She knew he was still waiting for some concrete sign that she returned his feelings. But she was too damned scared to admit the truth.
The fifteen Denmans were booked on a flight for eleven a.m. Christmas morning. Timothy had to work on the holiday, so all the tearful hugs would happen late on the twenty-fourth.
Hallie was due to fly out at two p.m. on the twenty-fifth. She planned to be up early on Christmas morning and spend the time after the Denmans departed making sure everything was spotless and well organized for Hazel and Roy’s return.
Her head was achy and heavy with confusion. She glared at Santa, resenting his unrelenting cheer. She’d grown up knowing she was always on Santa’s “nice” list. The girl who never made waves. The one who always toed the line and believed in hard work and dedication.
Where had it gotten her?
She poked Santa’s belly with her big toe. Of course, there was always another way to look at it. Maybe she was still on the “nice” list and Daniel was her present. “Is that it?” she asked, not expecting an answer. “Is Daniel my compensation for being unemployed?”
Silence echoed in the room. She grimaced, knowing that her situation was outside Santa’s jurisdiction. Losing her job was the least of it, really. Nothing could compare to losing her mom. The Prentiss family wasn’t like the Denmans.
They didn’t have people to spare. Why did it have to be Hallie’s mother?
No answers from the jolly man. Big life questions were not his territory.
She glared at him anyway, no longer seeing his image, but instead talking aloud, searching for answers.
“And if I had to lose my mom, why did I have to lose my job, too? That’s a lot to handle in one year.”
Old St. Nick smiled genially. Was that a note of disappointment she saw behind the painted smile? Was there some big lesson Hallie was supposed to learn?
The fictional George Bailey had been ready to commit suicide before he’d been rescued from himself.
He’d been full of the same self-pity Hallie had wallowed in for the last month. Shame twisted in her stomach. What did she really have to complain about? People died. All the time. It was the price of living. And at least she’d had a job to lose.
She was young and strong and healthy—there would be other jobs. In the meantime, she was blessed with friends. Friends like Julie, who had arranged this “working” vacation in Alaska. And Robbie, who could have bitched about Hallie’s incompetence in the kitchen, but instead had pitched in with grace and enthusiasm.
And Daniel. She couldn’t forget Daniel. Daniel, who loved handing out presents at an elementary school. Daniel, who took pride in the important job he was doing. Daniel, who had treated her like a princess since the first day she set foot in the Land of the Midnight Sun.
She sat up suddenly. Father Christmas nodded his approval. Hallie shook her head to clear it. All the sleepless nights in Daniel’s bed were catching up with her. Was she really carrying on a conversation with a portly figurine?
Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, her heart feeling lighter than it had in months. “Okay, Santa. I get the message. I’m a lucky woman. And I’m not ready for tomorrow. Not by a long shot.”
She jumped to her feet and grabbed her coat and keys. Soon she was on the road headed toward Fairbanks to do some shopping. She’d already decided what to give her guests at the inn. A photography shop in town carried beautiful Alaska photo albums. Hallie bought four . . . one for each of the individual Denman families.
With no new job in sight, it made sense to guard her savings account. But Christmas was about love and generosity and giving. The joy the Denmans had shared with her couldn’t be measured in dollars and cents. Though it wasn’t strictly necessary, she purchased inexpensive toys for all the little kids and iTunes gift cards for the older ones. For Timothy, she selected a restaurant gift certificate. Playing Santa was exhilarating and fun.
That left only Daniel. What did you get a man you met two weeks ago? She didn’t even know what his hobbies were. Between his job and the inn and the time the two of them had spent in bed, there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other. Then it dawned on her.
With her backseat loaded with packages, including two rolls of Christmas paper and tape and bows—and with the precious daylight waning rapidly—she headed for home. She had a lot of wrapping to do.
* * *
Daniel sat at his desk late on Christmas Eve and doodled a dancing elf on the edge of his notepad. The post was quiet tonight, everyone tucked in for the holiday. He wanted badly to be at the inn with Hallie and all the Denmans, but as a single man, he couldn’t deprive a young dad of the chance to tuck his kids in bed on the most important night of the year.
His second-in-command had a two-year-old, so when the little boy was asleep, the other man was going to relieve Daniel. One of the other single men had offered to cover the holiday tomorrow.
Daniel brooded as the hours passed slowly. Hallie was going to fly home tomorrow, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. He had a gut feeling that if he didn’t get her to admit her feelings before she left, he’d never see her again.
And it hurt. He was convinced she loved him. At least a little. But she was so damned focused on figuring out the future, she wasn’t able to see the gift that life had dropped in their laps.
He and Hallie were made for each other. He knew it. And he had one last shot this evening at convincing her.
They were a perfect match in bed. Despite the string of nights they had spent together, his body ached for her all over again. She was hot as hell between the sheets. For the first time in his life, he could imagine waking up to the same face year after year. The thought was both comforting and exciting.
Hallie was his, damn it.
He glared at the clock as it ticked away the final precious hours of Hallie’s stay in Alaska. What was going on at the inn? Was Hallie in a good mood? Did she miss him?
Glumly, he pulled up a required report on the computer and started filling in statistics. He was stuck for the moment. Might as well get some work done.
* * *
Hallie stared at the mound of presents under the tree and grinned. Dinner was now nothing more than a fond memory. They had all devoured enough calories in one sitting to
make a grizzly bear comatose. Even though there was a huge plate tucked away in the refrigerator for Daniel, she wished he had been there to be part of the fun.
The kids were riding a sugar high. The kitchen was a shambles. Hallie had planned to clean everything up while the Denmans had their family time around the tree, but surprisingly, the four fathers, plus Timothy, had declared the kitchen a “no female” zone and were now elbow deep in dishwater and dirty pots and pans.
Robbie and the other three moms were going through one last checklist to make sure all the presents were in place. They’d had to do some creative shopping to guarantee nothing was too big to ship home, but even so, Hallie was pretty sure there were going to be some overage charges on heavy suitcases. Hallie was preparing to slip down the hall to go to her room when Robbie grabbed her arm.
The older woman grinned. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Hallie shrugged, feeling awkward. “This is family time. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Bull crap. You’re not running out on this circus, honey. You’re an honorary Denman. We all voted.”
Robbie was kind enough to ignore the two tears that wet Hallie’s cheeks.
Hallie cleared her throat. “Thank you for including me, Robbie.”
Timothy was tapped to play Santa. There was a strict system in place for the distribution of gifts. The children each received one present first to take the edge off their excitement. Then the women opened a package.
Hallie was taken aback when a large, beautifully wrapped box was placed in her lap. Everyone paused in the mad frenzy of paper ripping, and suddenly all eyes were focused on Hallie. She felt herself blush. “What’s this?”
Robbie, standing behind the sofa, brushed her hand over Hallie’s head in a maternal caress. “All four families went in together to get you something special. You’ve made these two weeks really wonderful, Hallie. You have an extraordinary gift for hospitality. And we all really appreciate what you’ve done for us.”
Timothy grinned, his face looking more like a kid’s than an adult’s at the moment. “Open it, Hallie.”
By Firelight Page 15