A Wrong Bed Christmas: IgnitedWhere There's Smoke

by Kimberly Van Meter

  “It’s just me and Alexis this Christmas. Mom and Dad went to Scotland for the holiday. That was their big dream—to visit my father’s family.”

  “Good for them,” Emma said, capturing her tongue between her teeth. She scrutinized the 982 remaining pieces. “I’m going to be honest, this makes me glad I have Netflix.”

  Erik chuckled, trying like hell to keep her from seeing just how much he was attracted to her. After all, she’d never given him cause to think she was interested in him in any other way than being Alexis’s brother. “Yeah, peace and quiet sounds nice until there’s no TV or Wi-Fi.”

  For the next few minutes while they completed the outline of the puzzle, they chatted about their favorite movies, TV series and the upcoming NFL playoffs. It amazed him that smarty-pants Emma loved the Broncos so much. All the while, he kept sneaking peeks at the way the firelight danced on her hair, at the way her plump lips teased him, at the way her breasts rose and fell when she laughed.

  After an hour, they had a fourth of the puzzle completed.

  “I need a break,” Emma said, stretching her arms overhead and yawning.

  “It’s only seven thirty,” he said after looking at his watch. Because that was safer than staring at the swell of her breasts jutting out as she arched back.

  Damn.

  He needed a cold shower.

  Instead, he rose and walked over to the window, pulling back the dusty curtains. “Man, it’s really coming down out there.”

  And then she was behind him, looking over his shoulder. “Thank goodness we found this place. It might not be the Ritz, but at least we won’t die.”

  “There’s that,” he said, turning back toward the room. She didn’t move and only a foot stood between them. The air grew heavy with something he’d denied up one side of the room and down the other...but wasn’t going away.

  Emma raised her beautiful green eyes, her gaze meeting his.

  For a moment he merely watched her. At the way her breathing increased, at those sweet, sweet lips. They were made for kissing and other things he couldn’t allow himself to dwell on. When she licked them, it was nearly his undoing.

  Almost family be damned.

  A faint pinking of her cheeks gave her away. She stepped back. “Want another cookie?”

  Inhaling quickly, he stepped around her. “Sure. I always liked dessert before dinner. Um, except I guess we’re not having dinner.”

  4

  WANT ANOTHER COOKIE?

  Jesus, who said something like that to keep a guy from kissing her?

  Because, if Emma were a betting woman, she’d lay a cool hundred down that Erik had almost kissed her.

  And she’d allowed her cold feet to ruin it.

  Not her literal cold feet, which weren’t too bad now that the fire had warmed the room. But the cold feet sticking out from behind the flimsy curtain of propriety she’d strung across to hide her desire for the man she’d always wanted to take a bite of.

  And why not?

  What was the issue with having a fun little one-night stand?

  After all, they were adults. Healthy, somewhat-horny adults with desires, needs and nothing to do but put together an old warped puzzle of a sperm whale. Not to mention Alexis never had to find out that she and Erik had entertained themselves by giving the old iron bed some action.

  What Alexis didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

  “You want a cookie, too?” Erik asked, jarring her from her internal argument over should she seduce him or shouldn’t she. He wagged a cookie at her.

  “No, thanks.”

  He took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. “You know, with the snow coming down as hard as it is, we might be stranded for longer than one night.”

  The desire she’d been flirting with took a backseat at the thought of them being in danger. They didn’t have anything more than half a bottle of wine, a dozen cookies and two protein bars. “And my parents won’t be worried because they didn’t know I was coming. If Alexis thinks I’m home safely and my parents don’t know I’m missing, the only shot we have is someone will miss you.”

  “But not until tomorrow. Alexis will assume I stayed the night because of the storm.”

  “Well, we can hope that the storm will be over tomorrow and we can head back to the road to look for help. Someone will be along at some point.”

  “Right,” he said, grabbing another log and placing it carefully onto the blaze. The fire had warmed the room nicely, but because the wood was so dry, it burned fast. “Last one for tonight. We can’t go to sleep with the fire roaring.”

  Unwittingly, she darted a glance to the bed she’d put sheets on. How in the hell were they going to make it through the night without things getting awkward?

  He followed her gaze. “Don’t worry. I can sleep here in the chair.”

  “But you’ll freeze,” she said.

  “Let’s not worry about that now. Want to work some more on the puzzle?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “My eyes hurt from staring at the pieces in the low light.” She walked back to the table and picked up the wine bottle and poured herself another glass. Then she sank back into the chair, tucking the blanket around her. “Tell me about being a firefighter.”

  “What’s there to say? It’s a job.”

  Emma tilted her head. “Not to you.”

  Erik’s lips twitched. “Yeah, I love what I do. Nothing’s better than pitting yourself against nature and winning.”

  “Never thought about it like that. Must be a high.”

  “To an extent, but there are plenty of boring days when we sit around the firehouse with nothing to do. It’s feast or famine for an adrenaline junkie like me.” He popped up, eyeing the trunk serving as a bedside table for a useless lamp.

  “What?”

  “Did you check that trunk?”

  Emma shook her head. “Guess I didn’t think about it.”

  Erik rose and walked over, setting the old lamp on the floor. One good kick to the flimsy lock and he had it unlatched. He opened the lid.

  “Score,” he said, lifting up a bottle of golden amber. “Tequila.”

  Emma hopped up and padded over to the treasure trove Erik had unearthed.

  “Here’s a pack of playing cards and poker chips. And—” he lifted up a box “—some condoms.”

  Emma took them from his hand. “So tequila and condoms. What did the former owners use this place for anyway?”

  Erik lifted out a stack of magazines. They were an assortment of Penthouse, Juggs and Hustler. “I’m thinking whoever they are, they had some teenage sons.”

  “Well, thank goodness,” Emma said, taking the tequila and the pack of cards. “We have a drinking alternative.”

  “What? You don’t want the 1999 July issue of Juggs, too?” Erik cracked, dumping the magazines back in the trunk. “There’s also some chewing tobacco, a pack of smokes and a box of peanut butter crackers. They expired in 2006 but I’m seriously thinking about eating some.”

  “They’d go great with the wine,” Emma joked, setting the half bottle of tequila on the table along with the playing cards. “Or tequila.”

  Erik joined her, eyeing the barely put-together puzzle. “You want to adios Moby Dick?”

  “If we do, we can play cards.”

  “Strip poker?” Erik asked, his eyes glinting naughtily.

  This was her chance to flirt back, to let him know she wasn’t opposed to dropping her clothes and making the best of a bad situation.

  But did she want to go there with him? Sure, she’d wanted him only forever and a day, but if they got nasty, there was no undoing it. They’d have that between them forever. And that might get rough since both Emma and Alexis had moved within thirty miles of each other. More
than likely she’d not go another seven years without seeing Erik.

  “Well, if I had known we were going to play that, I wouldn’t have drunk so much wine. I need my wits about me or I’ll end up as naked as the day I was born.”

  “More wine?” he asked.

  “You’re a naughty man, aren’t you?” she teased.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Erik opened the warped puzzle box and slid the pieces inside, clearing the table. Then he removed the cards from the box and started shuffling them expertly. “And I will give you this one warning. While you’re talking about Milton and Chaucer, I’m playing Mexican Sweat with the fellows at the firehouse. So if we go the strip route, you will be naked.”

  His blue eyes sparkled and he looked even more insanely attractive than normal. He’d skipped shaving that morning and now his face looked gruff and sexy. “You know I can’t resist a challenge.”

  “My gain then because I’m betting you look spectacular naked.”

  Emma smiled. “Maybe you’ll get to find out.” She opened the tequila, not because she needed liquid courage at the moment. Okay, maybe she did a little. She wasn’t like his sister who bought men drinks when they were at bars and dressed in tight dresses that showed off her curves. Emma had always been the more cautious of the two friends, but one thing she knew, she could hang with any man in the bedroom. “Now, what are we playing?”

  Erik rattled off some game she’d never played, going over the rules. Then they played a practice hand that he easily won.

  “Give me another practice round...and another shot. Then we play for real.” Emma said, feeling the warmth of the Jose Cuervo all the way down to her toes. Her tongue felt a bit thicker, her thighs tingly.

  “You sure you want to do this?” he asked.

  Something told her this wasn’t just about the game. He knew what tequila, strip poker and a box of condoms could get them. He was giving her a way out, as only a guy like Erik could do.

  Emma shrugged. “It’s nearly a blizzard out there and we have to stay warm someway.”

  “That’s usually not by taking your clothes off.”

  “Who said I’m taking my clothes off anyway,” Emma said, giving him her best card-shark grin. “Deal me in, fireman.”

  * * *

  AN HOUR LATER, Erik was down to his Calvin Kleins.

  Emma, however, had only lost her pants. Even the fluffy wool socks stayed on her feet. And damn if she didn’t look sexy in that sweater and fluffy socks.

  “How did this happen?” he asked, truly baffled. He was good at poker. Really good. “You must be the luckiest woman I’ve ever met.”

  “Or really good at five-card draw,” she said as she shuffled the cards and eyed his naked chest. “And from where I’m sitting, the view is very nice.”

  “Oh, now the cardsharp gets flirty,” he said, lifting the tequila and taking a swig.

  “Hey, I sang a burlesque tune when you took off your pants,” she said.

  And she had. Her green eyes had sparkled like emeralds in the light of the fire as she ba-ba-ba-da-dummed him as he unbuttoned his Levi’s and shimmied out of them.

  “I want you to know my feet are freezing,” he said.

  “Just one more hand,” she teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

  He nodded, hoping like hell he could keep his boxers on. Already he’d had an embarrassing thickening of his cock when she tugged off her leggings and again when she’d licked her lips. He felt like one of the boys who’d no doubt flipped through those girlie magazines. Horny as hell for Miss Emma Rose.

  He dealt the hand. Emma rearranged the cards in her hand several times, frowning and making a moue with her pretty lips. “Hmm, I’m going to give these two and get two more.”

  He slid two cards from the deck and handed them to Emma then discarded three from his hand and took three new cards for himself.

  He looked at his hand and nearly shouted hallelujah. A flush. “You in or out?”

  Emma took five poker chips from the stack in front of her. “In.”

  Was she bluffing? No way could she beat him this time. That sweater was coming off. Or the socks. Please let it be the sweater. Please.

  “You?” she asked.

  He picked up ten chips, one that had the eye of the whale. “I’m in.”

  “Show me what you got,” Emma said.

  Erik laid down his cards, spreading them with flourish. “Boo-yah!”

  “Oh, wow, that’s really good,” she said, her eyes widening.

  “Yeah, so don’t cry when you take off that pretty little top of yours.”

  Emma spread her cards. “But I think I’ll keep it on.”

  She had a fucking straight flush.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No freaking way.”

  Emma grinned. “Hey, you dealt me those cards, and now I will take my prize. Off with the boxers.”

  Erik stood. “Are you cheating?”

  “Absolutely not. I’m lucky, I suppose, so give me my prize, big boy,” Emma said, clapping her hands like an empress.

  He had to wonder if this was really Emma or Jose Cuervo talking because she was so, so, so different from the put-together, reserved woman he’d observed the day before. It wasn’t that she came across as the shy-virgin type...just not a woman who would clap her hands and order him to remove his drawers.

  “Are you sure?” he said, hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his boxers.

  Emma only hesitated slightly before nodding. “Yeah, I want those cute little hearts to hit the floor.”

  Yeah, he had on the heart boxers his ex-girlfriend had given him a few years back. Not the most manly of underpants, but they were comfy.

  “Okay,” he said, jerking the waistband down.

  Right at the moment he was about to clear his junk, the door to the cabin flew open.

  Emma screeched as the door slammed into the wall, making the cabin shudder. A gust of wind roared in extinguishing the candles and blowing the fire wildly, making embers and ash fly out of the grate.

  “Shit,” Erik yelled, not only because the wind was icy as shit, but also because embers from the fireplace scattered across the floor. “Get the door, Em!”

  He lunged toward the fireplace, grabbing the puzzle box lid and slapping at the glowing embers that had scattered across the wooden floor.

  “Holy crap,” Emma said, pushing against the door, finally getting it closed. The busted lock had failed against the storm. Snow had spilled into the doorway. “I can’t get it to stay.”

  Smacking the last of the burning embers, he stood and grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and wedged it underneath the doorknob, sealing the door and preventing it from blowing open again. “Thank goodness it opens inward. This should not only keep the storm from scaring the shit out of us again, but also slow down the chain-saw murderer who could show up while we’re sleeping.”

  “Oh, thanks for making me feel safer,” Emma joked, slumping against the door. “And now my poor wool socks are wet and I missed my reward for winning at poker. Did you plan that?”

  Erik laughed. “Yeah, I have secret powers.”

  “Exactly what I was trying to find out with the removal of your undies.” She sighed, a twinkle in her eyes.

  “I can still shuck them,” he said.

  She shook her head, making her honey waves tumble seductively. Or maybe it just seemed seductive because neither one of them was wearing pants.

  “Nothing like a windchill of five below and a pair of cold wet socks to sober a girl up. Keep your hearts on, big boy,” she said, moving past him, snapping the band of his underwear.

  And damn, if that wasn’t the sexiest thing a woman had done to him in a long time.

  So confident, so breezy...and it h
ad nothing to do with the wind that had just blown through.

  “You want to play some blackjack or something?” he asked, moving back to the table where Emma perched on the arm of the tweed chair, tugging off her socks. “Hey, if I knew that could get you out of your socks, I would have summoned the wind earlier.”

  She smiled and said, “So, do I get some burlesque music?”

  “Only if you do it sexy,” he joked as he tugged on his shirt and jeans. He found one of his socks on the back of the chair, the other near the fireplace.

  “I’m not sure you can pull polka-dot fuzzy socks off in a sexy manner,” she said.

  “So blackjack?”

  “Actually, I’m tired,” she said, eyeing her suitcase. “I brought some flannel pajamas and extra socks. Just going to slip into the bathroom and put them on. And brush my teeth.”

  “Oh, sure.” He didn’t have anything to change into. Not even any deodorant to freshen up with or a toothbrush.

  “Uh, I have an extra toothbrush you can use if you want. I always carry an extra in my toiletry bag. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything for you to sleep in. Unless you like lacy lingerie.”

  “You have that with you?” he asked, his mind immediately flipping to the image of Emma in pink silk and lace. A most delicious fantasy.

  “No. That was a joke, silly.” Emma grabbed her suitcase and rolled it behind her to the tiny bathroom.

  Erik dashed the kinky vision from his mind. He had to if he was going to survive the night with her without giving in to something that probably wasn’t a good idea. After all, he couldn’t seduce his sister’s BFF, could he? Of course, after their game of strip poker, he wasn’t so sure he’d be the one doing the seducing. Miss Emma Rose held her own. Still, where would they go from there? Emma wasn’t the kind of girl a guy had a one-night stand with. Yet maybe it didn’t have to be a one-night thing, maybe...

  He looked up to find her staring at him with a quizzical expression. “Uh, you go ahead and get ready. I’ll put another log on to give us some heat. That gust of wind made it too cold in here.”