In Mistletoe

by Tammy L. Bailey

  Unwilling to break her heart further over the situation, Grace waved away Maggie’s offer and headed outside. She expected the cold wind and a few flurries whirling about her. She even expected someone she’d never met to raise their hand and send a cordial wave. What she didn’t expect, however, was to find Ayden leaned against his truck, arms crossed and his face cast in troublesome shadows and narrow lines.

  He pulled the phone from his ear and straightened to his full height. “We need to talk,” he said in a low and rocky tone.

  Grace turned back toward Hawthorne’s, finding the front window decorated with Maggie and Wilhelmina’s encouraging faces. Grace sighed and closed her eyes for a moment, wondering how she’d talked herself into Ayden’s life in the first place. Not knowing how to say no was her answer.

  Relenting, she walked toward him and stopped. Braver than she felt, she lifted her chin and disclosed her terms. “All right, but only if you promise to take me where I need to go, afterwards.”

  “No deal,” came his quick response, his expression stiff, his gaze never leaving her face.

  “Then, I’ll walk.” She stepped away only to have him gently grasp her arm and haul her back in front of him.

  “The hell you are. It’s more than five miles to the train station, and you don’t even have a decent coat. Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you braved the elements?”

  She drew back, lifting a finger to his chest. “Yeah, you let a tree fall on top of me.” It wasn’t the complete truth, but she knew when she was losing an argument.

  His rigid form drew closer until she had to crane her neck to look at him. Oh, he was a beautiful man. “Are we going to talk or not, Grace?”

  She scoffed at him. “Not. I think we’ve said all we need to say to one another.”

  A muscle twitched in his jaw, and she knew she’d pushed him a little too far. “You know, I’m not averse to picking you up and putting you into the truck myself.”

  Afraid he might carry through with his threat, she pressed her palms into his chest. “What, in front of all these people who think you walk on water? You wouldn’t dare.”

  He sent her a breathtaking grin. “I would dare, and I would love every second of holding you while I do it.”

  Grace’s pulse jumped as she backed up an inch. Oh, she should have known: never dare a gambling man. “I swear, Ayden, if my feet leave this ground, I will disclose the entire agreement between us at the top of my lungs.”

  He paused and canted his head, cocking one eyebrow above his dark blue eyes. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no one will believe I had to blackmail a woman into being my girlfriend.”

  Frustration pulled Grace’s hands into small fists; she wanted so badly to pummel them hard against his chest.

  “As well,” he said. “It will be a little hard to confess anything, believable or not, when I’m kissing you thoroughly enough to render you speechless.”

  Grace swallowed hard, torn between wanting him to follow through with his threat and doing what she set out to do. When she realized she had nowhere to go, she dropped her shoulders and huffed out a puff of cold air. “Damn you, McCabe.”

  He lifted his hand to touch her chapped cheek. “Do you concede?” His eyebrows rose above his azure gaze.

  She stared up at him, his vaporous breath, like hers, stirring the charged air between them. Inadvertently, she glanced back at the window to watch Maggie and her cohort send them a cheerful wave.

  Grace straightened in Ayden’s direction, dejected and afraid. “I tried to tell your men not to go in there. I tried—”

  He surprised her when he lifted his other hand to cup her face and tilt it up toward him. “I know. I was a complete ass.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, astonished he admitted to such a thing. “And—”

  “Grace, I can’t promise I won’t say or do something totally idiotic tomorrow, or five minutes from now, but know that I have never run like a madman all over this damn town in order to apologize for it. You didn’t deserve what I said, not at all.”

  Grace smashed her lips together to keep from smiling. When he was sincere, his slight Irish accent became more prominent. “You know, you really should have your own line of greeting cards.”

  He smirked at her, warm and endearing. “Do you forgive me?”

  She wanted to say no. His words had shaken her world and flipped it upside down. “Can I think about it?” Grace understood there was nothing else to say about what happened between them. He’d apologized in his own way and demonstrated how he wanted her to stay, at least until they’d used each other for their own gain. At this moment, her world felt balanced and full. Whether it would stay that way, she didn’t know.

  “Is your suitcase in Maggie’s car?”

  She nodded, and he left her to go retrieve it. Inside the cab, he gave her a play-by-play of what had happened during the bidding process and told her that he’d heard from Fitzy regarding Danielle.

  “He wasn’t able to trace her call, but he has a hunch that she knows someone here who’s keeping her whereabouts a secret.”

  Grace thought for a long time before giving him an answer. “I know all Danielle’s friends. They’re either from California or Arizona.”

  “Then is it possible you might have a mutual friend from here, or who’s lived here?”

  Grace opened her mouth to tell him no when she froze and just sat there.

  “Grace?”

  She shook out of her trance and turned to Ayden. “Betsy. We’ve been friends for a long time, and she did go to school in Seattle. That’s why I like the Hawks.”

  Rattled by what they may or may not have discovered, Grace closed her eyes and let her head fall back. She thought about her friend, and how she may or may not be involved with Danielle’s voluntary disappearance. Grace also thought of how she and Ayden had come close to crossing a treacherous boundary in their relationship. However, she didn’t know how far they were willing to go to explore it. She understood five months, much less five days with a man like Ayden McCabe, didn’t change his staunch perspective on anything, especially love.

  “Grace?”

  She jumped when he said her name and angled her head to find him standing at her door, concern pulled across his handsome features. She agreed with a heavy sigh and let him guide her into the house, a firm hand pressed at her lower back.

  “I’m going to put your suitcase in my room, but I thought we might want to”—he paused to take a deep breath in and out—“prepare for Maggie’s dinner tonight.”

  Whether he meant it in an intimate way or not, she pointed to the French doors, leading into the living room. “I’ll meet you in there.”

  He gave her a quick nod before leaving her to shrug out of her thin coat. Braver than she felt, she ambled into the cozy living space and settled into the corner of the sectional. As she waited, she grabbed the navy blue afghan and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “That blanket looks good on you.”

  She jerked her head to the doorway surprised she hadn’t heard his assured approach in the hall. She wrapped it tighter and smoothed her hands over the soft material. “It’s so lovely.”

  He stepped further inside the room. Although it was late afternoon, the room was dark with the shades closed and the curtains pulled together.

  “I’ll make a fire,” he said and disappeared before she could convince him they didn’t need one. As he stacked and lit the wood, Grace sat back and memorized everything about him. When he set his mind to do something, he did so with focus and poise. Nothing distracted him. No one distracted him.

  Despite having to leave Mistletoe soon, she wanted to allow herself to fall helplessly and tragically in love with him. This meant, however, giving up the notion of him falling helplessly in love with her. For once, however, she wanted to do something irrational. Always the responsible parent, she wanted to know the exhilaration of not having her feet stuck firmly in the ground.


  As the glow from the fireplace flickered over his intense and wondrous features, she brought a deep breath in and let it out. She would let him teach her how to touch and feel. Whether she lost her heart forever in the process, well, that was another matter.

  After a few minutes, he joined her on the couch, rotating so his knee was propped up and almost touching her outer thigh. He rested his chin on his fist, his gaze straight on her.

  “So, what did you have in mind?” she asked.

  Chapter Twenty

  Ayden sent Grace a wolfish grin, charging her nerves.

  “Okay…why don’t we start off with a conversation and go from there,” she volunteered. She believed if he kissed her again, they’d never get around to figuring out where they met and why…at least where Maggie was concerned.

  “That’s safe enough, I suppose.”

  “Good.” She nodded. “First question: Where did we meet?”

  He sent her a quizzical glance. “O’Shannon’s?”

  Grace lifted her shoulders in a shrug, but he’d already changed his mind. “No,” he said, glancing down to take her hand in his. “Maggie’s too much of a romantic to believe I picked you up in a local bar.”

  Grace twisted around several different scenarios before offering up the only one that made sense between them. “Maybe…you saw me broken down on the road somewhere, and being the perfect gentleman that you are, on most occasions, you stopped to help.”

  One side of his mouth lifted. “Go on.”

  “Um,” she said, trying to keep fantasy and reality separate. “We met about six months ago, and had a whirlwind romance for the weekend. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses with the secret intent of never seeing each other again.”

  “That sounds like me,” he interrupted.

  “Shhh!” she scolded and returned to her story. “We went our separate ways, only you couldn’t stop thinking about me. Every night you’d lie in bed remembering how well I…kissed. So, you wrote me this long sappy email with an invitation to come visit.”

  “I don’t write long sappy emails. Hell, I don’t write short sappy emails. Besides, men don’t write down their thoughts any more, it’s too incriminating.”

  She ignored him. “It was so like Jane Austen’s Persuasion. You told me how much you missed me and how you couldn’t go another day without seeing my pretty face.” She smiled and batted her eyes at him. “Which reminds me, my car wouldn’t make the trip—back in the shop, you know—so I had to find an alternative mode of transportation.”

  Grace paused, suddenly realizing there was one person who could disprove their entire relationship.

  “What’s the matter?” Ayden touched his fingertips to her cheek.

  “How well does Maggie know Jolene?”

  Ayden shrugged. “Like a second mother, I guess. Why?”

  Grace chewed on her lower lip before answering. “Because that day she drove me to O’Shannon’s, she knew we’d never met, and yet the conversation about us being strangers has never come up between her and Maggie. Why do you think that is?”

  Ayden straightened away from Grace and rested with his elbows on his knees. “Unless Maggie knows the truth and has chosen to remain oblivious.”

  Grace had to force her mouth to stay closed. She had a feeling, if what Ayden said was true, Maggie was waiting for them to fall in love for real. Grace had to wonder how many hearts were destined to break at the end of their agreement.

  She clicked her tongue. “There sure are a lot of people who either want to marry you or see you get married, Ayden McCabe.”

  He didn’t even blink before offering her the proclamation. “Then let’s give them what they want.”

  Grace stared at Ayden, unsure if she’d heard him right. “What?”

  He stood and paced between the coffee table and the fireplace. The fire danced across his meditative features, frightening her a little. “Ayden?”

  He met her with three hurried strides, reaching down to grasp her upper arms in order to lift her up to face him. “We’ll get married.”

  All the blood rushed from Grace’s face, only to have it come gushing back as soon as she understood the meaning behind what he said. “Are you insane?”

  He smirked, still holding her six inches away. “Don’t worry. It won’t be real.”

  Grace’s heart plummeted clear to her knees. What was it with Ayden McCabe and his unemotional and closed existence? She dropped her chin to her chest and stepped away. She’d already started to fall in love with him. She had no doubt, walking down an aisle strewn with fake roses and false intentions might finally drive her off the cliff she’d been desperately clinging to most of her life.

  “I can’t marry you, pretend or otherwise.” She rotated and stood with her back toward him.

  For a long moment, she heard nothing but the popping of the fire and the rampant beating of her own heart.

  “Is it because of Rick?”

  The vehement way Ayden said Rick’s name forced Grace to swing around, her fists thrust toward the floor.

  “No, Ayden, it’s because a marriage is sacred and forever and should not be used to fool people into believing something that…isn’t true!” She hiccupped the last word and tried to step past him before a sob tore from her throat.

  She’d stumbled as far as an elbow’s length away before he snagged her wrist and pulled her hard against his chest. She lifted her palms to push away when his mouth seized hers, possessive and impatient. Her lips parted in surprise, allowing his tongue to plunder and stroke and dissolve her willpower to soft sighs of surrender.

  He broke away for a breathless moment. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought—”

  He didn’t finish what he wanted to say, but he didn’t need to with her. With her whimsical ways, he must have assumed she’d jump at the chance to create a fairy-tale ending to their forged relationship. Did he not realize just how far she was falling in love with him? She thought if he kissed her any more, she’d never be able to deny anything he wanted. Then, she’d leave with her heart stuck at Hearth’s Gate. Oh, and she thought Danielle had created a hell of a mess in coming here.

  Grace sobered to his touch, unwilling to follow in her mother’s footsteps. “I should probably go get ready,” Grace said, without moving an inch one way or the other.

  “Is that what you want?” he asked, his tone low, his hands lifting to cup her left cheek.

  Grace sucked in a shuddered inhale as the pad of his thumb glided over her lips, parting them slightly. What she wanted didn’t exist.

  With her throat tight and thick, she managed to give a reply. “What I want is to someday look back and think about Mistletoe and wonder what you’re doing.” At least, then, she’d know she’d moved forward.

  Her words caused the muscle in his jaw to flex. After several moments of waiting, she thought he’d nod and let her go. He didn’t. Instead, he bent forward, his mouth finding the sensitive part below her left ear.

  Her body tingled from the softness of his touch. “I guarantee you’ll find me…thinking about you.”

  She angled her head so their lips brushed. She squeezed her eyelids shut, afraid to take it any further but more afraid to look back and always wonder. “That’s good,” she whispered, allowing him to cup her face and draw his mouth against hers once again.

  He tasted like he smelled, delicious with a mixture of heat and spice. As he tormented her with dizzying and erotic strokes of his tongue, she lifted her fingers to the buttons on his shirt. Eager to begin where they’d left off the night before, she dropped her hand to the zipper of his jeans. He continued to kiss her, slow and drugging, until he lay naked over her, his hard body pressing her into the soft cushion of the sectional.

  “I feel like I’ve waited forever for this moment,” he murmured, sliding his lips over her collarbone and to the base of her throat. Her fingers fanned through his thick hair as he covered his mouth over her right breast, sucking her sensitive bud until she fe
lt the lifting wave of pleasure build inside her.

  She languished in a sea of glorious sensations, need and hunger coiling tight and spiraling through her. She knew no greater want, no greater bliss than his touch.

  “Ayden,” she breathed.

  He brought his mouth back over hers as his thumb massaged the flesh at her core. She gasped, his gentle strokes lifting her to a euphoric and maddening place.

  “Come for me, Grace,” he whispered. She clung to him, the rhythm of his deft caress, driving her to a shuddering and exultant end.

  She arched upward and cried out to accept the tidal wave of release. She floated to heaven and drifted back to earth, both shaking and winded. In the moments she took to catch her breath, Ayden rose to tear open a ready condom.

  “Open for me.” Ayden sank down and nudged her legs further apart. Still dizzy from where he’d taken her, she did as he asked and lifted her hips to feel the throbbing heat of his arousal.

  He paused above her, his gaze intense and his features serious. “Tell me you want this. Tell me you want me, Grace.” His hot, raspy breath sent tingles all over her body.

  “I…I want you, Ayden.” I love you.

  He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, cradling her in a tender and possessive embrace. In one sensual and powerful movement, he sank deep inside her.

  She gasped from the emotional and physical shock of their union. He filled her before retreating, only to plunge forward again. In pure rapture, she touched her tongue to his earlobe, tasting the heady scent of him. Pleasure, like she’d never experienced, pulsed through every nerve of her being, growing stronger, higher, with each cadenced lunge. He grew thicker inside her, the summit of her desires tensing for the imminent flight. Unable to hold on any longer, she lifted her hips to accept the full length of him.

  “Oh…God,” Ayden murmured, his body shuddering as her tight, pulsing flesh gripped him, drawing him further inside with each rhythmic thrust. They rocked together in perfect cadence. She fit him like no other woman, the ecstasy of her exquisite body bringing him closer and closer to a convulsive release. He didn’t want to finish, but the blood pumped at a raging swiftness through his veins, building to a storm of sweet, delirious rapture.