A Mommy for Christmas

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  “I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you or the kids,” Travis promised firmly. “And you can count on that.”

  HOLLY DID COUNT ON Travis’s protection—maybe too much, she thought. The bond between them was so deep and complex she didn’t ever want to let their “partnership” end. Yet she was well aware, should Travis ever fall in love again, their close bond would most likely have to be severed to keep from interfering in his new marriage. And while she wished him every happiness possible, the prospect of her having to give up their friendship was daunting, to say the least.

  What would she ever do without him?

  Would she ever have to find out?

  Holly decided if she were to have a single Christmas wish come true, she’d want to never be without Travis.

  Because being near him made everything seem so much better….

  With a bemused smile splitting his handsome face, Travis remarked, “In the meantime, we should probably savor this moment.” Having successfully recaptured her full attention, he teased warmly, “It’s not often we have an evening sans kids.”

  Almost never, Holly thought. And never with the two of them alone. Was it her imagination, or was their neighborhood more decked out than ever this year? Holly wondered, looking around, at the dazzling array of festive lights and yuletide decorations covering the houses and sprucing up the lawns.

  All she knew for certain was that it was a magical moment, on what suddenly seemed like a very magical night. A night that had started out with some rollicking family fun now felt remarkably like a date.

  “Want to come in for a nightcap?” Travis asked, as they got out of his SUV.

  A nightcap, Holly repeated silently to herself, as he circled around the car to her side. She chuckled and shook her head in bemusement. She winked at him salaciously, to add to the joke. “That almost sounds like you’re trying to seduce me.”

  “Would I have a shot at it if I was?” he responded casually.

  Holly turned toward him, saw the cool, purposeful intent in his eyes, and caught her breath. The next thing she knew his tall body had caged her against the closed passenger door. Despite the brisk December air, she felt the heat emanating from him faster as their bodies merged.

  Tingles surged through her, pooling in her lower abdomen, tautening her nipples. Damn, but she wanted him. So very much…Had wanted him for longer than she cared to admit. “I thought we were smart enough not to do this,” she whispered, aware they were standing on a precipice that could lead to great joy or utter disaster.

  Travis threaded his fingers through her hair. “At one point, so did I,” he admitted huskily.

  But they weren’t, Holly thought, as he brought her closer still and his mouth found hers once again. His lips were cold, in contrast to the heat of his tongue. He tasted like coffee, mint and man, and Holly felt herself surge to life. Maybe it was the season. Maybe it was the fact she was feeling a little jealous and a lot threatened by all the attention Travis was getting, thanks to their kids’ determination to find him a wife. All she knew was that she didn’t want anyone else to have him, didn’t want anyone else doing this. Not now, not ever, she thought, as the kiss went on and on.

  Travis drew back as a car passed by, its headlights sweeping across the yard, catching them in full clinch. “We should go inside.”

  Holly knew what would happen if they did. She also knew how long it had been since she had been this close to anyone. How much she wanted him. Wordlessly, she tucked her hand in his.

  Travis led her up the walk. They moved onto the porch, then through the front door and into the front hall.

  The downstairs was lit selectively, the lights on the tree glimmering. The fragrant scent of evergreen added to the magic feel of Christmas hovering in the air. Travis shrugged off his coat, drew hers away from her, too. And then she was back in his arms, going up on tiptoe, threading her fingers through his hair, guiding his mouth back down to hers.

  The kiss was a melding of heat and need. Yearning spiraled through her as he moved his hands tenderly over her spine, across her shoulders, down her arms to her wrists and fingertips. And still they kissed and kissed, the feel of his mouth on hers filling her with the kind of love she had wanted all her life. For the first time, Holly felt treasured in that special man-woman way. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought she had finally found the soul mate she had been desperately searching for.

  But they were friends and she was terrified that getting swept up in this impossible fantasy could shatter the foundation of their real-life relationship.

  So how come she couldn’t muster the strength to turn him away?

  “I want to do this right,” Travis murmured, oblivious to the conflict swirling through her. Framing her face with his hands, he murmured, “May I take you upstairs to my bed?”

  Holly trembled with a mixture of anticipation and nerves. Leave it to Travis to give her a choice every step of the way. “After a kiss like that,” she whispered back recklessly. “I’d be crushed if you didn’t.”

  Surveying her with distinctly masculine satisfaction, he tucked one arm beneath her knees, the other behind her shoulders, and swung her off her feet. Her heart pounding, Holly held on to his broad shoulders. “I’m not sure this is necessary,” she laughed.

  He grinned back, clearly not about to let her go. “Why not let me be the judge of that?” he asked huskily. Her excitement escalated. Down the hall they went, to the master bedroom. It was as neat as hers. A refuge of masculinity in the sea of toys and videos and little girl belongings that permeated the rest of the house.

  His eyes glowing with a sensual, determined light, Travis set her down beside the king-size bed with the charcoal-gray comforter and coordinating dove-gray sheets. The world narrowed to just the two of them as his hands slipped playfully beneath the hem of her black wool skirt, smoothing over her black tights, along the inside of her thighs. Aware that she had waited a lifetime to feel like this, Holly shuddered as he found her through her clothes.

  “Travis.” Her arms encircled his neck and she threaded her fingers through his hair. With a groan of desire, he captured her lips with his. She kissed him back thoroughly, loving the way his tongue stroked hers, once and then again and again. And all the while he never stopped touching her. He caressed the curve of her hips, cupped her buttocks in his palms, moved around to trace the line of her pelvic bone and sensitive area between her thighs.

  He made her feel white-hot, all woman, as if their coming together like this had been inevitable from the first. “This skirt has to come off,” he murmured.

  A shiver of yearning swept through her as he unzipped it. She rested her hands on his shoulders as he drew the garment down her legs and helped her step out of it. Next he divested her of her black suede heels and tights, and when she was clad only in a black satin thong, from the waist down, she stopped him and said, “My turn.”

  He grinned. Off came his black pullover sweater. The snowy white T-shirt beneath. Although she was familiar with the buff shape of him—she had seen the imprint of his powerful muscles many times beneath his weekend T-shirts—it was the first time Holly had ever seen him bare-chested. His skin was golden and satiny smooth, covered with curling tufts of brown hair that spread across his pec’s, before angling downward to his navel. Her heart racing, she unclasped his belt. His mouth moved on hers in a kiss that was shattering in its possessive sensuality. He caught her hand. “You’re getting ahead of me.”

  She arced toward him, murmuring, “Travis…”

  He chuckled softly, pressing his lips against her throat in a series of wet, hot kisses. “Ladies first.” Off came her cranberry cashmere sweater. His eyes darkened with pleasure as he gazed at her breasts spilling out of her black satin demi-bra. Bending her backward, he traced the exposed slopes and valleys of her breasts before pushing aside one strap and then the other. As he peeled the fabric away from her nipples, sending her into a frenzy of wanting, he smiled tend
erly. “You are so beautiful…”

  Holly felt beautiful, inside and out. She sensed that if they were on the brink of the most important moment of their lives. Maybe love wasn’t involved here, but everything else that mattered was present—to the point she was beginning to feel as if this coming together was a step toward something unexpectedly wonderful.

  His lips closed over the tip of her breast, tugged gently. Sensation warred with the thrill of possession. His ministrations felt incredibly good, incredibly right. Holly clung to him and surrendered all the more. Pressing his manhood against her, hot and hard, Travis murmured in pleasure, then moved to her other breast, giving it the same fervid attention. When she could stand it no more his lips caught hers again. He kissed her wantonly, altering the angle, increasing the depth and torridness of their kiss. Her excitement mounted, fueled by the rasp of their breathing and the feel of his hard chest rubbing against the softness of hers. It was all she could do to remain on her feet.

  His lips brushed across her collarbone, across the slope of her breasts, eliciting tingles of excitement everywhere they touched. His arms were strong, insistent, cocooning her in sensual pleasure. Holly closed her eyes and arched against Travis, the gentle eroticism of his touch flowing over her in warm, wonderful waves. Her senses spun as he finished undressing them both and drew her down to lie between the sheets on his bed.

  He stretched out on his back and pulled her on top of him, his manhood pressing against the soft skin of her inner thighs. Kissing her all the while, he molded her breasts with his palms, circling the aching crowns, teasing the nipples into tight buds of awareness.

  The kiss ended and he shifted her beneath him. His lips forged a burning trail down the slope of her neck, across the curve of one breast, then the other. She cried out as he moved lower still. Engaging every sense, he made his way slowly down her body, fulfilling every fantasy she had ever had. Trembling from head to toe at the long, sensual strokes of his tongue and the soothing feel of his lips, she caught his head in her hands, tangling her fingers in his hair. Holly moaned, knowing she wanted Travis as she had never wanted anyone before.

  He stroked her hips and thighs as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him. He found her with his lips, tantalizing and exploring. Her head fell back; her body shuddered with pleasure. Need spiraled—and then blossomed—deep inside her. And then she came apart in his hands as unbelievable pleasure ricocheted within her.

  Travis held her through the aftershocks, cradling her tenderly.

  Relishing the no-holds-barred way he made love, determined to take him to the brink and show him the same loving care, she shifted positions. And took the lead, tracing his hot, satiny skin, learning the mysteries of him, as thoroughly and deliberately as he had just learned hers. Excitement built inside her, as she savored the sensation of enjoying someone—without restraint. And then there was no holding back for either of them. He needed to be a part of her as much as she needed him deep inside her. Emotions soaring, heart full, Holly accepted the warm, wonderful weight of him over her. His hands moved beneath her hips, lifting and positioning her. Holly felt his manhood poised to enter her, pulsing against her, and the climax she’d felt earlier came roaring back. She moaned as Travis buried himself in her, making it an all-or-nothing proposition with each slow, deliberate stroke. The gentle tenderness they’d experienced quickly turned to fierce abandon and stunning need.

  Soaring with passion, Holly gave herself over to the hot kisses and hotter mating, moving her hips to the commanding rhythm of his until a cry of exaltation rose in her throat. She trembled and clenched around him. He dived deep. And then all was lost in the wild reckless turn their two-year friendship had inexplicably taken.

  Chapter Six

  It had been a long time, Travis thought, as his body relaxed and his breathing slowly returned to normal, since he’d felt as fortunate as he did at that moment. And it was all because of Holly. She was the one woman who understood he couldn’t afford to be vulnerable to love at this point in his life. Holly supported his desire to focus on being a single parent, and stay rooted firmly in the here and now. His only immediate investment in the future pertained to his daughters and his business.

  In return, he empathized with Holly’s current aversion to risk. She had been hurt badly once; she didn’t want to put herself out there and chance it happening again. She knew—as he did—that one day in the very distant future it might be possible for each of them to fall in love and marry again. But for the time being, this was the life they had—and both were determined to make the most of it.

  And that, Travis knew, made them the perfect match. At least for now…

  He sensed she felt the same way, judging by the aura of well-being emanating from the lithe body stretched out alongside his. Travis lifted her hand to his mouth, kissed it gently, then reached over and turned on the beside light. “What are you thinking?”

  Holly rolled onto her side, facing him, and propped her head on her upraised hand. Although she was still as naked as he, the sheet was pulled up over her breasts. To his relief, she seemed as at ease now as she had been during their lovemaking. A gentle smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I was reflecting on the fact that I never realized how much I missed having sex until the first time you and I kissed.” Her voice dipped a sultry notch. “And then, just like riding a bike…it all came back to me. So I began to think that maybe I could have it all—without going through the ordeal of dating or marrying again.”

  Was that what the act of courtship had been to her? Travis wondered. A hassle to be avoided like the plague? Had she been hurt, not just by Cliff’s abandonment but throughout their entire relationship?

  Holly was a low-key, low-maintenance woman who gave much more than she received. So if she felt that let down, Travis realized, Cliff must have really blown it with her, all along.

  Oblivious to the depth of his concern, she ran a finger over Travis’s rib cage, tracing idle patterns on his skin. “The thing is,” she admitted, “I like the way I felt in your arms.” She looked deep into his eyes and smiled. “Like a woman again.”

  He had liked the way she felt in his arms, too.

  More than he had even imagined he would. And his imagination this last week had been a potent thing to overcome. “And I like being the man that made it all happen for you,” he admitted with equal frankness, gathering her close once again.

  She shifted, the silk of her hair brushing his chest. Taking nothing for granted, she asked, “To the point you’d be willing to do it again?”

  Travis knew they had embarked on something special that far surpassed their wildest expectations. So despite the obvious risk this posed to their friendship, there was no denying this foray into passion was working out well thus far. He saw no reason it shouldn’t be continued. “Anytime, anywhere,” he teased.

  Holly searched his eyes. “I’m serious.” Her tone sobered. “Now that we’ve done the deed and had a moment to reflect, I’m asking you if tonight’s activity was just a rebound thing, designed to help you get back in the saddle again and move on. Or if you would be content with something less grandiose than what you had when you were married to the love of your life?” Her casual, self-effacing tone hinted at the vulnerability she felt deep inside.

  Travis sobered, too. “Or, in other words, am I willing to continue having sex with my very best friend?”

  “I know it’s not the same,” she told him with the gentle compassion he loved so much.

  Holly was right, Travis noted silently. What had happened tonight wasn’t the same. He was beginning to realize, to his surprise, that in some ways it was better. His relationship with Diana had been all hearts and flowers, based more on the romantic accoutrements of marriage than the kind of in-the-trenches-of-single-parenting mode he and Holly had experienced together. The two of them had few illusions about each other, and that made their relationship strong. “You and I are like war buddies—soldiers bonded together i
n battle.” With common experiences that would have been hard to explain to anyone else, never mind detailing their impact.

  She grinned at the totally guylike analogy, then prodded, “Whereas you and Diana?”

  “Each did our own thing,” Travis recollected. Even after the girls had come along, their lives had remained largely separate much of the time. He had been focused on his work, true, but Diana had preferred to do most of the parenting her own way, with little or no assistance from him. Only after her death had Travis become such an involved dad. And he did regret that, looking back, thinking about how much he had missed in the first part of the girls’ lives.

  “Do you still miss Diana?”

  There was no jealousy in Holly’s voice, only gentle curiosity. Still, the question caught him off guard. Travis had to think before he could answer. “Actually, no,” he said finally. “I did at first.”

  Holly released the breath she had been holding, wet her lips. “I remember.”

  “Now, it seems like my marriage was a lifetime ago.”

  Holly traced the fabric of the sheet with the same attention to detail she had shown making love. Her gaze dropped to the pensive movements of her fingertips. “Mine, too.”

  “Except your ex is about to make a return appearance in your life,” Travis reminded her, surprised to feel a flare of jealousy.

  Holly pursed her lips. “If my mother’s instincts are right, Cliff won’t stay around for long.”

  Travis hoped that was the case and not wishful thinking on her part. “The point is,” she persisted, “what’s going to happen to us now that we’ve rung this bell?”

  “Well…” Travis smiled, amazed at how much joy this woman brought to his life. He rolled so she was beneath him once again. Keeping the bulk of his weight braced on his arms, he draped his body over hers, kissed his way from her ear to her cheek. “Since you can’t un-ring a bell—” he paused to gaze into her eyes “—I say we stay the course and be together whenever we can. It’ll be good for our health.”