Her Mistletoe Minotaur: A BWWM Paranormal Holiday Romance (A Very Alpha Christmas Book 1)

by Erin St. Charles

  She wanted to know what he'd been about to say to her. She thought it was something big. Really big.

  Walking into the sunset holding hands big.

  Two toothbrushes sharing one cup big.

  Raising hormonal teenagers big. Getting old and wrinkly together big.

  But...it would be hours before she knew what he had been about to say. Rats.

  For the rest of the afternoon, she kept herself busy, looking after the guests, helping the children in and out of the igloos and gingerbread houses, serving the adults warm beverages. and generally mingling with the crowd. It looked like half the town had turned out for the festivities. More than likely, they were also curious about the town's resident eccentric billionaire.

  Tu mentally cataloged ways they could make this event even better next time around. For starters, they could expand the area where the party was held, maybe add a storybook experience based on Christmas folklore with an ending at the North Pole. She could see it in her mind's eye: a winding path with candy canes as markers. Scenes from the Nutcracker, the Island of Misfit Toys, Frosty the Snowman, and more came to mind immediately.

  The more she thought about it, the more the ideas flowed. She put herself in the mind of a small child and thought about what would be exciting to one of her students.

  A hand on her shoulder interrupted her thoughts. When she turned, Auntie stood there with a grin on her face. Although she wore jeans and shoes, she still had bells on her ankles.

  "Looks like it's going well," her aunt told Tu, slipping an arm around her middle. "The party, and your thing with our antisocial Mr. Wayne."

  Tu bristled at the characterization of Mitch. "Mitch is a good man," Tu defended. "And a generous one. He paid for everything here and hasn't asked for anything in return."

  Auntie gazed at Tu under her lashes.

  "Before you say anything, I gotta say, I'm not happy with you right now," Tu said, thinking about being left on the side of the road and holding up a rebuking hand when Auntie went to embrace Tu. "I'm barely even talking to you these days." Tu crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Now, now," Auntie said. "We had to trick you to get you out here to see Mitch! Surely, you're over it now?"

  "Since you abandoned me on the road just yesterday, I gotta say, I'm not exactly over it," Tu complained.

  "Do you know how hard that man worked to get you back? It was so romantic," Auntie gushed.

  That was true. It had been romantic. Auntie locked arms with Tu and drew her away from the crowd. The two women walked away from the clearing, Auntie babbling on about nothing. Tu let herself be led away for a few minutes, then grew annoyed at having her time monopolized. When she turned to go back to the clearing, Auntie grabbed Tu's hand and tried to keep her from walking on.

  Tu squinted at the other woman, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.

  "What is wrong with you?" Tu said. "You're acting weird."

  "Am I?" Auntie said, turning Tu so that she faced away from the clearing. "Tell me, when does school start? Do you know who is going to be in your class?"

  Tu blinked at Auntie. Her aunt had never once asked anything about her job, nor did she make a habit of small talk. Tu supposed being more than a little psychic made small talk irrelevant.

  Behind her, the low murmur of the crowd dissipated to nothing. Tu disengaged from Auntie and marched back to the clearing. Mitch stood in the middle of the clearing, and their remaining guests stood at the outer edges of the clearing where the trees began. His eyes were uncharacteristically dark, and it was dark enough for her to see his eyeshine glinting in the dusk.

  "Mitch?" Tu asked, confused. "What's going on?"

  Mitch's eyes bored into hers, brows furrowed and drawn together, one side of his mouth kicked up in a smirk. He said nothing. He nodded at someone. Someone Tu couldn't see in the dark. She whipped her head around, braids flying, seeking the object of Mitch's gesture. What she saw instead was nothing but shadows with flickering lights around the circle and illuminated faces she could barely make out. She saw Twyla, Mr. Richards, along with his wife and daughter, Vanessa and Bubba Cermak, the Alpha Pair, along with their pre-teen daughters, her sister Jasmine with her man AJ, Auntie, and many other faces she recognized. They were just kind of...standing there, the lights they held flickering in their hands. Tu wondered whether she was the subject of some pagan sacrifice, some kind of ritual requiring a human sacrifice.

  It started to snow. Fine flakes, tiny and powdery. The kind of snow that came out of snow machines. Someone manned the snow machine and had it pointed at Mitch and Tu.

  "Petunia Greene," Mitch stated.

  "Mitchell Wayne," she replied, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth. "Mitch, what—"

  Mitch took several long, deliberate steps toward Tu, his finger to his lips in the universal sign of "quiet." Then he crooked a finger at her, beckoning her closer.

  "Come here," he said.

  Still smiling, eyes stretched wide in wonder, Tu inched closer to him, casting bemused looks toward the circle of citizens ringing the perimeter. Part of her, the secret Disney princess part of her, knew what this was about. She could almost feel the thrum of excitement emanating from the Perditionites ringing the perimeter. The kind of excitement born of being part of a crowd in on a delicious secret, a secret only one person in the crowd is unaware of.

  She was the person, Tu realized. The only person not in on the secret. The secret she would not say aloud. The secret she didn't even want to allow herself to think in case she was wrong.

  I'm thinking you could be a different kind of trophy.

  The words came back to her now. Despite all the relationship drama they had managed to pack into less than a month of knowing each other, Tu and Mitch felt right. Still, it wouldn't do to get ahead of herself.

  Her heart thumped double time in her chest as she drew closer to him

  She cocked her head at him and opened her mouth to speak again when something remarkable happened.

  Mitch Wayne, the strongest man she knew, the man she knew eschewed the limelight, the love of her life, went down on his knees before her, in front of half the town.

  Tu gasped, her hands covering her mouth, tears pricking her eyes. Mitch's eyes shone with love.

  The music started again. This Christmas started to play.

  Presents and cards are here

  My world is filled with cheer and you

  This Christmas

  Mitch presented his hands, palms up, and waited for Tu to place hers on his.

  When she did, he cleared his throat and began to speak.

  "Petunia Greene, my heart sought you out before I even knew your name. Fate brought us together." She had never seen Mitch look so emotional before. Her heart ached with love for him. To do all this for her, when she knew he hated to be on display, must have been so difficult for him.

  "I think I've told you before that words are hard for me." He gave her a soft smile. "I used to think emotions were hard for me too, but that was before you showed me how to love."

  Tu's lips trembled. She was in danger of bursting into tears. Mitch released her hands, dug in his back pocket, and removed a small velvet box, which he opened to show her. Inside, a beautiful, obscenely large diamond ring winked up at her. He paused then, not saying a thing. They looked at each other. Tu forgot to breathe. Mitch's smile expanded, giving him a boyish look.

  The fairy lights hanging from the trees waved in the breeze and lit up the dusk. The snow machine hummed and whooshed, churning out a fine mist of artificial snow, covering Tu and Mitch's head and shoulders. The music was the only sound to be heard in the clearing. The moment held, seemed to stretch out, then Mitch spoke.

  "Petunia Greene, will you marry me?" he asked.

  She nodded enthusiastically and answered "Yes!" before he could get all the words out.

  Then she was off her feet as Mitch grabbed her and swung her around. A whoop rose from the assembled crowd. The wolves howled
with joy, and everyone converged on the couple, hugging them and congratulating them.

  Mitch and Tu soaked up the love of the town, someone turned up the music, and everyone celebrated the engagement of the town hermit and the school teacher.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Erin grew up watching Star Trek and reading Barbara Cartland novels (don't hate), wishing she could create something that brings her love of science fiction together with her love of romance. Still a romantic nerd at heart, she writes sensual, diverse stories that blend fantasy, adventure, and love.

  www.erinstcharles.com