Add A Little Mistletoe

by Aliyah Burke

  Published by Phaze Books

  Also by Aliyah Burke

  Sin is Not a Four-Letter Word

  This is an explicit and erotic novel

  intended for the enjoyment

  of adult readers. Please keep

  out of the hands of children.

  www.Phaze.com

  Add a Little Mistletoe

  A short novel of sensual romance by

  ALIYAH BURKE

  Add a Little Mistletoe copyright 2008 by Aliyah Burke

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  A Phaze Production

  Phaze Books

  6470A Glenway Avenue, #109

  Cincinnati, OH 45211-5222

  Phaze is an imprint of Mundania Press, LLC.

  To order additional copies of this book, contact:

  books@phaze.com

  www.Phaze.com

  Cover art © 2008 Debi Lewis

  Edited by Loukie Adlem

  eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-60659-003-4

  First Edition – November, 2008

  Printed in the United States of America

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Chapter One

  The day after Thanksgiving

  “Bye, hon,” the woman spoke in a voice loud enough to carry over the noise of the crowd. Hands tight on her children and purchases, she leaned in to give her friend a kiss. “Thanks for coming and meeting with me.”

  Aspen Townsend returned the kiss. “Drive carefully. And you’re welcome. I have a bit more shopping to do. Although, I wouldn’t have come on the busiest shopping day of the year. Black Friday indeed.” Her light brown eyes sparkled as she kissed the kids. “Bye, you two.”

  “Bye, Auntie Aspen,” the twins chortled as they waved chubby hands in her direction.

  Kelly Pratt smiled at her childhood friend. Aspen knew she had changed from the bookworm she had been when she went off to that California college, USC to most. But now she was home, back where she—according to what Kelly told her repeatedly—belonged.

  “Later, Aspen.” Kelly began to turn her kids toward the exit. She stopped and faced her friend again. “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said mysteriously. As Aspen’s eyes met hers, she continued. “He came back to town this week.”

  A blank and very confused look crossed Aspen’s dark face. “What are you talking about? Or rather, who?”

  Maneuvering so she was right by Aspen’s ear, Kelly leaned in closer, her dark eyes shifting side-to-side as if expecting the devil to jump out at her admission. “Colt Larkin,” she said, as if it were not only newsworthy, but heart-stopping.

  To some it may have been. To Aspen Lajoia Townsend, it was terrifying, for many different reasons. Swallowing hard, she blinked her eyes once and said, “Who cares?”

  The gleam in Kelly’s eyes told her she didn’t believe the careless attitude. “Just thought you would want to know, you know, before you run into him in town. It’s not big. You know you’ll see him.” She smiled. “I have to go. Talk to you tonight.” A quick wave and Kelly and her twins were gone.

  Aspen ran a trembling hand over her face before squaring her shoulders and walking on. She wasn’t about to let the memory of one embarrassing incident bring her down. Straightening her immaculate oatmeal suit, Aspen stepped onto the escalator and let it take her up to the next level. Four hours later, Aspen was ready to fall over. The crowds were horrendous and the attitudes worse. But she was done with her shopping.

  Readjusting her purchases, Aspen stopped to look at a dress she thought her mother might like—it was pale pink in color. Bracing most of her slight weight on one hip, she mentally ran through her finances to see if she could finagle it.

  Aspen knew she could afford the dress. She had a well-paying job and was one of the top professionals in her field. Without further thought, she walked into the store to purchase the dress. The woman gave her a stressed-out smile as she bagged up the sale.

  “Thank you,” Aspen said in a gentle voice.

  “You’re welcome, and Happy Holidays!” the saleswoman responded with real emotion.

  “And to you,” Aspen spoke with a smile as she added the bag to her extensive collection. Now, it’s time to go home.

  Moving briskly through the ever-growing throng of people, Aspen stopped to wait for a group of older folks. She might be tired, but shoving through her elders was simply not done.

  Suddenly she was hit from the side around knee level. Righting herself, Aspen glanced down to see a cherub-faced, towheaded little boy holding onto her leg. His face and hands were covered in chocolate, which was transferring to her lighter-colored suit.

  You have got to be shittin’ me! What did I do? Aspen estimated his age to be four or five. He had big blue eyes that sparkled as he grinned at her, showing off his missing front tooth.

  “Hi,” he bubbled, totally at ease with her.

  Forcing back her anger, Aspen looked around for his parents to approach. Nothing. “Hello,” she said, trying not to wince as the sticky, warm chocolate made its way to her skin.

  “You’re pretty.”

  Despite the situation, Aspen grinned. “Thank you.” She shifted her leg to try and get him to let go. He did with one hand, but the other wound tighter in her pant leg. “Where are your folks?”

  The boy sighed and stood smiling up at her with his smeared chocolate face.

  “Okay, then,” Aspen mumbled.

  “Unca. Unca!” the boy yelled at a person who was striding toward them. The look on the man’s face was near to panic.

  * * * *

  “Hurry, Unca Colt, hurry!” The childish voice rang over the rest of the noise inside the Mall of America. Stifling a groan, Colt Larkin rolled his eyes in mock exasperation at his sister as his nephew pulled him along.

  It was bedlam in here. No one in their right mind would go shopping the day after Thanksgiving, especially here. That would explain why he was here. Too many jarring hits from a bull. Or the batting of eyes from his baby sister.

  “We’re comin’, little man. Keep your britches on,” he said.

  “Okay, but hurry,” the boy insisted.

  Allowing himself to be tugged along to store after store, Colt found himself longing for the “calmness” of a two-thousand-pound bull, sliding onto its back in the chute. These people were downright vicious.

  Crying off to pick up a surprise, Colt left his pregnant sister and nephew in the food court with big scoops of chocolate ice cream and toppings.

  Coming back with the gift, he saw his sister yelling at a tiny figure slipping through the crowd. It was Dale.

  “I’m going after him,” he shouted to his sister, Elizabeth, as his long legs took him through the busy mall after his wayward nephew.

  About to panic, Colt froze at the sound of his nephew’s voice calling out to him. Heading the same direction he had been, Colt felt a huge wave of relief flow through him.

  Dale stood next to a woman, his face and hands covere
d in the remains of his ice cream and now the leg of the woman. One chubby hand was clenched to the material of her pants, the other waving at him.

  “Oh, Jesus, Dale,” Colt said, dropping to his knees and hugging his nephew, mindless of the stickiness of his small body. “You scared us. What were you thinking running off like that?”

  “She’s pretty,” the cheerful answer came.

  Pulling back from his nephew, Colt took the time to look up at the woman. She stood silent amongst the overwhelming noise of the mall. His eyes moved over her face and he could tell by the muscle jumping in her jaw she was pissed. Who would blame her? Her suit was ruined.

  His gaze ran back over her body. He took stock of her five-foot-six-inch frame. If he guessed, she was one hundred twenty pounds and she carried it brilliantly. Lots of curves in all the right places. High cheekbones set off her mocha-colored face, giving it an almost haughty look.

  Thick black hair fell around her shoulders. She had light brown eyes, which right now sparkled with anger. As his gaze ran down over her full chest, smaller waist, ample hips and down to her feet and back up he was met with one arched brow.

  Dale was right. She was very pretty. And very familiar.

  * * * *

  The moment the boy yelled out for the man, Aspen felt her temper rising again. It was insane to allow your child to get away from you, especially during this time of year. Some of her anger dissipated as she witnessed the relief he had over finding the child.

  When he finally acknowledged her, she was stunned by the eyes that stared at her. Liquid silver. She had been taken in by a pair of them before. As his gaze moved over her body, Aspen felt herself respond to his blatant appraisal. Tamping it back under control, she waited for him to stop taking her measurements and look in her eyes again.

  “I take it he belongs to you?” Aspen asked, wondering why her voice was so deep.

  Standing with one effortless motion, the man smiled at her before lifting the child into his arms. “In a way, yes.” The response was smooth and deep.

  Aspen looked at the man before her. Hell’s bells. He was tall, over six feet. Solid, tanned muscle was covered by jeans and a tight, short-sleeve brown shirt. His hair was shaggy, almost unkempt, and sandy-brown—it reached to the collar of his shirt. Then there were his eyes…silver. Hot, molten, mercury.

  “Dale!” The screech stopped either of them from saying anything further. A blonde woman ran as fast as she could, as pregnant as she was, up to them. “Oh, my baby. What were you doing? Are you okay?” Tears were pouring down her pale cheeks.

  “He’s fine, Lizzy,” the masculine timbre assured the woman as child was passed from man to woman.

  “Where was he?” she asked, her face buried in her son’s hair.

  “This woman right here had him with her.”

  Blue eyes, so like the young child’s, looked up at her. “You? You had my son?”

  Aspen nodded. “He sort of ran into me.”

  “Thank you,” the woman gushed. She fell silent as her eyes took in the ruined pants. “Oh, no. Tell me he didn’t do that.” Her finger pointed to the stains on Aspen’s pants. The woman sat her son in his stroller and got out a wipe for his face, cleaning it, an embarrassed flush all over her pale face.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Aspen tried to assure them.

  Those blue eyes flew up to meet hers. “I can’t ignore it. He probably ruined them. But if they can be cleaned I would like to pay for the cleaning or to replace them.”

  “No, really. It’s okay. These pants have had much worse than chocolate on them. Don’t worry about it.” She adjusted her packages so they covered a bit of the stains.

  “I feel just horrible.” The woman stood up. A frown crossed her face as she saw the condition of the pants. Then her expression grew more confused as she leaned back and looked at the female standing before her. “Aspen?” the blonde asked.

  Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Yes? That’s my name. Do I know you?”

  A huge smile crossed the pregnant woman’s face. “Elizabeth Larkin…well, its Buchan now. Lizzy. We’ve met a few times in town. I live in Tuttle as well.”

  Aspen bit her tongue to keep from panicking. “Lizzy. Of course. Sorry, I didn’t recognize you. Good to see you. I’d heard about Dale, but this is the first time I have gotten to see him.” Larkin. That means the silver-eyed guy with her is…her brother.

  “I don’t know if you remember me or not,” the masculine voice broke in. “I’m Colt, her older brother.” His hand was stretched out, waiting for her to take it.

  Why the hell didn’t I recognize him? Well, twenty years does change a man. With a calm she didn’t feel, Aspen put her soft hand into his callused one. “I remember you. You were a few years ahead of me in school. Nice to see you.” She tried to reclaim her hand, but he wouldn’t allow it.

  “I was sorry to hear about your brother,” he said, his tone somber.

  Glancing up into those amazing eyes, Aspen nodded. “Thank you.” She tugged on her hand again. Still he refused to let go, instead his thumb moved in lazy circles on the back of her hand while his middle finger teased the inside of her wrist.

  “He was a very good friend of mine.” Those eyes held hers.

  “He was a good friend to many.” Aspen blinked back tears at the memory of her brother.

  “That he was,” Colt agreed. He still didn’t let go of her hand.

  “May I have my hand back, please?” The tone was different now. Aspen was coolly polite and knew he noticed.

  “Of course.” He released her and she felt the loss. “Can we help you with your packages?”

  A fire blazed in her eyes before she controlled it. “No, thank you. I’m fine.”

  “I’d love to help. It’s the least I can do after what you did. I’d like to do something for you.” Aspen forgot there was an audience. Her lip curled in barely-contained scorn. “Believe me, I have gotten all I could ever want from you.” Tightening her hold on her bags, she nodded brusquely at Lizzy and Dale before walking off.

  * * * *

  Frowning in confusion, Colt looked at his sister, who was trying to control her smirk. “Wait here, I’ll be right back.” He was gone after Aspen before his sister could respond.

  Damn, she moves fast. Colt caught up with her right after she left the building and entered the parking garage. “Hey, Aspen, wait.” Reaching out for her shoulder, he spun her around. Her gaze cut over to his hand on her shoulder before looking at him. The silent message was crystal clear: Remove your hand.

  Dropping his hand, Colt asked, “Do you have something against me? Did I do something to you?”

  Aspen licked her lips, unaware of his body’s response to her action. With a shake of her head, she said, “No. I’m sorry. I’m just tired and want to go home.” She forced a little smile. “I apologize for my behavior.”

  Colt knew she was lying. Her body was way too tense and he could see she wanted to bolt. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you around town.” He flashed his winning smile.

  “Great,” Aspen muttered. “Goodbye.” Turning around, she disappeared before he could offer to carry her bags for her.

  After she vanished, Colt shook his head. What the hell did I do to her? She acts like she hates me. Unsure of what happened, he went back inside to find his sister.

  “How’d it go?” her teasing voice asked.

  “Lizzy, I think that woman hates me,” Colt said. He picked up the extra bags and pushed his sleeping nephew in the stroller as they, too, headed for his vehicle.

  Lizzy made a very unladylike snort. “And you expected her to like you?”

  Brows converged as he glanced to his sister. “Yeah. Considering how well her brother and I got along.” They walked through the doors and back into the parking garage.

  “And you can’t think of any reason she might have to not like you?” Lizzy sounded incredulous.

  Colt remained silent as they got to his vehicle. Starting it, he tur
ned his attention to loading the gifts as his sister fastened Dale in the car seat. Once they were on the road, he shook his head. “I can’t think of a thing.”

  “Mistletoe…ring any bells?” She faced him as he drove.

  A satisfied and masculine smile crossed his face as he recalled their first kiss. Aspen had been succulent even back then. He hadn’t believed it would be that hard to stop kissing a fifteen-year-old on a dare. Colt had never wanted to make love to a woman so badly as he did the moment he kissed Aspen Lajoia Townsend. “Surely she wouldn’t be upset over a kiss.” But that had been the problem, she wasn’t a woman yet.

  “I don’t think it was the kiss, big bro. I think it was more like when she found out about the dare.” Lizzy arched a plucked brow at him.

  “Lots of guys are dared to kiss a girl. Why would it piss her off enough to hold a grudge for twenty years?”

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “Like?” Colt was totally confused.

  “The fact you were dared to kiss her because she’s black,” Lizzy spat at him.

  “Where the hell did you get that damned idea?” Colt’s voice was deadly. His fingers gripped the wheel so hard they lost their tan.

  Lizzy’s eyes widened at his tone. “That’s what she heard. That’s what everyone heard.”

  “It’s a fuckin’ lie. Her being black had nothing to do with it,” he swore.

  “Well, it was what she was told the same evening you kissed her. So, if I had to take a guess, that would be the reason she was mad.”

  Colt groaned. The dare had nothing to do with that at all. He had been desperate to find a way to kiss her without her brother killing him. Her full lips had called to him in ways he didn’t understand. So, when the dare came to kiss her underneath the mistletoe, he jumped at the chance.

  Now all he had to do was convince Aspen of the truth.