Mistletoe Kisses

by Marnie Blue

She reached up to him. His biceps were hard, his shoulders wide, as she pulled him forward and down so she could press her mouth to his. Stiff lips pressed against hers. Not very festive kissing, she thought. It will look like crap, and no one will enjoy it. Not that I want to enjoy it, but…it’s for the viewers. Make it good, she thought, and swept her tongue against his lips until he opened his mouth. Their breaths mingled as the sensations and taste of Justin washed over her. Then he pulled her up against his body and even with Santa padding between them, they seemed to fit together perfectly. She forgot everything else; the only thing that mattered was feeling Justin’s mouth on hers and his broad, muscular back flexing beneath her fingertips.

  Kissing Justin was everything she’d ever imagined it would be, and something more.

  Too soon, she became aware of the applause, hoots, and catcalls from their squad room audience and opened her eyes; seconds later, Justin opened his own.

  Holy…wow. They stared at each other. She saw the same awe she felt about their kiss reflected in his eyes, but now wasn’t the time or place to figure out what had happened. Or to do it again.

  As if that would happen. It couldn’t. It wouldn’t.

  She stepped away, reluctant to let go of him. She didn’t want to look at him, but she couldn’t face the roomful of cops, either. She felt naked and exposed. She covered her lips with her fingers—they were wet and sensitive to her touch. Justin’s touch. Justin…

  “I have to… I’ll be…” She turned toward the door. But then Cisco shoved the microphone at her, and she remembered what she was supposed to be doing, and why. She swallowed to compose herself and looked at the camera. “Well. Wow, is all I can say.” Lilly reached behind her then and grabbed at Justin, finding his hand and wrapping her fingers around his. He held on tightly.

  She pulled him to stand beside her. “Let me tell you, viewers. If Santa wanted to set up a kissing booth, he could raise enough money to buy a toy store! Because he…” She turned to look up at him; his ears were red, and he looked more Grinch-like than ever. Still, Lilly had to smile. He’d been rocked to the core by their kiss, too. She could forgive him for looking miserable.

  “His kisses will ring your sleigh bells!” She gave the cops who’d teased him a glare. “And you can stuff that in your stockings.”

  …

  Driving through the park separating the two sides of the city, Justin couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Lilly couldn’t, either, apparently. For once, she was quiet.

  There was a whole lot of awkward thrown up like a wall between them, and he wasn’t sure how he could break it down. Worse, his head was still spinning from their kiss.

  Wasn’t this just his luck? He’d finally gotten the chance to kiss Lilly, and it had to be in front of a roomful of cops. And on camera. It couldn’t even be something he truly enjoyed.

  Even so, it had been pretty damn good. He could have stayed there kissing her all night—

  “Stop the car,” Lilly shouted suddenly.

  Justin jammed on the brakes so hard, they nearly got whiplash. “What? What’s wrong?”

  “It’s starting to snow!” Lilly exclaimed, as if she’d never seen the white stuff before.

  “Holy moly. You needed to scream about that? Huh. The weather report was right.” Justin peered up through the windshield to see flakes spiraling out of the gray sky. “How old are you, anyway? Ten?”

  “I’ve been in the Middle East and in L.A. for the past four years. And this is the first snow of the year.” She practically bounced on her seat, scrambling to undo her seat belt. “I’ve missed snow. Pull over? Cisco, get the camera ready—this will be perfect for my piece.”

  Justin couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose. “The winter’s barely started. I hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to have a bad one… Hey. Put your seat belt back on.”

  “I want to catch a snowflake.”

  “You’re going to catch pneumonia.”

  She pouted at him. “You’re no fun.”

  His heart flip-flopped. She looked so pretty. What the heck? He frowned. “No fun? I’m wearing a Santa suit and driving a car with a plastic snowman on top. How much more fun do I need to be?”

  “You’re only doing that because your boss made you do it. And you’re only driving this car because you have to.” She lifted her chin and flipped her hair over her shoulder, defiant and flirty. Justin’s mouth grew dry. Stop that, he told himself. You’re not allowed to feel this way about Lilly. Even if that kiss was like nothing else you’ve ever experienced.

  He rolled his eyes and pulled over to the curb. He realized he was grumbling for show; part of him—and he couldn’t believe that there even was one—was enjoying Lilly’s reaction to the white stuff. “Fine. I’ll pull over. How are you going to catch a snowflake?”

  “On my tongue,” she said, and hopped out of the car. “Catching one of the first snowflakes brings good luck.” She slammed the door behind her and started dancing along the sidewalk with her mouth open and her head tilted back.

  Justin turned to look at Cisco; as usual, he was filming. “It’s just snow, right?” The cameraman didn’t answer, he just gave a slight noncommittal shrug, then climbed out as Lilly opened his door.

  “Forget I asked,” Justin said, getting out of the car just as a sudden wind whistled past. “It’s freezing out here. Wait. Cisco—get my coat from the back seat. Lilly, put this on.” He grabbed the coat from the cameraman’s hand and thrust it at her.

  She took the coat and slipped it on but didn’t zip it; it hung off her like a black sleeping bag with a badge attached. She was going to freeze to death. Silly Lilly never takes care of herself. He resisted the urge to move closer to zip it up.

  There are other ways to keep her warm. Justin frowned at his own thoughts and grumbled at her instead. “Come on. Haven’t you caught one yet?”

  “Yes! Come try it, Justin. Come catch a snowflake.” She began hopping around like a deranged…well…elf, her bells ringing merrily. “The first snow of the year is lucky snow, so catching it on your tongue means you’ll have lots of luck.”

  Justin didn’t have the heart to tell her that while this was the first snow of the new winter season, it wasn’t the first snow of the year. It was just snow. It was always just snow, and it caused traffic accidents, burst pipes, and all kinds of chaos for a cop on the job.

  She hopped-danced over to Justin and grabbed his hand. “Come on!”

  He looked over to Cisco for some support. Nothing. The man was a single-eyed robot. “Lilly.”

  “Come on.” She tugged him to the grass just coated with a thin layer of white. The snow that had barely been there moments ago was now falling in earnest. “Try it.”

  He stood there, watching her spinning about with her face to the sky. Her silky red curls spilled down her back, her arms spread out to the side, his jacket hanging off her like wings…she was beautiful. He’d always thought so, even when they were just kids. But it was more than that. She was happy, full of the joy that Justin hadn’t felt in so very long…it made her glow. And it made him want her with every dark and bitter part of his heart and soul. He didn’t know how to tell her so without sounding like a lovesick twit. He never had known how. Besides, it was probably better for her to not know his true feelings.

  Heck, he wished he didn’t even know his true feelings.

  She tilted her head forward so she could face him head-on and pout with soft pink lips. His knees weakened.

  “Justin, this is supposed to be fun. Don’t you remember how to have fun anymore?”

  “I’m a cop. Fun’s for other people.” That was the truth. He hadn’t had fun in a very long time. There wasn’t anything to have fun about. Maybe playing basketball with the guys, or softball in the spring…mostly, just staying safe and quiet was what he focused on. Staying alive. “Come on, Lilly. We need to drop off these toys.”

  “Catch a snowflake. Just one.” She wrapped her fingers around his. “I won’t get
back in the car until you do it.”

  Justin was torn between doing his job and wanting to stay there, watching Lilly for the entire afternoon. “Fine. Here.” He tilted his face to the sky and opened his mouth. A flake spiraled into his eye and melted with an icy sting. “Ow! See? This is a bad idea. I think my eye is frozen.”

  She smacked his shoulder. “Close your eyes, you goof.”

  Justin shook his head. “If I close my eyes, I can’t see.” I can’t keep you safe.

  “See what? Attack squirrels? Lighten up and close your eyes!”

  Justin closed his eyes even though every muscle and nerve in his body screamed in protest—snipers, not squirrels, and there had been some, and good people died on my watch when I wasn’t paying attention—and tilted his head back to catch a snowflake on his tongue. This is such a bad idea.

  “’Ot ung et?” Lilly asked. “Uh ha’ to kee uhr outh oh-en.”

  “Uh-uh—gack!” Justin coughed as a flake landed at the back of his throat. “One just tried to choke me. Does that count?” In spite of his panic, a little of her cheery glow found its way to him. He used to love this game. Spinning around and around under a snowy sky, trying to be the first one to catch an icy flake on his tongue.

  Beside him, Lilly clapped. “Yes! You got one. Make a wish and then get another.” She resumed her snowflake-catching position.

  “I wish we could get back in the car,” he said. Not true, but he didn’t want her to know how much he was enjoying this. Besides, the thought of snipers flickered at the fringes of his mind. He knew it was a foolish fear, but some things were hard to shake off.

  She smacked his arm. “That’s a terrible wish. Make another.”

  “I wish the snow would stop trying to kill me?”

  “Justin. Come on, get into the spirit of it!” She locked her sparkling green eyes on him. His heart clenched. Hesitantly, Justin tipped his head back and closed his eyes. His real wish was to wrap his arms around her, pull her to him, and kiss her senseless. Again. But he would not wish that aloud, or even to himself.

  It was one thing under a ball of mistletoe, but now he had no excuse. He half opened his eyes to look at the snowflakes settling in her burnished hair, on her hat, and on her shirt. He couldn’t help but notice the way her breasts pressed outward and rounded as she leaned back, or the way, when she tilted her face to the sky and closed her eyes, that it was easy to imagine making love to her.

  This was not good. Not good at all.

  No. At the police station, he’d had the excuse of mistletoe to excuse his behavior. But now—he couldn’t just kiss her, especially with the camera rolling.

  Justin closed his eyes. Better not to look. Or think. But when Lilly’s fingers tangled tightly with his own, his heart swelled. He’d give anything to kiss her again.

  Chapter Seven

  Back at the station, Justin hung the Santa suit in his locker. Then he started towel-drying his hair. He’d taken a shower to get rid of some of the dust from the old suit. O’Rourke came into the locker room and headed for his own locker.

  “Hey, Santa. How’s it hanging?”

  “Okay. We got a good haul today. Did you see all the toys?” Justin dropped the towel onto the floor, let his second towel fall from his waist, and started getting dressed in his street clothes.

  “I volunteered for wrapping duty before I knew how many toys there would be,” said O’Rourke. “I’m going to be full of paper cuts.”

  “Whiner.” Justin pulled on his favorite old ripped jeans, then reached for his ratty gray Red Sox T-shirt. “At least you don’t have to dress like an old fat guy to get them.”

  “Yeah.” O’Rourke held up his phone. “Speaking of which—Danyr Jackson in the West precinct sent me video of how that’s working out for you.”

  Justin frowned as the image of his and Lilly’s kiss played out on O’Rourke’s screen. His ears grew hot. “It was a mistletoe kiss is all.” As if that didn’t sound lame. His partner would never believe it.

  O’Rourke pulled the phone back and looked down at it. “You keep telling yourself that, Weav, and maybe you’ll start to believe it.”

  “It’s true,” Justin lied.

  “Right. And I’m the tooth fairy.” Kevin shook his head.

  “No, you’re not. Take it from me. I’m Santa, and I know the tooth fairy. You, my friend, are no tooth collector.” You’re the Easter Bunny. Justin peered into his locker. “Shoot. Lilly still has my jacket.”

  “No, seriously, dude. Look at this. If she was only kissing you to appease those mouth breathers, she wouldn’t have kissed you like that.” O’Rourke shoved the phone in his face so that Justin couldn’t avoid looking at it. “She wants you, man.”

  Justin peered at the small screen—if he didn’t, he knew that O’Rourke would follow him until he watched it. He didn’t want to; he felt stupid enough knowing he was dressed like Santa. He didn’t have to look at it, too.

  But then he saw Lilly on the screen, stretching up on tiptoe to kiss him, her eyes closed like she was catching snowflakes. He didn’t remember—or hadn’t been aware—of how he’d slid both hands around her waist and pulled her tightly against him, or how she’d melted into him so perfectly.

  If they’d been anyone else, he realized, he would have told them to get a room—it was so obvious that they needed some real private time. Oh my gosh. He lifted his gaze to his partner’s face, expecting to see O’Rourke leering at him.

  Instead, he saw something he never expected. Understanding. Creepy. He blinked as his partner clapped him on the shoulder. “Son, you’ve got it bad. But so does she. How long are you going to allow this to go on?”

  “But…you don’t…I can’t. I mean, it’s Lilly.” Justin’s lungs tightened. He couldn’t inhale. Or exhale. “Holy crap.” He wheezed and dropped down onto the bench between the rows of lockers.

  “Yeah. It is. And you really like her. So why are you sitting here instead of going after her?” O’Rourke put his foot on the bench and leaned on his knee. “You’ve got the weekend off thanks to this cherry assignment I got you. Give yourself a present, Santa, and go after her.”

  “I don’t—I can’t. Lilly deserves more than—”

  O’Rourke rolled his eyes. “Dude, I didn’t say that you had to marry her. Just go talk to her. See where it leads. Know what I mean? Obviously, you both want it, whatever it is. So go get it!” He slid his foot down and straightened. “Before I tase your butt. Go. Get!”

  Shoot. Justin stood and looked at his partner.

  “Shoo.” O’Rourke waggled his fingers.

  Justin hurried from the locker room. There were reasons he couldn’t be with Lilly, but they weren’t things he wanted to discuss with his partner or anyone. Especially Lilly.

  …

  After they got back to the station, Cisco started editing, and the producers sent her on her way before the storm got any worse. And it was true—the roads were getting slippery. Still, Lilly didn’t question the wisdom of driving to Justin’s. She had forgotten to give him back his jacket, and she was determined to return it.

  Determined to get to the bottom of that kiss, you mean, the devil on her shoulder said.

  Shut up, she told it. I’m making sure he’s got his coat for tomorrow. It’s cold out. He needs it. It’s part of his uniform.

  He’s got the weekend off because of the Santa assignment. So he doesn’t need it.

  What if it’s the only jacket he owns?

  Oh, put on your big-girl panties, stop making excuses, and just find out, will you? The devil put her hands on her hips and glared at Lilly. You owe it to yourself. To him. Right? Go on, tell me I’m wrong.

  “I don’t know,” she muttered. She needed to talk to someone besides herself. Lilly lifted her phone out of the cupholder to call Hannah.

  She picked up after the first ring. “Lilly? You okay?”

  She smiled. Justin and Hannah weren’t so very different. “I’m fine. I’m pulling down Justin’s
street.”

  “You’re driving down Justin’s street?” Hannah paused. “Wait. Why? You’re kidding, right? You do realize the roads are terrible?”

  “I have to drop off his uniform coat.”

  “They haven’t salted or even started to plow yet. I don’t think they were expecting to have to get the road crews going this early in the season,” Hannah worried. “I never should have shown you where his house was. Then you wouldn’t be driving there now. Besides, he can live without his coat. He’s got others.” Pause. “Wait. Why do you have his coat?”

  Lilly laughed. “He made me wear it when he thought I might catch cold, and I forgot to give it back.” She hoped he was leaving work soon. If he didn’t get home within fifteen minutes or so, she’d leave. She didn’t relish the idea of sitting in a cold car, in the snow. “You don’t know when he’s getting home, do you?”

  “He might pull a double. They might order him overtime because of the storm.” Hannah chuckled. “I can tell you where he keeps his key, though, and you can let yourself in to ride out the weather.”

  “I can’t do that uninvited. It’s like breaking and entering!” Lilly turned the wheel to pull into Justin’s driveway. Her car fishtailed and almost slid into the retaining wall lining the lawn. She shrieked; her heart rose to her throat, and she sat there panting, trying to swallow it back into place.

  “Um…are you all right?” Hannah asked after a moment.

  “I almost hit the wall in Justin’s driveway.” Lilly had forgotten what it was like to drive in snow. Her little car had no traction or rear-wheel drive, and her tires were all wrong for icy surfaces.

  “That settles it. He keeps his key in the garage, hanging up near his wood bench, behind a can of nails. It’s on a Bruins lanyard.” Hannah gave Lilly the alarm code to get the garage door open.

  “I don’t know,” Lilly said. “It feels wrong to let myself in. Besides, that was just getting in his driveway—the roads aren’t that bad. I can get back to the hotel.” Maybe. It would take much longer than usual, but if she drove slowly…

  “Yeah, right. In your eco-car hybrid with no-wheel drive. You stay put. Let yourself in, and make yourself at home. I’ll call him and let him know you’re there. He’ll agree with me. You know what a worrywart he is. He’d go ballistic if he knew you were driving on these roads in that car. Besides, it’s only Justin.”