Romancing the Holidays: Twelve Christmas Romances - Benefits Breast Cancer Research

by Crista McHugh

  “What about Franny’s Hideaway?” Lucas said. “I was out there earlier plowing and salting her driveway. She has a couple of rooms open.”

  “Oh, yeah. Good idea. Want me to call Franny?” Finn asked.

  Julia’s head moved back and forth, following the conversation. “I – that would be – sure, thanks.” She pushed herself to an awkward stand. “Bathroom call.” She waddled past Annie. “Like every ten minutes,” she said under her breath. “I should really just put a cot in there and spend the night next to the porcelain.”

  Finn wandered to the other side of the bar, cell phone to his ear. After a moment, he hung up and turned with a nod. “Franny has three rooms open. They’re yours if you want ‘em.”

  “Thanks,” Gabe said. “How far away is her place?”

  “It’s only about a mile outside of town,” Lucas said.

  Brady finished his beer, walked over to the jukebox and took out his wallet. A minute later, “Surfin’ USA” by the Beach Boys filled the pub. “It was between this and “White Christmas,”” he said to Annie with a wink. “I thought we could fool ourselves into thinking it was ninety and sunny outside.”

  “I like the sound of that.” She turned to Mick, about to add something about the summer weather in Lindsey Point, but his scowl stopped her. “What’s wrong?”

  He only shook his head and went to look outside. Hands propped on his hips, his neck tightened as he stood there. Annie knew that posture. Something’s bothering him. The weather? Anticipation of what emergencies might arise in the storm?

  Brady held out a hand. “Jitterbug?” he asked, and that was all it took. Annie stopped analyzing Mick’s body language. Dancing would most definitely take her mind off school, the F, and the studying ahead. She slipped off her stool, helped Brady push a few tables and chairs out of the way, and a moment later, they were dancing as if the biggest storm of the season wasn’t thundering down on Lindsey Point outside the Great White.

  CHAPTER 4

  Mick rubbed the back of his neck and stared into the storm. His radio remained silent, but he reached down and checked it all the same. The Beach Boys sang on, and in the reflection of the front window, he could see Annie dancing and laughing with this newcomer, this guy with the slick job and clever sense of humor. Frustration tightened a knot in his stomach.

  Just tell her how you feel.

  But that was so much easier thought than done. What if she laughed? What if she didn’t feel the same way he did? Worse, what if she did feel the same and they started dating, and then six months down the road they broke up and never talked to each other again?

  The song ended, and a breathless Annie appeared at his side. “See anything out there?” she asked. Her forehead shined, and her chest rose and fell. His gaze fastened on her mouth and the way her lips twitched in a smile.

  Just tell her.

  “Mick?” She waved a hand in front of his face.

  He blinked. “Ah, sorry. Long hours are taking their toll, I guess.”

  She linked her arm through his. “I wonder if I should head home.”

  “Are you walking?” He’d go with her. He’d accompany her every step of the way.

  “Yes.” She peered into the dark and shivered. “But I don’t feel like going out in that snow.” She leaned forward and shaded her eyes. “Do you see that?”

  “What?” The snow was falling sideways now, the wind driving it straight into the window. He couldn’t see a thing. “Someone out there?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. Looked like... I guess it wasn’t a person. Shadows from the storm, that’s all.”

  Brady walked over and joined them. “Maybe a ghost?” He looked down at Annie with a smile. “I hear you have a few of those here.”

  Annie squeezed Mick’s arm. “One or two.” She gestured outside. “Some people say our lighthouse is haunted.”

  Brady rested a finger on his cheek as if in deep consideration. “As a scientist, I have to tell you I don’t believe in ghosts. Or haunted lighthouses.”

  “No?” Annie said. “Then you’ll be in the minority here.” She looked up at him. “Haven’t you ever come across something you couldn’t explain? Something crazy or magical or spooky or just plain non-scientific?”

  He shrugged. “Nope.”

  “That’s too bad.”

  Annie rested her head on Mick’s shoulder, and it was like all the light in the world came back into his veins. Yeah, that’s too bad, buddy, he couldn’t help thinking. Move along to another town and another girl you can charm with the Beach Boys. He wanted to keep Annie on his shoulder as long as he could. But a moment later, she released his arm and dashed across the room to the jukebox.

  “I guess you’ll have to hang around a little longer,” she said to Brady.

  Longer? Mick turned with a frown. He hadn’t seen Annie since the leaves were still on the trees. She’d probably disappear from his life once her classes started again, and here he was watching a stranger take her hand and spin her around the Great White like they’d known each other forever.

  This time a Beatles tune burst from the speakers. Julia tapped her toes, and even Gabe drummed his fingers on the table. Mick wanted to make a comment about their taste in music being older than everyone in the bar put together, but he bit it back. No one else seemed bothered by the trip back to the ‘60s. The lights flickered, flashed, went dim, but remained on. Annie smiled up at Brady as they danced, though she didn’t get too close to him, Mick noticed, which made him feel marginally better. He returned to the bar and finished his coffee.

  “Warm-up?” Finn asked.

  “Nah. I should probably go, anyway.”

  “You get a call?” Lucas asked.

  “Or you tired of watching that?” Finn said with a glance at the makeshift dance floor.

  Mick’s shoulders hunched up around his ears.

  “When are you gonna tell her how you feel?”

  “Never.”

  “So you’re just gonna mope around town until the end of time,” Finn said. “Or until she gets serious about someone and settles down and you lose your shot forever. That sounds smart. Mature.”

  “Like you’re the king of mature,” Mick mumbled. Although he had to admit that of the three of them, Mick was bringing up the rear when it came to serious relationships. Finn had been engaged for over a year now. Lucas had a wife and kid. “If she does pick someone else, then it was meant to be,” Mick finally said.

  Lucas shook his head with a stoic grin.

  “That is such shit,” Finn said. “It’s Christmas, man. The season of hope, miracles, and all that. If this isn’t a time for opening your mouth and risking your heart, I don’t know when is.”

  Mick’s hand tightened around his mug. The song ended, and Brady bent Annie over in a deep dip. Her dark red hair brushed the floor, and a lump stuck in Mick’s throat. He knew how her beautiful hair smelled and felt when brushed against his shoulder. Maybe Finn was right. If now wasn’t the time for risks, then when was? He couldn’t keep walking around Lindsey Point feeling like his heart was about to explode.

  Annie approached the bar, cheeks flushed. “I’d almost ask you to open a window, Finn, except for that little matter of a blizzard outside.” Finn handed her a glass of water, and she drank deeply. “Ooh, I do love to dance.”

  Mick watched the water move down her throat, the way she swallowed, and then brushed the sweat from her forehead with the back of one wrist. His groin tensed. “So,” he began, not having any idea where this conversation was heading.

  “You’re a grumpy Grinch tonight,” Annie said before he could continue. She ran a hand over his. “Everything all right?”

  He drew encouragement from her touch. “Actually, there was one thing…”

  Something popped, and the lights went black. Annie jumped. Mick stumbled backwards over his stool. Finn cursed under his breath.

  “Ah, you all still over there?” Julia called out in the quiet.

&n
bsp; A chair scraped, then footsteps approached the front window, and Gabe came into view. In the gray light, Mick watched him cup his hands around his eyes. He looked left and right. “Looks like the whole block is out.”

  “Shit,” Finn muttered.

  “You have a generator?” Gabe asked.

  “A-yep. Don’t know how much fuel I have for it, though. Didn’t think this storm was gonna amount to much.”

  Annie’s hand tightened on Mick’s wrist. “Are there candles?” she asked.

  “Think so,” Finn answered. “Either in the storeroom or down in the basement.” He fumbled behind the bar and produced a ring of keys. “Can you look? I’ll go in back and see about the generator.”

  “Sure.” Mick took the keys. That would give him something to do besides fantasize about taking Annie in the dark and showing her how a real man romanced a woman. He held the key ring close to his face, peering to try to distinguish them.

  “I bet the small one is for the storeroom,” Annie said. “I think the others are for closets in the basement. I’ll help you look.” She threaded her fingers through Mick’s belt loop, and his heart and all parts south of his belt loop responded triple time.

  You’re looking for candles. You have a power outage, a very pregnant woman, and strangers you don’t know in a bar where you can’t see what anyone’s doing.

  But none of that mattered as Annie followed him to the narrow door next to the bathrooms. The heat from her body close behind warmed him straight through. He thought he heard Brady say something under his breath, but Mick ignored it. “We’ll just be a minute,” he called across the room. “Hang tight.”

  “No worries,” Julia called back, her voice a lilting sound in the darkness.

  They didn’t have much room in the narrow hallway, which forced Annie even closer. Mick neared the door, their hips bumping, and tried the first key. No luck. He tried the second. It started to go in, but then skittered over the mechanism, and he dropped the entire ring on the floor. Not like he was distracted or anything.

  Annie dropped to her knees. “I’ll get them.”

  Mick swallowed. In the shadows, he could just make out the curve of her back and the wisps of hair that fell over her neck. Her hands worked their way along the floor, her ass wiggling in the sexiest damn way. His fingers reached down for her, then curled back into themselves.

  Eventually, she clambered to her feet, slipped a key into the lock, and turned the knob. “There.” She opened the door and stepped inside.

  Mick followed, heart racing. He’d been inside this room only once or twice before, helping Finn in the early days of renovating the Great White. Shelves packed with boxes lined both walls. Tall stacks of boxes sat on the floor as well.

  “Careful,” he said. “Don’t want you breaking a leg in here.”

  Annie turned. She stood so close their shoulders touched, and he could smell her perfume. “If I did, I’d be with the right person. With your medical training and all.” She laid a hand on his chest and, for a moment, time stopped.

  Does she feel it too? Does she know? Mick’s yearning stretched so wide, he thought the whole town of Lindsey Point must know how much he wanted her.

  “We should look for a...” she breathed, her last words dissolving into the dark, but she didn’t move.

  “Uh huh.” He bent his head so he could see her better, so he could read her lips, but in the next second, desire overtook him. Mick snaked one hand behind Annie’s back and pulled her into him, and in the second her breath caught in her throat, he kissed her.

  The way he’d wanted to since they were teenagers.

  The way he’d thought about since their road trip to Myrtle Beach.

  The way he fantasized at night when the only thing to help him sleep was thoughts of her.

  His tongue parted her lips, and he didn’t have time to wonder or worry how she might respond, because her hands went to back of his neck and pulled him tighter to her. All her amazing curves snuggled up to the planes of his torso, and he grew hard in an instant. His mouth moved down her cheek, finding her earlobe and the soft spot of her neck. God, she tasted so good. She felt so good in his arms. He wanted all of this, all of her. When she gave a soft moan, he almost lost it.

  “Mick,” she breathed. But she didn’t continue kissing him. Instead, she took his hands in hers and held them tight to her chest. For a long moment, she stared at him. “What are we doing?”

  He couldn’t make out her expression in the dark. “Ah...kissing?”

  “I meant, where did that come from?”

  “I’m sorry.” Instantly, he regretted taking advantage, pushing too far. Although Mr. Happy, nearly bursting from his jeans, wasn’t regretting anything except the fact they’d stopped.

  “Don’t be sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” She leaned closer, until he could see her wide eyes. “That was…” She finally dropped his hands and brushed two fingers over her lips. “Damn.”

  “I don’t want to ruin things.” He waved his hand in the air between them, knowing he wouldn’t find the right words. “I mean, between us. Not like there’s an us, particularly, just that—” She reached up and stilled his mouth, and it took all his willpower not to suck her fingers between his lips and run his tongue over them.

  “You’re my best friend,” she said.

  He nodded.

  Her chest rose and fell, but she didn’t say anything else. He cleared his throat and stepped back. “We should try to find those candles.”

  “Good idea.” She turned and burrowed her way to the back of the storeroom. Mick stayed where he was. “I’ve got a flashlight,” he said after a minute of patting down the shelves. He clicked it on, and brash light filled the tiny space.

  Annie looked over her shoulder. She held a box. “I’ve got candles.” Her gaze met his, burned there for a minute, and then moved over his shoulder. “We should probably get back to the bar.”

  Mick let her go first, locking the door behind them. As she walked away, he leaned against the wall and let his pulse return to normal.

  You’re my best friend…

  The words should have made him happy. How many people had a best friend like Annie, who could bring light and laughter to everyone around her? How many people had someone they could trace nearly every memory to, someone who knew all their fears and foibles and cared about them despite it all?

  Instead, the words made him feel like the saddest man on earth.

  CHAPTER 5

  Annie set the box of candles on the bar. She straightened her sweater and glanced behind her at Mick. Butterflies swooped in her stomach. He kissed me. And I liked it. Correction, she’d nearly exploded with the sensations of it. She’d never thought of him that way, as someone yummy and kissable.

  Really? a little voice inside her head asked. Not ever?

  Okay, maybe she’d noticed the tautness of his muscles the past few summers on the beach, when he wore nothing but a pair of swim trunks. And maybe she’d found comfort in the kindness of his eyes when he smiled at her across the crowded bar of the Great White. Maybe she’d had a little too much to drink once or twice and wondered how he would be in bed. Those hands, trained to save lives. That mouth, quirking up at one corner when he made jokes. That ass, filling out a pair of jeans nicely enough to make other women in town whistle when he walked by.

  Annie shook her head. This was Mick Rentas, her best friend from childhood. How could she kiss him, want him, think of him like that? Her cheeks burned, and she hoped the darkness hid her face. Lucas and Finn would be able to read her expression in a second.

  “No gas in the generator,” Finn said as they regrouped.

  Mick set the flashlight on the bar. “Power might only be out for a little while.” He reached into the box and pulled out a handful of candles. Most were attached to small plastic holders, and he lined the bar with them.

  “Or it might be out all night,” Finn said. The wind whistled louder, and the front door creaked.


  Lucas took a book of matches from behind the bar and followed Mick, lighting each candle. When they finished, the Great White glowed with soft white light.

  “Wow,” Annie said. “That looks amazing.” A large swatch of mistletoe hung in the doorway. Holiday boughs looped along the bar and the dining booths, and the flickering light caught the green branches and red bows and scattered color everywhere. No place I’d rather be in a storm.

  Julia’s cell phone pinged. “I figured,” she said after squinting at the screen. She held her phone out to Gabe. “The conference is cancelled. Guess we’ll turn around tomorrow and head back too.” She set her phone on the table with a grimace.

  Gabe bent over her, hands on her shoulders. “You feeling all right?”

  She rubbed her back. “Just some cramps. I’ll be fine.”

  Alarm spread through Annie. “Have you had them before?”

  Julia managed a small smile from her white face. “Yes. For about the last six weeks, on and off. Doctor says it’s normal. Braxton Hicks, false labor, nothing to worry about.”

  “Did you have them with your twins?”

  Julia shook her head. “That was a fairly easy pregnancy, believe it or not. They were two weeks early, but they each weighed almost five pounds. Big little buggers.” Her hand returned to her back, and sweat dotted her forehead. “Think maybe I’ll try to walk it off,” she said. “That usually helps.” She reached for Gabe’s hand and pulled herself up.

  He ran his fingers over Julia’s cheek, and Annie looked away. Such a tender touch, an intimate moment. Her mind flashed back to the kiss in the storeroom. It hadn’t been tender, but it sure had been intimate. Mick’s hands roaming over every inch of her. Her lips opening to him, wanting more, taking more. Heat burning in her core she knew matched his own.

  They couldn’t get involved. It would change everything. Yet when she glanced across the bar, she found Mick staring at her. Even in the half-light, she could read his desire, and she wondered if Gabe and Julia’s silent, private exchange had triggered something inside him as well.