Kissing Santa Claus

by Donna Kauffman, Jill Shalvis

  “She came here and fell in love with the place, or so she said. By the time we were married, she wanted off Kauai and insisted we head for California.”

  “You moved away?” Marissa could not imagine him anywhere but here. He fit here. The world of Kauai made sense with him in it.

  “Not that I wanted to.” He looked at her for the first time. “I was trying to make her happy.”

  “But it didn’t work.”

  “Nope. See, Hawaii wasn’t the problem. Tessa was. She wasn’t settled. She wanted her life to be something different. For me to be someone different. I couldn’t give it to her and came back.”

  He was trying to draw a parallel. He wanted to stuff her into the role of Tessa and write her off. Make walking away easy. Expected.

  Marissa wasn’t buying it. She didn’t know what she wanted or even if she could open up after all she saw her mother go through, but she knew if she did she wouldn’t let a stupid thing like geography scare her off. Hell, even her current situation with Hank and all the bad stuff went away when she was with Ted.

  “Your ex-wife sounds like an idiot to me.”

  The darkness cleared from his eyes as a smile slipped across his lips. “I’m not exactly perfect, either.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.” She glanced down at her hands. “So is all of this your way of telling me Kauai isn’t for me?”

  “You don’t want to stay.”

  Nothing grated on her nerves like being told what she wanted. “Really? And just what do you think I want?”

  “A nap.”

  That came out of nowhere. “Talk about getting an answer wrong.”

  He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I’m just saying I could stand to lie down for a second.”

  When he wiggled his eyebrows, she got the point. “Oh, that kind of nap.”

  “Yeah, the naked type.”

  The abrupt change of conversation made her feel empty, but if this was all he could give her right now she’d take it. She glanced around to make sure they weren’t corrupting minors. The only other people braving the high winds were a group of Japanese tourists and a family that was more interested in all of the wild chickens running around the area.

  “Then we may as well nap together.”

  He kissed her. “Now you’re talking.”

  10

  The rest of the day raced by followed by a night of the hottest sex Ted had ever had. Marissa’s focused determination translated just fine in the bedroom. She knew what she wanted, knew how to please, knew how to enjoy.

  But it was time for her to go home. He stood in the middle of the airport holding her bag, watching her talk with the check-in agent, and wondering how he was going to let her go. The past few days had been so damn good. Having someone to come home to, someone to fight with knowing the argument would challenge him and end up in bed. For a man who talked big about the fantasy of Hawaii, he sure was buying into it.

  The practical part of him knew that once the fun of vacation wore off a woman like Marissa would crave the pressures and freedoms of city life. He wasn’t living through that again. One divorce and thousands of dollars in legal fees was enough for a lifetime.

  “Where is this woman who has you looking like a whipped dog?” Kane appeared out of nowhere, wearing his uniform and his usual stern frown, and stood beside Ted.

  “I take it you’re ready to make an arrest in the burglary.”

  “The dumbass is right there on the security tape breaking into her room.”

  “How did he get the key?”

  “Nicki is working on that. Your little sister is ‘throw someone out the window’ angry.”

  Ted smiled. He could just imagine Nicki on a rampage. She’d rip the hotel apart until she found the person who gave Hank the key to Marissa’s room. And if it wasn’t one of her people and Hank managed it himself, she’d likely rip his arm off and beat him to death with it.

  Kane nodded in the direction of Marissa’s ass. “Is that her?”

  “How did you know?”

  “You’re staring and drooling.”

  He was half right. “Shut up.”

  Kane looked down at his feet for a few seconds. Ted knew what was coming. His friend was winding up for a lecture. Ever since he got married, Kane gave a lot of those. Something about being married and settled made him want all of his officers to know the same.

  “You can always ask her to stay, you know,” Kane said.

  “It’s Christmas. She wants to get home.” It got harder and harder to parrot back the standard line.

  Even as he wanted her to make the decision to stay he knew he would never believe it was a permanent one, or even the right one. People came in and out of Hawaii all of the time. People like her belonged somewhere else. And that part sucked.

  Marissa turned around. While Hank walked beside her, almost on top of her, carrying on an animated conversation, Marissa just stared at Ted. The new tan gave her a fresh glow but the sparkle he had seen in her big brown eyes over the last few days had faded.

  “Yeah, she looks really excited to get out of here,” Kane said with a snort.

  “No one ever wants to leave Hawaii. You know that.”

  “Isn’t this the same woman who got so angry about having to stay here that she kicked a TSA agent?”

  Hank and Marissa where only a few feet away now. Ted could make out Hank giving a description of some restaurant he liked. Marissa didn’t say a word.

  Ted tried to signal her about what was to come. Having a guy in a police uniform next to him probably gave her a clue because her eyes grew wide. And Hank kept right on talking until he almost walked into Kane.

  “Marissa, this is police chief Kane Travers.”

  Kane nodded. “Ma’am.”

  “This isn’t about the TSA incident again, is it?” Hank asked, his words rushing together from what Ted assumed was a bad case of nerves. “She has her new identification. We are just going to get on the plane quietly and leave. I’ll take care of everything from here.”

  At that comment Marissa looked at Hank for the first time. Whatever she saw had her frowning.

  “No.” That was all Kane said, but the word was enough to get Hank squirming.

  “Did you really think a hotel like that wouldn’t have security cameras in the hallway? That we wouldn’t wonder about the eighteen calls a day to her cell phone?” Ted asked.

  Marissa edged away from Hank to stand closer to Ted. To be sure she was out of Hank’s grabbing range, Ted held on to her elbow. If Hank was going to lose what was left of his mind, he wasn’t going to take Marissa with him.

  Hank looked around like the trapped weasel he was. Even bent his knees as if he thought he could sprint for the door. Ted guessed Hank thought he could walk right through Kane. Now that would be interesting to see.

  “There is an officer behind you, so don’t even think about moving.” Kane pointed to the policeman standing ten feet away.

  “And it’s an island. You couldn’t get very far anyway.” Ted thought that was kind of obvious, but he decided to make the explanation anyway.

  Marissa was far less calm. She dropped her new purse to the ground and lunged at Hank. Got right up in his face before Ted could stop her.

  “You broke into my room? You stole my purse?”

  People stopped walking around them and some stopped to see what was happening. Marissa’s screaming guaranteed an audience.

  Ted pulled her back. “Let’s not torment the lovesick crazy person.”

  “Is that what this was?” Marissa’s cheeks turned pink as she locked her hands into fists. “I turned you down, so you decided to harass me?”

  Hank sputtered before he got any words out. “Of course not!”

  Ted shoved Hank back from Marissa another foot. “I think it had more to do with him wanting to be your savior. He would be the one to get you on that plane when your license was lost. He would keep you safe. He wanted to make it so that you needed him. When you
left with me and he couldn’t get to you, he went nuts. All those calls harassing Nicki for information. Pretty unhealthy shit.”

  Ted had worked all that out. It was the only answer that made sense. Hank didn’t seem to want to hurt her or even scare her. Not yet. But that’s how obsession of this sort started. It was when Marissa turned him down again that she would have been in danger. Ted vowed not to let that happen and turned up the heat to settle the case today, before she got the plane and left with Hank.

  “That’s sick.” The sour look on Marissa’s face said it all. The idea of being stalked by Hank had been a blow. She wanted to believe a stranger and a case of bad luck were to blame, not someone she knew and trusted.

  “It sure isn’t a good way to meet women,” Kane said.

  “Don’t listen to them. Don’t you see, they can’t solve your case so they’re blaming it on me.”

  Hank just wouldn’t give up, so Ted spelled it out for him. “You’re on the videotape. You knew Marissa would be out. You had access to her purse. I bet when we search your bag, we’ll find some of her personal items.”

  Marissa looked as if she’d been hit with a pan. “What kind of…”

  Ted guessed underwear and other personal things Marissa had forgotten about. “You don’t want to know.”

  Her eyes widened as she figured it out. “That’s disgusting.”

  Hank lifted his chin and tried to step around Kane. “I’m leaving.”

  Kane caught him with one hand. Wrenching Hank’s arm back stopped him. Before Hank could yell, Kane put the cuffs on him. “You’re under arrest.”

  Hank’s eyes grew wild with fear. “Marissa, don’t let them do this!”

  Ted pulled her back a few more feet. “You don’t need to see this.”

  But everyone could see it and hear it. Hank was yelling up a storm. Passengers loading and unloading stopped to look at him. Others walked in wide circles around him.

  “I don’t understand why he would do this. We’ve known each other for years,” she said, the mix of disgust and shock evident in her voice.

  “And he’s probably been harboring feelings for you for all that time. Throw in a trip to sexy Kauai and his fantasies spun out of control.” The fact this guy got close enough to touch her, to almost hurt her, made Ted shake with fury.

  When Kane reported back this morning about the security tapes, Ted went into a rage. He needed a new desk chair as a result. He also took himself right off the case. Kane insisted on making the arrest saying he feared Ted would kill Hank and cause a whole lot of paperwork on Christmas.

  Kane handed off a screaming Hank to one officer and ordered another to clear away the crowd. By the time he joined Ted, Kane’s mouth had flattened into a thin line.

  “You okay?” he asked Marissa.

  “Stunned.” She shook her head. “I just don’t get how I didn’t see it.”

  Ted rubbed his hand up and down her arm. She shook from head to foot, but he doubted she even realized it.

  “That’s not unusual,” Kane said. “This kind of thing isn’t always rational on the part of the obsessed person. In his mind the two of you were communicating and he was sending out signals that you understood. In reality, you just saw him as you always saw him.”

  “It’s part of the sickness,” Ted explained.

  “It’s like a nightmare.”

  “Sorry we had to make the arrest in public and that I couldn’t warn you.” That was the part that got to Ted. He had wanted to bundle her up and keep her far away from the airport as this unfolded. “We’d been watching Hank, waiting to see if he would do anything else.”

  “You have?”

  “And in addition to the manic calls the fingerprints from your room came back. His were all over the place,” Kane said.

  “I wondered why I couldn’t find my phone.”

  “I took it while you were in the shower. Saw the missed calls.” Ted refused to apologize for breaking off Hank’s communication with her.

  Marissa’s hand shook as she brushed her hair back off her shoulder. “To be fair, Hank had been in the room for work while I was there.”

  The skin on Kane’s cheeks pulled tight. “These were in places I don’t think you would have let him go.”

  “Like?”

  Kane glanced at Ted who nodded for him to continue. “The bed. The drawers where you kept your clothes.”

  All that shaking turned into screaming anger. “Bring him back here so I can kick him.”

  Kane smiled for the first time. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve done enough kicking in this airport.”

  A blush stained her cheeks. “Sorry about that and for all the trouble.”

  “Ted explained. It’s fine.” Kane glanced at his watch. “Don’t you have a plane to catch?”

  Subtle as ever. Ted was surprised Kane didn’t go the extra step and ask Marissa to stay.

  “Thanks for your help.” Ted said the words but shot Kane a “get the hell out of here” look.

  Kane took the hint. “I’ll let the two of you work this out.”

  “He’s your boss?” she asked the minute Kane walked away.

  Kane was much more than that, but Ted thought that description was good enough for now. He had other things to discuss. “Yeah.”

  She looked at the clock on the wall. Her feet. Everything but him. “I guess I should get to the gate.”

  “You should stay.”

  Her head snapped up. “What?”

  “Until your scheduled flight,” he rushed to say. “You’ve had a tough few minutes. There’s no need to wait around and see if you can fly standby on a packed flight.”

  “I don’t have anywhere to stay. I gave up my room.”

  He had ordered Marissa to keep the suite open. “Your room is still there.”

  “Really?”

  “You can catch the early evening flight on Christmas Eve and still be home by Christmas morning.”

  Her gaze studied his, but her expression was blank. He couldn’t read her at all. He tried to sweeten the deal. “The snow will still be there. Besides, I have some more things to show you on Kauai.”

  This was as close as he would ever get to begging her to stay. He made the suggestion, made it all possible, and now it was up to her.

  “You’re willing to play tour guide?” she asked.

  “Sure, and some of those sights may even be outside the hotel room.”

  Her mouth broke into a huge grin. “Now you’ve sold me.”

  “I knew I should have led with the indoor activities.”

  11

  Christmas Eve. Marissa tried to remember the last time she spent a holiday rolled up in bed with a handsome hottie from the tropics.

  Yep. Never.

  She folded the sheets down and brushed her fingernails across his bare chest. When she settled her head on his shoulder, his body shifted but his eyes remained closed. Poor baby. Spending hours in bed had worn him out.

  In a way she was happy for the quiet. She could watch him sleep. Even relaxed he still looked potent. The dark hair and sleek tanned chest highlighted his sexiness. He could wield a gun and make her laugh then fill her with a driving need like she had never known before. He made her crave balance, to find something outside of the office that would just be for her.

  She had called her mom and told her about the delay. Marissa blamed it on the flights. She expected a guilt trip in return. Instead, her mom wished her well and told her to call once she knew her plans. Seemed everyone expected Marissa to cancel holiday plans in favor of work. Thinking back, she realized she had done just that many times. She didn’t want to be that person anymore. Ted had helped her see that.

  It was simple. She was falling for him.

  She respected him, liked him, and had started to love him. It wasn’t all that hard to do. Under the gruffness and bossiness he was good and sweet, romantic and solid. He was everything her father wasn’t. Ted wouldn’t dump his wife for a younger, prettier model. Te
d wouldn’t leave his wife and child penniless while he established a new family. Ted wouldn’t run when times got hard.

  But Ted wouldn’t love her back. He saw her as transient. As the Marissa she was just a few days ago, before Kauai changed her. Before she realized the feeling of Christmas didn’t have anything to do with a place or snow.

  “I can hear you thinking,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.

  Marissa dragged her foot up his calf. “I thought you were sleeping.”

  “I was doing some thinking of my own.”

  Her heart jumped. “About?”

  “Food.”

  So much for romance. “Did you work up an appetite?”

  His eye popped open. “I could eat for three days.”

  “Good thing Christmas is tomorrow.”

  “Good thing someone other than me does the cooking.” He propped his head up on his arm.

  “Nicki?”

  “Yeah. She puts out a spread. Aaron and I come over.”

  “Aaron?”

  “My brother.”

  Marissa realized she knew so little about the man who had come to mean so much. Maybe Ted was right and this was all illusory and short term. Maybe she would go back home and go fall right into her routine, forgetting everything she had learned and had come to want.

  Both of his eyes were open now and his gaze centered on her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  He lifted up on one elbow. “Something.”

  Something like how she wanted him to ask her to stay. She picked at the bedspread. “I’m going to miss Kauai.”

  He hesitated, not rushing to fill the silence. When he finally spoke, he said exactly the wrong thing. “It’s always here. You can come back and visit.”

  His solution deflated her. It amounted to a “come back and we’ll sleep together now and then” proposition. No thanks. “Will it ever be as special as this first time?”

  “Probably not.”

  He continued to hold her at a distance. He would shower her with romance and help her discover every lovely spot on the island, but he wouldn’t let her inside him. Not in any real way that would break through the protective shell he built up around him after his divorce.