THE NIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS

by Vicky Lewis Thompson

  Lord forgive him, but he was definitely ogling now. With Suzanne stretched out in front of him, arms flung over her head, breasts jiggling with every deliberate thrust, he was living the most erotic dream he could have imagined. Yes, he was ogling, and she didn't seem to mind a bit. Her gaze was fixed on his, and it was filled with pure seduction.

  He shouldn't hold this position long, he told himself, even as the look in her eyes urged him to increase the pace. He should remember that she might not be able to find satisfaction in this position. Not every woman could. Ah, but he hated to stop. This was so good. So very good.

  As he pumped faster, her lips parted and her chin lifted a fraction. He would almost swear that she was getting close. She reached back and got a grip on the iron scroll-work behind her head. The picture kept getting better and better, he thought.

  Then she lifted her hips a little more and shifted the angle slightly. "Now," she whispered.

  "You can?"

  "Oh, yes." Her eyes darkened. "Oh … yes." With that special cry of hers, she arched her neck as the spasms overtook her.

  He needed nothing more than that. He came in a hot flood of release that left him dazed and gasping. As his sanity gradually returned, a powerful realization came with it. She'd surpassed his wildest dreams in bed, and she was all that he'd hoped for out of bed, too. She was all he'd ever wanted in a lover, in a partner, in a mate. If she didn't want to change him and make him into someone more acceptable for her, he'd found the woman he wanted to marry.

  * * *

  Time to leave now, Suzanne decided as she and Greg lay in his bed recovering slowly from their lovemaking. Greg cuddled after sex better than any man she'd known. And it scared her to death.

  Her heart told her she'd found the perfect guy, and yet she dared not trust it. Her brain knew that she might not be thinking clearly, for one thing. She'd recently been through a bad breakup, and she might think anybody who gave her three orgasms in one night was perfect.

  The biggest reason she couldn't listen to her heart, though, was Greg himself. He had a hobby of comforting women after bad breakups. Sure, he enjoyed the process—anyone could see that—but Terri had said right from the start that Greg didn't want to tie himself down.

  The way Terri put it, Greg understood that his lifestyle wouldn't mesh with that of any of the professional women in this building. Suzanne wasn't so sure about that. Greg was certainly educated enough to hold his own. Yet maybe he was the kind of guy who didn't feel comfortable in a white-collar world and wouldn't like having a wife who lived in that world, either.

  A wife. She'd made that leap in a heck of a hurry. Greg hadn't even suggested they might become a steady couple let alone partners for life.

  She needed to get out of this apartment and escape the seductive influences here before she said or did something that was totally inappropriate. So they'd had good sex. Great sex, from her standpoint. Greg was probably used to that. For all she knew, he'd had lots better.

  On that depressing note, she started to ease herself out of his arms. "I think I'd better go back to my place."

  His arms tightened around her. "Don't go yet," he murmured. His eyes were closed, and he sounded sleepy, and she didn't blame him. He'd had a busy night.

  "We both have to work tomorrow," she said.

  "Sleep here."

  "No, I can't do that I'd rather nobody saw me coming out of your apartment early in the morning."

  He opened his eyes, but he made no comment. From the way he was looking at her, she wondered if she'd hurt his feelings.

  The longer the silence stretched, the more she believed she had hurt his feelings. "Greg, shouldn't we be concerned about your job? You could lose it if anyone found out you'd been involved with one of the tenants."

  He continued to gaze at her. "Is that the reason you don't want to stay?"

  "That's part of the reason," she answered honestly. "The other part is that I'd rather not have people gossiping about me, either."

  "Because you wouldn't want anyone to know that you spent the night with the janitor?"

  She propped herself up on one elbow. "That is not the reason! How you make your living has nothing whatsoever to do with it I happen to value my privacy, that's all."

  He searched her expression as if looking for any indication that she wasn't telling the truth.

  Someone had hurt him, she realized. Some woman had treated him with contempt because of his job. She wondered if it was anyone in the building. If so, it was a miracle that he'd continue to help out depressed female tenants.

  She leaned down and kissed him tenderly. Then she looked into his eyes. "If you think I want to leave because I'm ashamed of having made love to you, the maintenance man in my apartment building, that's only because you don't know me well enough."

  Some of the tension around his eyes relaxed. "Then why do you want to go?"

  "I could put your job in jeopardy."

  "I understand that. But you also said you didn't want to be gossiped about. That sounds as if you're less than proud of being with me."

  She caressed his cheek as she gazed into his eyes. "You're right, it does sound that way, and the truth is, I really don't give a damn about whether people gossip about me. I threw that out so I wouldn't have to tell you the real reason."

  "Which is?"

  She took a deep breath. "I need some space. What's happened here tonight has been the most amazing sex of my life. Now, you probably hear that all the time."

  "No, I—"

  She laid a finger over his lips. "It's okay." She brushed her finger over his lower lip. "You don't have to humor me by saying it was the most amazing you've ever had. I don't need that."

  His glance sharpened. "Not even if it's true?"

  She thought of how Terri had described him. He knew all the right things to say to make a woman feel cherished. Of course he'd say this now. He was a sweet man, even if he wasn't into commitment. Maybe that was his destiny, to spread sunshine among many women instead of limiting himself to only one. He certainly had the talent for that role.

  She managed a smile. "Give me some time to get my act together," she said.

  "What's wrong with your act?"

  "I keep having the crazy feeling that I'm falling in love with you," she said. "There. That should be enough to scare you to death." This time, as she slipped out of bed, he didn't try to stop her.

  From the expression on his face, she decided that he was more than scared. He was terrified.

  Her heart felt like lead as she gathered her clothes and headed for the door. "Don't worry," she said. "I promise I won't be a problem for you." Then she left. After her startling announcement, she didn't expect to be invited back.

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  «^»

  Hours later, the candles had sputtered out and Greg still wasn't sure what to do about Suzanne. Although he was thrilled that she might be falling in love with him, she didn't seem thrilled at all. She'd acted as if that wasn't an acceptable outcome of their relationship.

  Yet why not? She'd said that his job didn't bother her in the least Maybe he was a fool to believe that, but she'd looked totally sincere when she'd said it Of course, all that hot sex might have impaired his judgment. Might? Hell, he could bet on it.

  One thing was clear—whatever happened next in their relationship would be up to him. She'd left saying she wouldn't be a "problem" for him. That could be girl-speak for I don't want you to be a problem for me. But he would never know if he didn't test it.

  And he would most definitely test it. Sure, he was taking the chance of being slammed to the mat if he discovered that Suzanne was indeed a snob who didn't want to be seen with a maintenance man. Although she hadn't immediately started questioning him about his future plans after discovering he was very well read, she still had time to do that, too.

  Anyone could see that he was heading into dangerous territory if he pursued her. But after the way she'd made love to hi
m tonight, he knew without a doubt that she was worth it.

  * * *

  In every romance novel Suzanne had ever read, once the heroine thought she'd lost the hero for good, she spent a sleepless night grieving over it Suzanne slept like a log, which might have had to do with those three fantastic orgasms Greg had given her.

  When her alarm buzzed the next morning, however, misery set in with a vengeance. After only two nights in Greg's arms, she was hooked. She couldn't imagine how she'd survive without his kisses and his talented caress. She'd miss his conversation, his gentleness, even his cat, for heaven's sake. And—if she were totally honest with herself—she'd miss his significant body parts.

  He hadn't been the only one ogling during their interlude. For the first time in her life she'd discovered the joy of ogling, female style. There was no other way to say it. Greg had the most beautiful penis she'd ever seen. And she would never, ever, see it again. That was worth crying over.

  She shouldn't have told him she might be falling in love. That was stupid, stupid, stupid. But he'd looked so upset at the idea that she was ashamed of being with him because of his job, that she'd had to put those fears to rest. Maybe some other woman had dissed his choice of occupation, but Suzanne couldn't let him think that she was that type of person.

  Even so, there must have been a million different ways she could have made a graceful exit without admitting that she was falling in love, for pity's sake. She could have pretended that she felt cramps coming on, for example, or that she was expecting an early-morning call from her mother. Anything but the truth.

  A little white lie would have allowed her the space she needed to get a grip on herself. A little white lie would have meant that she could go back to see Greg again and enjoy more of what she craved.

  But no, she'd had to tell the truth. She looked at her little red devil through brimming eyes. "It's all your fault!" She encompassed the entire mess in that statement, beginning with the impulse that had sent her down to Greg's apartment in the first place. She wasn't sure what had spawned that impulse, but she'd be happy to blame it on the devil.

  Oh, well. Time to suck it up and get on with her life. She'd had a wonderful time for two fantastic nights, and discovered that she could be sexually adventurous, after all. If she had a bad feeling that Greg was the only person who inspired that kind of behavior, she hoped that she was wrong. She hated to think that she'd never be that uninhibited again.

  Climbing out of bed, she discovered a new reason to be miserable. She could hardly walk. Most of it had to do with the gym and that blasted thigh machine, but some of it, she acknowledged as warmth coursed through her, was due to the wild sex she'd had in Greg's apartment.

  A hot shower helped loosen her tight muscles. Coffee and a bagel made her feel marginally more human, but every time she looked at her little Christmas tree, she wanted to cry. Funny, but not having Jared around hadn't affected her Christmas spirit at all, but the prospect of not having Greg around had smashed her Christmas spirit to smithereens.

  She also dreaded going downstairs to meet Terri this morning. They always took the same bus to work. If Suzanne didn't show up in the lobby at the regular time, Terri would come up to fetch her, so avoiding her wasn't an option. There would be more questions about Greg, though, and fielding them would not be easy.

  At last she had no choice but to put on her boots and her wool coat, sling the long strap of her leather briefcase over her shoulder and leave the safety of her apartment. That's when she saw the note lying on the carpet, a note that someone obviously had slipped under her door while she had been sleeping.

  Her briefcase dropped to the floor as she stared at the note, her heart pounding. Without looking, she knew the note was from Greg. In the eighteen months she'd lived in this apartment, no one had ever slipped a note under her door. It definitely wasn't Terri's style to do something that subtle. Terri either called or came to see her.

  But Greg was the type to write her a note. Because he was so considerate, he'd probably regretted not saying something soothing before she'd left his apartment. Once he recovered from the shock of her statement, he probably decided that he needed to do what he could to boost up her feelings—from a safe distance, of course, now that she'd announced that she might be falling for him.

  She didn't want to read the note. Yet if she put it off until tonight, she'd spend the whole day wondering exactly what he'd said. So she'd read it quickly and then go straight down to meet Terri. She didn't have time for anything more, anyway. If she was tempted to call him after reading the note, she wouldn't be able to, and that was a good thing.

  She picked up the folded sheet of paper. There was nothing unusual about it—a white, eight-and-a-half-by-eleven sheet, unlined, folded in half. She held her breath, and unfolded it He'd printed in block letters:

  Dear Suzanne,

  Forgive me for not responding to what you said last night before you left. You caught me by surprise. Please don't ever think that you could be a "problem" for me. I feel lucky to have you in my life, for however long that turns out to be. I'm not ready for our time together to be over. If you do want to end it, leave me a message and I'll understand. But if you're willing to see me again, I'd like to take you to a special little place for dinner tonight. It's nothing fancy, just a neighborhood pub where my friends and I hang out. Unless I hear from you, I'll be at your door by six.

  Greg.

  She read and reread the note. He wanted to take her out. She couldn't imagine why, but the fact remained that he wasn't through with her, after all. He wanted to take her out to dinner, apparently to meet his friends.

  As with the books lining the wall of his apartment, and his cat, she suspected that this pub where he met his friends wasn't something he allowed everyone to know about him. She doubted seriously that Terri had the slightest idea that Greg met friends at a neighborhood pub from time to time. Therefore, she couldn't say a word to Terri about this.

  Her doorbell buzzed, making her jump. Speaking of Terri, that would be her, wondering why on earth Suzanne wasn't down in the lobby ready to head for the bus stop. Suzanne was the most punctual person Terri knew, or at least that's what she'd always said.

  Folding the note and tucking it in the pocket of her coat, Suzanne picked up her briefcase and opened the door.

  Sure enough, Terri stood there looking worried. "Are you okay? I—"

  "Crippled from the thigh monster, but otherwise fine," Suzanne said. "I was on my way down. Let's go or we'll be late."

  "You don't look so crippled," Terri said as they dashed for the elevator that had just stopped at her floor. "I've never seen you look more alive and happy."

  "Must be all that exercise." She ducked into the elevator and held the button down so the door wouldn't close on Terri.

  Terri looked as if she wanted to comment, but Jennifer, who lived on Suzanne's floor, had stepped into the elevator with them.

  "You do look good, Suzanne," Jennifer said. "Did Terri finally talk you into joining the gym?"

  "‘Fraid so." Suzanne remembered that Jennifer had been the one who'd clued Terri in about Greg. So Jennifer had … no, she didn't want to go there. "If one of these days you see me crawling toward the elevator, I'd appreciate it if you'd help me make it up to my floor. I've never seen, such torture machines as they have in that gym."

  "You're going to thank me," Terri said as the elevator door slid open and they stepped out into the lobby. "There's nothing like being in shape to give a girl confidence."

  "Unless it's a hot look from a guy like him," Jennifer said in an undertone.

  Because Suzanne was the last one out of the elevator, she didn't realize that Jennifer was talking about Greg until a moment later, when she spotted him on a ladder tinkering with a smoke alarm on the far side of the lobby.

  Her pulse skyrocketed at the sight of those long, lean legs, that muscled torso, those sinewy arms. Mere hours ago he'd been naked, holding her garter-covered hips and thrus
ting deep while his green eyes glowed with pleasure. She knew the pattern his chest hair created as it swirled around his nipples and traced a line downward to the thicket of hair between his thighs. Candlelight had caught the sheen of perspiration on his skin as he'd pumped faster, faster, faster.

  Jennifer might know those intimate details about Greg, too, but Suzanne couldn't think about that now.

  "Hey, Greg," Terri called across the lobby. "How's it going?"

  Greg glanced over his shoulder. His gaze swept all three women, and his smile held no trace of uneasiness. "What's up, Terri? Hi there, Suzanne, Jennifer."

  "Hi, Greg," Jennifer said. "Glad to see you're keeping those smoke alarms working."

  "You bet," Greg said. "I don't plan on any of us going up in flames."

  Except me, Suzanne thought, if you take me to bed again tonight. She needed to say something breezy, too, as the other two women had, but her throat felt as tight as her aching thighs. "Don't fall off the ladder, now," she said. Don't fall off the ladder? What kind of lame remark was that?

  Greg didn't seem to notice how stupid she sounded. "I'll try not to," he said. Then he smiled again, and that smile seemed to be aimed right at her. "I wouldn't be much good for anything if I did that."

  She could feel the heat in her cheeks and knew she must be blushing. "Right," she said.

  "See you, Greg," Jennifer said. "My cab's out there." She glanced at Terri and Suzanne. "You two want to share?"

  'That's okay," Terri said quickly. "Thanks, but your office isn't that close to ours. The bus is perfect for us."

  "Perfect," Suzanne said. "Bye, Greg." She didn't look at either Jennifer or Terri as she charged out the revolving door to the street. Cold air had never felt so good.

  "Wait for me, toots." Terri came hurrying up beside her, her boots crunching on the snowy sidewalk. "Wow." Her breath came out in clouds. "Good thing Greg's fixing that smoke alarm. The sparks shooting between you guys might set the place on fire."