by KB Winters
“Were you out with friends?” she asked, taking her seat again.
I chuckled. “This feels like high school all over again. I think I’m having flash backs.”
She tilted her head. “Indulge me. You’re all the way across the country and I don’t know anything about your life.”
“Mom,” I objected softly, a pang of guilt hitting me in the gut. “I call every Sunday.”
She gave me a pointed look over the rim of her mug.
“Okay, I call most Sundays.”
“You do,” she conceded. “But I still feel like I have no idea what’s really going on with you. All you ever tell us is work stuff.”
“To tell you the truth, that’s kind of all there is to my life these days.” I hadn’t meant the comment to come out sounding bitter, but the tang was there anyway. Meeting Maci was a breath of fresh air in a lot of ways. Not only was she the polar opposite of most of the women I’d met since moving to LA, but she was also the first woman I’d really let myself slow down long enough to enjoy.
“Should I be worried, Alex?”
I shook my head. “Nah. I’m all right. Work is good. It’s what I wanted. What I worked my ass off to get. My employees are happy and business is thriving. I wake up every morning with a sense of purpose and direction. I can’t get to the office fast enough most days. It’s better than I ever imagined.”
“But?”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. There was no escaping mother’s intuition. “I met someone.”
“In LA?”
“No. Here. At the mall.”
My mom’s eyebrows arched into rounded peaks on her smooth forehead. “Who is she?”
“She works at the mall part time to make some Christmas cash. Her name is Maci. She has a daughter.”
“Oh, Alex!” She set down her mug. “Is that where you were tonight? With her?”
“She invited me over to have dinner at her place.”
“So you’ve met her daughter?” she asked, a hint of shock in her tone.
I inclined my head and then took a deep sip of the cooled tea, buying myself a minute. “She’s a sweetheart. I think she and Marvin would get along great. She’d probably love baby Ella.” I chuckled softly.
“Alex.”
I looked at my mother and saw a new emotion there, one I didn’t recognize at first.
“I’ve never seen you like this,” she said at my puzzled look. “You’re smitten with this woman!”
I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. “Not quite how I’d put it, but she’s got my attention, that’s for damn sure.”
“You should invite her over for Christmas Eve dinner, here at the house, that way we call all meet her.”
“Mom…” I started to shake my head, searching for a plausible excuse to wrangle out of the idea, but then stopped. Why not? Sure, it had only been a few dates, but it felt like a helluva lot longer—in the best way possible.
“It will be casual,” my mom pressed. “We’ve invited over some of the neighbors too. It’s more of an open house or holiday party than a family-only dinner. She’ll fit right in and we won’t do anything to embarrass you.”
I laughed but found myself nodding along, agreeing to her plan. “All right. I’ll ask her. For all I know she has family plans of her own, but I’ll let her know she’s welcome if she’s free.”
The sparkle in my mom’s eye told me it might not be as innocent and casual as she was describing it, but after I said goodnight, rinsed my mug, and headed to the guest room, I decided I wouldn’t mind if the night was a seemingly big step forward.
I was ready.
***
The opportunity to extend the invitation came a lot sooner than I expected. Around ten o’clock the following morning, before I was supposed to be at Santa’s shack, I went to the food court to get a latte and spotted Maci across the expansive dining area. She was hunched over, collapsed on one of the tables, and looked like she was in desperate need of her own cup of coffee. A big one. I purchased two lattes and made my way to her table. As I neared, I realized she was punching frantically at the screen of her phone and had flashing screens blaring on a small, eReader size tablet at her left.
I sat down and placed one of the lattes in front of her before she realized someone had even approached. She jerked her chin up, her eyes wide. “Alex! Oh! God, you startled me.”
“Sorry.” I tried to resist peeking at her phone. It wasn’t right to spy on her, but I couldn’t help but wonder what had so fully captured her attention. “You okay?”
“Is this for me?” she asked, her eyes landing on the coffee.
I nodded and took a sip of my own. “Figured we both could use one after last night.”
She tried to grin but it faded quickly.
“Is everything all right, Maci?” We’d had a late night, but from looking at her, I’d have been surprised if she’d gotten any sleep. Something was off.
She gave a distracted nod and chugged the scalding coffee like it was water. “Thanks. I’ve already had two this morning. I was up all night.”
“Thinking about me?” I teased, desperate to see her smile.
She fixed me with a pointed stare. “Actually, yes. But not in a good way.”
“Oh?” My heartbeat sped up.
“Rather, your extra-jolly alter ego. You promised Lyss a Livia Tablet. Not only that, but in hot pink, which, as that little brute in line pointed out, doesn’t exist. You might as well have told her a baby unicorn would be stuffed in her Christmas stocking. The Livia tablet is just about as rare.”
Guilt seared through me.
She sighed. “That was all she wanted to talk about on the way to daycare today. “I’ve been searching for months for one of these damn things but everywhere is sold out and now, even if I could find one, I can’t afford it because the car repairs are eating into all of my savings.” She waved a hand at the phone and tablet. “So I’ve been entering every online contest and calling radio stations and scouring social media for people who might be selling them.”
“I’m really sorry, Maci. I wasn’t thinking.”
She flapped a dismissive hand and went back to searching through the listings on her phone.
I stared at the crown of her head as she bent over her devises, one hand in a death grip around the coffee I’d bought for her. My chest squeezed tight. Should I tell her the truth? Reveal my identity and gamble with her reaction to the truth? Up until now she didn’t even know that I wasn’t a local. I hadn’t mentioned anything about LA. After my mom’s prompting to invite her to the family Christmas event I knew I’d have to start telling her the truth. January second I’d be on a plane back to LA and my normal life where there was barely room for regular meals and my daily workout session with my personal trainer. I had no idea where I was going to find room for a relationship. Especially not with a woman like Maci who had her own responsibilities and full life in Minnesota. I couldn’t expect her to up and go on a whim. In the past, it had been easy enough to find a woman who would be able to take off for an impromptu vacation or come to stay in LA until I’d had enough or they got bored and went off to the next thing. That wasn’t Maci. It also wasn’t what I wanted with her. She was different. She was real.
“Thanks for the coffee,” she said, glancing up as she slid her phone back into her pocket. “I need to get to work. The dentist office is closed till the New Year, so I’ll be here, in retail hell twenty-four seven until Christmas Eve.”
“Maci, I can get you a Livia Table.”
Her eyebrows lifted at my blurted statement. “How?”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make it happen. This is my mess, I’ll fix it.”
Her gaze turned from hopeful to skeptical in a flicker. “Don’t worry about it, Alex. You don’t have kids. You couldn’t have known you were promising her the impossible.” She pushed up from the table, slid the tablet into her purse, and took the coffee. “I’ll see you around. I have to get to work.”<
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Chapter Nine
Maci
I’d been a royal bitch. I knew it. It nagged at me for the entire eight-hour shift at Jasper & Benson. Every time I bagged something for a customer and caught sight of the discarded coffee cup in the wastepaper basket, I thought of Alex and then cringed to myself at how snarky I’d been that morning in the food court. I decided I wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see me again.
So when he showed up in my line a little after six o’clock, right before my shift was set to end, I steeled myself for the worst. It was going to be a whopper of a “It’s not you, it’s me” lie. I could practically feel it pulsing in the air. My first post-divorce foray into dating was coming to a rapid—and self-inflicted—end.
“I was hoping I’d catch you,” he said, taking a step to the counter when the woman I’d been helping bustled off to her next frantic errand.
“I’m really sorry about this morning,” I started. “I was a total B-I-T-C-H,” I said, eying a little boy sitting a few feet away playing with a pile of stuffed bunny rabbits.
Alex followed my gaze and smiled.
God, he’s so handsome it hurts. I can’t believe I’m letting him get away. What an idiot.
“I know you’re busy,” he continued. “But I wanted to stop by and give you something before I have to get back to the workshop.” He fished in his pocket and produced a set of keys. “These are yours through Christmas.”
My mouth dropped open. A keychain hung from the unencumbered set of keys, bearing the logo of a nearby rental shop. “What—”
“You need a car. Now you have one to use. I don’t want you taking the bus in this weather. Plus, you and Alyssa probably have lots of fun Christmas stuff to do and I don’t want you to miss out on that.”
“Alex, I can’t—you shouldn’t have—”
“Maci, please,” he said, jangling the keys. He craned around and surveyed the line of people behind him. “Just take them.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?”
Alex turned back to me and laughed. “Wait, is that a real question?”
“We just met and you’re going so out of your way for me. I mean a rental for a week and a half…that’s gotta be what? Hundreds of dollars?”
“Don’t worry about it. I got the insurance too, so you can tear it up if you want.”
He chuckled but I couldn’t work past my shock to join in. I took the keys, still marveling. “Thank you, Alex. You have no idea.”
“You’re welcome. And I was serious about the Livia Tablet too. Don’t stress. I got it.”
“Alex—”
“The car’s parked in the garage. Spot 346C. A champagne-colored Audi.” Flashing a grin, he side-stepped and offered a wave before slipping into the crowd.
***
I found the car without a problem and found another surprise as soon as I slid inside. A box of gourmet chocolates sat on the passenger seat with a note taped to the top of the glossy box:
Hopefully these help ease the stress of the day. Call me when you get a few minutes.
“What is happening?” I asked myself, shaking my head slightly as I re-read the note. I lifted the lid on the box and popped a chocolate truffle into my mouth, savoring the delicious candy. Part of me wondered if I was sending out charity-case vibes. I worried that Alex saw me as some kind of project to undertake during the holidays. Was that all it was? A chance for him to play the hero?
Breathing in the new car smell of the elegant rental car, it was hard to argue. If that was what he wanted, who was I to object? It wasn’t like I couldn’t use the help. There’d been a time, not all that long ago, when I had it all figured out, but that rug had been torn out from under my feet and I hadn’t stopped stumbling and falling since. Maybe letting someone catch me wasn’t the worst idea. Especially when that someone looked like Alex…
Suddenly in a hurry, I dialed his number. As it rang through, I turned over the engine to get some heat flowing through the vents.
Alex’s voicemail picked up and I wondered if he was still playing Santa. A strange fantasy played out in my head, wondering what it would be like to strut up to him, straddle him in front of all those people, and kiss his lips right off his face.
Bet Mrs. Clause never gets that frisky.
But, for fear of eternally scarring children—or getting thrown into mall jail—I settled for leaving a voicemail.
“Alex, it’s Maci. Come by my place around ten. I’d like to give you a proper thank you for the car…”
Click.
Chapter Ten
Alex
My loafers hit Maci’s front steps at 10:01 and my cock was already hard as steel. Her liquid smoke purr was still echoing in my ears, replaying her voicemail in my mind over and over again. I’d picked up my phone the instant my shift was over and I was safely inside Santa’s workshop and out of the line of sight of the Christmas shoppers. The suggestion in her voice was clear and I’d never busted out of that damn Santa suit so fast.
I knocked softly, not wanting to wake up Alyssa, and Maci appeared fast enough that I smiled, wondering if she’d been pacing at the front door waiting.
She swung open the door and my jaw hit the ground. A black robe enveloped her beautiful body with some kind of sheer material leaving just a hint of imagination and mystery.
Yeah, that wasn’t going to last long.
“You came,” she said with a relieved smile.
“Hell yeah,” I growled. “Where else would I be?”
She stepped back and I crossed the threshold. As soon as the front door was closed, she was in my arms. I pulled her in tight, kissing her. Tasting her. My hands roamed her body, taking in every bit of her soft skin. Her sultry perfume crowded out my senses, leaving only one intact. . .
Red. . .hot. . .desire.
“Oh, wait, I’m missing part—” Maci tugged free of me and clattered over to swipe a Santa hat from the side table in the small entry way. She put it on and offered a coy smile. “What do you think?”
“That’s funny,” I said, grinning. “I have a jacket that matches that hat perfectly out in the car.”
Maci giggled into my shoulder. “Maybe you should go get it…we could turn you into a dirty Santa.”
My cock throbbed as the word dirty fell from her lips.
A few minutes later, Maci was stripped naked but for that damn Santa coat, lying on her bed. I buried my face between her soft thighs, savoring the sweet slickness and licked her sweet pussy like a man on a mission.
She tried not to moan too loudly, we didn’t want to wake anyone. Her hands dug into the comforter and then my hair as I brought her closer to the edge. I glanced up at her, loving the way her tits teased me under the bright red coat.
It looked a helluva lot better on her than it did me.
There was no way I’d be able to wear the damn thing without getting a huge hard on, which, when working around children, wasn’t ideal. I’d have to scratch that from memory.
I slid my finger deep inside of her and she rolled her head to muffle her moans with the pillow. My finger worked gently on her g-spot, and she grabbed my wrist with both hands, fucking my finger, rubbing her clit on my palm to get more pressure to her sweet spot. I didn’t need any more coaxing, this girl was on fire!
I slid another finger inside her and she came undone. Her hips bucking and juices flowing as she groaned out something incoherently sexy.
“Yeah, baby,” I whispered. “There it is. Come for me.” Her moans and the added pleasure of her squirting damn near made me come before I even got inside her.
I sucked her slickness off my fingers and crawled up her body, leaving a trail of hot kisses over her sweat-flushed skin as I went, and then rolled her over, on top of me. The Santa coat flapped open and her breasts bounced as she placed her legs on either side of my hips.
“Damn, you’re so fucking sexy,” I told her, palming her breasts. She was still panting when my hands slipped under the coat and anchore
d on her full hips. I lifted her onto my cock and she slid down on it slowly. “Fuck, baby. You’re so tight.”
With a wicked smile, she rocked forward, the walls of her pussy swallowing me in one smooth move. “You like that, huh?” She ground down on my prick and circled her hips. “Guess this definitely lands us on the naughty list.”
I chuckled. “I can live with that.”
Maci placed her hands on my chest for better control and rocked her hips, her warm pussy pulling me in deeper. The little vixen had all the moves and after a few more minutes, we crashed and rode the waves together.
Afterward, we lay there, boneless, limbs intertwined and tangled, listening to the even rise and fall of our breathing as we relaxed in the aftermath.
“My mom wants me to invite you, and of course, Alyssa, to their house for Christmas Eve dinner. It’s a pretty casual thing, so before you come up with an explanation to get out of it, just know it’s not a big thing and that there’s no pressure or weird, invasive questions on the agenda.”
Maci laughed. “Aha. Well that’s very reassuring.”
“So?”
“You said your mom wants to invite us. What about you? What do you want?”
I grinned over at her. “I could think of other ways I’d rather spend the evening, but nothing I’m thinking about is child friendly.”
“All right. We’ll be there.” Maci smiled. “On one condition.”
“Name it.”
Her eyes twinkled in the low light from the bedside lamp as she looked up at me. “That you do that thing with your fingers one more time,” she said, nudging me back down between her thighs.
I grinned up her body, eying her perky tits. “With pleasure.”
***
Life hit the fast forward button on a throttling ride to Christmas Eve. Maci and I saw each other as often as possible but both of our jobs took up more and more time as the holiday season ramped up into critical mass.