by L. Nicole
“What?” she asks, her eyes widening.
I laugh, reaching up and caressing her cheek. “You said they melted off.”
“Oh!” she replies, shaking her head and laughing, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. “It’s bad manners to eavesdrop you know, you could hear something bad.”
“I don’t know about that,” I quip. “Everything I heard was really good.”
Being this close to her again has me hard as a rock, although if I’m honest, I haven’t been completely soft since first kissing her. I imagine reaching behind her and scooping her up by her sweet round ass and lifting her onto the counter, stepping between her thighs and falling to my knees to taste her. I swallow hard, contemplating if there might be enough time before her guests come downstairs.
Just as I decide I don’t give a damn who sees what and begin to reach down for her ass, the shrill shriek of my cell phone breaks through the tension. I growl, shaking my head in frustration as I fish my phone from my pocket. I look at the display and see that it’s Charlene.
“I gotta take this,” I growl, stepping away from her reluctantly. She gives me a soft smile and turns away as I step into the living room.
“That’s fine, but maybe try not to shout this time?”
I laugh and nod as I answer the phone.
“Charlene, give me good news.”
“Mr. Holt, good morning. I have the names of two rental agencies, but they’re both a few hours away.”
“That’s fine, I’ll have them come get me.”
“Unfortunately, sir, due to the storm last night, they’ve closed their offices down completely, in addition to being all booked.”
“How can they do both, Charlene? That doesn’t make any sense. Give me their names and I’ll take care of it myself.” I make a vow again to fire her when I get back home.
“But, sir, they aren’t answering the phones.”
“Someone has to answer, Charlene, an entire agency doesn’t just shut down because of —.”
I stop short when I feel a hand on my arm. I look down and see Krissy giving me a pointed look.
“Yes?”
“Look!” She says, flinging open the front door. I take a step towards the open door, looking out at the wintery wonderland spread before me. “The blizzard didn’t stop till a few hours ago. The roads are all closed. Everything’s closed.”
“Surely, the roads will be plowed within a few —.”
“Nope,” she says, shaking her head. “Not till it melts. Trust me. I’ve lived here decades. I know how it works. It could be days.”
“Mr. Holt?” Charlene asks, still on the phone.
“Dammit,” I reply. “Charlene, looks like I’m staying put for a while. Call Simmons and tell him we’ll have to reschedule.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Holt,” Charlene said, the relief almost audible in her voice.
I hang up the phone, millions of dollar signs melting away in my head as Krissy walks back into the kitchen, leaving me alone to contemplate my incredibly screwed up situation.
KRISSY
MY LIST GROWS by the second.
“Flashlights, batteries, candles, wood, generator…”
I’m mumbling to myself as I write it all down. After breakfast is served, I’ll have to work quickly to gather all the emergency supplies I might need. I’m hoping like hell the power doesn’t go out, but if it does, I’ll need to be able to have enough of everything to keep my guests comfortable.
“What’s going on?” Maddox asks, strolling back into the kitchen with a scowl on his face.
“Just working,” I reply.
“Anything I can do to help?”
I look over at him warily, wondering if I can use him. He’s dressed casually again in a cozy black sweater and a pair of dark blue jeans that fit him like a glove Suddenly, I can’t wait for him to turn around so I can check out his ass again.
I think about asking him to help. It’s kind of obvious he’s never done a day’s hard labor in his life. I tremble at the thought of the way his smooth fingertips ran across my skin last night. I loved the way they felt, but it definitely showed that Maddox hires manual labor out, not performs it.
I really need the help, so I push all misgivings away and recruit him.
“How are you at chopping wood?” I ask.
He laughs and surprises me by flexing a bicep confidently and raising a brow. “I was a scout trooper, therefore, I’m excellent at chopping wood.”
“Is that so?” I asked, impressed and turned on again all at once. “Well then, there’s an ax and a big pile of wood just around the back of the cabin with your name on it.”
“At your service, m’lady,” he says, bowing slightly. I giggle and brush my hand against his arm, the softness of his sweater contrasting deliciously with the hard muscle I feel underneath it. “Anything else I can do?”
“Well, since you asked, you could gas up the generator, just in case.”
“Do you expect things to get that bad?”
“You just never know. A tree could come down and snag a power line and we’d be without power for days,” I shrug.
“Well, since we’re stuck here, I might as well help out as much as I can.”
“I really appreciate it,” I reply. “My sister is stuck in town. She’s usually here helping me.”
“Instead, she’s dishing with you on the phone about kissing unexpected guests and losing your panties, right?”
“Exactly,” I laugh, shaking my head and trying not to be embarrassed. “Why don’t I show you where the generator and everything is?”
“Great,” he says. “Lead the way.”
I nod and walk in front of him, feeling his eyes on my ass as I walk towards the door. When he reaches out and slaps it, I jump in surprise.
“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he says.
“Okay,” I laugh. “Just remember turnabout is fair play.”
“You were right about those panties, huh?”
“What?”
“Nowhere to be found,” he laughs.
I full on blush this time, because he’s right. I’d opted to not wear any and now that I’m around him again and he’s turning up the heat, I realize what a horrible mistake that probably was. I can feel the wetness forming between my thighs.
MADDOX
IT’S BEEN decades since I swung an axe, but it feels fucking great. I’ve taken off my sweater, so I don’t get any slivers of wood in it. Even though the snow radiates the blistering cold, it feels good to get a little sweaty out in it. I’ve left on my undershirt. With each swing of the axe, I can hear a tiny gasp escape from Krissy’s mouth.
She’s trying to be cool, but the way her gaze is locked onto me, I know she’s enjoying the show and I’m enjoying every second of giving it to her. Once again, my thoughts go to everything I want to do to her, but that will have to wait.
After she’d shown me around earlier, she went back to finish preparing breakfast for the guests. There were only a few — three couples and a small family. We ate together at a huge dining table, and I was impressed with Krissy’s ability to be such a charming and gracious host.
Instead of being disappointed with the snow, the others were excited about it and after scarfing down the incredible breakfast Krissy whipped up, they quickly donned snowshoes and disappeared—leaving us alone once again.
I’m resisting the urge to scoop her up and take her right to bed. She’s anxious about getting everything prepared.
“It’s just in case,” she keeps saying here and there, and each time it makes me smile.
Now that the generator is all gassed up, I’m out here chopping wood and trying to come up with a smooth way to get her naked in bed while I humor her.
She’s got three cords of wood, at least, on the side of the house. There’s no way she’s going to need all this. I’m beginning to think she just wanted to watch me chop wood when I feel the sharp sting of a snowball crash into my face.
“What th
e —!” I turn and see her smiling at me, her snow boots half hidden in the fresh powder blanketing her yard. “You little witch!”
I drop the axe, and take off running for her, delighted by her peals of laughter as I chase her through the snow. Once I catch her, we tumble to the ground together and she falls to her back, staring up at me with snow in her hair and her green eye sparkling with joy and mischief.
“You’re in trouble now,” I rumble, reaching over and grabbing a handful of snow, before daringly sliding my hand up the bottom of her shirt and smashing the snow into her belly. She screeches and wiggles but I’m holding her down and she can’t get away. She laughs up at me, shaking her head.
“I guess I deserved that?”
“You started it,” I agree, nodding and smiling down at her. She’s a vision of snowy heaven and I can’t help it any longer—I bend my head, brushing my lips against hers.
I’ve waited all morning to kiss her and she’s all warmth and softness and I want to sink my entire body into her right then and there, but instead, I kiss her gently, letting the warmth of our mouths melt together in a delicious tangle.
I pull away and push back to my knees, and then my feet, grabbing her hand and pulling her up with me before we both get frostbite.
Laughing, we head back to the wood and I grab the ax again and start swinging as she finds a perch on a nearby step to keep watching.
“What do you do, Maddox?”
“I’m the executive of Holt Industries.”
“Sounds fancy.”
“I don’t know about that,” I respond.
“I’m kinda disappointed, to be honest,” she murmurs, raising a brow.
“What? Why?”
“With biceps like that, and your skills with that axe, I was thinking you were some Alaskan mountain man or something.”
“I told you I was a scout,” I laugh, the axe smoothly sinking into a chunk of wood. There’s something quite satisfying about physical work. I’d almost forgotten, spending so much of my time either yelling into a telephone or leading mindless meetings. “Not from Alaska, though.”
“I have a cousin that moved there,” she says, mindlessly twirling a lock of hair around her fingers. “She moved there to marry one man but actually ended up marrying someone else. A guy named Ash.”
“Ash from Alaska, huh?”
“Yep,” she nods. “She keeps trying to get me to think about moving there. Ash has a friend he wants me to meet, I guess. They showed me a picture. He’s not too bad looking, actually.”
“Is that so?” A twinge of jealousy shoots through me and irritated by it, I push it away with another swing of the axe. “Are you going to go?”
“I doubt it,” she says, sighing. “I love Mistletoe. It’s all I’ve ever known. I’ll probably just stay here till I die an old maid.”
“There’s a whole world out there you might fall in love with, also,” I grumble, for some reason feeling irritated with this whole conversation.
“Sure, maybe to visit, but this is home.”
“I see,” I nod, continuing my work and holding my tongue. The world is a huge and wonderful place and there’s a lot more to see than what this tiny village has to offer. But, of course, it’s not my place to convince her of that.
“I just know everyone here, you know? Like my friend, Eve Stephenson— she’s the town librarian. We went to school together. She’s super sweet on Tyson—he owns the Christmas tree farm.”
“I bet he makes quite a profit around a place like this,” I respond, sounding snarky as hell, but unable to stop myself.
“He does! And there’s my other friend, Winter—she went to school with me and Eve — she owns the local bar. Carol and I—that’s my sister—we spend a lot of time there when the roads are clear. All of these people are like family to me.”
“Tell me about your sister.” She’s rattling on and I’m not particularly interested in these people, but the sound of her voice is like music to my ears and I can’t get enough of it.
“Carol?” she asks. “We have kind of a sad story, but it has a happy ending. We have the same mom, but I was raised by my father, right here in Mistletoe. Mom took off when I was two and I can’t really remember her. Carol and I found each other a few years ago and decided we’d wasted enough time not being in each other’s lives. We started up this business together and it’s taken up most of our time and energy, but it’s all worth it.”
“That does sound nice,” I agree.
“It is. This whole place is home. Mistletoe always has and always will be home. I can’t imagine living somewhere else. I always had my Dad, but without my Mom, I always felt like I was searching for a place to call home. But I had it all along, I just didn’t see it until recently, here with Carol. I couldn’t just give all that up. Could you?”
Her words strike a chord deep inside me.
“I’ve never had anything like that.”
“Oh?” she asks, her eyes darting over to me with interest. I contemplate how much to tell her. I never talk about my upbringing, it’s too painful and completely irrelevant now that I’m a grown ass man. Crying about the past never got me anywhere. It was only once I was an adult that I was able to see that and move on.
Krissy’s eyes are full of kindness and it causes a little crack in my calloused heart, shining a tiny sliver of light from her soul into mine. Maybe I’m being fanciful, but that’s exactly what it feels like. I smile and decide to divulge just a tiny bit of myself to her.
“I grew up in a state home.”
“What’s that? An orphanage?”
“Basically, yes,” I said. “I never had a family. I never had the kind of ties you did—not to anyone or any place. What you’re describing is foreign to me, unfortunately. I never had a place I belonged to. It does sound nice, though.”
Sadness fills her eyes and I instantly regret my words. I didn’t need or want her pity—or anyone else’s. I’m fine with my life and what I went through. I’m fine with the things I grew up not having, because I have them all now. There’s nothing in the world that I don’t have.
Except maybe a snow-plowed road to travel on so I can get out of here— although, if I’m being honest, being trapped here with Krissy isn’t a bad thing. I’m enjoying it more than anything I can remember in a very long time—maybe ever.
Things could be a whole lot worse.
She stands up and walks over to me, placing a warm palm on my cheek as she smiles up at me.
“You know, it’s never too late to find a place to belong.”
Her words touch my heart, and I don’t even know what to do with that feeling, so I let my thoughts melt away and bend my head, kissing her softly, because it’s the only thing that feels right.
KRISSY
AT LEAST THE power didn’t go out until after dinner.
The roar of the generator can be heard through the walls, and my guests have long retired to their rooms.
Except Maddox, of course.
He’s been glued to my side most of the day—kissing me, flirting with me, and basically driving me absolutely crazy. Now that night’s fallen, things have taken a turn, throwing an intimate, cozy ambiance over the living room that is hard to ignore, especially with the roaring fire.
We’re snuggled under the blanket watching sappy Christmas movies, and the irony of the situation is not lost on me.
‘It’s like something out of a movie, Krissy’—Carol’s words have echoed in my head all day, because she’s never been more right. From Maddox crashing into my greenhouse, the rippling bicep show outside in the snow while he was chopping wood, and the quickness with which things have developed, it’s all left me wondering if I’ve not landed in some kind of made-for-TV-romance myself. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me if some fat guy dressed as Santa jumps out and tells me it’s all some sort of hilarious Christmas reality show prank, and I’m the star.
But it sure feels real every time Maddox kisses me. His arms are wrapp
ed around me right now, strong and solid. I resist the urge to pinch him and turn my gaze over to him instead.
He’s laughing at the movie and it makes it extremely hard to focus on the plot, because every time he laughs the lines around his eyes crinkle up in the most attractive way. I don’t want to stop looking because like I said—I’m afraid this is all a mirage and he’s just going to disappear before my eyes.
So, I half-ignore the movie and mostly watch him, but his laughter is contagious. I fall into it with him, feeling free and happy.
“I never thought things like that really happened,” I murmur. I mean him, but of course, he thinks I’m talking about the movie and he shoots me an inquisitive look, so I go with it.
“Insta-love. She just met this guy who barrels into town to build a strip mall and she’s already fallen for him. I mean, I don’t know…maybe it could happen.”
“Maybe what could happen?”
“That she’d fall for the outsider.”
He nods slowly, then a twinkle shines in his eyes as he looks over at me.
“Well, I’m an outsider, and I may not be building a strip mall, but,” he murmurs. His voice has lowered to a husky growl as his gaze rakes across my body, “I wouldn’t mind stripping you.”
His words send daggers of heat straight to my sex and I quiver at the overwhelming wave of desire that surges through me. I can barely breathe, but I know exactly what I want. I’ve waited a long time for a man like Maddox to come into my life and now that he’s here, I’m not about to waste any more time.
“What are you waiting for?” I ask.
Maddox growls as his lips crash into mine. His hands are everywhere all at once, his large frame pushing me back onto the couch as his tongue collides with mine in a fiery fury.
MADDOX
I MAY BE MOVING FAST, but I’m not about to take her here on the sofa, where any of her guests could come down and catch us. I’m not a teenager, and the last thing I want is for us to be interrupted—or even worse—forced to stop.