Wondering if she’d have time to dash into a store and buy some before the rush started at the Grotto, she finally found an unopened packet of stockings in her sock drawer. It took a further five minutes to find her garter belt, but eventually she was dressed, rushing out of the house and jumping into her car. She still had to pick up Gramps and then find a parking space at the mall, and experience had taught her that she needed to leave herself plenty of time to park.
Somehow, she managed to wrangle everything so that she and Gramps were ready at ten, when a queue of parents and kids were already waiting, overexcited on the last day before Christmas. How Gramps was still as cheerful as he’d been on the first day was beyond her; he’d been quite ridiculously popular with the children, perhaps because he didn’t need a fake beard to look like Santa Claus. He had a naturally bushy white beard, twinkling blue eyes behind round wire-rimmed glasses, and a deep belly laugh.
Even the most nervous of children thawed after a few minutes in Gramps’ cheerful presence, and while not all of them would sit on his knee for a photo, Amy had been able to coax smiles from every child. Sales had been quite spectacular; she’d even had several people come up and tell her that friends had told them to come to this particular mall Santa because their children thought he was wonderful.
Not only that, but she’d paid off the full cost of purchasing the high-end printer, covered all the costs for the mall, and paid herself and Gramps a good wage. Any sales she made today would be pure profit. Looking at the queue of harried parents and eager children, she smiled happily. It was going to be a long day, but the thought of her healthy bank account by the end of it would get her through.
“Hey, Amy,” Luca said with a warm smile as he walked past, and she smiled back at him.
I’m going to ask him out, she thought. If not today, then the day after Christmas when I come back to deliver the last of the large prints. The worst he can do is turn me down and then I never have to come back to this mall again anyway… until next Christmas. By which time I might have gotten over the embarrassment.
Resolute, she lifted the rope barrier which held back the eager parents and children and offered up her best smile. “Good morning! Ready to meet Santa?”
Chapter Two
“It’s ten o’clock, Mr. Rossetti,” the security guard said, poking his head into Luca’s office, “and we’re all locked up and secure. You’re the last one left inside.”
Luca glanced up from his computer, nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Al.”
“I’ll be patrolling outside with Rufus, sir. Have a merry Christmas!”
“You too.” With a sigh, Luca pinched the bridge of his nose. He needed to finish juggling the security roster for the next two weeks, some of the busiest of the year when everyone also wanted time off to spend with their families, but right now he needed to stretch his legs. He’d come back to the roster in a little while. Getting out of his chair, he switched the light off and closed the door with Security Manager printed on it on his way out.
He decided to walk all through the main avenue of the mall first before detouring into the food court and taking the stairs up to the second level from there. The cleaning staff had done their usual thorough job, he noted; everything looked immaculate, with no sign of the thousands upon thousands of people who’d left their shopping until Christmas Eve and passed through the mall that day. The mall looked very different with most of the brightest lights off to reduce the power bill when the place was empty, the stores shuttered and dark. There was more than enough light for him to see clearly by, though.
Luca made a point of checking beneath the lower branches of each enormous fake Christmas tree; his first year as head of security at the mall, a three-year-old had hidden under one of the trees and fallen asleep. They hadn’t found her until an hour after the mall had closed and her mother was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack. Luca had been convinced the child had been abducted from the mall under his watch; he still occasionally had nightmares about it.
Reaching the giant Christmas grotto where Santa had been patiently posing for photographs with kids of all ages for the last three weeks, Luca found his steps lagging. He’d spent more time here than he really should have lately, but this year there had been an added attraction, beyond the charm of watching the children’s eyes light up as they got to meet Santa.
Amy Gallagher and her grandfather were new; Mr Gallagher was a marvelous Santa, with natural white hair and beard, twinkling blue eyes and a deep belly laugh. Luca had seen far fewer screaming kids than usual in the Grotto this year due to the man’s gentle manner and excellent rapport with the children.
For Luca, though, the real attraction had been Amy, with her bouncy red curls and wide smile; Amy who charmed parents and children alike, who seemed to have a natural gift for snapping her photographs at just the right moment to catch children and Santa in a perfect pose.
Luca hadn’t been able to stay away. Of course, his first sight of her had been her shapely ass in tight denim jeans as she bent over to unpack the heavy box containing her photo printer; that spectacular view had definitely caught his attention, he admitted to himself. He’d immediately stepped up to introduce himself and offer his assistance, had been charmed when she blushed and stammered in response.
Sadly, his radio had crackled to life before he’d had time to do much more than find out her name, and over the next three weeks he’d fared little better despite stopping by the Grotto at least three or four times a day. Either Amy was busy or he was promptly called away to deal with some problem. Luca knew she was due back in the mall one more time, the day after Christmas, for some last customers to collect their photo prints, and he’d made sure that he was on the roster at the same time. No way was he going to let her disappear without at least asking for her phone number, and hopefully a date.
Glancing over the Grotto, Luca noted that everything looked to be in order: Amy’s photo printer had its usual cover over it. There was a large black bag on the floor, though, and he frowned at it. That was Amy’s camera bag; more than once he’d seen her lugging it out of the mall at closing time. She wouldn’t leave her camera here overnight, he was sure. Bending over, he tugged at the zip gently. It slid open and he saw the gleam of the expensive camera inside the bag.
“Amy?” Luca stepped forward, moving past the miniature picket fence around the Grotto. “Amy, are you here?” He moved around the wall that prevented parents from getting their own, unpaid-for photos of their youngsters with Santa, and had to suppress a shout of laughter.
Amy was curled up, soundly asleep, in the comfortable red-and-gold armchair which had served as Santa’s ‘throne’.
The perky elf hat she’d been wearing drooped over one ear, her red curls looked tangled and flat, her eyes had dark circles under them. She’d pushed herself until she literally dropped, Luca figured, moving over to her and leaning over to put his hand on her shoulder.
“Amy. Amy, wake up.”
“Huh?” she startled awake, wide blue eyes snapping open, staring up at him in utter confusion. “Where — where am I?”
“The mall. You fell asleep.” Luca let go of her shoulder, straightened up.
“Oh, hell.” Amy sat up, shaking her head. “I only sat down for a minute!”
“Must have been quite a minute. The mall closed four hours ago.” He grinned at her.
“What?” Shocked, she looked at her watch. “Oh, no — I’m so sorry, Luca!”
“It’s okay. I saw your camera bag, figured I should check it out since I didn’t think you would leave that behind.” He offered a hand to help her up, feeling irrationally pleased when she accepted it, her long slender fingers curling around his.
“Thank you,” Amy said shyly, smiling up at Luca as he helped her up. Paul Blart really gave mall security a bad name, she thought. Luca was very much unlike the stereotype; he was a couple of inches over six feet tall, leanly fit and broad-shouldered, extremely handsome with classic Italian goo
d looks to match his name. He had black hair and eyes almost as dark, chiseled cheekbones and a permanent shadow of very sexy stubble. She’d caught herself fantasizing about how it would feel on her inner thighs more than once, even though she’d never thought beard burn would actually be sexy.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” Luca said, in his deep, rasping voice that made her insides twist every time she heard it.
“Thanks.” Her voice came out not much more than a whisper, but she steadied her nerves to ask him the question she’d been trying to pluck up the courage for. There was no guarantee he’d be working on the one day she came back, after all, and coming to the mall just to look for him afterward smacked of desperation. “Um, Luca?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been meaning to ask if you’re seeing anyone?” Amy cursed her voice for coming out much higher than usual, almost squeaky.
Luca rocked back on his heels, surprised, before a grin spread across his face. “No, no, I’m single. Was meanin’ to ask you the same thing, actually. And then get your phone number, if you were maybe interested in sharing it with me.”
Amy’s smile was quite radiant. “Sure! Yes, I’d love to! I mean, yes, um, that would be nice,” she tried to tone down her reaction, not wanting to appear too desperate.
Luca couldn’t quell his broad grin. She was utterly adorable in her enthusiasm. He reached up to remove her crooked elf hat, touching her cheek lightly as he did so. “I think I liked your first reaction best,” he told her.
“Good. That’s, um, good. Yeah.” Amy hardly knew what she was saying, lost in the depths of Luca’s dark eyes as they gazed at each other. Unconsciously, she tilted her head towards his fingers grazing lightly against her cheek.
The elf hat fell unnoticed to the floor as Luca cupped Amy’s cheek in his large hand, feeling the softness of her skin against the roughened pads of his fingertips. This close, he could see a scatter of freckles across the bridge of her nose, the upper curves of her cheeks; make out that there was more than a hint of green in the blue of her eyes. Her plump lips remained parted as she finished speaking, her little pink tongue sweeping out to moisten them.
“Damn, but you’re beautiful,” he muttered huskily.
Amy drew in her breath in a little gasp; Luca leaned down towards her and she let her eyelashes flutter down, praying he’d kiss her. His breath flowed warm over her lips for only the briefest of moments before his mouth pressed down on hers, hot tongue sweeping across her lower lip slowly, tempting her to reciprocate.
The breathy little moan Amy made into his mouth as he kissed her just about broke Luca. His hand slipped from her cheek back into her hair, tangling in the thick red curls as he pulled her closer, his other arm wrapping around her waist. Her hands came up between them to land on his chest. For a moment Luca thought she was about to push him away, but then her fingers curled, gripping onto the crisp cotton of his shirt.
He didn’t want to shock her, didn’t want to push for too much, too soon, but Amy was giving as good as she got and then some, standing on her tiptoes to try and deepen the kiss. Her tongue danced a wickedly teasing duel with his, and it was Luca’s turn to groan as she tilted her hips forward, arching against him.
There was no way that she could possibly mistake the thick, hard bar of his erection beneath his pants for anything else, and she broke the kiss, smiling up at him delightedly. With her lips pink and swollen from kissing, her half-closed eyes gave her an impossibly sensual look. Luca made a rough sound in his throat.
“My, my, Mr Security Guard,” Amy murmured coyly, “is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”
“My gun’s in my shoulder holster,” Luca replied gruffly as one small hand slid downwards, cupped over the thick bulge in his pants, “and I’m very happy to see you. Ahhhh. Sheesh, Amy.” She squeezed gently, her eyes glinting with amusement. “Minx,” he muttered before his fingers tightened in her hair, tugging her head over to one side so that he could bend down and taste her neck, nibble and lick at her earlobe and the tender flesh just behind it. He let his other hand drop from her waist to her ass, that gorgeously curved ass that had featured prominently in his fantasies ever since he first saw her bending down in those tight jeans.
Amy wasn’t wearing jeans today, though, she was wearing a dress, a cute little green number with a short flippy skirt that had sent his libido into overdrive when he walked past earlier and saw her on his way to his office. The silky material gathered up easily in his hand now, and he discovered to his delight that what he had thought were pantyhose beneath were actually stockings, held up by thin strappy garters.
“Fuck,” he rasped against her throat, squeezing lightly on the handful of plump, soft bare flesh he’d just discovered beneath her skirt, “are you tryin’ to kill me?”
Amy giggled breathlessly, her hand tracing the thick, rock-hard shape of his arousal through his pants. “In a good way?”
“Hell, yeah!” Luca couldn’t think of anything right then, anything but getting closer, getting more of Amy. A quick glance around and he was sitting down in Santa’s chair, tugging her down into his lap.
Amy came with him willingly, straddling his lap and grinding her groin against his. Her skirt rode right up to her hips, exposing the lacy band at the tops of her stockings and soft, creamy skin above, the sight of which made Luca groan. She chuckled softly, seeing where his gaze was directed; took advantage of his preoccupation to tug his tie loose and start unbuttoning his shirt, spreading it open to reveal his chest.
“Mm,” Amy hummed with appreciation, running her fingers over Luca’s toned, solid pectoral muscles. “Those workouts I’ve seen you heading off to after work are really paying off.”
He chuckled, seeing her lips with his own again as his hands settled on her thighs, gliding upwards to grasp her hips. “Gotta stay in shape. The Marines didn’t make me no slacker.”
“You were a Marine?” she pulled back from the kiss, wide-eyed.
“Two tours, baby.” Luca grinned at her expression. “Coulda stayed in, but I got tired of gettin’ my ass shot at in sandy hellholes.”
“It’s much too nice an ass to risk,” Amy agreed, grinning.
“Glad you noticed.” His fingers curled, squeezing a double handful of plump flesh. “I have a fair amount of appreciation for this gorgeous ass, too. Especially in those tight jeans of yours.”
She moaned in her throat as Luca’s strong hands kneaded before they let go and moved up higher, gathering her skirt and pulling it up. Hesitating, she stayed his hands.
“Before we — go any further,” Amy said, her voice coming out strained and husky, “are we likely to be interrupted?”
“We will definitely not be interrupted,” Luca promised, realizing what was concerning her. “It’s Christmas Eve, I let almost all the guys go home to their families. Minimal roster. I’m the only man on duty inside the mall.” It occurred to him that there was a security camera pointed right at Santa’s chair — just in case of any potential issues — but he could easily erase the footage from his office. Nobody would ever see it.
Chapter Three
“In that case,” Amy lifted her hands up, let him lift the dress up, pull it up over her head. She tossed it aside negligently, smiling with feminine delight at the appreciative expression on Luca’s face. He gazed rapturously at her body, her breasts enhanced and displayed by an emerald-green satin balconette bra, her sex barely covered by matching thong panties, the garter belt completing the set. “You like?” she said a little shyly, thinking that she must look pale and flabby beside Luca’s toned, olive-skinned gorgeousness.
“Best Christmas gift I’ve ever unwrapped,” Luca told her fervently, drinking her in. Amy was all curves and softness, a delicious armful of woman, plump breasts swelling over the top of her bra. He honestly didn’t know where he wanted to put his eyes, his hands or his mouth first; he wanted to touch all of her, taste every inch. Slowly, he reached to cup her breasts, trac
ing his fingertips along the upper edge of the cups gently, feeling the hardness of her erect nipples pushing against his palms through the thin, silky fabric.
“Beautiful,” he muttered thickly as her fingers returned to unbuttoning his shirt, finishing the job. She tried to push it, and his suit jacket, off his shoulders; he sighed and let go of her reluctantly to shrug out of them both along with his shoulder holster, dropping the whole tangle of fabric carelessly to the floor.
Amy resisted when Luca tried to pull her close again, leaning back to look at him admiringly. A tattoo of a dragon in gold, red and turquoise climbed his left arm to coil sinuously over his muscled shoulder; she traced her fingers over it lightly, running them down the scaled head to where a forked tongue ended just above his nipple.
“I like your tattoo,” she murmured, tweaking his nipple lightly. “I’ve got one too.”
“Mm?” Luca returned his hands to her thighs, massaging and kneading, thumbs caressing the soft flesh above the tops of her stockings. “And where’s that, angel, or are you gonna make me go looking?”
She smiled, flicked at his nipple again. “Oh, I’ll show you.” Standing up gracefully, she pulled back from his hands, stepping back and turning around before bending over to clasp her hands around her ankles. “Do you see it yet?” She peeked cheekily at him between her spread knees.
Luca’s mouth hung open as he stared ravenously at the sight of Amy’s round, perfect ass, her buttocks separated by a thin strip of green satin doing a poor job of shielding her pussy from his hungry gaze. It took him a good minute to notice the tattoo on her upper left thigh. “A hummingbird,” he said, dry-mouthed. “Very nice. Yeah. Very nice.”
Whispers of Winter: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Romances Page 12
