Brandon nodded. “Mom put a few together yesterday, and my sister made a few with those fat bows on the bottom and left the rest naked for people to trim themselves.”
Shane fisted his hands in his pockets and followed her to a small tent. She pored over the wreaths like she did the tree and finally selected one with a huge gold-and-silver bow.
Kendall counted out bills and handed them over. “Tell your sister she outdid herself.”
Brandon smiled. “I will.”
“Merry Christmas if I don’t get to see you.”
Brandon looked over her head at Shane, then quickly back at Kendall. “My sister’s having a Christmas Eve party if you’re interested.”
“I’ve got a few families coming in at the B and B. I’m sorry I’ll miss it.”
“Me too.”
Unable to watch the man make cow eyes at her any longer, Shane came up next to her. “We’re losing daylight, Sunshine.”
Kendall fumbled the wreath, and Shane caught it. She peered up at him with wide, dark eyes, then blinked and turned back to Brandon. “I’ve got to get back. Thanks for keeping that beautiful tree for me.”
“Always.”
Kendall smiled. “I’ll see you soon.” She turned to follow Shane, her eyebrows knit together.
She didn’t say a word as he loaded the wreath in beside the tree and slammed the tailgate closed. Just kept frowning.
“What?”
“You called me— Never mind.”
He frowned down at her. “Called you what?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Nothing.”
He stepped closer until they were toe to toe. “Called you what?”
“Obviously you didn’t mean to since you don’t remember.”
Confused, he took his hands out of his pockets. “Remember what?”
“It’s not important.”
“It is if you’re reacting like this.”
“Sunshine,” she said on an agitated breath. “You called me Sunshine, and you haven’t called me that since we got back.”
Had he? He didn’t remember doing it.
“Not babe, not Sunshine, not even a hey-you—just Kendall.”
He stuffed his hands back into his pockets. “That’s your name.”
She made a disgusted grunt and rounded the truck to the passenger side.
He followed her and slapped his hand against the door before she could open it. Frustrated by his jealousy, by the feelings she stirred in him, by the distance between them because of the Heron, he crowded in on her. She flattened herself against the panel, her chest rising and her eyes dilated.
“Christ, Sunshine, you make me fucking nuts.”
Then he slammed his mouth over hers. She drew a deep breath in through her nose, and he took advantage, opening her wide for a deep and driving kiss. She clung to him, her breasts smashed to his chest, making enough room to get his arm around her back and lift her onto her toes.
She was addictive, and he’d been jonesing for her. Even if he’d had her the day before, it wasn’t enough. He turned his lips away, pressing his cheek to hers as they both dragged in deep breaths.
He set her on her feet and backed away from her. Her taste lingered on his tongue, infused his blood, and infected him. He wasn’t sure he wanted a cure. He still wasn’t convinced the Heron would be fiscally feasible to keep. It was hard to reconcile his need for her and his disappointment.
Kendall wasn’t the type to deceive, but she wasn’t going to want to let go of the B and B either. Being angry with her was exhausting and frustrating. Double time on the frustration, both with their situation and how much he missed her touch.
“We need to get to the market.”
She pressed her lips together as if savoring the kiss. “Right.”
He bit back a groan and opened her door. She stepped up and inside; he slammed the door after her and turned. At least six people were openly staring at them. “Christ,” he muttered and headed to his side of the truck.
He’d kissed the hell out of her in the open at one in the damn afternoon on a Sunday. Everyone and their mother was in town for something.
He got in beside her and put the truck in gear. Their trip to the market was uneventful, though there was definitely more staring. Kendall didn’t seem to notice or at least didn’t seem to care.
She seemed to know everyone, introducing him to so many people his brain was buzzing with names and faces. By the time he got them back to the house, he was ready to shut himself in the shop and blast his music.
Instead he hauled in the tree and placed it in the tree stand. Another twenty minutes of adjustment and he’d finally earned himself a beer.
Lily surveyed the room with a satisfied nod. “You outdid yourself, Kendall.”
“I know. Isn’t it beautiful? Brandon held it for me.”
“Oh, did he now?”
“Enough, Mom.”
Shane sipped his beer, then let it dangle from his fingers. “I’d like to hear this.”
“No, he would not.”
Now that Lily had an attentive audience, her cherubic face lit up, and her dark eyes danced. “Brandon’s always been sweet on my Kendall.”
“Sweet on me? Mom, we don’t live in the Deep South.”
“What else would you call it? The boy moons over you.”
“Yeah, he does,” Shane muttered.
Kendall rolled her eyes, then turned and fisted her hand on each hip. “That’s why you called me Sunshine at the tree lot.”
Shane took a lazy sip of his beer. “You put a lot of importance on a nickname, babe.”
Her cheeks flushed, and she looked to the left of him at her mother, then spun back to the tree. “We’ll let the tree soak up some water and the branches fall. We can trim the tree tonight, Mom.”
“Do you want to come over and help us, Shane?”
Shane looked down at Lily. “I’ve got some work to do in the barn.”
“That’s too bad. We watch bad movies and have a lot of fun.”
He drained his bottle. The urge to say yes surprised him, but he didn’t want to get in the middle of any traditions they had. Besides, they probably watched schmaltzy movies.
He hadn’t had a family Christmas tree since he was a boy. Larry had people come in and do the tree at the house. It was classic and beautiful, but it was more of a necessity for the showcase house than any love Larry had for the holiday. He cleared his throat. “We’ve got to go finish the porch.”
“Right.” Kendall tugged on an oversize flannel shirt that hung around her hips and a pair of stretchy gloves before slipping out the door.
Following her outside, he came to a stop to assess the porch in the late-day sun. He’d been steadily going through the money from his job with Doyle. Lumber wasn’t cheap, but he was able to buy most of it in bulk. Doing the labor himself helped keep the cost down.
Her idea to stain the porch was a good one. Especially after he made adjustments to a few of the warped boards. They could stain it in the spring—
Hell. How did he know he’d be there in the spring? They might sell by then.
He scrubbed his hand through his hair. It was getting longer now, the buzz cut grown out over his ears and sticking up in the front by the end of the day. He dug a knit cap out of his back pocket and pulled it on.
She looked up at him, her dark eyes shining. “Aww, is California boy not fond of the cold?”
He glanced down at her gloves pointedly.
“What? You know how cold my hands get.”
He tightened his jaw. Yes, he remembered how many times she’d stuck her cold hands and cold feet against his skin for warmth. Especially her hands. She loved to tuck them under his shirt.
“Come on. Show me what you want me to do,” Shane said.
“I get to give you direction? It’s a Christmas miracle.”
“Watch yourself.”
She bent into the bin and took out three packs of bound lights. “Or you’
ll what?”
“Don’t tempt me, Kendall.”
She smirked up at him and tossed him two cardboard flats with lights strung around them. “Promises, promises. You can go wrap these along the rail on the other side of the porch. Just plug it in the end of the lights at the front. They all link together.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to the back, and I’ll meet you in the middle.”
“Race?”
“So competitive.” She grinned. “Deal.”
He had the upper hand in special knowledge, but it didn’t mean anything on her agility. She had damn tiny fingers and spindles for arms. Before he could get to the halfway mark, she was lapping him.
“Don’t forget the bottom rail.”
“Son of a bitch.”
Her laugh was infectious, and he found himself tangling around her to get the bottom rail done.
“Unfair!” She dissolved into giggles as he wound the cardboard around her hips and pulled it under a post, effectively trapping her into the lights.
“Now that’s my kind of decorating.”
She looked down at her waist and thighs, then back up at him. “Don’t you usually like to tie up my wrists?”
He stopped and groaned. “That’s playing dirty, Sunshine.”
She held out her hands, and without a word he wound the lights around her gloved wrists. The train of lights pooled at their feet, flooding the floor with a rainbow of colors.
He pulled her linked hands up and ducked until they were around his neck. Her eyes were hooded with awareness. He nuzzled his nose against hers, keeping his mouth just out of reach. Breathing her in, then breathing out into her mouth, he kept them both on the edge. Not quite touching, not quite apart. He brushed the bow of her top lip with his lower lip. The flick of her tongue urged him to stop the teasing, but he wanted to draw out the pleasure.
He couldn’t let it be more than a kiss, but he was starved for her touch. He had to savor this.
KENDALL ROSE ONTO her toes and tried to get him to kiss her. Really kiss her like he’d done at the truck when they’d gotten the tree, but Shane was determined to tease her out of her mind.
The day had been full of flirtation, mixed messages, and that undeniable fairy dust that blew between them when skin-on-skin contact happened. She wanted to swallow all of it whole and move the emptiness out of the pit of her stomach.
Finally he traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue and gently, thoroughly, tasted her. The lingering tang of his beer and the underlying flavor of pure Shane burned her tongue. He sipped from her, bit her lower lip, and infused every part of his taste into her mouth.
She sagged against him. If she hadn’t had the lights to keep her hands together, she would have slid into a boneless heap of pleasure at his feet. He held on, humming into her mouth as she cupped the back of his head and lifted the cap off.
His hair was longer now, and the silky strands fluttered between her fingers. She stroked her tongue along his, flicking the roof of his mouth and ending on a scrape of teeth over his lower lip.
The kiss gentled until his forehead pressed to hers. She couldn’t move her hips thanks to the tangle of lights. So when he ducked under her bound arms and stepped away, she had no choice but to stay where she was.
“Want to help a girl out?”
Shane shook his head and paced to the end of the deck and back. “Give me a second.”
She slowly blinked the haze of his kiss away. They were just gearing up for more, right? She used her teeth to unwind her wrists until she could slip free. The hard ridge of his cock under the Carhartt pants he was wearing told her he wanted her just as much. She frowned as he took a long circuit around the entire porch and came back.
When he was before her, the hard-on was still blatant, but the wildness was missing from his eyes. He’d stepped back as if he couldn’t bear to touch her.
“Are you testing me or something?”
“What?” Shane stopped pacing and stood in front of her.
“We’ve done a helluva lot more than kissing, Shane. Why are you walking off your hard-on?”
“Because you’re going to go inside and trim the tree with your mom, and I’m going to go work on my koa wood table. And we’re not going to mess everything up with sex again.”
Gobsmacked, she managed to squeak, “Never?”
He picked up his hat off the deck. “At least for now.”
“And why do you get to make this rule?”
“I get near you, and I can’t think.”
Thinking was highly overrated. The attraction between them was just part of the love she already felt for him. She’d been in the safe kind of love before. It was warm and reassuring and lovely. But it paled in comparison to what she felt with Shane.
“I don’t want to go back to how we were this past month.”
He shook his head. “Neither do I.”
“But you don’t want to have sex with me either?” It killed her to phrase it that way. She wanted to make love with him. Wanted to shout it out and shock him. But somehow she knew that was a bad idea. Spouting out words of love after such a short time would make him turn tail and run.
“I want to boost you up against the siding and sink into you until your brain melts.”
She swallowed. “Good plan.”
“But I won’t disrespect your mother or you like that. Not right now when it’s not just sex for the fun of it.”
“It could be.”
“You don’t believe that any more than I do.”
Her heart tripped and then fluttered madly. “What are you saying?”
“It’s not just sex, Kendall. It hasn’t ever been just sex from the very first day.”
“You’re right.” She closed her eyes against his serious expression. Did he have to look so ominous? Loving her shouldn’t be so grave and sad. It was supposed to be hopeful and amazing.
Why didn’t anything work like it was supposed to between them?
She met his gaze again. “It’s going to be crazy with Mom and I getting ready for the Simmons family anyway.”
“It’s supposed to be warm for the next few days, so I’m going to work on the dock.”
She frowned. “It’s too cold to stain it.”
“I have another idea.”
“Care to share?”
He shrugged. “It’s a surprise.” He leaned down and unplugged the lights, letting her free.
She stepped out of her nest of Christmas lights. “Go ahead. I’ll finish this up.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Mom made chili, so stop by for a bowl later.”
With the promise of food he gave her a rare smile. “For her chili, I’ll definitely be back.”
Kendall returned the smile. She watched him head down the stairs and back to the warm light of the barn. She slumped into a cross-legged position and set to unknotting the lights.
* * * *
The next few days were a whirlwind of cleaning, decorating, and readying the house for company. Word of mouth could make or break a B and B, and Kendall wanted to make a good impression.
Poinsettias lined the stairs, and the festive lights glowed against the night. She hung the wreath she’d bought on the door; a few strategic holly berries added just the right touch and countered the fat, sparkly bow.
Brody snored on the deck as she shoveled off the last of the drifting snow. The wind had kicked up after the few days of sun and warmth and brutally reminded them that it was the end of December.
Shane had indeed worked on the dock at the back of the house. He’d built a simple pergola in the middle of the deck. He’d hung thick canvas on two sides for people who wanted to sit out and look at the water but didn’t want to freeze their butts off.
But instead of loungers, he’d built a sturdy bench swing that created a stark and lovely touch at the center of her favorite space. He’d also repaired the snowmobile that had been stored in the shed since
last season.
He was tireless. No matter how many tasks her mother found to put on her list, Shane got them done without a complaint. He worked on his furniture late into the night, and Kendall and Shane talked while he sanded or varnished.
He even let her help. Under supervision, of course.
But as promised she didn’t get more than a kiss good night. Sometimes the kiss was an electrical storm leaving her lit up for hours, and sometimes it was sweet and sigh-worthy.
She was frustrated and touched at the same time. She understood they were getting to know each other, but she had no idea where he got the fortitude to send her off to bed alone every night. Kendall was ready to climb out of her skin.
The Simmons family was coming in the morning, and her mother was making a huge meal for Christmas. The family was staying from Christmas Eve through the New Year.
Good money and with the extra meals, they were definitely going to be making a tidy profit on the visit. Everything was about as perfect as she could make it. So why did she feel so edgy?
The purr of a belt sander lured her into Shane’s sanctum. He had a thick leather apron on to combat the dust, but it didn’t protect the arms of his shirt. He was covered in a fine powder of pine. He’d gotten a few orders for Adirondack chairs, and she couldn’t wait to sit in one once he was finished.
He looked up with a slow smile. “Hey, Sunshine.”
Her insides felt like a ray of sunshine when he said it like that. Low, intimate, and playful. A side to Shane she was seeing more and more. “I heard the sander. Figured I’d check in on you.”
“Actually, speaking of sander, I found something at the back corner of the shed when I got the snowmobile.”
“Dust? A mouse? Maybe even a ghost?”
His lips twitched. “No. Something more interesting.”
“Well, lay it on me. I was kind of hoping for a ghost. At least we’d make sure to get in a travel guide with one of those.”
He shook his head. “An old mahogany headboard.”
“That’s better than a ghost?”
“You know how much mahogany costs?”
“I’ll give you that one. Probably expensive, huh?”
“Just a bit.”
Kendall hopped up onto his metal desk, swinging her legs. “What are you going to do with it?”
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