A Little Mistletoe and Magic: Ho Ho Howls Romance Holiday Edition

by Marianne Morea

  “Well, isn’t that the case when you came to Whisper Falls? You came here with no one.”

  “Not the same thing.”

  “Isn’t it, though? Alone in a strange place, with nothing but your own self-reliance? My friend, the dream interpreter, says all dreams have meaning. That they are unconscious heralds.”

  “Of what?” Jenny asked. “Warning me, but not telling what to watch out for? Gee, thanks.”

  Jack reached out a finger to wipe an ice cream smear from her chin. “Not necessarily,” he said, licking his fingertip. “Most dreams reflect choices yet to be faced. Or some kind of change. Though they don’t always mean what you think.”

  “That’s funny,” Jenny scraped the inside of the small custard cup, “considering Tess said something similar about tarot cards.”

  “My friend believes the spirits talk to us through our dreams. Like a vision quest.”

  Jenny wiped her mouth on Jack’s napkin. “Lemme guess. Your friend is First Peoples.”

  Jack nodded. “Talan is Manachaw. Their land is about an hour north of here.”

  “How did you meet Talan?”

  “Clan.”

  “So you’re First Peoples, too?”

  “Distantly so.” He took her hand. “Talan says the spirits often manifest as animals. Do you remember anything like that?”

  Prickles tingled along her forearm, and her palm warmed in Jack’s grip. The sensation happened each time he took her hand. Jenny slid her hand back, and then got up to throw the empty custard cup in the trash bin under the sink.

  “Not Noah’s Ark,” she replied awkwardly. Turning on the tap, she stood with her hands in warm water, still tingling. “Uhm, there was a crow and a cat.” She hated sounding distracted, especially because of a man.

  “A cat. You mean like Kitto?” Jack got up from the table to shut the tap.

  “Kind of, only huge.” He stood close enough for her to feel his body heat, and when she turned, she and Jack were toe-to-toe. “With the same green eyes.”

  Without thinking, she touched the side of his cheek. “Like your green. Unusual.”

  Jack didn’t pull her hand from his face, and his gaze held just as close. “Plenty of people have green eyes, Jen.”

  Embarrassed, she let her hand drop and took a step away from him. “Animals, heralds, whatever they represent, I know there’s something more to these dreams. I’m not afraid, well, not really,” she shrugged, “but there’s something waiting. The thing is, I don’t know if it’s something I’m supposed to face or something I should fear.”

  “Maybe it’s both.”

  “Great. Now I’ll never sleep.” Jen shook her head, pushing away from the sink for the table, but Jack took her wrist.

  “Nothing will hurt you while I’m around, and that’s a promise.” He pulled her into his arms without preamble. His lips were soft and probing, and when she didn’t pull away, he deepened his kiss.

  Jenny’s mind spun with the taste of him. She wanted this. Had fantasized about this since she saw Jack standing in the shop’s door.

  Insistent, she returned his kiss, letting her hands explore his muscled back, the broad expanse that tapered to his waist.

  She slid her fingers toward his waistband, wanting to feel the firm globes of his ass, but guilt edged its way into her mind, and she broke their kiss.

  “I can’t do this.”

  “Jen—”

  She stayed in his arms, but couldn’t meet his eyes. “Uhm,” she began, keeping her eyes on his shirt buttons. “If I have another strange dream, do you think your friend would be willing to decipher its meaning?” Her fingers gripped the back of his shirt. “I mean if I write it down for him before it goes hazy?”

  “Stranger things have happened. The only way to know is to ask.”

  She shook her head. “Between my dreams and my super-charged intuition, I think I’ve reached supersaturation with strange.”

  “You live in Whisper Falls, Jen. There’s no such thing as supersaturated with strange.” He paused. “Look at me, Jen.”

  Slipping his fingers under her chin, he lifted her face. “I know this is a lot for you, and I respect that. At the same time, I can’t help my feelings for you. I realize kissing you like that probably made you more uneasy than your weirdo dreams, still I’m not sorry. I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment I saw you in your shop.

  “If knowing all this makes you uncomfortable with me staying here, I’ll move back to Sam’s tonight. I just hope it hasn’t weirded you out enough to stop work on the inn, because it’s coming together beautifully.”

  Jenny never trusted her new Spidey senses, but she sent them out in full force now. The answer she got back was exactly what she expected. Jackson truly was a man of his word, who says what he means and means what he says. He wanted her. Not just to ease an itch or for a convenient in-house fling. He wanted her.

  The knowledge thrilled her like a teenager with a backstage pass to her favorite boy band crush, but at the same time, it scared her. Like Jack said.

  “I don’t know if I can do this, Jack. Maybe if we take this slow,” she replied, “and by slow, I mean glacier slow. I need to ease my way through what I’m feeling and not feeling, so please don’t take offense if I don’t respond the way you think I should. I have baggage. Gorillas jumping on samsonite suitcases, baggage. Just give me time to process.”

  He nodded, lifting his fingers to caress the soft skin of her cheek. “Glaciers are cool. Like the North Pole. Everlasting.”

  Jenny pulled his hand from her cheek. “Don’t count on everlasting, Jack. It doesn’t always work that way.” She didn’t mean to rain on his romantic analogy, but it was the truth.

  “That kind of statement comes from grief and guilt. You don’t need to be an empath to figure that out. So, yeah. I’m sticking with everlasting. You love your family, and always will. Like that poem on your sandstone memorial says, you carry them in your heart.

  “Still, as fragile as a heart can be, it’s also the most flexible and forgiving organ we possess. Hearts stretch to make room for all love, including what comes next.”

  “And you think that’s you?”

  “No, love. I think that’s us.” Jack leaned in to press a gentle kiss to her cheek, and then turned for the hall and the stairs to the second floor.

  Jenny stood at the sink, stunned.

  What the hell just happened?

  You know what happened.

  How?

  Life is for the living, honey.

  Cliché.

  Yes, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

  So, what do I do with all this?

  Live your life.

  Jenny exhaled, raking a hand through her hair at her inner back and forth. “I don’t know how to do that,” she mumbled out loud.

  Yes, you do.

  How?

  One day at a time. One kiss at a time.

  Jack certainly knew how to kiss. The man practically curled her toes in front of the sink. Still, weirdness was bound to set in at some point. Probably the moment she saw him in the morning.

  Ugh. They were supposed to go to Tess’s for dinner tomorrow. How the hell could they pull that off without it being weird? It’s not like they were a couple.

  Yet.

  OMG. It was one kiss.

  It was more than that and you know it.

  Jenny ignored the internal argument, concentrating instead on clearing what was left on the table and in the sink.

  She snapped off the kitchen lights, and walked toward the stairs with her mind still reeling. “Sleep on it,” she murmured, climbing the steps. Things would be clearer in the cold light of day.

  Closing her bedroom door, she silently prayed she’d filled the quota for dream weirdness for one night.

  ***

  “Hold this, will you?” Jack turned on the ladder.

  She took a measured breath, and took the tape measure from his hand, wondering if he missed the dirty
insinuation, vis-á-vis his crotch level with her face, or just chose to ignore it. After that amazing kiss, and all the things he said last night, her mind went straight to hell in a pornographic handbag.

  “What do you think? Can we save the molding?” she asked, focusing on the water-damaged portion of the ceiling, instead of the man’s package.

  Dirty widow.

  Don’t you mean merry widow?

  That’s a sexy corset.

  Exactly, and Jack would love it.

  Shut up.

  “You okay, Jen?”

  She blinked, shaking off the errant thought, and then looked up to find Jackson eyeing her. “Yeah, uhm. I’m preoccupied with what to bring to Tess’s later. I had intended to make brownies or something, but after our conversation, I forgot all about it.”

  “Forgot about dessert, or forgot about what I said?”

  Jenny focused on a smudge on Jack’s shirt, afraid to make eye contact. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget what you said last night. I didn’t sleep much because of it.”

  “And?”

  “One day at a time—” she mumbled. Jack stepped off the ladder, and as he turned, she was right there. It was her turn to take him by surprise. She went up on tiptoe, sliding a hand into his dark hair. “—and one kiss at a time.”

  Kissing Jack felt right. Tasted right. Her body went up in flame the moment her lips touched his, but her mind stayed surprisingly calm. She’d wrestled with her guilt after going to bed, but she heard her girls in the night, and their soft, sweet laughter made it seem okay. Or that’s what she told herself.

  Her fingers gripped Jack’s hair as he fisted the back of her shirt. Her kiss was demanding and breathless. Desperate. Jenny ached for more, as their breath mingled, and tongues delved.

  Jack stepped back, keeping his hands on her shoulders. This time, he was the one to break their kiss.

  “What are you doing?” she gasped, catching her breath.

  “Glacial pace, remember?”

  “Screw that. In fact, screw me.” She reached for him again, but he shook his head.

  “Jack!”

  “I know we haven’t known each other long, but I know you, Jen. We both deserve more than the equivalent of ripping off a Band-Aid.”

  “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

  He stepped back from her to collapse the ladder. “Isn’t it? Unless you had a major epiphany after I went up to bed, I have to respect what you said last night.”

  “Stop telling me what I said last night.” She glared at him. “I know what I said last night.”

  “Why are you angry with me? This is about mutual respect and boundaries, Jenny. Mine and yours.” Resting the ladder horizontally against the baseboard, he straightened. “Not five minutes ago I asked if you were okay, and you replied, one day at a time. That tells me you’re still grappling with yourself.”

  She blew the hair from her forehead. “Grappling with myself. You keep kissing me like you have, I’m going to do more with myself than just grapple!”

  A huge grin split his face and he shook his head. “Do you know how hard you are making this for me right now?”

  “How hard is it?” She waggled her eyebrows.

  Jack roll his eyes. “Really?”

  She gave him a sheepish grin. “Well?”

  “Hard enough to make the rest of the afternoon very uncomfortable. I have a very vivid imagination, Jen, and the image of you spread wide, with your fingers between your legs is one that will definitely make me grapple with myself. In exactly the way your dirty mind expects.”

  “Can I watch?” She batted her eyes.

  “What has gotten into you today? I’m getting whiplash. Last night we agreed to a tentative glacial pace, but today you go straight to lust unchained.”

  She shrugged, but didn’t look away from his questioning gaze. “I did a lot of thinking last night. I’m not ready to do the his-and-her thing, but I am ready to take the next step with you.”

  “I’m afraid to even guess what that means.”

  “I’ll make it easy for you. What’s between glacial and lust unchained?”

  His brows pulled together slightly. “And this isn’t a let’s get this over with, rip the Band-Aid off kind of thing?”

  “Nope. Cross my stretchy heart.”

  A grin tugged at his mouth at that. “I don’t know. Dating?”

  “Dating,” Jenny repeated.

  He nodded, reaching in his back pocket for a work rag to wipe his hands. “That way we can get to know each other better. It gives us time to make sure this isn’t just physical.” He smirked, lifting one shoulder. “Not that I mind it being physical. In fact, it’s hard to concentrate with how much I want to touch you.”

  “Good. I’m glad I’m not the only mental moral degenerate in the room.”

  He grinned at that. “You are definitely not the only one. I am unbelievably attracted to you, Jenny, but the last thing I want is to get to the point of no return, and you realize you’re not ready. I’d respect your decision, of course, but do you know how awkward that would make it afterward? A hell of a lot more uncomfortable than taking it slow.”

  “So dating, then,” she answered.

  Nodding, he stuffed the work rag into his pocket. “Starting with dinner with friends tonight.”

  “Ugh, I wonder if it’s too late for me to order something from the bakery.”

  “Don’t order anything. I can grab a pumpkin from the farm stand out at Wilkins’ place when I grab us lunch. We can make a pie later.”

  “Lunch?” She fished her phone from her back pocket. “I haven’t even had breakfast yet.”

  He pecked her cheek. “Maybe you can go without sustenance, but I have the metabolism of a wild animal. If I don’t eat now, I’ll be ravenous later and it won’t be pretty.”

  “Are you saying you get hangry?”

  He put his truck keys between his teeth and shrugged into his jacket. “You have no idea.”

  “Does making a pie together and then dinner with Tess and Sam count as two dates?”

  “I don’t know. Why?” he asked, curious.

  She shrugged, bending to straighten the drop cloth where the ladder used to be. “No reason. When I was in college, I had a three date rule.”

  “Lemme guess. Three dates before hook-up rule”

  “So you know that one.”

  He winked, saluting her as he opened the front door “Cute. You are definitely cute. I’ll bring you back a foot-long from the deli.”

  “Ha! I may be cute, but you’re a tease.”

  Glancing over his shoulder at her, he smiled, and Jenny’s lower belly clenched at the heat in his eyes.

  “Always.”

  He closed the door and Jenny had to reach for the bannister to sit. Damn.

  Chapter Eight

  “I’m glad you came.” Tess pulled the cork on a bottle of merlot. “I was afraid you’d chicken out of a date with Jack.” Jenny held her glass out and Tess obliged. “Say when.”

  “Fill her up, friend.”

  Tess stopped with the bottle poised over the glass. “You want to tell me about it?”

  “Jack kissed me.”

  “Oh my God. Where?”

  Jenny looked at her, confused. “On the mouth. Where else?”

  Wine splashed into Jen’s glass, and Tess angled her head with a smirk. “If I have to tell you, then we’re going to need more than one bottle. I meant where were you two?”

  “Oh! We were in the kitchen.”

  Pouring herself a glass, Tess looked from her wine to Jen. “And what? Jack jump out and grab you from behind the fridge? You’re not giving me details.”

  Jenny swirled the wine in her glass. “There’s not much to tell.” She told her about the dream and what happened after.

  “So you’re taking it slow.” Tess shrugged. “Big deal. More people should take a leaf out of that playbook.”

  The two stood at Tess’s granite counter at the cente
r of the kitchen, and Jenny looked past her friend to the guys standing on the other side of the half wall separating the kitchen from the living room.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Tess asked, watching her friend watch Jack.

  “What makes you say that?” She shifted gears back to the kitchen prep.

  Tess put her glass down and reached for the bread knife. “Because you’re forgetting to breathe. Again.” She sliced the crusty bread Jen brought over.

  “I said I wanted to take it slow, but—” she shrugged.

  “And?” Tess’s eyebrows went up.

  Jenny shook her head quickly. “Not yet. Though no thanks to me. I was all over Jack this morning, but he said no.”

  Tess’s eyebrows shot even higher.

  “Stop. It’s not like that. He’s convinced I had a change of heart because I want my first time done and dusted.”

  Tess hmphed. “It’s not exactly your first time, but I get it. He means since the accident.”

  “Yes, but more that it’ll be my first time since Charlie.”

  “Well,” Tess scooped up the bread slices, placing them in a decorative wicker basket. “Jack’s old-fashioned.” She looked at her friend. “Like from of another era.”

  Jenny gave a soft laugh. “Trust me. There isn’t an old cell in that man’s body. He is definitely in his prime. Big time.”

  “That’s not what I meant, but I get it.” She corked the bottle of wine. “Can you put that on the table next to the butter?” Tess motioned to the basket of bread. “I’ll grab the guys and the appetizers.”

  Tess winked, shooing her toward the dining room on the opposite side of the kitchen.

  “Hey, you two! Time to eat,” Tess called.

  Jenny took the bread basket and her wine into the other room, and the other’s followed close behind.

  “Shrimp cocktail and homemade horseradish sauce.” Tess put the cold tray in the center of the table as everyone sat. “Help yourselves, there’s plenty. But don’t go too nuts because I made a roast with potatoes and carrots, with the fresh bread you two brought.”

  Jack took a hefty portion, spooning a large dollop of cocktail sauce onto his shrimp. “We grabbed the bread from the Brasserie. Jenny brought some home last night with dinner. It was so good we thought you’d like it, too.”