by Jan Springer
Darnit! She wished she could have seen them. Unfortunately, she’d been super busy in her clinic cramming in double her patients than normal due to the upcoming holidays. All the offices would be closed for almost two weeks and she’d decided instead of being on-call during the holidays, as she’d always done in the past, this year would be different. She’d asked to be removed from the on-call list, much to the surprise of her supervisor, who thankfully hadn’t asked any questions.
She had no idea what she would be doing with all that free time, but work was going to be put onto the back burner for the first time since her mother had passed away from cancer. She blew out a sharp breath at the stab of pain the memories of her mom being gone created. Even after all these years, she still missed Mom’s laughter, her constant support and most of all her warm hugs.
Quickly, she brushed away the unwanted sprig of tears hoping her eye makeup didn’t run. Today was Christmas Eve and she was going to cut loose and the last thing she wanted to do was cry. She forced herself to smile and take several deep breaths to steady herself. It worked. A little.
Despite her need to rush into the club, she took a moment to inspect her face in the car’s rear-view mirror. The white eye shadow complete with blue, red and green stick-on gems that looked like tiny Christmas lights hadn’t been ruined by her momentary breakdown and continued to glitter. Before coming here, she’d applied red eye mascara to illuminate her lashes and added sparkling pink blush to her cheeks.
She’d also allowed herself to be talked into something daring this morning while at Sophie’s hair salon. Sophie had given Kelsie a new look. She’d snipped her hair to give her some bangs and cut several inches off the back. Sophie had also colored Kelsie’s hair, changing it from her normal blonde to a bright red. The cheerful color was temporary and matched her outfit to perfection.
She was pleased with her new look. She looked Christmassy sexy for once in her life and the excitement of the season spirited through her. Tonight she was going to cut so loose that no one would even realize she was a workaholic doctor. Boy, this newfound freedom agreed with her. She hadn’t been this happy in one heck of a long time.
She smiled at that idea, grabbed her purse, opened the car door and stepped outside. Frigid December air blasted against her and she shivered. She’d opted not to bring her coat along knowing it was just a short walk from the parking lot to the Club, but now with the frosty wind tangling her newly dyed red hair, and gusts of cold seeping past the skimpy Christmas outfit, she suddenly wished she was wrapped in something snug and warm.
She slammed the door shut, tucked her chin low against her neck, embraced her arms and while shivering, briskly stepped amongst the ice-crusted driveway in a pair of thigh high lace-up black boots with white puffy edging to match her outfit. The three inch heels would hopefully not give out on this ice and make her fall and break her neck.
As she neared the large two-story red brick building her mouth dropped open in surprise.
Wow! Jaxie had outdone herself. She’d turned the exterior of the Club into a gorgeous Christmas lights wonderland. Sapphire-blue lights twinkled on the scattering of snow-covered pine trees. Dainty white icicle lights dangled from each of the many windows and magical fairy lights twinkled along the top of the white picket fence surrounding the property.
Edging the stairs up to the front porch, sat aluminum buckets filled with red apples, ultra-large pinecones, white birch-bark branches, evergreens and softly glowing white Christmas lights. A red puffy bow accented each pail. On the front door hung a huge pinecone wreath with a red and white candy-striped bow. She wished she could stay outside and admire all the other decorations, but another cold blast of wind chased her into the building.
Warm apple and cinnamon scented air greeted her as she stepped inside. It was gorgeous in here and she instantly felt enveloped in a welcome embrace. Jaxie had decorated the inside just as beautifully as the outside. Strands of white and red Christmas lights in the shapes of candy canes were suspended from the ceiling. Candy canes hooked into red ribbons dangled at each of the windows and the tables were adorned in red tablecloths with white poinsettia plants.
The club was hopping. The waitresses were all dressed in similar fashion wearing cute green elf costumes. Sexy Santas and snow girls gyrated to the wild music on the dance floor. Everyone appeared cheerful as they sipped on their drinks or danced on the floor. Suddenly the throbbing music quieted and Jaxie stood in a doorway on the opposite side of the giant room. She was dressed like a Christmas tree. Her green satin puff ball dress was edged with gold trimming and pretty red pompoms and bows. A shimmering gold fabric headband with a gold star sat upon her head, perfectly topping off the tree costume.
“Last call for the Santa Claus Ménage. Everyone who has signed up better get in here,” she spoke into the hand held microphone.
Shoot! She’d hoped for at least one or two drinks for encouragement before everything started. But Jaxie had already seen her and was waving her over. So much for no one recognizing her in this get up.
“Hey, girlfriend. Awesome! You are looking hot! I haven’t seen such a sexy costume before” Jaxie said a moment later when Kelsie joined her.
“Thanks. I got it from Jewel’s Toy Shoppe.” May as well do a plug for her friend.
“Very nice. Your two men will absolutely love it.”
Hmm, that comment was interesting. Jaxie always had more participants than ménage rooms. How could she be sure that Kelsie would get two men tonight?
“I hope so,” Kelsie admitted as a sudden bout of nervousness tangled around her.
“I kept making excuses for the delay in getting started. I almost had to announce there was one more opening. Yours. I didn’t think you would make it. I am so glad you are here. You work too much. You need to come in here more often.”
Wow, she’d never seen Jaxie so keyed up. Her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.
“Come on, let’s go.” She grabbed Kelsie firmly by the elbow and ushered her into an adjoining room that was brimming with women dressed up like reindeers, snowmen, and sexy angels dressed in white. There was even an elf in green sequins, and a nutcracker. The women who’d signed up for tonight’s ménage had really outdone themselves in the creativity department. But a zing of nervousness pushed through her as all eyes were on Kelsie as she walked in.
Some women glared in obvious jealousy while other smiled and nodded with approval.
“Yours is the best costume here,” Jaxie whispered and winked at her. “And I love your hair.”
“Thanks,” she said, but Jaxie had already rushed away and was out of earshot as she grabbed her infamous black top hat off a nearby shelf. There were rumors circulating it was a trick hat and that Jaxie sometimes made certain keys were given to certain people so that certain couples hooked up together in the same room. But Kelsie didn’t buy into it. She figured Jaxie had started the rumors because it was good for business. It kept the town talking about the Club and encouraged people to come here in an effort to find love in a most unusual way.
“Is everybody ready?” Jaxie shouted.
Cheers roared through the room.
“Great! Now let’s begin. As you know there are times when I allow more people to sign up than I have rooms for. It makes those nights pretty intense. Am I right?”
The crowd booed and Kelsie joined them. Jaxie smiled and held up her hand to silence everyone.
“But since this is Christmas, I have a present for all of you here.”
Silence permeated the room. Kelsie could read the anticipation on everyone’s faces. Felt it zinging through herself as well. What did Jaxie have in store for them tonight?
“Because this is Christmas, I am giving you all a present.”
Cheers shot through the room. It took a long moment for Jaxie to silence them as she waved her hands for them to settle down. Finally everyone fell silent.
“Everybody in this room will have their mé
nage. No one will be left out.”
Awesome! Kelsie cheered with the rest of the ladies.
Chapter Four
“What the hell is taking them so long in that room? How long does it take for Jaxie to pop up that key from her hat for Kelsie?” Ryder growled.
He’d caught sight of Kelsie the instant she’d entered the club. At first he hadn’t recognized her. Only that she seemed familiar and sexy as sin. By the time he’d figured out the red-haired woman dressed in the curve-hugging Santa Claus dress was Kelsie, she’d been stolen away by Jaxie.
Sitting across from him at their tiny table for two, Dixon shrugged. His Santa Claus hat was perched on his head and his red Santa Claus suit made him look like all the other guys who’d showed up here tonight dressed like Santa. He munched on a giant piece of candy cane cake and his Adams apple bobbed as he swallowed. He followed the cake with the remainder of the pink peppermint eggnog he’d ordered.
“Hey man, relax,” he said. “These things take time. Jaxie will come through for us. And remember the promise we made to her. Never reveal the fact she has a trick hat.”
Ryder inhaled and shook his head. Trick hat, his ass. He still didn’t have Kelsie in the room they had prepared for her. He didn’t like the fact that Jaxie had admitted her matchmaking hat wasn’t a hundred percent. With his luck the woman he wanted would get the incorrect key and he would get the wrong woman in their room.
Dixon motioned to a nearby waitress who immediately stepped to their table.
“Can I get a couple of Christmas tree cupcakes and a glass of Jaxie’s famous cinnamon eggnog with all that whipping cream poured on top? You know, the eggnog spiked with the good stuff?” Dixon asked.
The good stuff meaning a hint of vodka.
The waitress, dressed in a sassy elf costume, complete with green elf hat, red and green tunic, and thigh high green and white stripped stockings, nodded and then turned to Ryder. She smiled at him, but the dark circles hanging beneath her brown eyes showed her weariness. She was new in town and had moved here with her sickly father who’d been through Emergency more times than Ryder could count. He’d seen her working at the hospital cafeteria during the days and heard that she waitressed here at the club some nights.
“Something else for you?” she asked. She frowned at his barely touched beer.
“Nothing for me, thanks.”
She returned her attention to Dixon. “I’ll be right back with your order.”
When the waitress had gone, Dixon frowned.
“Hey, loosen up. Everything is going according to plan,” he said to Ryder. “You look like a nervous wreck the way your eyes keep darting to that door. She’s not even coming out that way. There’s another door in there and leads to the rooms. Jaxie said we needed to stay put until she spoke with us.”
Irritation and impatience roared through him.
“What if we don’t get Kelsie? I can’t go through with this if it isn’t her.”
“Yeah, I kind of noticed you only have eyes for our cute workaholic doctor. She’s constantly on my mind too.”
“Food seems to be on your mind too,” he grumbled.
Dixon chuckled heartily. “I swear I have never seen you so hot for a chick before. Why the hell don’t you just ask her out?”
Ryder shifted uncomfortably in his chair and resisted the urge to yank his fly down and let his swollen, aching shaft out for a damned good stretch. He was as hard as a pole and dying to make love to Kelsie.
“That’s because there’s something irresistible about her. And I know she would just shoot me down. She has no outside life, remember? That’s what Jaxie said.”
“True. But if you asked Kelsie out every day for the next few years, she might say yes.”
Dixon winked and Ryder sighed wearily. This was not the time to tease. If Dixon was so gung ho on Kelsie then why didn’t he ask her out? Ryder knew the answer to that. Dixon was waiting for Ryder to come to his senses and stop being so damned shy about women.
Not only was Kelsie the most beautiful woman he’d ever met, but every time he was around her, even for the very few seconds he’d been able to get in a hello before she hurried off, she just sent his body humming. It felt really nice.
Whenever they were in the same room longer than a minute he became tongue tied by her beauty and he just didn’t know what to say, let alone ask her out. That morning of the snow storm was the first time he’d been able to gather his thoughts and say more than one sentence to her. Upon seeing her in the cafeteria with the Key Club flyer announcing the festivities for tonight, a damn of boldness had finally bust inside of him and he’d purposely made it so she would have to brush against him.
“Yeah, like she makes you feel like you want to fuck her every time you see her?” Dillon continued. “That you want to wake up with her beside you in your bed every morning? And you want to grow old with her and have a whole bunch of kids with her?”
Ryder nodded. Dixon had hit the nail right on the head. He did want her. In all kinds of ways. He wanted to please her. Tease her. Protect her. Make love to her. And to fall in love her.
Maybe he already had fallen in love with her?
* * * * *
Dixon watched Ryder’s face turn from one of distress to a cool look of wonder. Interesting. Maybe Ryder had already fallen in love with her? Wouldn’t that be something? Dr. Ryder Greene, a private man who preferred to let the sexy nurses, female doctors and other women they met think that he was gay, just because he was living with Dixon in a secluded farmhouse and so he wouldn’t have to say no to a woman who he had no interest in when she asked him out. Man, talk about going to extremes.
Too bad Ryder was so damned introverted or he probably could have had Kelsie already tied up in a ribbon and beneath his Christmas tree by now. He saw the way she looked at him. The way she looked at both of them.
Interest was quite clear in her eyes. However she was fighting the attraction for both of them for whatever reason. He had a feeling that tonight was going to change everything for Ryder and maybe even himself.
In the last town they’d lived in, the two of them had shared a house with a woman. They had shared her. The experience was enjoyable in knowing that when he wasn’t around, Ryder would be looking after her. They’d both been serious about her, but things hadn’t turned out. When she had decided to leave the relationship, they had parted ways as friends.
Dixon grinned. Kelsie just might be a woman who would consider getting into a ménage hookup. He was going to enjoy being the third and hopefully in getting this relationship started. Kelsie, who probably believed she was here for only no-strings sex was hopefully going to be pleasantly surprised to find out they were her ménage partners.
Grinning inwardly, Dixon kept one eye glued to the waitress who was approaching with his order and the other eye on the door to the room where Kelsie had gone. This was going to be one hell of an exciting night.
* * * * *
Kelsie held her breath as she slid the key into the lock of the room assigned to her. She hesitated as bursts of excitement jumbled with waves of nervousness. After picking the ménage key, she’d followed Jaxie’s instructions, which were for her to shower, remove her butt plug, dress in her panties, bra and the red robe provided by the Club. So much for her men seeing her costume. Oh well, those were the breaks.
Here goes. She twisted the pretty silver key with the dangling tiny pearls signifying white Christmas ornaments. A second later she opened the door and entered a dimly lit alcove. A soft romantic Christmas melody drifted through the room. She stopped and gasped with surprise at what lay ahead of her.
Wow, the room looked gorgeous. It had been decorated like a winter wonderland. A white electric fireplace had been set against a far wall and orange flames flickered behind the black wrought iron screen. Tangled green garlands with blinking white fairy lights and tiny red bows were placed along the white marble mantel. Two silver stockings hung at one end of the fireplace with a red s
tocking on the other end.
Beside the fireplace a six foot high white Christmas tree had been set. It had been decorated in red and silver ornaments with a silver star perched on top. But that’s not what held her full attention. Dangling from the room’s ceiling were rows upon rows of two-foot long strands of plump white marshmallows, which gave the appearance of a snowfall.
It was so pretty that a sprig of unexpected tears whispered behind her eyes. Wow, Jaxie sure did know how to decorate a room.
“Kelsie?” a woman spoke softly from behind her. Kelsie turned to find a young blonde of about twenty-five standing in the hall. She wore a brown teddy dress edged with white fur trim. Brown felt reindeer antlers attached to a headband had been pushed into her auburn hair. She even wore the signature red nose of a reindeer and Kelsie couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes?”
“I’ve been given instructions by your two partners. Would you care to enter the room and I will place you into position.”
Place her into position?
“Sure,” she whispered and felt a surge of adrenalin.
“Here, this letter is for you,” The woman handed Kelsie a red envelope and then brushed past her into the room.
Kelsie blew out a tense breath as she followed the woman. The room appeared much bigger than she’d first thought. There were other furniture items in here such as a long, white leather couch. But for now all she could focus on was the St. Andrew’s cross and a nearby rack holding dozens of floggers. Both the cross and the rack were set in one corner and that was exactly where the woman was headed!
With suddenly shaking fingers Kelsie opened the envelope and withdrew a red sheet of paper. Familiar handwriting made her pause for a moment, but she just couldn’t quite place whose writing it could be.
