“It’s on its way.”
“You mean Santa is bringing it?”
“With a little help from a courier.”
Sarah looked down at her watch. “Oops, I’ve got to run. Elena will wonder what’s happened to me.”
“Merry Christmas,” Ms. Claudia said, walking Sarah to the door. She smiled, knowing that Sarah’s unselfish act of adopting Elena was going to pay off in the dividend of twin boys. Elena had better enjoy being a spoiled princess while she could!
As Claudia went to the kitchen to warm up some soup, she wondered what Santa was doing.
Wondered if he missed her as much as she missed him.
“CONGRATULATIONS, you’ve got yourself a house,” Hollie said, clinking her champagne glass with Noel’s.
“And without any quibbling from the owners. They took my first offer.”
“You got lucky,” she said, pouring him some more champagne from the bottle he’d brought with him when he arrived at her house to celebrate closing the deal.
“You’re pretty gussied up,” she commented, taking in his double-breasted suit and his silk tie. “You sure you didn’t already start work? You haven’t changed your mind about leaving town for Christmas, have you?” She tried to keep the note of hope from her voice.
“I bought a ticket for a flight that leaves tomorrow afternoon at two. I’m dressed up because I thought maybe we could go to dinner to celebrate. I’ve given you a pretty hard time and you deserve a good meal on me.”
“Dinner?”
He nodded. “Anywhere but Honey Bear’s Pizza Cave.”
“I’ll have to shower and change…” She knew most men hated to wait for women.
“Go ahead—we’ve got time. Just tell me where you want to eat and I’ll call and make reservations while you get ready.”
Hollie took a sip of champagne, and felt giddy from the bubbly wine. It was the champagne, wasn’t it, and not the man who looked as though he’d walked off the cover of Gentlemen’s Quarterly? She remembered Sarah talking about an elegant restaurant in Clayton with a funny name. What was the name—Crazy something? “Crazy Fish,” she said. “I’ve been wanting to try it.”
“Crazy Fish, it is. Go ahead and get ready, then,” he said, draining his champagne flute and setting it on the counter.
“The phone book is in the bread drawer,” she informed him, heading off to her bedroom with a wave.
After he made the call and set the reservations for two, he settled on the sofa with a refilled flute of champagne to wait. He’d allotted an hour for her to get ready and a half hour for them to reach the restaurant.
Sitting on the sofa reminded him of the snowy day he’d fallen asleep there and the sexy dream he’d had of Hollie. It had been a very vivid dream, romantic and sensual, and he was getting hot. He set down the champagne flute and walked down the hall to where he’d heard the shower running in Hollie’s bathroom.
Another image came to mind.
The dresser drawer Elena had coveted and opened, much like Pandora’s box. It tempted him into the bedroom.
The shower was still running, steam drifting out into the bedroom. He caught the scent of Hollie’s perfumed soap. It smelled like honeysuckle and musk.
A bold desire overtook him as judgment left him. He slid open the lingerie drawer and began having a look through it. Merely professional curiosity, he told himself. After all, he was in retail.
He picked up a bra in lavish Venetian lace with dainty rosette trim, then discarded it and its matching stretch-mesh pantie in favor of a white teddy detailed with lovely eyelet embroidery and scalloped edging. It was pure and provocative, like Hollie.
Boldly, he laid it on the bed, then went to her closet and sorted through it, stopping first at a lemon pleated crepe suit. Its sunny color pleased him, but it wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. Searching further, he came up with the perfect candidate for dinner at Crazy Fish: a sleek little white spandex top with a ballet neck and a midthigh-length black ribbed knit skirt.
He laid those out alongside the teddy. He looked at the ensemble speculatively, then went back to the lingerie drawer for sheer nude panty hose.
The shower was still running, and the escaping steam lent a sultry atmosphere to the room and his clandestine behavior. He was taking a chance, risking blowing the evening.
Shoes! He’d almost forgotten. She had a thing for them, so choosing them would be a real treat. The top shelves of her closet were stacked high with shoe boxes. His task was made easy by her efficient system of taping a snapshot of each pair of shoes to the end of each box.
After a quick inventory, he settled on pretty black pumps with elasticized crisscross straps and about two-inch block heels.
He slipped the shoes from their box and hurried to the bed, where he placed them alongside his other selections for the evening.
His ears perked up at the sound of the shower being turned off and the shower door sliding open. She was getting out to towel off. He lingered a second to visualize her naked, with water droplets on her smooth skin and her curls damp against her neck.
And then he moved silently from the room to wait back in the living room.
How would she react when she saw the clothes laid out on her bed?
It was true he’d invaded her privacy. And what he’d done was very intimate.
Suggestive.
Possessive.
And maybe stupid.
But if she reacted the way he hoped, he’d be able to feast on the memory in the islands over Christmas. And just knowing he’d picked out every intimate detail of her clothing would excite him terribly as he sat across from her during dinner tonight.
He didn’t know why he’d done it. He had certainly never done anything like it before. Never revealed himself so recklessly.
The wait seemed forever, although just seconds passed. Had she left the bathroom yet? Had she discovered the clothing?
When she did, what would she think?
What would she do?
It was so quiet he could hear the furnace kick on and the ping against the windows of a light sleet that had begun to fall.
He got up and began pacing absently, his nerves making him restless. There was a bowl of sugared fruit on the piano. He picked a grape and plopped it into his mouth before he knew what he was doing. The sweet-tart taste only heightened his senses.
Sitting down at the piano, he began doodling on the keys, picking out a favorite song by ear. He was no more than an adequate player, but the distraction relaxed him.
He didn’t hear Hollie the first time she called his name. Or the next.
The third “Noel” caught his ear.
“Are you calling me?” he asked, leaving the piano and walking down the hall toward her bedroom, hoping like hell he wasn’t hearing things. Afraid his overactive imagination had conjured the sound.
“Would you come in here, please?” Hollie said as Noel walked by a framed handprint of Elena’s on the wall, next to a picture of her in a ballerina outfit. He passed Elena’s “room,” where he’d read her bedtime stories until midnight while Hollie had painted the little girl’s toenails cherry red, as promised. She spoiled the child rotten.
He wouldn’t mind being spoiled rotten by her, he thought, entering the bedroom…not knowing just what to expect.
She was dressed.
In the exact ensemble he’d picked out. And she was smiling, he saw with relief. A quirky little smile of acknowledgment.
“I thought you might like,” she said, opening the velvet case on her dresser, “to pick out my earrings, as well. Then all I have to do is my hair and we’ll be ready to go.”
Hell, he was ready to go!
She looked like a sexy dream in the outfit he’d selected for her. Sweet and sexy at the same time.
Was it a trap? Was she ready to blast him for the liberties he’d taken? A little uncertain, he approached the velvet box and looked inside.
Every piece of jewelry was whimsical, from angels to hearts to moons and stars.
He decided to give her what she wanted and picked up one of the red-and-green glitter holiday wreaths. He was close enough to see that her ears were pierced. Close enough to want to nibble on them. For starters.
Dinner was way down on the list of what he wanted at that moment.
She smiled at his selection.
“Do you want to put it in?” she asked.
He nearly swallowed his tongue, thinking she’d read his mind.
She turned her pierced ear toward him, waiting, and he realized she’d been talking about the earring in his hand.
Tongue-tied, he did just that, fumbling only a little with the delicate earring.
“Thanks,” she said, handing him the other one. “I touched up my manicure and didn’t want to wreck it,” she explained, blowing on her nails.
He thought the gesture interesting. She could have been blowing on her nails to dry them, but it looked to him as if she was congratulating herself on accomplishing something.
He was afraid to think what.
Hell, he didn’t want to think at all. And then, giving in to impulse, he didn’t.
Running his forefinger from the shell of her ear along her jaw, he passed the pad of his thumb over her lips and then lowered his lips to hers in a moment of spontaneous passion. He coaxed a response from her as he buried his hands in her damp curls. His tongue explored her delicious mouth with a sense of urgency.
“We’re going to be late, “ she said when he broke the kiss.
“Do you care?” he asked.
She answered him by reaching up to kiss him back.
A kiss of invitation that made him lose control.
He swung her up into his arms without breaking the kiss and carried her across the room. She clung to his broad shoulders, breathless still from the deep, probing thrust of his tongue.
“What are you doing?” she asked when they broke apart to gasp for air.
“Your bed has fascinated me since the first moment I saw it. It looks like a floating cloud, so high off the floor. I’ve wanted to see if it would possibly be as soft and inviting as it looks.”
Hollie squealed as he tossed her from his strong arms up on the bed.
She bounced once and then was enveloped in a tumble of plump white pillows.
Hurriedly he loosened his tie and shed it along with his suit jacket, then leaped to join her on the bed. Lying across her, he whispered in her ear, telling her about the dream he’d had about her, about what her lips had been up—er, down—to.
“Is that a request?” she asked.
“Maybe later,” he replied, pushing up her skirt as she arched her hips to assist him.
He cupped her bottom as he ground against her and moaned. His fingers flicked the snaps on the white teddy and he ripped the fabric of the sheer hose easily.
She let out a gasp of pleasure when he slid down on the bed to cover her pulsing sex with his warm mouth. While she squirmed beneath him, he sucked, then alternately raked his teeth against the tender flesh, until she was moaning his name. He upped the ante when he laved her with smooth, broad strokes of his tongue that didn’t penetrate only tormented, teased.
And then her hands, which had been clutching the sheets, cupped his ears, guiding him, insisting, until he furled his tongue in swirls of pleasure inside her till she shuddered against him and then went limp beneath him with exhausted passion.
He took her hand and kissed her palm, then stretched out alongside her, listening to her breathing, shallow and fast, until it returned to normal.
“Where did that come from?” Hollie asked, turning on her side and facing him, trailing her fingers over his broad chest.
“Just being a gentleman,” he answered.
“A gentleman? That’s an interesting way of putting it, don’t you think?”
“You know, returning the favor,” he explained, referring to the dream he’d had about her.
She chuckled. “Yeah …”
He stacked his hands behind his head as he eased over onto his back. His sex was hard and saluting.
It drew her hand. “So what do you think?” she asked, stroking.
“At the moment I’m incapable of thought. All the blood has left my head and gone … elsewhere.”
“I mean, what do you think—is the bed as soft as you imagined? Do you like it?”
“Um …” was all he said as she squeezed the length of him with gentle command.
And then her lips replaced her hand.
“Wait, wait, wait a minute.” He lifted her head. “Why don’t we eat dinner first and come back later for dessert?”
She laughed, knowing he didn’t really want to wait. “It’s like I always tell Sarah—life is uncertain, have dessert first.”
He took control then, flipping her body beneath his and holding both her hands in his. His mouth was on hers as he thrust inside her core, authoritatively and then teasingly slow. The pattern soon broke, however, and they engaged in an escalating race, before crossing the finish line together.
When she opened her eyes moments later she saw that at some point he’d managed to shed every stitch of clothing he had on, while she was still completely dressed, was even wearing her shoes.
For the first time in her life a man had made love to her with her shoes on. It was thrilling.
And somehow she believed he knew it.
He’d picked one of her most favorite pairs of shoes and had scored a hit right out of the ballpark. This was not your average man. But, then, she’d known that from the first time he’d walked into the real estate office and into her life.
And tomorrow afternoon he was probably walking out.
But she wasn’t going to think about that. She was going to enjoy her holiday. He hadn’t said any sweet words to get her into bed. He hadn’t had to.
She’d been ready ever since that kiss at the mall.
If she got her Christmas wish, he’d change his mind and stay. But it wouldn’t do to let herself believe, only to wish.
She knew in her heart she could make him have a Merry Christmas.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m famished,” Noel said, breaking into her thoughts as he rolled over and nearly fell out of bed, stopping himself just in time.
“I could probably find something in the pantry to nibble on,” Hollie suggested.
“Oh, no. I promised you a posh dinner and it’s a posh dinner you’ll have. Besides, you already cooked for me once tonight.”
She hid her blush by looking at the clock on the bedside table. “I think we missed our reservation.”
“Then I’ll make another one. I’ll tell them we were detained. But first I’m going to take a shower. Why don’t you laze away a few minutes?”
She wasn’t going to argue with him. The bed was too soft and inviting. In a few minutes she’d get up and look for something else to wear.
Or maybe she’d just let Noel pick something out. She’d liked that. How exciting to come out of the shower and find he’d laid out the clothing he wanted her to wear. The idea of him going through her intimate apparel was sexually intoxicating. What had he thought about her penchant for frilly things?
She heard the shower start up and imagined him with the water spraying down on him, sheeting his muscular body.
She was so blissed out that she didn’t hear the shower turn off. Didn’t hear anything until she heard Noel’s pained “Yeow!”
She shot out of bed and raced for the bathroom, thinking he’d slipped and fallen, broken something.
It was worse.
He was clutching the edge of the vanity, grimacing in pain, his face pale.
“What is it?”
“The curling iron,” he gulped, his voice raspy. “I burned myself when I leaned forward—didn’t know it was on.”
Oh, Lord, no wonder he was pale. He’d nearly neutered hims
elf. And then she had the wicked thought that she was glad she’d had dessert first, because it was going to be a while before…
Meanwhile, back at the North Pole…
“WE’VE GOT TO DO something,” Terrell, the head elf, said to the elves he’d assembled for an emergency meeting the night before their biggest night of the year.
“But what?” a redheaded elf named Sammy asked. “Even Santa doesn’t know where his wife disappeared to. She’s the reason he’s so glum.”
“I’m sure if we put our heads together we can come up with something. He can’t go out with the reindeer and sleigh tomorrow night to make all his deliveries to the good little boys and girls. He’s too depressed.”
“I know,” Sammy said. “Elf patrol.”
“Elf patrol!” the rest of the elves chorused.
The last time it had been instigated was when Rudolph had refused to lead the way just before his fawn was born. They had tracked down Clarabell, the clown, to borrow her red nose for Prancer to wear to lead the reindeer.
They stacked their hands one on top of another and sang, “All for one and one for all—everyone under four feet tall. We’re on our way. It’s off we go. For there is no Merry Christmas without Santa’s ho, ho, ho.”
The oak chest was opened and elf patrol helmets dispatched. Magic was afoot.
9
December 24
HOLLIE HADN’T REALLY known what she’d wanted for Christmas until last night, when Christmas had come early, she decided with a wicked laugh as she lazed in bed. She should get up. There were all sorts of chores vying for her attention. But she wanted to linger longer. To enjoy reliving last night—well, right up until Noel had stepped out of the shower, reached for a towel on the vanity and leaned into pain.
That had ended dinner.
The evening.
Romance.
He’d limped out, to her profuse apologies.
She pulled the pillow next to her over and hugged it tight, inhaling the scent of him, all wood smoke and fresh citrus. She was naked beneath the covers save for one accessory: the earrings he’d selected. She’d left them on when she’d undressed after Noel had left. After unplugging the curling iron and putting it in a safe place to cool down, she’d showered and gone to bed, but not to sleep.
The 6'1 Grinch Page 11
