Maybe he would take one of these women home.
But, then, he would be playing them, and that would be wrong.
He bade everyone farewell and drove back to his apartment alone. He put the frosting in the refrigerator, the Booze under the sink, the candy cane against the umbrella stand, and the healing oils in his bedroom.
Before going to sleep, he read through all the Dear Santa letters and wrote each woman the same note.
Follow your heart, but remember, you are worth everything to that special man. Don’t sell yourself short. Don’t play games. Be yourself, and most of all, love and value yourself.
He sealed the notes and put them in his bag. He would hand them all to Hailey and ask her to hire another Santa. After Max’s wedding, he would leave Sapphire Falls. He was no longer needed in this little town. He didn’t fit in the mold.
Everyone fell in love in one, two, or at most three days.
Everyone had their happy endings.
Everyone but Dr. T.
Chapter Thirteen
Candi held her breath as she watched Troy depart from Hailey Bennett’s house. She’d been hiding upstairs in the alcove where she had a good view into the living room where Troy had danced with a slew of local women.
He was popular, that was for sure, and everyone genuinely liked him. He was, as she’d told Dr. T, the perfect man, not just for her, but for any of the beautiful bombshells he flirted with.
What did he see in her?
What did he know about her?
She’d waltzed into town, stolen a mistletoe sprig, gotten trapped in a haunted mansion, and that had been enough for him to fall in love with her?
While she knew quite a bit about him, having asked him all her interview questions and observed him around town, he had not a clue about her—other than he was attracted to her physically.
What would happen once he really got to know her?
She crept to the window and observed him. He was friendly with women, appeared to have exchanged numbers, but he got into his truck alone, despite two women hanging onto him on the way out.
“There you are,” Honey said, startling her. “I can’t believe you’re hiding. Why didn’t you come downstairs and say something?”
“Did you just get here?” She looked up at Honey and Max.
“Yeah, we were ice skating at TJ and Hope’s place with the kids,” Max said.
“Troy didn’t show up until the end of the party,” Candi said. “I was hoping to catch him before everyone showed up. Hailey told me he’d be here first.”
“No.” Honey sat on the window cushion next to her. “You wanted to see if he was going to go home with another woman. You’re still scared. I know you’ve been through a bad breakup, and it’s too soon to know how you feel, but you have to let Troy know why you’re pulling back. Otherwise, he thinks you rejected him.”
Max stood back with his hands in his pockets, but Candi knew Max would not be interfering. He took his bro code seriously and hadn’t divulged what was wrong with Troy’s mother.
As far as Candi could tell, his mother seemed to be fine. She’d bragged about how the senior citizens in town taught ballroom dancing to the preschoolers during the summer day camps at the community center.
Seemed like the mayor was being nice, telling Candi she was needed to show the seniors the dance steps they already knew.
“I’m not good enough for him,” Candi whispered. “Troy doesn’t know how many times guys dumped me. If he knew what a loser I am, he’d never want anything to do with me.”
“That’s a lot of assumptions you’re making,” Honey said. “Read what Dr. T says again. Any man who thinks you’re damaged goods is not worth your time. While it’s true you don’t have to broadcast your past to a guy on the first date, if all of this bothers you so much, you should come clean. It’s not as if you’re an axe murderer.”
“Troy’s hurt,” Max said. “He’s not showing it. He’s burying himself in work and staying away from us.”
“I’m so sorry about that.” Candi wiped her face with both hands. “This is supposed to be your wedding week and I’m screwing it all up. I should go talk to him and let him know all my screw ups. Then he’ll realize I’m not the strong, confident woman Dr. T helped me to portray.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Max said. “Take it from a guy. He doesn’t need to know all your faults, or every guy you’ve slept with, or the details of why your relationships ended. All he needs to know is how you feel about him.”
“And that you’re hot in bed,” Honey added. “Time to face your fears. He accepted all the gifts, so he’s prepared, probably waiting for you.”
“I’m nervous.” Candi rubbed her hands together to warm them. “What do I say to him? Where do I start?”
Max snickered, shaking his head. “You really have to ask? You can get him with ‘I’m wearing blue panties.’”
“Dr. T wouldn’t approve of me doing a booty call.” Candi put up a last ditch effort, even though she knew Troy was worth the risk. The past few days had been torture as she replayed every snippet of conversation they had together, talked to all the people who knew Troy growing up, including his mother who assured her he was devoted to her. Even former girlfriends sang his praises.
Troy was universally liked. Not too good to be true.
Just too good for her.
“Dr T called you an idiot.” Honey woke her phone to the forum. “He sounded angry.”
“Which in the history of Dr. T is a big surprise,” Max said. “Everyone in town treats his advice as gospel. My mom and sisters say he’s never come unglued the way he has in that last message.”
The entire town of Sapphire Falls seemed to follow Dr. T religiously and this latest episode with Dumped/Vibrant was the talk of the town—from the ladies at the salon who gave both Candi and Honey a mani-pedi, to the caterer, to the seniors at the community center. Fortunately, no one other than Honey and Max knew Candi was Vibrant.
Good thing, too, because Dr T’s fans, of whom there were legions, have been filling up her inbox and calling her all sorts of names—most of them nasty.
Candi sighed and closed her eyes, trying to calm her prancing heart. “Dr T was so proud of me a few days back for the way I handled things. I should never have updated him about dumping Troy.”
“Who cares what Dr. T thinks? It’s Troy who matters.” Max smirked in his mischievous way, his eyes twinkling. “It’s showtime. We did our part with the gifts, now it’s your turn to do the booty call.”
* * *
Troy sat at his window watching the snow fall. He held onto his cell phone, resisting the urge to text Candi, to call, to peek at her social media.
He was the one who advised people to erase all forms of communication after being dumped. No contact. No bumping into them in the street. No driving by their place. Block all social media. Notify mutual friends that discussion of the dumper was off-limits.
He browsed to the relationship forum where several other people had questions for him. He could still help lovelorn women, but not confident women like Candi Myers who had the entire world at her feet.
Oh, she’d charmed his mother and Jack all right. She’d charmed the mayor, too. TJ Bennett never stopped singing her praises and threw her a bone on the ballroom dancing preparation. Hailey Bennett was also pro-Candi, bragging on how smart she was to have figured out the entire scavenger hunt was a way of boosting businesses.
No one sympathized with him for being dumped by Candi. They would tell him he’d overreached. She was out of his league. Beautiful, athletic, charming, sweet, honest, and caring. Even the way she’d dumped him had been for his consideration. She didn’t want to hurt him.
She’d let him down gently.
She’d even hugged him at the end.
It was he who’d walked away in anger. He who’d told her he could only be her lover, not her friend. He who’d firmly walked her out of the haunted house and closed the door to hi
s heart forever.
Troy typed a few messages to the other lovelorn women in the forum, telling them to stay strong, but this time he also added to follow their heart and not to play games.
He was about to sign off when a new post appeared. It was from Vibrant.
Dear Dr. T,
I’ve been reading and re-reading your last note, and I wanted to clarify a few things.
The truth is, this perfect man never followed your advice. He rushed into a relationship from the get go. He knew nothing about me, and he had all the symptoms of an unhealthy emotional attachment.
The reason I held back wasn’t solely because I was afraid he’d dump me. It was the fact that he didn’t know me well enough to know that I’m the love of his life. I know that he’s perfect for me, but he has no clue if I am for him.
I disagree that I was stupid to let him go.
I didn’t break his heart. He broke his own heart, and he never gave himself the chance to really know me.
You sounded angry, and your fans have been sending me messages saying how wrong I was. Maybe I was wrong to suggest slowing down (your advice, by the way), but it was he who said he could not be friend-zoned, and he was the one who told me not to contact him again.
Still Vibrant
Troy’s blood boiled, and he stared at the message. No one had ever contradicted Dr. T before. No one had ever implied his advice was bad.
He typed several replies, erasing them before hitting send. This message from Vibrant hit too close to home. The parallels were there.
Once again, he wondered if Vibrant was Candi.
Which meant he hadn’t taken his own advice.
And he’d broken his own heart by erecting a fantasy relationship with Candi. How well did he really know her?
Troy held his swirling head. He needed a drink, except drink was what had ruined his mother. He needed to talk, except he was the counselor and advice giver, not the advice seeker. He could make a booty call, but all he wanted was Candi.
He needed Candi. Forget about the rules of no contact and what he’d said to all the people who’d been dumped.
Reaching for his phone, he punched in her number. Whether Vibrant was Candi or not, whether he was the perfect man or not, the truth was he’d rushed into this affair and ruined it by pressing her too hard for a relationship.
The phone rang at the same time someone knocked at his door. It was a timid knock, not the demanding one of his neighbor who often woke him to help her fix her plumbing, or the quick tap of the woman down the hall who brought him cookies.
The phone continued to ring, so he ended the call before it rolled to voice mail.
“Troy,” Candi’s voice called to him from outside his door. “I know it’s late, but …”
He opened the door with a swoosh. She stood in front of him, wearing a trench coat and high heels, her hands in her pockets.
“Candi, is everything okay?” He stood back to let her in.
“I’m wearing blue panties.” Without taking her eyes off his, she glided into the room and unbuttoned her coat.
He shut the door, and the coat dropped to the floor, leaving her naked except for a sapphire blue lace bra and matching panties.
She looped her hands around his neck, pressing herself against every inch of his body. “I came to tell you how I feel about you. We really need to talk.”
Talking was the last thing on his mind as everything revved up. He grasped her and slanted his face, claiming her lips. Who cared if he didn’t truly know her, or the reason she was here after midnight?
Who cared if he were only her booty call, a guy to get her rocks off? If he’d been punished before, this hot woman here was his reward.
He plundered her lips, shoving her back into the wall, and drove his tongue into her mouth. No more Mr. Nice Guy. No more Friend-Zone. No more Dear Santa.
She opened up, tangling her lips and tongue with his. Wet and hot, she kissed him vigorously, moaning and taking him in fully. Her fingers raked his hair, and the back of his neck, jolting every nerve of his alive with fire.
His cock ballooned at an alarming rate, hardening as she raised one leg and hooked it around his waist.
Grabbing her ass, he lifted her, still pressed against the wall and devoured her, sucking on her neck and biting her shoulders.
Her moans were driving him crazy, and he needed to take her hard and fast. Forget the foreplay and the niceties that were his usual habits—making a woman come first with his fingers and then his mouth. He needed this now. All the pent up energy of the past few days, the frustration and the pain boiled to the surface, turning into a fiery passion that could not be put out.
“What I’m about to do to you is not friendly. If you want me to stop, say so now.” He all but growled, surprised he was able to form a coherent sentence.
“I want you bad, real bad, Troy.”
That was all he needed to hear.
The bra went flying, and he ripped her panties, exposing her hot pink flesh. Flesh he wanted to feast on, to devour, and conquer.
His lips encircled her nipple, and he sucked on her with relish. His hands roamed over her firm body, and his cock ached to invade her tender flesh, to make her scream and cry out his name, to brand himself deep inside of her.
She cried out when he nipped her breast and rolled her head back and forth. “More, Troy. More. Faster. Now.”
With her legs still wrapped around his waist, he carried her to his bedroom and crashed with her onto the bed. His hand fumbled with the nightstand drawer, as she unbuckled his belt, and lowered his pants.
They both gasped as her hand closed around his stiff cock, stroking the wetness over the tip. He dropped a strip of condoms onto the bed and teased her slick wet sex with his fingers.
She was so ready for him. More than ready.
“I can’t wait any longer.” He slipped on the condom.
“Me either. I need this, Troy. Need you.” She lay back and spread herself in front of him like an offering.
Pink, glistening, hot, and slick.
“I’m warning you. I’m going to take you hard. You’re mine. You got it?”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “The harder the better. Just love me, Troy. Love me hard and rough.”
“I do love you.” He held his breath as he slid into her, watching her eyes dilate with pleasure and her mouth widen with a glazed smile. “Oh, yeah, baby. You’re all mine.”
He felt her heat wrap around him, clenching him tight, as he rocked inside of her, one long stroke after another. It was the most incredible sensation, a rush of pleasure that sizzled from his cock straight to his heart and filled his entire body with an ecstatic glow.
This was making love, as opposed to mere sex.
This was the connection, the heat, the intimacy, the ultimate closeness, the joining of hearts.
He tried to draw it out, not wanting to rush their first time, but she was ramping up fast, moaning and writhing beneath him. Her nails raked his back, and she raised her hips, arching to meet him. Her dancer’s body flexed and coiled, faster and more frenzied, as the tiny quakes inside her built tighter and faster.
He was going to explode just watching her face, eyes half closed, mouth open and panting. His climax approached like a runaway train, steaming through his body. Just as he was letting loose, he rubbed his thumb in circles over her wet and slippery clit, and felt her contract hard as she cried out his name. Her pulsing sex grabbed him and threw him over the edge, milking the most exquisite sensation of well-being over his entire body as he shot his release into her hot core.
Their combined heat grabbed his heart, not letting go, and he knew that this was love. This was completion, and this was forever.
Chapter Fourteen
Candi couldn’t remember sex ever being so tied to her heart. She’d come so hard and fast the first time, that she’d thought for sure she was done for the night. Her heart rate and blood pressure skyrocketed, and the rush throughout
her body had her flushed and drugged with that languorous, well-loved glow she’d never experienced before.
She wanted to close her eyes and snuggle under Troy’s blankets, and sleep, then talk.
Maybe.
But one look at Troy changing condoms on an already erect again cock, and her body perked up, ready to go again, and again.
“Shall we talk some time?” she asked to let him know she hadn’t come strictly on a booty call.
“Tell you what.” He lay down on his back. “How about you ride me and you can talk.”
The grin on his face was both endearing and worthy of being smacked. She’d ride him all right, and then she’d get on all fours, and for sure she’d have to explore every angle, because she’d come to his place to talk.
Yeah, right. Wearing nothing but blue underwear and a trench coat?
That had been Max’s wonderful idea.
And it had worked.
Troy hadn’t thrown her out.
Far from it.
And she was getting the best sex of her life.
“Talking can wait.” She straddled him and pinched his nipples, eliciting a gasp and dilating eyes.
Every nerve between her legs hummed at being so close to Troy’s gorgeously hard cock. She raised herself, he twirled his cock around her entrance, teasing her right before she impaled herself, from her core straight to her heart.
They moaned in unison.
He gripped her hips, letting her take the lead, and the adoring look in his eyes almost did her away. He’d said he loved her, and he looked so sincere it squeezed her heart.
She leaned down and kissed him, long and drawn out while her breasts rubbed against his chest. She rocked an easy rhythm, up and down, steadily drawing out the passion between them.
The tantalizing feeling built, not just in her sex, but all over her body as his hands massaged her. The build up shocked her with its intensity, and the grinding between her legs lit deep tremors that rumbled from her very core.
Sapphire Falls: Going Toe to Mistletoe (A Christmas Romance) (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 9
