“It’s so beautiful.” Harmony traced the sequined bodice, feeling the tiny bumps and beautiful details. “Where did you get this?”
“A thrift shop.” Breck’s eyes twinkled like Old Saint Nick’s before he dashed up the chimney and out of sight with a merry Ho Ho Ho. “Watch this.” He lifted the voluminous skirt and clicked something together, and the dress was transformed into a snowman.
“How?” she demanded. Happiness bubbled inside of her. She was beginning to get lost in this magical world of Breck’s where cards appeared out of thin air and dresses became snowman costumes. “Looking at it now, you’d never guess there was a gown inside of it.”
“That’s the whole point. And our next trick.”
“I get to wear this!” She clapped her hands and squealed. “I’ll feel just like a winter princess.”
“You are a princess.” He smiled so genuinely that it took her breath away.
In the silent lift of his cheeks and the stretching of his lips, he said so many words—phrases she wasn’t sure she was ready to hear, but her heart grabbed on to them like a woman thirsty for nourishment. He truly saw her as beautiful, worthy, strong, and regal—all the things she’d wished her ex had been able to see when they were married, and the very things she had a hard time seeing in herself lately. They were all right there in Breck’s smile.
“Can I try it on?”
He nodded and began unfastening the back.
She stripped down to a tank top and leggings. “You know, the dress code for this job is pretty lax,” she teased as she folded her sweater and set it aside. She glanced over to find him studiously working on the zipper. She went to help him and he jerked his hands away, hurrying to the counter, where he picked up a deck of cards and began shuffling.
She paused. He’d said he understood why she couldn’t kiss him, shouldn’t give in to the attraction pulsing between them. And he respected those boundaries—to the point that basic interactions were almost painful.
She managed to lower the zipper and step in, but there was no way she’d be able to zip it back up. Her elbows didn’t bend that way, no matter how much she contorted. “Um … a little help?”
His head came up and his neck flushed red. He walked over, slowly, his eyes on the zipper. “I’m not sure. I mean, how …?”
She flapped her arms once. “You’re going to have to touch me.”
“Okay, but—” He was strained and unsure and completely adorable. Where Sam had been suave and swept her off her feet, Breck was kind and thoughtful and careful about her feelings and her needs and just … her. Which succeeded in melting her knees.
She twisted and grabbed both of his hands between her own. His skin was warm, and she had to fight the urge to press his palms to her cheeks like he’d done just before kissing her. “Don’t worry. We can do this. One kiss doesn’t mean you have to walk on eggshells around me.”
He breathed out. “You sure?”
“I’m sure.” She turned back around, presenting him with the stiff zipper. He made short work of it. Then, to her delight, he began arranging the dress and checking the wires that hung down the sides. It was the wires that gave the bell skirt its shape. The hem of the underskirt was already gathered together, forming a ball. “So, I don’t think the thrift store near me carries magic props like this. Where did you really get it?”
He kept his hands busy but cocked his head as he answered. “I really did get it at a thrift shop. But I may have altered it.” His grin turned mischievous.
“What a brain you have. I couldn’t come up with this stuff if my life depended on it.” She wanted to sway in the dress, to feel the fabric brush against her legs, to twirl and watch it puff out. But she held still so he could work. “How’s the last video doing?”
“Not as great as the card one. I realized that even though you were on film the whole time, no one saw your face. As cute as my little helper was, she just isn’t getting the clicks you did.” He stood, doing a last check and tug. “That’s why I thought up the ‘melting snowman into princess’ illusion. I have a story to go with it too; we’ll have to act it out.”
She beamed. “I can’t wait to see the crowd when you pull this one off.”
He laughed, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “I have the easy part.”
Even though she’d given him permission to be close, she wasn’t ready for the way his nearness made her tremble. “I guess that means I’m the one doing all the work—typical.” She gave him a playful shove, creating some much-needed distance between them.
He smiled but stayed away, retrieving the deck of Christmas playing cards. “What do you mean?” He fanned them out and lifted them her direction, she picked a card without him having to ask. Six of hearts. Why was it always hearts with this guy? During their practice sessions, he’d do tricks as if it were second nature. She’d pick a card, put it back in the deck, and he’d shuffle and arrange in different ways and always come out with her card. Not once during the hours and hours they’d spent together had she picked a spade or a diamond.
“I was just kidding—it was a slam against my ex, meaning I was the one doing all the work in the relationship while he was the one working on seducing our real estate agent.”
He shuffled the deck and cut it for her to place the card inside. “Ouch!”
“I know.” She grew quiet as she watched him set out five sets of cards, each one laid out like a fan. He started shuffling the cards let tin his hand again as she continued talking. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m the type of girl men can’t be faithful to. Maybe I’m too boring to be a wife.”
Cards flew in every direction as he lost control of the deck. His mouth hung open. “Do you really think that?”
She’d seen him do a show, and he was quite convincing when he hammed it up, but this wasn’t like that. His confusion was real, his disbelief believable.
“Yeah. I mean, not all the time, but I wonder about it. I’m not that interesting.” She lifted a shoulder as if it were no big deal—even though it was. Even though she’d cried many times over the idea that no one would want her. “I mean, I could have tried harder to be more interesting for my ex, ya know? Dressed sexier, had highlights put in my hair, spent more time at the gym, joined a kayaking club. Something!” Her voice had gone up several octaves, and she clamped her hand over her mouth briefly. Her crazy was starting to show through. Her grandma would tell her to put on another coat of lipstick, lift her chin, and stuff those thoughts into her purse, because a lady doesn’t let her crazy show in public. And she certainly doesn’t let her man see her instabilities if she expects to keep him.
Breck’s not my man, she reminded herself. She wasn’t out to impress him or lead him to the altar. Therefore, she didn’t need to curb her not completely rational thoughts or dress to impress him. Heck, she was in a tank top and faded leggings with Rudolph faces splattered across them. If she was trying to grab his attention and hang on to it, she was doing a horrible job.
Except … He was listening to her, really listening—using his eyes and everything. One of her behavior class professors in college had said you could tell when people are listening to you because they used their eyes.
She moistened her lips, her thoughts jumping back to where she’d left the conversation train, her voice thoughtful instead of high-pitched. Just knowing he heard her made it easier to express her deepest fears. “Are all guys into extreme sporting women who can rock climb and skydive? Is this a requirement for a healthy relationship?” Because Sam had made her feel like it was. And when she didn’t accept his invitation to throw herself out of an airplane with him, he’d asked someone else to go. “Do I have to change who I am to be loved?”
Breck reached for a card in one of the fanned piles. The others were all over the place, but he had his eye on that one in particular. “You’re perfect just the way you are, Harmony. If he couldn’t see that, then he was—is—a fool.” He flipped over the card, revealing the joker.
She stared
at it for a moment. How did he know where that card was? It wasn’t the card she’d picked. That wasn’t the trick, and yet it fit into their conversation perfectly.
As if reading her bewildered face, Breck reached for the card on the farthest fan, left side. He picked it up, holding it in front of him so she couldn’t see what card he’d selected. “And just because I know where the cards are doesn’t mean the deck is boring.” He set the card in front of her. It was the six of hearts. Her card.
“You really are magical.” She breathed the words. How else could she explain the way her heart was mending, stitching itself back together at his words—as if he’d cast a spell?
He smiled softly. “It’s Christmas. There’s magic in the air.”
She grinned, leaning over the table, needing and wanting to be inside the circle of his arms once again. Why had she ever told him she couldn’t kiss him again? The answer didn’t seem all that important anymore.
He brushed his fingers down her cheek and across her jaw, drawing out her desire bit by bit until she was bursting with it. Their lips touched once, twice, and the third time they didn’t separate. He tasted of gingersnaps and hot chocolate and safety and excitement and magical Christmas memories waiting be unwrapped.
She folded her arms behind his neck, never wanting to let go. He pulled her up with him, and then was on her side of the table, his body flush and strong. They finally pulled apart, her lips wonderfully swollen. Being brave, she locked eyes with him, bracing herself for rejection or distance or even a cool disinterest. What she found was a blazing fire of desire burning just for her. She couldn’t help it; she threw herself at him, knocking him into the chair and falling into his lap, where she captured his face and kissed him again and again—until her energy was spent and she laid her head against his chest.
He ran his hand down her hair and hugged her to his chest. “You,” he rasped, “are anything but boring.”
She laughed, pure joy coursing through her. “You think?”
He nuzzled her neck, making her giggle. “I know.”
She glowed so much she could light up the tree in the town square all by herself. Her phone rang.
“Do you need to get that?”
She stuck out her lower lip. “I probably should. Only, like, seven people have my number.” Her old phone was on Sam’s account, and he’d shut it down before he left for Barbados. Sam got most of their friends in the divorce, but she always felt like she’d gotten the cream of the crop.
He gently tipped her off his lap and onto her feet. She grinned as she fished in her purse for her phone. When it came up, her mom’s number was on the screen. “Hi,” she answered before it could go to voice mail. Did anyone set up their voice mail these days?
“Honey! Gorgie is coming home for the holidays.”
“Really?” Gorgie was her cousin. She’d grown up one town over and stayed close with sleepovers that would go down in family lore. When Gorgie’s boyfriend stood her up for prom, it was Harmony who let the air out of his tires—which turned out to be a good thing, because he’d been drinking and couldn’t drive home. When Alessandria ran Harmony’s bra up the flagpole at camp, it was Gorgie who “accidentally” knocked her into the lake on dance night. “I’d love to see her.”
“She’s bringing home a new fella. I don’t know if this one will stick, but he’s some kind of investor, or buyer. I don’t know. He works with stocks.”
Harmony laughed. “When she meets Mr. Right, it will be all over her Instagram feed.” Harmony’s cheeks burned and she turned slightly away from Breck so he wouldn’t see her blush. She’d just kissed his lips to kingdom come, and here she was joking about Mr. Right in front of him.
“I know it.”
Behind her, the dress fabric rustled, letting her know that Breck was working away while she chatted it up on her cell. “Listen, Mom, I gotta run. I’m working tonight.” Half lie? She was supposed to be working.
“They have you fielding calls 24/7 now?”
“No. It’s the other job I was telling you about.”
“Oh, the magician’s assistant. That’s so interesting. I watched the last episode—you were wonderful.”
“Thanks. I didn’t do much.” She tried to brush off the praise.
Like most mothers, Susan Hall wasn’t to be dissuaded. “You’re going to tell us all about it over bread pudding.”
Harmony’s mouth watered at the thought of the cinnamon-and-cream treat. “I’ve kind of been rethinking things …” Like my bank account and getting out of my lease and leaving Breck. Amazing. Hot. Sweet. Talented. Breck.
“You can’t back out now. I’m setting a place for you for Christmas Eve dinner. A mother’s got to have hope.”
She chuckled. “Love you.”
“You too, honey.”
She ended the call and tucked her phone away. Breck had to have heard at least part of the conversation. Did their kisses change things for her? Did she want it to? Kissing someone thoroughly should answer questions, not create them.
“You ready to try the transformation again?” he asked—politely ignoring what he’d overheard.
“That was my mom. She’s excited to have me home for Christmas.” She twisted her fingers. If he asked her to stay, would she?
“I’ll bet. Moms are fantastic that way.”
She nodded. When he didn’t say anything else, she practically jumped into the dress. For the rest of the night, they flirted and practiced. Each time they touched or laughed together, she wondered if this meant more to her than it did to him. Maybe he kissed a lot of girls in his line of work. Maybe, to him, a kiss was just a kiss.
But it had been so much more for her. And she wanted it to mean more to him.
She didn’t want to carry another relationship on her shoulders. She wanted a partner. If Breck couldn’t be that, then she’d have to let him go. The trouble was, she couldn’t know for certain without giving him a shot. And giving him a shot meant she had to risk a broken heart. She’d done that once and come out worse than she’d gone in. The possibility of it happening again left her trembling inside.
Chapter 11
December 20
Breck
Breck was anxious to get the street show over with. He’d done several card tricks and rings stuck together tricks where he magically released them and then put them back together, all while Harmony waited patiently in the snowman getup. She stood to the side, looking like a piece of the stage. There was a talent in holding still that was generally overlooked by everyone except for elementary school teachers and magicians.
He’d gotten her in the dress and she’d done herself up, then covered up with the snowman suit. He hadn’t seen her as a princess and was dying to get a glimpse of her. He’d told her he’d picked the dress specifically for this trick, but really, he’d picked it for her and built the illusion around it. It’d been the right thing to do; she loved it. And if it meant kisses like the ones they’d shared that first night of practice, he’d buy her a hundred more gowns. She deserved to know how wonderful she was, inside and out.
“I need an assistant for my next trick—a winter princess full of Christmas magic should do just fine.” He scanned the crowd and then frowned. “Is she not here?”
People looked around, worry that his performance was about to fall apart beginning to show in their concerned eyes.
“Well, then, I guess I’ll have to bring her to life myself.” He patted his pockets. “Does anyone have a snowman?”
Kids pointed behind him. “There. Right there.”
He turned around and scratched his head. “How long has that been there?” he asked.
Giggles came from the short row in the front.
He laced his fingers together and stretched his fingers. “Now, to turn a snowman into a winter princess, we need … think, man.” He rapped his knuckles against his head. “… sparkles, a puff of Christmas air, and mistletoe.”
He’d placed a flash/smoke pot to the fro
nt of her that looked like an extra top hat and part of the setup. There were other props down there, so the one top hat didn’t seem out of place. Once he stepped on the foot pedal, the pot would puff out enough smoke to cover Harmony’s quick transformation. There was also a confetti cannon that would go off from the other direction. Thankfully, he had a buddy who’d helped him get the pyrotechnic permit—otherwise, the whole trick would be put on hold because of red tape. A police officer was at the back, with a fire extinguisher and a no-nonsense attitude.
He hung the mistletoe over the snowman and then waved his hands and said the magic words. The smoke rose and glitter filled the air. He heard rustling and began waving his arms. “Sorry, folks, I get a little carried away.”
Harmony stepped out of the smoke screen, waving like a princess on parade. “Merry Christmas!” she called out.
The crowd went wild. A few men whistled.
Breck stared. She was … stunning. Her hair was pulled up with soft ringlets framing her face. She’d sprayed glitter in it, and it winked in the waning sunlight. Her cheeks were also dusted with glimmer, and her eyes were lined with green that made them pop. But it was her lips that captured his attention—Christmas red and completely kissable.
He must have been staring for much too long, because Harmony turned to him and said, “Are you the magician who brought me here?” prompting his next line.
“Yes.” He cleared his throat so he could get sound out. “Yes. I brought you here to assist me with my next magical delight.”
She stood tall and strong, looking every bit as royal as a queen.
And he was falling for her—hard and fast.
And she was leaving.
They finished up the act. Several girls rushed forward. “Can we get your autograph?” they begged Harmony.
She fluttered her hand over her chest, obviously flattered. “Of course.” She signed their papers, asking them about school and Christmas lists and getting an earful in return.
“Bye.” She waved after them until they turned the corner. “Sorry.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and accepted the jacket he offered.
'Tis the Season for Love: A Charity Box Set Page 67
