The Mistletoe Affair

She glanced up at him. “I needed to hear you say you wanted the same things I do.'

“I do, I do, I do, except I was thinking we'd get married and have five more children.'

He loved the shocked ‘O’ her mouth formed. “Five! Jared Randall, I'll have three, you can have the other two. Not me.'

He chuckled. “It's a deal.” He winked. “It might be fun trying to talk you into having the other two, anyway.'

“Oh, you,” she said, punching his shoulder.

He studied her face and the warmth and desire reflected deep within her jade eyes. “I'm not Paul. I won't ever hurt you or Matt.'

She nodded and pressed her lips to his chest. “I know.'

He wove his fingers through her long hair, caressing the ends as they curled around his hand. “I needed to hear you say that.'

“If I keep lying here with you, we're never going to get out of bed, and we have a lot to do today.” Rolling onto his back, he glanced at the clock on the wall. “It's eight. Let's get up and have breakfast. Is it okay if we give Matt that collie he always wanted for Christmas?'

She nodded and smiled. “You found one?'

“I found several. I thought we'd visit three kennels today and pick out one with just the right personality. After we take care of all that, I'll come back over to Grace's house around five. I thought I'd talk to your mother and Matt. To celebrate, I'd like to take everyone out to dinner before we drive around looking at Christmas lights.'

Katherine angled her head to the side. “What do you mean, you want to talk to them?'

He smiled. “Well, I guess I mostly want to talk to Matt. I want to have a man-to-man with him and ask for your hand.'

Tears filled her eyes. “You're wonderful,” she said in a choked voice.

“Hey, don't go crying on me,” he said with a chuckle.

“I won't,” she said, giggling. “I had the strangest dream last night.'

“Was I in it?” he said, cuddling her in his arms.

“Yes, but here's the weird part. You said you promised Thomas I'd talk to my mother about sex.” She giggled again. “Isn't that the most ludicrous thing you've heard in your life?'

He coughed. “That wasn't a dream. I did promise Thomas you'd talk to Grace about sex.'

She shook her head. “My mother was married for thirty-four years. Why in the world would you think I needed to talk to her about that?'

“I'm convinced Thomas and Grace love one another. When you came home for your visit, Grace told Thomas she couldn't see him again because you didn't approve.'

Katherine sat straight up in bed, spilling the sheets down to her waist. Jared forced his gaze away from her body as she replied, “I think Mother told Thomas that because she believes I wouldn't approve of her marrying anyone again. I'll talk to her and straighten it out.'

He shook his head. “I think it's more than that. Thomas had been pushing for more closeness and she kept backing away from it. You came home and I think Grace used you as an excuse.'

Her hands clutched at the down comforter, tugging it back to her collarbone. Jared sighed with relief.

She reached out and slapped his hand. “Do you know how uncomfortable this conversation is making me, Jared Randall? You're talking about my mother, for goodness sake.'

He chuckled. “Darling, Grace is a woman, too. With the same needs as any woman. Do you think you were hatched?'

She blushed and put her hands over her ears. “I don't want to hear this. Children don't think of their parents as sexual entities.'

Jared reached and took her hands in his. “Don't you want her to have the same happiness we have?'

Her chin lifted indignantly. “Of course I do.'

“Thomas and Grace have had so much pain in their lives these last four years. Let's help them find their rainbow.'

Her brows lifted. “Why doesn't Thomas talk to her about it? That's so personal.'

“Grace won't see him or talk to him.” He nodded when her eyes widened slightly. “Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The guy's miserable. He came to my house and begged me to help, so I promised him you'd talk to Grace.” Jared released her hands and nuzzled her neck, his teeth nipping at her skin and his tongue lapping a warm path to her lips. “You promised.'

Her eyes narrowed. “When did I promise that?'

His hands covered her breast, teasing her nipples to hard peaks and rubbing them between his fingers.

“Ohhh,” she arched her back, writhing as his mouth closed over her breast and his tongue explored her nipple.

He groaned low in his chest when her hand circled his erection and moved up and down the length of it, grazing the tip with her thumb. “Katherine…'

“Make love to me,” she whispered.

“Sweetheart, I can't think of a better way to start the day. Do you want me to remind you when you agreed to talk to your mother about sex?'

“I must have been out of my mind,” she purred as he took the other taunt nipple into his mouth.

He chuckled. “You were. So was I. Remember?'

Her back arched. “Yes,” she whispered as his mouth moved down to taste her sweetness.

* * * *

Jared couldn't wait to ask Matt for permission to marry Katherine. He had wanted to make a difference in this little boy's life from the minute he met him, but he never dreamed it would turn out this way. He sat down and smiled when he spotted Matt flying across the living room towards him, a huge grin on his face.

“Mr. Randall,” Matt shouted. “You wanna know what happened?'

Jared pulled him onto his lap. “Of course I do. Tell me all about it.'

“My dad went back home. Mom said he had something inside,” he said, laying his hand over his heart, “that made him unhappy around us.” Matt shook his head. “She said it wasn't anything we did.'

Jared swallowed a lump in his throat. “No, it wasn't anything you did.” Jared shifted Matt on his lap. “I wanted to have a man-to-man talk with you about something special.” He smiled at the serious expression that slid across Matt's face. “Your mother and I would like to get married. How would you feel about that?'

Matt's dark eyes stared into his. After a moment of thought, he said, “Would you be my own dad?'

“Yes, I would.'

His forehead scrunched up. “Would you leave, too?'

Jared shook his head. “No. I won't ever leave you or your mom.'

Matt considered this for a moment. He cracked a grin that spread from ear-to-ear. “You know what?'

“What?” Jared asked.

“You think Santa reads heads?'

Jared fought a smile and tried to look serious. “I never thought about it. What do you mean?'

“When I asked Santa for a new dad, you was in my head. I wanted you for my dad.'

Jared coughed to clear the lump in his throat. “I don't know if Santa reads heads, but I know he reads what's in your heart.'

Matt nodded. “I think so, too.'

“Let's tell your mother and Grandma that it's okay with you if I become your dad.'

Matt clapped his hands, his eyes sparked with excitement.

“We have a lot to celebrate this Christmas.” Jared released Matt and stood up. “After we talk to them, we'll all go out to dinner, before we take a long ride and look at the lights.'

Matt placed his little hand inside Jared's bigger one. “Mr. Randall, I never really knew my other dad. I told all