“Right here, right now.” He took her shoulders and turned her away from the crowd, leaving her no choice but to meet his gaze. Vivid, honest emotions swam in his bright blue eyes.
Hope, joy and longing sprang to life in her heart, and this time she did nothing to hold them back. “I was afraid you’d gone back to California.”
His hand cupped her jaw, his thumbs caressing her bottom lip. She could feel the speed of his pulse. “I told you I wasn’t going anywhere.”
A tug on her skirt startled her. One look at the unspoken words in Kyle’s eyes and she’d forgotten all about the crowd surrounding them. Following the pressure on her hem, she looked down, where Tommy Hunter stood next to her, pointing up.
“Mistletoe, Miz Shayna. You know what that means.”
The fire in her face could have melted snow. Shayna tried for the coward’s way out, reaching for Tommy’s thin shoulders. “No! Not me. Kiss Mr. Kyle.” He jumped off the stage and scurried back into the crowd.
Mortified, she snuck a peek at the crowd, praying no one had heard the child’s command. No such luck. Everyone seemed to be smiling and glancing between the sprig of greenery hanging from the ceiling and the couple on the stage.
“Come on, Anderson!” Someone in the crowd-someone who sounded an awful lot like Danny Robertson- shouted. “Kiss her.”
The room swelled with chants of, “Kiss, kiss, kiss.”
Not certain her heart would ever beat steadily again, Shayna faced Kyle.
“May I?” he asked.
“Yes.”
His lips seized hers, not in the chaste peck the crowd had probably expected but in a gentle, lingering caress that turned her muscles to mush.
Behind them, the band began to tune up, signaling the imminent return of dancing and celebrating. She knew this public display had gone way beyond the bounds of mere affection, but she felt helpless to bring the kiss to an end.
Finally the pressure of Kyle’s lips against hers began to lessen. His fingers trembled as he released her face and stepped back. The band’s lead singer slapped Kyle’s back. “Awesome kiss, dude. Now, how ’bout clearing the stage?”
“You bet. How ’bout playing something slow?”
Shayna was still waiting for the feeling to return to her toes when Kyle linked their fingers and drew her off the stage and onto the dance floor. The soft strains of “The Lady in Red” filled the ballroom as Kyle folded her into his arms and began to sway.
“I couldn’t leave. There’s still way too much unfinished business between us,” he said softly.
Unsure how to respond, she tucked her head under his chin and just concentrated on moving her feet.
Tears burned her eyes. Business? Did that mean the emotions she’d seen on his face were all an illusion? Had she let Danny’s words and her hopeful heart convince her that the impossible had happened, that Kyle had chosen her over his career?
The last note hanging in the air, Kyle’s lips brushed across her ear. “Is there somewhere we can talk?”
Still unable to find her voice, she pointed toward a back set of double doors that led outside to a balcony overlooking the courtyard. Kyle nodded in agreement, and they wove their way across the dance floor in silence. Shayna walked to the far side of the deserted balcony and leaned over the railing. The tears brimming in her eyes cast halos around the Christmas lights hung all around downtown.
Sudden warmth enveloped her as Kyle draped his jacket over her shoulders. The material carried the heat and smell of him. Desperate to appear in control, she smiled her thanks. “So, what’s this unfinished business that couldn’t wait?”
“I quit my job.”
“You did?” Stunned, she spun and faced him. “But you worked so hard to make partner. I thought it was your dream job.”
“I did, too, until I realized I had a new dream.”
All the moisture in her mouth dried up. She had to swallow twice before she could speak. “What is it?”
“I set those goals when I was fifteen. I had just narrowly escaped arrest, and that caused me to take stock of my life. As you’d guessed, at that point the only men I’d ever met who qualified as role models were the attorneys who work with children’s services. My twisted teenage brain put two and two together and came up with a long list of shallow traits that made a man worthy.” His lips quirked, as if he found the boy he used to be amusing.
“But now, fifteen years later, I realize that what really makes a man worthy isn’t what he gets out of the world but what he gives back, not what he possesses but what he treasures. You, Shayna, are what I treasure.”
The hope she’d harbored in her heart bloomed, engulfed her, stole her power of speech. She clutched her hands around his jacket, still draped around her shoulders, and waited.
His hands slipped around her and pulled her to his chest. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you speechless.”
“Guess there’s a first time for everything,” she said hesitantly.
“Like the first time I tell you I love you?”
Robbed of her speech again, she could only nod.
He bent his knees and brought their eyes level. “I love you, Shayna Miller.” His lips neared hers but veered off at the last second, skimming over her cheek. “No response?” he asked before sucking her earlobe between his lips, sending a sensual shock wave straight to her core and restoring all her powers.
She unwedged her hands from between their chests and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, too. So much.”
She laid her cheek against his heart and squeezed. His arms responded, holding her tighter. She felt his lips graze her forehead.
“Please say you’ll marry me.”
“I’ll marry you,” she promised. “Right here, right now, if you want.”
“I need time to buy a ring.”
“It’s not about the possessions. It’s about the treasures, and I’m going to treasure this moment forever.”
“And I’m going to treasure
Smiling so hard her cheeks hurt, she lifted her head and indicated the garland-wrapped awning with a lift of her eyes. “I think you should kiss me. There’s at least fifty bunches of mistletoe hanging over our heads.”
“Whose idea was that?”
“Well, I
“So you set me up?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, I figure I’ve got fifty kisses coming my way.”
“How about fifty years of kisses?”
“Um, I like the sound of that.”
Kyle’s jacket slipped to the ground as Shayna drew his mouth down to hers. Moonlight and mistletoe formed a halo around them, and Shayna knew the memory of this moment would be forever imprinted in her mind and her heart.
She’d definitely gotten her Christmas wish
Dawn Temple
