The Mistletoe Affair

“Trust me, Katherine.'

She realized that she did trust Jared, so she stepped forward with her arms lifted. Katherine held their special angel aloft with both hands. Jared stood behind her and placed his hands on her waist. He hoisted her above him and moved her within easy reach of her goal.

His warm hands splayed around her waist. She shuddered as his large palms rested on the top of her hips and inched her upward. Maybe this man could support her.

She carefully placed the figurine on the top branch and stopped to adjust the angel's beautiful gown. She paused a moment to savor the warm sensation of Jared holding her.

“Okay, you can let me down,” Katherine whispered.

Ever so gently, Jared lowered her to the floor. They backed away from the tree, Katherine's body humming with a strange, new feeling. She stayed at his side. Her mother moved forward, bent and plugged the cord into the socket. The angel glowed with a warm light of Christmas hope.

“Look up!” her mother suggested.

Directly above their heads, a large clump of mistletoe dangled from the ceiling.

The room filled with hoots of laughter, and catcalls, except for Paul. He glared disapproving daggers at both of them.

Her gaze flew to her mother, who wore a satisfied expression. Katherine's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Go for it,” someone from the crowd called out.

“It's a tradition,” Reverend Whittaker murmured. “Can't break from tradition.'

Her still-narrowed gaze scanned the throng. Her matchmaking mother had put that mistletoe up here and asked her to put the angel on the tree. They're all in on getting me and Jared to kiss.

She glanced at Jared, who didn't seem to mind the situation at all. In fact, from the glint in his eyes, he thoroughly enjoyed it. A hint of his tantalizing cologne fogged her thinking. His eyes said, ‘I'm going to kiss you.’ Her mind warned, ‘Don't kiss him back. Not here.'

Her body shuddered when Jared bent slightly and claimed her mouth. His lips moved over hers tentatively, his tongue entreated her to open, refusing any answer but yes. When she opened to him, he slanted his mouth and deepened the kiss. Her tongue darted to find his and she tasted chocolate delight. She dipped her tongue to taste him again. Her legs weakened and she slipped her arms around his waist for support. He held her secure, lifted his mouth, delivered a light parting kiss on her lower lip and drew back. She gazed into eyes dark with desire and stepped out of his embrace.

“Way to go. Now, that's how you kiss a woman,” someone yelled.

Paul muttered a curse word and stormed out the front door.

“That should discourage your ex,” Jared whispered.

Heat flooded her face. She raced to the empty kitchen. Jared followed close behind her. After the door closed, her hands flew to her hips. “You kissed me like that to discourage Paul?'

He moved to put his weight against the door, blocking any entry. “No, that's why you kissed me like that.'

Her foot tapped a staccato beat on the tile. “I did not kiss you like that to discourage Paul.” She stared at the ceiling, the floor, anywhere but his eyes. “I couldn't help myself.'

The corner of his lip turned up. “That's the first honest emotion you've shared with me. To be equally honest,” he said, the other corner of his mouth turning up in a disarming grin, “I couldn't help myself either.'

She licked her dry lips. “Oh.'

He blew out a deep breath. “What's this personal thing you wanted to talk to me about?'

She hesitated and bit her lip. “My mother feels you have a need to… rescue me all the time. It has to stop. I'm capable of handling my own problems.'

“Sweetheart, I'm the one who needs rescuing. You haven't the foggiest idea how you stir up a man, and suddenly drop him in the middle of an Arctic climate.'

She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips.

Seeing that pink tongue glancing over those pouting lips, he groaned. “I'm going to get Matt's presents.” He turned, put his hand on the door and stopped. Coming back into the room, he leaned by her ear and spoke in a rough whisper. “And if you don't stop doing those kinds of things with your tongue, I'm going to kiss you again. Hard.'

* * * *

“I had a good time at the party. The tree looks so great. I like Harry Potter, Mom,” Matt said with a yawn as he lay in bed. “I read good, don't I?'

She rubbed his forehead. “Yes, you do, but you need to go to sleep. You've had a full day.'

He closed his book and handed it to her. “I thought about it. When I go to school, I don't want to live in a castle.'

Paul again? She clenched her fists. The only castle she knew about was Castle Academy, a boarding school. No way in hell that would happen. “Did your dad talk to you about living at Castle when you shared dinner? Did your grandma hear him, too?'

“Grandma went to the bathroom. I don't think I'd like living in a castle. I wanna stay with you.'

She ruffled his hair, pulled his covers up and kissed him good night. “The only castle you'll ever live in is in your imagination.” He smiled and closed his eyes.

Turning to stare out the window, she sat slumped on the side of Matt's bed, her hands pressed against her cheeks, trying to fight her anger. Whatever Paul was interested in, it was obviously not having his family back. Not if he wanted to send Matt away to boarding school.

After Christmas, though, she might just send Paul away. Back to one of the bubble-headed blondes he preferred. Preferably, one who resided in Alaska.

She left Matt's room and went to unplug the Christmas tree lights. Looking up at the top, she smiled as her mind relived the sensations of Jared's hands on her body. Her lips tingled remembering his heart-stopping kiss and her heated response. “We couldn't help ourselves,” she whispered, bending and unplugging the cord.

Chapter Ten

An incessant buzzing like a pesky mosquito woke Jared from the first sound sleep he'd had in two days. He shoved the covers aside, grabbed for the lamp and switched it on. It toppled over, hitting the carpet with a thud. He blinked at the harsh light. His sleep-deprived brain finally registered that the phone was ringing. He snatched up the receiver.

“Who the hell is this?” he growled, yawning full force into the phone.

“Who the hell do you want it to be?” the voice asked with a chuckle.

“Carl, is that you?'

“That's right, it's your Fairy Godfather.'

Jared sprang up to a sitting position and slammed his head against the headboard. “Ouch!” He rubbed the rising bump on the back of his head and squinted at the digital clock. “Do you know what time it is?” He bent forward, lifting the lamp from the floor and setting it back on the table. “It's Thursday, three o'clock in the morning, Houston time,” Jared croaked.

The voice on the other end cleared its throat. “Okay, now we've gotten the news bulletin out of the way, let alone my little bit of pay-back, do you want a progress report on the case?'

Jared's voice rose. “You found something already?'

“Does a bear mess in the woods? The lowlife who's supposed to have changed and wants Katherine to remarry him is this very minute bopping his beautician girlfriend for the third time.'

Jared rammed his hands through his hair. “I'll be damned.'

Carl chuckled. “Yeah. At my age, I find that pretty remarkable, too. If you want sound effects, you can have