Make-Believe Mistletoe

in front of a judge at a county courthouse, so there was no reception.”

How could a guy get to be thirty years old without ever dancing? “Why didn't you go to any dances in school?”

“I tried a couple in junior high, because my mother made me. Hated 'em. Didn't know what to say or how to act. Basically they bored me senseless. I announced in ninth grade that I would never attend another one, and I didn't.”

No wonder he had never developed a talent for small talk. No one had encouraged him to participate in social activities or supplied him with the skills to make sure he enjoyed them.

Honestly, had his parents both been so absorbed with themselves and their younger offspring that they had given no thought at all to Banner's happiness? Had the protective shell he'd developed at such a young age been so tough that they hadn't been able to get through it-or had they given up trying too soon?

Something he must have read in her expression made him defensive. “I had friends in school. Guys like me who were interested in tools and cars and camping and fishing. Dated some, though not seriously until I hooked up with Katrina. I particularly enjoyed the hours I spent in my great-uncle's workshop. I was content with my life.”

Content, maybe, but still left feeling like an outsider, she mused. And as far as his ex-wife was concerned, Lucy had already surmised that he had married her because he'd been expected to marry and settle down at that stage in his life. It had been one of the few times Banner had tried to satisfy outside expectations, and that hadn't worked out. Which had only reinforced his reclusive self-image.

She saw nothing wrong with Banner's choice to work at home or to shun artificial social gestures. She simply sensed that he wasn't entirely happy with his solitude. She had watched him with his Christmas guests, and she had seen the pleasure he had taken in the companionship, even if he hadn't known how to express his feelings. And when he had watched the children open their gifts, she would have sworn that he was imagining Christmas mornings with children of his own, just as she had done.

Maybe she was mistaken, but she really didn't think so.

Banner was a man in need of someone to love, and someone to love him in return. She just happened to know a suitable candidate for that position.

Leap-before-you-look Lucy. Her cousin Mark's old nickname for her hovered in the back of her mind as she carried her teacup to the sink, then turned to smile up at Banner, who had followed her. “I'm ready to ask you my next question.”

He made a show of sighing in resignation. “Fire away.”

“Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” he said after a moment. “I did.”

Her smile deepening in pleasure at the unexpected sincerity of his answer, she held out her hand to him. “Prove it.”

Banner had spread his sleeping bag in front of the fire again. The fleece lining was soft beneath Lucy as she lay beside him in the warmth of the dancing flames. She loved the way the golden light played over his face, gleaming in his dark eyes and glinting in his thick dark hair. Appearance wasn't a priority for her when it came to men, but it certainly was a plus that Banner was so nice to look at.

He reached out to stroke a fingertip down her cheek, his touch gentle, as if he was afraid of hurting her. She felt the calluses on his skin, and she trembled at the thought of those work-roughened hands sliding over her body. It had been quite a while since she had felt any man's hands, actually. She hadn't even been tempted with any of the men she had dated recently in her quest for a soul mate-but oh, was she tempted now.

This had never happened for her before. Not this fast, this strong. And as exciting as it was, it was also a little scary. She'd had her heart bruised before, maybe even cracked a little-but it had never been broken.

Those few other men hadn't had the power to hurt her that badly. She wasn't at all sure the same was true of Banner.

Too fast. Too strong. But it felt real, nonetheless.

“You're frowning,” he said. “Have you changed your mind?”

“No.” She reached up to brush a lock of hair away from his forehead, an excuse to feel the silky texture. “I thought this might happen when I came back to you. I hoped it would, actually.”

His hair felt so nice against her fingers that she let her hand slide into it again. And since she was already there, she applied just enough pressure to bring his mouth closer to hers.

Banner took the less-than-subtle hint immediately. His lips covered hers as his arms closed around her to pull her close. His fire-warmed body was long, lean and hard against hers-the perfect counterpart to her petite curves, she decided on the spot, nestling into his strength. As much as she considered herself any man's equal, she could still savor the restrained power of work-honed muscles and the breadth of masculine chest and shoulders.

Behind her, the fire crackled and popped almost frantically as Banner's tongue slid between her lips. Trying, no doubt, to compete with the heat she and Banner were generating on this sleeping bag, Lucy mused dreamily.

It seemed completely natural for Banner to slip his hand beneath the hem of her sweater, his palm sliding across her back. Taking that move as an implied invitation, she allowed her own hands to wander, parting the buttons on his soft chamois shirt to reveal the white T-shirt beneath.

Another disadvantage to winter, she thought with a sigh. Way too many clothes involved.

Seemingly as impatient as she was to have her hands on him, Banner shrugged out of his shirt, then tugged the T-shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Lucy sighed again, this time in sheer appreciation. Was there any part of this man that wasn't beautiful?

She couldn't wait to find out.

Though she had always been a woman who went after what she wanted, Lucy didn't generally consider herself the wanton or aggressive type. Something about Banner made her behave in ways that might have seemed uncharacteristic to her before she had met him.

As if to illustrate that point, she reached for him. All that sleek, tanned skin was simply impossible to resist.

She pressed her lips to the hollow of his throat, feeling his pulse hammering there. His hand was unsteady when he tugged at her sweater, proving that he was as eager as she was. The muscles in his jaw were clenched, making his face look almost harsh when she glanced back up at him, but his eyes gleamed with a hunger that equaled hers.

Funny, she thought, drawing his mouth to hers again. She had left her home to spend the holiday with people she loved. Who would have dreamed that she would end up falling in love on the way?

Maybe it had happened too fast. And maybe she wasn't destined for a lifetime of happiness with this man. But what she felt for him now was much more than simple infatuation. More than lust. She loved everything she had learned about him, and she couldn't wait to learn more.

Maybe neither Lucy nor Banner had intended to do more than talk or kiss when they had stretched out in front of the fire. Maybe. At least, Lucy hadn't deliberately thought that far ahead when Banner had kicked the sleeping bag open and then drawn her down onto it.

Okay, she thought in a sudden rush of rueful honesty. She had known exactly what she was doing. And she had no doubt that Banner had known, too. Maybe it was just easier to pretend to be swept away by passion than to admit that she had wanted him since she'd first met him, and that she had stayed behind when everyone else left because she had wanted this to happen.

And maybe she didn't really want to know what Banner was thinking right now, especially if he was thinking along the lines of a single night of pleasure.

But still she heard herself saying, “Banner?”

He lifted his head from her throat, which he had reached on his leisurely path downward from her lips. “Yeah?”

“This is…important to you, right?”

He went very still, his eyes searching her face as if seeking the meaning behind her hesitant question. “How do you define important?”

“More than a convenient tumble, less than a declaration of undying devotion.”

He seemed to be getting used to her way of phrasing things. “Then, trust me, it's important.”

She smiled and reached for him. “If I didn't trust you, I wouldn't be here.”

He hesitated a moment and then, muttering something she couldn't understand, he crushed her mouth beneath