Tanya Michaels - Mistletoe Hero

Arianne. She was crouched down in the picturesque pathway that led between the buildings and back toward Main Street. Her hair was pulled back with some kind of clip, but long strands were blowing around her face as she crouched next to two kids. It looked as though she was mediating an argument between the two ginger-haired boys Gabe had seen in the gazebo earlier. Gabe started walking toward them even before he realized that was his intention.

“Everything okay here?” he asked. At least if he sounded as if he were trying to help, he wouldn’t have to admit to himself that, having finally seen her, he couldn’t stay away.

“It will be,” Arianne said. Her stern tone was full of warning, but Gabe wondered if the blue smear of paint across her left cheek detracted from her authority. “Right, guys?”

The youngest-seven, maybe?-nodded, sniffling, and the taller one kicked the dirt with his shoe as he muttered an unconvincing, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Why don’t the two of you go help Quinn clean paintbrushes?” she suggested. “Your mom said as soon as she’s done, she’ll take you to lunch at the Dixieland Diner. Play your cards right, there might even be milk shakes in your future.”

Their expressions brightening slightly at the implied bribe, they scampered off and disappeared around the corner of the bank.

“You think they’re really on their way to assist Quinn?” Gabe asked. Neither child had looked particularly eager to tackle that errand.

Arianne sighed. “Who knows? Toby and Ben are good kids, for the most part, but a handful for Fawne. Her husband is serving a tour of duty overseas. She’s here instead of on a base because she’s trying to help take care of her parents, and it’s a lot on her plate.”

Gabe stared off in the direction the boys had gone. “I don’t want them operating power saws or hammering a platform that needs to hold actual festival attendees without collapsing, but if I rack my brain, I might be able to come up with something they can do to help me.”

“Really? My hero.” Her radiant smile made him feel he was strong enough to stop a speeding locomotive. Or run faster than a speeding locomotive. Definitely something in the locomotive genre.

Embarrassed by the swell of pride he felt at her reaction, he downplayed his generosity. “It’s not that big a deal. Patrick and Lilah and Quinn deal with entire classrooms full of kids on a daily basis. Seems like a minor enough task for me to keep two of them out of trouble for an hour or so.”

“It will be a big deal to them ,” she protested. “Getting to hang out with a big strong guy and build stuff when their own father is so far away, instead of trailing after their mom all afternoon? I know having them underfoot will probably slow you down, and you’re sweet to offer.”

Sweet ? Gabe wasn’t sure whether to be amused by the unlikely adjective or vaguely offended.

“So, what have you been working on all morning?” he asked casually. “I assume paint was involved.”

He brushed his thumb over a smudge of yellow on the inside of her elbow. She trembled. He wished she hadn’t. Her natural responsiveness made her even more irresistible.

“Headless bodies,” she said.

Gabe raised an eyebrow at her unexpectedly gruesome answer. “I don’t follow.”

“Waide Supply donated large pieces of plywood and the school’s art teacher drew silly outlines. The kind you stick your head through for photo ops. A few of us have been painting them. She’s got one of a pirate captain to put near your ship.

“Speaking of which…” she said, sounding uncharacteristically shy.

It was endearing to see an alternate side of her, but made him realize he’d grown to genuinely like her brash confidence.

“Yes?” he prompted.

“How’s progress on your ship going?” she asked. “I’d be happy to round up some volunteers or even pitch in myself. Although, last time I offered, you questioned my construction skills. And I…didn’t want to be pushy.”

Her confession unbalanced him. Despite his previous complaints, it seemed inherently wrong that Arianne should try to be anything other than the strong, sexy, surprising woman she was.

“You are who you are.” It came out clumsily, not nearly encompassing how much he admired her.

“Is that your fatalistic way of saying I’m doomed to keep making the same mistakes?”

“No!” He cupped her chin, tilting her head up. “No, it’s my way of…” There were a half a dozen things he could tell her, except he couldn’t find the right words to articulate any of them.

Maybe he should try action instead.

His heart raced with the anticipation that had been escalating since she’d brushed her lips across his skin the other night. That whisper of a caress had teased at the corners of his imagination for the past two days, stoking an undeniable craving. Arianne’s lips parted, and her eyes closed as he bent toward her. For reasons known only to herself, Arianne seemed to believe in him, and he should probably repay that with a gentleman’s kiss, soft and slow-building. Respectful.

Instead, Gabe kissed her like the town bad boy he was. Hungry and hard, pressing his open mouth to hers and sinking into the warmth of her.

She clutched the front of his shirt. He wasn’t sure if she was trying to pull him even closer or holding on to him for balance. There was a bench behind them, and he moved them in that direction until the back of his legs bumped iron. Then he sat, tugging Arianne with him. She wasn’t quite in his lap, but so tantalizingly close that need roared through him.

Fragmented thoughts circled like distant birds high above, little more than indistinguishable M ’s against the clouds. Public place. Shouldn’t. She deserves …

But Arianne tunneled her hands through his hair and slid her tongue against his, obliterating the paltry objections his rational mind posed. She was soft and hot in his arms, and he let his hand drop from her shoulder to her blouse, over the fullness of her breast.

Push my hand away. One of them needed to be sane.

Arianne groaned his name and arched into him.

Hell, sanity was overrated anyway.

It took him a moment to realize that the feminine gasp he heard had not come from the beautiful woman kissing him.

Then Lilah’s voice boomed at them, unnaturally loud in the clearing. “You know what, honey? I just realized I left my keys over at the bingo tent. Would you mind going back to get them?”

Even though most of the blood had left Gabe’s brain, he had the wherewithal to gently push Arianne aside. She was straightening her paint-stained button-down shirt and looked nearly composed by the time Lilah reached them. Gabe kept his gaze averted, breathing hard. It would be a few seconds before he could function like a normal human being again.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Lilah said, sounding far too delighted to be truly penitent. “Tanner and I were coming to see if Gabe would join us for lunch.”

“You Waides,” Gabe drawled. “You just don’t give up.”

“One of our numerous fantastic attributes,” Lilah agreed. “Also, many of us are good kissers, but I see you’ve discovered that for yourself.”

“Li- lah! ”

Arianne’s squeak of protest left her sister-in-law unfazed.

“Couldn’t help myself.” Lilah chuckled. “Think back to how often you’ve teased me and Tanner over the years. Do you know how many times you walked in on us necking back when we were teenagers?”

“Of course I know. Seeing my brother in a hot clinch?” Arianne exaggerated a shudder. “Those incidents scarred me for life.”

If Lilah hadn’t found an excuse to send her husband away before he’d gotten an eyeful, Gabe had a feeling he would currently be maimed for life. Not fully meeting her eyes, he offered a heartfelt, “Thank you.”