Judith Gilbert: The Mistletoe Affair

“I know. She told me."

“Did she spank you?"

He shook his head. “I get timeout sometimes, but she don't spank me. She said to ask before I borrow. ‘Cause I didn't know I did wrong."

Not knowing that he'd done wrong never helped Jared as a child. He ruffled Matt's dark hair. Katherine's doing a great job raising Matt . “You believed in your heart your mom faced trouble. You did a brave thing standing up for her against a grownup."

The boy's grin spread from ear-to-ear. “Mom called me her knight in shining armor-like King Arthur in my storybook."

Jared thought of the names he'd been called growing up-none of them repeatable in public. He smiled at Matt's infectious grin. “I bet your dad will be proud when he hears it."

Matt's gaze lowered and his bottom lip stuck out.

Placing his finger under the boy's small chin, Jared lifted his face and grimaced at the anger and sadness in Matt's eyes. “Okay ‘official helper',” Jared said, clearing his throat, “let's get these lights on the roof and talk about fun things to do this holiday."

Matt giggled. “What exactly does an ‘official helper’ do?"

Jared rubbed his chin. “Supervise me. That means you watch me from the ground. Don't let me goof off. If I miss a spot, you yell where it is. You have to yell really loud, can you do that?"

“Yes, sir,” Matt said, his head bobbing up and down.

Jared smiled at the serious expression on the boy's face. “How about letting your mother know before we get started?"

“Mom, I've never felt so embarrassed in all my born days, and to top it off, now I'm sounding like Dad when I swore I'd never use his sayings.” Katherine huffed and couldn't help but hear an extra twang as she ranted.

Katherine's mother stood at the sink in the kitchen wiping tears of laughter from her eyes with a dishtowel. “And such a long life, too. All thirty-one-years."

“Don't laugh. There's nothing funny,” Katherine said.

“Dear, I didn't know it would turn out like that."

“I felt humiliated. From now on, no more matchmaking from you, and I'm keeping those sanitary pads under lock and key for the rest of my life.” As she fingered the plastic tablecloth, she squirmed in her chair. “How can I face that man again?"

Her mother clucked. “He's a prominent attorney. I'm sure, in his line of work, he's seen and heard it all. Besides, real men don't care about a silly thing like those pads."

Katherine sighed. “Well, I certainly do. Every time I look at him, I'll see him walking down the street like that ."

“I'm sorry. I can't help it.” Her mother grabbed the dishtowel and held it over her mouth to stifle another fit of laughter. The absurdity of the situation suddenly hit Katherine, and she laughed harder than her mother. Their laughter stopped when they heard heavy footsteps stomping on the roof.

Katherine glanced at the ceiling and gulped.

He's back .

After her mother plugged in the coffeepot, she turned toward Katherine. “He'll be finished soon.” She opened the vacuum-sealed cookie jar on the counter. It hissed, and the smell of oatmeal and coconut escaped, turning the kitchen into a culinary delight. Taking the cookies out one by one, she arranged them in a circle on a platter and set them in the middle of the table.

Katherine stared in amazement. “What are you doing?"

“Hmm, getting ready to offer him coffee and cookies, dear. He'll be hungry after he gets through. It's the least we can do after he's done us a favor."

“Please don't get any more ideas.” Her mother wore a matchmaking gleam in her hazel eyes. Katherine shook her head in warning. “I don't want to date him or anything like that."

“Gracious! You young folks today. Whatever happened to talking, walking and getting to know someone as friends first? Besides, I don't think you have anything to worry about. He doesn't date much either.” The coffeepot finished spurting and her mother poured them a cup.

Katherine wondered why he didn't date much. He might be gay. She didn't want to find out he was gay. Not that she cared, of course. His sexual preference didn't matter to her. Hell, she wasn't interested in him in the least.

As if she read Katherine's mind, her mother smoothed her dress down and smiled. “He's definitely not gay. His fiancée jilted him a year ago right at the altar, at least that's what I heard folks say.” She paused. “Course, mind you, I'm not one to gossip.” She shook her head. “He hasn't dated any decent women that I know of since that terrible thing happened to him."

That didn't sound good. “Meaning what?” she said casually around sips. “He dates indecent women?” She held the steaming cup to her nose, and inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh hazelnut wafting from the brown liquid.

Her mother blushed and lowered her voice. “Not exactly indecent, mind you, but they have a reputation for being kind of wild, if you know what I mean."

Katherine set her cup down and frowned. She knew what her mother meant only too well. He preferred the kind of women her ex-husband kept as mistresses.

“I told you, he's a prominent attorney. Wins every case.” Her mother pointed to the magazine rack. “He's got offices in New York and Texas.” Katherine stood, walked to the rack hanging on the wall and lifted People magazine out. Jared Randall's wolfish smile stared back at her from the cover. A supermodel draped on each of his tuxedo-clad arms, helping him celebrate after winning another whopping divorce settlement for a major movie star.

After replacing the magazine, she spun around and shook her head.

“Don't you get that sour look on your face, Katherine Marisa Cahill. There's nothing wrong with Jared. He helps around the house when things tear up on me. The man's just looking in the wrong places for what he really needs. As for you, you don't want to look ‘cause you got singed.” Her mother touched her hip and grimaced.

Katherine moved to her side. “You've been on your feet too long. Rest.” She helped her to a chair.

Her mother swatted at Katherine's hands. “I'm not an invalid. They put a pin in my hip. It's bionic now."

A picture of her mother jumping over hurdles popped into Katherine's head and she chuckled. “Bionic, huh?"

Katherine reached down and rubbed her mother's hands, remembering the fall in the tub that necessitated the emergency surgery. “I came home three weeks early to help you with the cooking and shopping for Christmas. Please, let me be your arms and legs this year. I don't want you overdoing it."

The back door swung open and Matt sped into the kitchen. “I made sure he didn't miss any spots.” Matt beamed. “We tested ‘em. Santa can land fine now."

She dragged her gaze to the door and froze. Jared stood watching her. The smile he wore gave him an air of innocence, but the look in his eyes made a tingling start in the base of her skull. His gaze trailed down her body to her toes before it meandered back up. The seductive grin hadn't changed a bit when he finally met her eyes again. She swallowed unevenly. He knew what he was doing to her, saw the way her shirt lifted and fell on shallow breaths.

Is this his hobby, she wondered angrily, m aking women swoon for his own macho-entertainment?

He's no good. Definitely, no good.

Good for her or not, her breath still came short and shallow. The top of her knees banged against the table leg, as she jerked away. Traitorous body. Fortunately for her, no one noticed her agitation.

Her mother coughed.

Katherine's face flushed even hotter and stared down, away from the others.

You'd better tread carefully, Katherine girl, lest you jump from the frying pan into the fire .