SUSAN MEIER - Bride Under the Mistletoe - The Magic of a Family Christmas

She smiled. “Thanks.”

The kitchen became silent as Wendy pulled her tea bag from her cup and added milk and sugar. After taking a sip, she said, “What about you?”

“What about me?”

She shrugged. “I might not have spilled the entire story of my life, but you now know things lots of people at the plant don’t know. I think it’s only fair you tell me something about yourself so we can keep each other’s secrets.”

“Honestly, there isn’t much to tell. When my parents finally retired, five years ago, they moved to Miami with me, and my dad and I started a small investment firm.”

“You have a job?”

“Of course I have a job.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just pictured you in Miami boating, going to parties, taking private jets to Vegas to gamble.”

He laughed. “I can still do all that. Rather than create a big firm like my dad had here in Pennsylvania, we kept our Miami firm small. I make appointments when I want them. Schedule myself off a lot. So your guess isn’t too far off the mark.”

She said, “Ah,” and their gazes caught. The sizzle from the day before returned. But this time they both knew it was pointless. He was a strong man who clearly arranged his life the way he wanted it. Just as her late husband had done. Because Greg was so determined, so forceful, so focused, so sure of what he wanted, she’d lost the opportunity to have what she wanted…children with him. She vowed she’d never get involved with that kind of man again.

Plus, she might be bolder now, but she was still a small-town woman whose fondest wish was to get custody of the little boy next door. Even if she wanted to take a risk with her new-found independence with someone as clear about his life goals as Cullen seemed to be, she was too simple, too average to fit into his extravagant, exciting world.

They couldn’t be further apart if they tried.

The refrigerator motor started. The microwave beeped. The kitchen lights popped on.

Wendy pulled away from Cullen’s gaze. “Talk about timing.”

He laughed and glanced down at his half-empty tea cup. “Yeah.”

“So, are you ready for coffee?”

He shook his head. “I’ll get some on the way to the office.”

“Do you want me to come in?”

“I’ll be fine.” He rose from the table. “If Harry’s awake I’ll say goodbye.”

She nodded. Cullen turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Wendy put a pot of coffee together and dropped four slices of bread into the toaster.

A few minutes later, Cullen returned to the kitchen, carrying his duffel bag. “He’s still asleep.”

“I’ll tell him you said goodbye.”

“Okay.” He turned and headed for the foyer and the front door. A polite hostess, Wendy followed him.

He faced her with a smile. “Thanks for everything.”

Her nerves spiked with the sense that his leaving was all wrong, even though she knew it wasn’t. There was no reason for him to stay. No reason for her to ask him to stay, except that she enjoyed his company, and they’d already figured out there was no point to that.

Wendy pulled in a breath. “You’re welcome.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded.

He caught her gaze. She smiled slightly. He didn’t seem to want to go any more than she wanted him to. A second spun into ten; ten seconds stretched into half a minute. Finally, with their gazes clinging, he lowered his head and touched his mouth to hers.

She wasn’t so much surprised by the fact that he’d kissed her as she was by the power in one brush of his lips across hers. The electric sparks they’d been throwing to each other for the past twenty-four hours all congealed and shot lightning through her.

He slowly pulled away, his eyes bright, his expression as dumbfounded as she felt.

“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.”

She whispered, “Okay.”

And then he was gone. He wouldn’t be this warm, this open, this honest with her at the candy factory. She’d never see this Cullen Barrington again.

Wendy was glad for the distraction her curious six-year-old provided. She let him help make eggs and toast for breakfast, then bundled him in his jacket and mittens and took him to the mall.

“What are we shopping for?”

She smiled down at him. “I have three brothers and a mom, so every year I buy each of them a Christmas gift.”

“Cool.”

“If you’re still with me at Christmas, I’ll be taking you to Ohio with me for the holiday.”

His blue eyes widened. “Out of town?”

She laughed. Everything was an adventure to this child. “Yes.”

“Cool.”

She laughed and he tugged on her hand to get her attention again.

“Do you think we could buy a bell for Creamsicle?”

“A bell for Creamsicle?”

Behind the brown-framed glasses, Harry’s big blue eyes blinked at her. “Yeah.”

“Why do you want him to have a bell?”

He tilted his head. “Because it’s Christmas?”

“Oh, a Christmas bell!”

He smiled. “Yeah.”

“I’m not sure he’ll wear it, but he does wear a collar. So why don’t we look for a new collar with a bell?”

Harry nodded eagerly. “Okay!”

They found a bright red-and-green collar for Creamsicle, complete with a small red sleigh bell. Harry tucked the little bag into the pocket of his jacket with a smile. They shopped for another hour, ate dinner at a local fast-food restaurant and returned home.

Harry immediately yanked the cat collar from his jacket pocket. “Here, Creamsicle!”

“He’s not going to come,” Wendy said.

Harry ignored her, running to the steps and calling upstairs. “Come here, Creamsicle!”

A few seconds later the rotund orange-and-white cat came thumping down the steps. At the bottom, he wound around Wendy’s feet, then Harry’s.

Wendy smiled. “He likes you.”

Harry peered up at her. “I know.” He crouched down and tried to work the buckle on the old collar.

Wendy stooped down beside him. “Here. Let me. I forgot how old this collar was. It was probably time to replace it anyway.”

She made short order of the old collar and helped Harry slide the new one around Creamsicle’s neck. The cat nudged them both as if saying thanks, and walked away.

Harry frowned. “It doesn’t ring.”

“It’s a small bell. So Creamsicle will have to do something like jump for it to ring.”

The little boy considered that then grinned. “That will make it special when it rings, right?”

“Exactly.”

Harry’s grin grew. Wendy shook her head and led him into the kitchen for a snack. She’d never seen a kid who got such pleasure from little things the way Harry did.

Tired from the day out, Harry fell asleep on the sofa and Wendy carried him up to bed.

When she returned downstairs, she tuned the television to one of her favorite shows, but without the distraction of Harry, her mind drifted back to that kiss with Cullen.

She pressed her fingers to her lips. It was hard to believe that a man like Cullen would find her attractive, let alone that he’d kiss her. But she did eventually make some sense of it. In their discussion over tea, they’d realized how different they were. They both knew nothing would come of this attraction, so maybe he felt safe in kissing her? He probably considered it a one-time thing. A chance to give in to the attraction, albeit a little, just for a taste.

The very notion made her dreamy and she sighed heavily. Was it so wrong to want a little romance in her life? Just a little. Just something to make her believe that someday she would find somebody else.

Realizing the television show wasn’t going to hold her attention, she walked back down the hall to the library, found a book and went to bed.