Holiday Wishes (13 page)

“It’s part of the fun.” Her hair ruffled in the light breeze. She scooped it back. “No job’s worth the effort or the headaches if you don’t have some fun.” She looked back at the house. “You have fun, don’t you? Taking something and making it yours?”

He started to say something snide, then realized she’d put her finger right on the heart of it. “Yeah. It doesn’t always seem like fun when you’re tearing out ceilings and having insulation raining down on your head.” He smiled a little. “But it is.”

“Are you going to let me see?” She tilted her head. “Or are you like a temperamental artist, not willing to show his work until the final brushstroke?”

“There’s not much to see.” Then he shrugged. “Sure, you can come in if you want.”

“Thanks.” She started up the walk, glanced over her shoulder when he stayed by the truck. “Aren’t you going to give me a tour?”

He moved his shoulders again, and joined her.

“Did you do the trim on my apartment?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s beautiful work. Looks like cherry.”

He frowned, surprised. “It is cherry.”

“I like the rounded edges. They soften everything. Do you get a decorator in for the colors or pick them out yourself?”

“I pick them.” He opened the door for her. “Is there a problem?”

“No. I really love the color scheme in the kitchen, the slate blue counters, the mauve floor. Oh, what fabulous stairs.” She hurried across the unfinished living area to the staircase.

Mac had worked hard and long on it, tearing out the old and replacing it with dark chestnut, curving and widening the landing at the bottom so that it flowed out into the living space.

It was, undeniably, his current pride and joy.

“Did you build these?” she murmured, running a hand over the curve of the railing.

“The old ones were broken, dry-rotted. Had to go.”

“I have to try them.” She dashed up, turning back at the top to grin at him. “No creaks. Good workmanship, but not very sentimental.”

“Sentimental?”

“You know, the way you look back on home, how you snuck downstairs as a kid and knew just which steps to avoid because they’d creak and wake up Mom.”

All at once he was having trouble with his breathing. “They’re chestnut,” he said, because he could think of nothing else.

“Whatever, they’re beautiful. Whoever lives here has to have kids.”

His mouth was dry, unbearably. “Why?”

“Because.” On impulse, she planted her butt on the railing and pushed off. Mac’s arms came out of their own volition to catch her as she flew off the end. “It was made for sliding,” she said breathlessly. She was laughing as she tilted her head up to his.

Something clicked inside her when their eyes met. And the fluttering, not so pleasant this time, came again. Disconcerted, she cleared her throat and searched for something to say.

“You keep popping up,” Mac muttered. He had yet to release her, couldn’t seem to make his hands obey his head.

“It’s a small town.”

He only shook his head. His hands were at her waist now, and they seemed determined to slide around and stroke up her back. He thought he felt her tremble—but it might have been him.

“I don’t have time for women,” he told her, trying to convince himself.

“Well.” She tried to swallow, but there was something hard and hot lodged in her throat. “I’m pretty busy myself.” She let out a slow breath. Those hands stroking up and down her back were making her weak. “And I’m not really interested. I had a really bad year, as far as relationships go. I think . . .”

It was very hard to think. His eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue, and so intensely focused on hers. She wasn’t sure what he saw, or what he was looking for, but she knew her knees were about to give out.

“I think,” she began again, “we’d both be better off if you decide fairly quickly if you’re going to kiss me or not. I can’t handle this much longer.”

Neither could he. Still, he took his time. He was, in all things, a thorough and thoughtful man. His eyes were open and on hers as he lowered his head, as his mouth hovered a breath from hers, as a small, whimpering moan sounded in her throat.

Her vision dimmed as his lips brushed hers. His were soft, firm, terrifyingly patient. The whisper of contact slammed a punch into her stomach. He lingered over her like a gourmet sampling delicacies, deepening the kiss degree by staggering degree until she was clinging to him.

No one had ever kissed her like this. She hadn’t known anyone could. Slow and deep and dreamy. The floor seemed to tilt under her feet as he gently sucked her lower lip into his mouth.

She shuddered, groaned, and let herself drown.

She was very potent. The scent and feel and taste of her was overwhelming. He knew he could lose himself here, for a moment, for a lifetime. Her small, tight body was all but plastered to his. Her hands clutched his hair. In contrast to that aggressive gesture, her head fell limply back in a kind of sighing surrender that had his blood bubbling.

He wanted to touch her. His hands were aching with the need to peel off layer after layer and find the pale, smooth skin beneath. To test himself, and her, he slipped his fingers under her sweater, along the soft, hot flesh of her back, while his mouth continued its long, lazy assault on hers.

He imagined laying her down on the floor, on a tarp, on the grass. He imagined watching her face as he pleasured them both, feeling her arch toward him, open, accepting.

It had been too long, he told himself as his muscles began to coil and his lungs to labor. It had just been too long.

But he didn’t believe it. And it frightened him.

Unsteady, he lifted his head, drew back. Even as he began the retreat, she leaned against him, letting her head fall onto his chest. Unable to resist, he combed his fingers through her hair and cradled her there.

“My head’s spinning,” she murmured. “What was that?”

“It was a kiss, that’s all.” He needed to believe that. It would help to ease the tightness around his heart and his loins.

“I think I saw stars.” Still staggered, she shifted so that she could look up at him. Her lips curved, but her eyes didn’t echo the smile. “That’s a first for me.”

If he didn’t do something fast, he was going to kiss her again. He set her firmly on her feet. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“Was there something to change?”

The light was nearly gone now. It helped that he couldn’t see her clearly in the gloom. “I don’t have time for women. And I’m just not interested in starting anything.”

“Oh.” Where had that pain come from? she wondered, and had to fight to keep from rubbing a hand over her heart. “That was quite a kiss, for a disinterested man.” Reaching down, she scooped up the briefcase she’d dropped before she’d run up the stairs. “I’ll get out of your way. I wouldn’t want to waste any more of your valuable time.”

“You don’t have to get huffy about it.”

“Huffy.” Her teeth snapped together. She jabbed a finger into his chest. “I’m well beyond huffy, pal, and working my way past steamed. You’ve got some ego, Mac. What, do you think I came around here to seduce you?”

“I don’t know why you came around.”

“Well, I won’t be around again.” She settled her briefcase on her shoulder, jerked her chin up. “Nobody twisted your arm.”

He was dealing with an uncomfortable combination of desire and guilt. “Yours, either.”

“I’m not the one making excuses. You know, I can’t figure out how such an insensitive clod could raise two charming and adorable kids.”

“Leave my boys out of this.”

The edge to the order had her eyes narrowing to slits. “Oh, so I have designs on them now, too? You idiot!” She stormed for the door, whirling at the last moment for a parting shot. “I hope they don’t inherit your warped view of the female species!”

She slammed the door hard enough to have the bad-tempered sound echoing through the house. Mac scowled and jammed his hands in his pockets. He didn’t have a warped view, damn it. And his kids were his business.

Chapter 4

Nell stood center stage and lifted her hands. She waited until she was sure every student’s eyes were on her, then let it rip.

There was very little that delighted her more than the sound of young voices raised in song. She let the sound fill her, keeping her ears and eyes sharp as she moved around the stage, directing. She couldn’t hold back the grin. The kids were into this one. Doing Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” was a departure from the standard carols and hymns their former choral director had arranged year after year.

She could see their eyes light up as they got into the rhythm. Now punch it, she thought, pulling more from the bass section as they hit the chorus. Have fun with it. Now the soprano section, high and bright . . . And the altos . . . Tenors . . . Bass . . .

She flashed a smile to signal her approval as the chorus flowered again.

“Good job,” she announced. “Tenors, a little more next time. You guys don’t want the bass section drowning you out. Holly, you’re dropping your chin again. Now we have time for one more run-through of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas.’ Kim?”

Kim tried to ignore the little flutter around her heart and the elbow nudge from Holly. She stepped down from her position in the second row and stood in front of the solo mike as though she were facing a firing squad.

“It’s okay to smile, you know,” Nell told her gently. “And remember your breathing. Sing to the last row, and don’t forget to feel the words. Tracy.” She held out a finger toward the pianist she’d dragooned from her second-period music class.

The intro started quietly. Using her hands, her face, her eyes, Nell signaled the beginning of the soft, harmonious background humming. Then Kim began to sing. Too tentatively at first. Nell knew they would have to work on those initial nerves.

But the girl had talent, and emotion. Three bars in, Kim was too caught up in the song to be nervous. She was pacing it well, Nell thought, pleased. Kim had learned quite a bit in the past few weeks about style. The sentimental song suited her, her range, her looks.

Nell brought the chorus in, holding them back. They were background now for Kim’s rich, romantic voice. Feeling her own eyes stinging, Nell thought that if they did it this well on the night of the concert, there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house.

“Lovely,” Nell said when the last notes had died away. “Really lovely. You guys have come a long way in a very short time. I’m awfully proud of you. Now scram, and have a great weekend.”

While Nell moved to the piano to gather up music, the chatter began behind her.

“You sounded really good,” Holly told Kim.

“Honest?”

“Honest. Brad thought so, too.” Holly shifted her eyes cagily to the school heartthrob, who was shrugging into his school jacket.

“He doesn’t even know I’m alive.”

“He does now. He was watching you the whole time. I know, because I was watching him.” Holly sighed. “If I looked like Miss Davis,
he’d
be watching
me
.”

Kim laughed, but shot a quick glance toward Brad under her lashes. “She’s really fabulous. Just the way she talks to us and stuff. Mr. Striker always crabbed.”

“Mr. Striker
was
a crab. See you later, huh?”

“Yeah.” It was all Kim could manage, because it looked, it really looked, as though Brad were coming toward her. And he
was
looking at her.

“Hi.” He flashed a grin, all white teeth, with a crooked incisor that made her heart flop around in her chest. “You did real good.”

“Thanks.” Her tongue tied itself into knots. This was Brad, she kept thinking. A senior. Captain of the football team. Student council president. All blond hair and green eyes.

“Miss Davis sure is cool, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.” Say something, she ordered herself. “She’s coming to a party at my house tonight. My mom’s having some people over.”

“Adults only, huh?”

“No, Holly’s coming by and a couple other people.” Her heart thundered in her ears as she screwed up her courage. “You could drop by if you wanted.”

“That’d be cool. What time?”

She managed to close her mouth and swallow. “Oh, about eight,” she said, struggling for the casual touch. “I live on—”

“I know where you live.” He grinned at her again, and all but stopped her thundering heart. “Hey, you’re not going with Chuck anymore, are you?”

“Chuck?” Who was Chuck? “Oh, no. We hung out for a while, but we sort of broke up over the summer.”

“Great. See you later.”

He strolled off to join a group of boys who were trooping offstage.

“That’s a very cute guy,” Nell commented from behind Kim.

“Yeah.” The word was a sigh. Kim had stars in her eyes.

“Kimmy has a boyfriend,” Zeke sang, in the high-pitched, annoying voice that was reserved for addressing younger siblings—or female cousins.

“Shut up, brat.”

He only giggled and began to dance around the stage, singsonging the refrain. Nell saw murder shoot into Kim’s eyes and created a diversion.

“Well, I guess you guys don’t want to practice ‘Jingle Bells’ today.”

“Yes, we do.” Zack stopped twirling around the stage with his brother and dashed to the piano. “I know which one it is,” he said, attacking Nell’s neat pile of sheet music. “I can find it.”

“I’ll find it,” Zeke said, but his brother was already holding the music up triumphantly.

“Good going.” Nell settled on the bench with a boy on either side of her. She played a dramatic opening chord that made them both giggle. “Please, music is a serious business. And one, and two, and . . .”

They actually sang it now, instead of screaming it, as they had the first time she invited them to try. What they lacked in style, they made up for in enthusiasm. In spades.

Even Kim was grinning by the time they’d finished.

“Now you do one, Miss Davis.” Zack gave her his soulful look. “Please.”

“Your dad’s probably waiting.”

“Just one.”

“Just one,” Zeke echoed.

In a few short weeks, it had become impossible for her to resist them. “Just one,” Nell agreed, and reached into the now-messy pile of music. “I picked up something you might like at the mall. I bet you’ve seen
The Little Mermaid
.”