Kissing Santa, A Clover Park Novella (Clover Park, Book 4) Contemporary Romance (The Clover Park Series) (14 page)

She frowned and returned to her seat.

“Bad news?” he asked.

“Rick cancelled on me. He’s already tired from work and just wants to head home after. He’s a bouncer at a bar in Norhaven.”

Bouncer, that he could believe. And also a big liar. He’d just seen him sucking face with another woman at Garner’s, which wasn’t work or in Norhaven. Jerk.

“You and Rick been going out a while?” he asked casually.

“Four months.” She drank her coffee, still looking upset.

“He cancel on you a lot?”

“I understand. It would’ve been late by the time he got here. It’s fine.”

He should let it drop. He really didn’t want to hear more about Rick, and he didn’t want to let slip what he knew, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.

“You and Rick exclusive?” he asked. “Pretty serious?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you hitting on me?”

“No, no, no.” He shook his head to emphasize it. “Absolutely not. My curiosity got the better of me. Forget I said anything.” He took a sip of coffee. “This is good.”

She stood abruptly. Damn. He’d overstepped.

“I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said.

She got out two shot glasses. “You want a drink, Barry? Cuz I could sure use one.”

“Uh, sure.”

He watched as she slammed around in the cabinets emerging with a cocktail shaker, a couple of liqueurs, and vodka. Now this was getting interesting. She expertly mixed the drink like one who had a lot of practice.

“Did you used to be a bartender?” he asked, impressed with her quick movements.

She shook it all up. “Smart guy. Yeah, I bartended in college once I was legal.” She lined up two shot glasses and poured. It smelled a little like coffee. He checked the labels. Amaretto and coffee liqueur. Sounded tasty.

She handed him a glass and held hers up. He clinked it against hers. She downed the shot, and he quickly followed suit. Yum. He shook his head. Bit of a kick there at the end.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Screaming orgasm.”

He sputtered. “Been a while since I had one of those.”

She winked. “Been a while since I had the drink kind.”

An image flashed through his brain of Amber in full ecstasy, screaming as she came. Sweat broke out on his forehead. He discreetly adjusted himself under the table. She poured them another shot, and they clinked glasses again.

“Down the hatch,” he said. They drank at the same time. Warmth spread through him. He rolled his neck, feeling looser already.

She slammed her glass down. “Why do men suck? Just be honest with me.”

He was used to women sounding off to him, the nonthreatening friendly guy, so he put it out there, the cold, hard truth. “Because they don’t appreciate what a wonderful woman you are.”

She blushed. “Stop. You hardly know me.” She traced the table with a fingertip. “How am I wonderful?” she asked softly.

“Well, just look around. This place is warm and full of vibrant colors.”
Like you
. “That tells me you’re a passionate woman who loves life.”

He worried for a moment that he shouldn’t have said “passionate,” even though he knew instinctively she was exactly that, but then she met his eyes and grinned. “I like you.”

“Thank you, I like you too.” He smiled goofily, a little buzzed. “Plus you’re an artist. A very talented one at that. Not many people can do what you do. If I tried to do what you do, it would look like a chimpanzee got into the paints.”

She smiled.

He lifted a finger. “And you’re smart. You caught on right away to the brilliance of my birding app.”

She laughed, and he grinned.

“You’re kind,” he said, serious now. “Look how you welcomed in your new neighbor. Like you knew I needed a friend.”

He really did. It wasn’t easy to move into a tight-knit small town, the outsider. Sure, people were friendly, but he didn’t hang out with anyone on a regular basis. And it had been fifteen months, three weeks, and one day since he’d had a girlfriend. He really had to stop counting. The numbers racking up were doing a number on his ego.

She took his hand and stared into his eyes. He felt like they were connecting on a deep, deep level. It felt so good to hold hands. He could do this all night.

“You are my friend, Barry…” She paused. “What’s your last name?”

“Furnukle.”

She wrinkled her cute little button nose. “Really?”

“Why would I make that up?” One side of his mouth quirked up. “My real first name is Barrett if you like that better.”

“Barrett,” she repeated. “Barrett Furnukle.” She made a face. “Okay if I call you Bare?”

He flexed his fingers like claws and growled. “Like bear?”

“Sure, okay. Bare, you
are
my friend. From this day forward—” she lifted her shot glass dramatically “—oh. It’s empty.” She poured them both another shot. “Raise your glass, Bare.” She waited until he did. Then she touched her glass to his. “From this day forward, you are my friend. Deal?”

He smiled, a smile that didn’t feel altogether genuine because he already knew he wanted her as much more than a friend. Yes, she was way out of his league, but he had needs, dammit.

“Deal,” he said.

They drank on it. She smiled brilliantly. “I am toast. Come watch TV with me.”

He stood, a little wobbly. Three shots was a lot for him. He usually only had a couple of beers once a week. And he’d had a beer earlier.

She waved her hand and veered unsteadily to the side. “Ooh, wait. Let me get some cheese. I love cheese.” She grabbed a bowl of cheddar cheese cubes from the fridge and headed for the sofa. He followed.

“You like zombies?” she asked.

He didn’t. He liked sci-fi movies, especially old movies with laughable special effects. Zombies gave him nightmares. What was so appealing about dead people walking around with various body parts rotting off them?

“I love zombies,” he said.

“Great! I’ve got seasons one through three of
Zombie Bonanza
on DVD.” She hit play on the DVD remote.

They ate cheese cubes and watched zombies while Barry contemplated doing one of those casual stretch-and-arm-around-her-shoulders moves. An hour later, Barry still hadn’t made a move and had more grotesque zombie images burned into his brain than he knew what to do with. Still, he wasn’t complaining because, without any prompting from him, Amber had just curled up against his side, which allowed him to easily and quite naturally slip an arm around her shoulders.

She smiled up at him, her eyes soft. “You’re like a best girl friend,” she mumbled before conking out.

Best
girl
friend? She must still be tipsy. He certainly hoped so. He was a red-blooded
man
with a lot to offer. Sure, he didn’t have Tattoo Guy’s machismo, but he had smarts, he had money, he had…a raging hard-on. He had needs,
dammit
.

He also had moves from his mother’s romance novels he was dying to try out.

That’s right. In his boredom kicking around her house this past year, he’d picked up a few books his mom had left lying around. No shame in that.
Carnal Werewolf
had been especially interesting.

He let out a breath, enjoying the feel of her cuddled up against him. He’d figure out how to move things to the next level tomorrow.

The Clover Park STUDS series coming February 2015!

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Looking for more holiday stories? Check out these contemporary romance authors.

On the 12th Date Of Christmas
by Nikki Lynn Barrett

After being mugged, Robin Sorenson is left shaken and her spirit in humanity is broken. Worse, she's not sure how to deal with the new anxieties or who to confide in, since she's always preached to pick oneself up and move on. Yeah, she's been the go to girl when anyone's had problems. Christmas is coming, and her belief in magic and miracles has faded.

Then Jonas comes back.

Jonas Aimes made a mistake when he walked away from Robin a year earlier. A big one. He'd loved her, always had and still does, but his desire to please his aging and strict parents took precedence. Back from the overseas internship they'd struggled to get him in, he plans on winning Robin back. What he didn't count on was discovering the shell of the vivacious woman he'd loved.

Broken.

Remembering her love of Christmas, Jonas pulls the holiday heartstrings. What? All is fair and love and war, right?

Twelve days, Twelve Dates.

Robin is speechless when Jonas not only refuses to leave her alone, but dares her to accept his cheesy holiday-themed challenge. Twelve dates to give him a chance to prove that he loves her and is never leaving her again.

But in the season known for miracles, can Robin find the magic needed to open her heart and faith once more ... or will she forever wonder about the ghost of the Christmas past that could have been?

Excerpt:

The hostess walked up to the table and took their order. After she disappeared, Jonas reached for her hand again. "I'm not sure where to begin. I could apologize profusely, but would it do any good? I should never have let my family pressure me into that choice, but I can't change what I did. It took being so far away to realize just what I'd lost. You put up with a heck of a lot of immaturity from me last year and I can't imagine what you were feeling."

"Jonas-"

"Please, let me get this out. The experience from the internship was great, but I saw a few things that really gave me a whole new perspective. I missed you, and even though I knew I would, I missed you far more than I ever imagined." His hands covered hers, sending a chill down her back.

"I can't just pick up where we left off and think things will be okay," she said simply, not trying to be mean, but honest. "Can't and won't." No way could she put her heart through any more bruised and battered feelings.

He nodded. "I get that. I'm not expecting anything. I just had to tell you how I felt. I would be an idiot to think we could pick up and that everything
would
be fine, because I know that would never be the case."

She didn't expect the sincerity in his voice. He watched her with those gorgeous dark eyes that never turned away from her face. She knew he meant business.

A smile lit up his face. "Give me twelve dates."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Twelve dates? What are you talking about?" Now he was just acting strange. Kind of cute, but definitely strange.

"Twelve dates to show you just how much you mean to me. On the twelfth date, if you don't feel like we could at least try to work things out, I'll leave you alone. If I don't at least give this a shot, then I'm going to have a lot of regrets."

"Twelve dates, huh? You seriously sound like someone from one of those cheesy films they air this time of the year." Okay, this man looked and sounded like Jonas, but his twelve dates idea made her wonder what happened to the real Jonas Aimes. Robin shifted in her seat and narrowed her eyes.

He feigned hurt. "Cheesy? Ouch. That's a blow to the heart."

"Twelve dates isn't a long time to decide." He was being serious about this, wasn't he? Twelve dates? How in the world did he plan to try and show her anything with only twelve dates? The idea sounded cute, charming and sweet, it really did. But how did he plan to pull it off?

"Maybe for people who don't have our history. But we've known each other since high school. Come on, what could it hurt?"

A lot, actually. She kept the words to herself.

Despite it all, she couldn't hide her curiosity.

"Of course, we can talk and spend time together outside of the twelve dates, so it's not like we're limited," Jonas continued. He circled her palm with his thumb. "Oh, and right now doesn't count as one of the dates."

Robin laughed. Butterflies danced around in her belly. Good grief, what happened to her promise just a few hours ago? To focus on her own life and not get wrapped up in a man?

Okay, just because I agree to this doesn't mean I'm changing my mind. They're just dates. Dates with a man I love, but they're still just dates.

"What about your family? What will they say?" she blurted.

A storm of anger built up in his eyes. "I don't care what they say anymore. My family shouldn't have so much sway on how I feel about you. I should have realized that a long time ago. They don't get to choose anymore."

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Cole in my Stocking
by Jessi Gage

Mandy never planned to return to Newburgh, New Hampshire, the hometown that unfairly branded her a slut, but she has no choice. Her father has died, and she'll be spending Christmas settling his affairs. She hopes to get in and out of town without attracting the looks of disgust that drove her away, but when a certain Oakley-wearing, Harley-riding cop starts hanging around, an old crush is revived and the rumor mill restarts with a vengeance.

Cole has always been attracted to Mandy, but he has never acted on it.  Besides being sixteen years older than her, he was friends with her father. The rumors people in town spread about her were bad enough without an inappropriate relationship adding fuel to the fire. But when Mandy returns to Newburgh fully adult and looking more gorgeous than ever, he can’t keep his distance, especially when an old secret of her father’s surfaces and puts her in danger. He’ll stop at nothing to protect her, but convincing her to stay in Newburgh, with him, will take a Christmas miracle.