Chapter 10
Robin
My heart ratcheted in my chest, and something tight coiled in my core.
A need I’d never known before had ignited in me, and nothing could put this fire out except another dose of Levi.
If this was what kissing was like, I needed to have sex fast. Because I still couldn’t think straight, and it felt like there was a wildfire burning between my thighs.
I’m going to make love to this man.
The idea completely thrilled me while at the same time I felt kind of terrified.
He’ll help guide me through it.
I knew he would.
But right now I was staring up at him as though I were starstruck as he led me off the stage.
He slung his arm around me as we wove through the crowd to get our hot cocoa gift card, a sense of ownership in his touch.
“After this, we should go see my friends Ryder and Charlotte. They’re having a Christmas party. Woo-wee, they’ll be shocked as hell when I roll up with you on my arm.”
The bakery was evidently right here on the square, because he led me across the street to a quaint sign that said Stephanie and Cory’s Sweets.
The ‘and Cory’ had been added after the original sign had been made. I wondered about the story behind it.
But I was too caught up in my own whirlwind love affair to think about it for long.
The scent of warm baked treats filled the air as we walked inside. The bakery was cozy and toasty compared to the outside world, and it felt like a magical little haven, buzzing with activity, and all dressed up for the holidays.
“After that we should go see my sis and her family for a minute. Annie’s going to freak out when she sees you,” Levi rumbled.
That cut through my dazed state.
“You want me to meet your family?!”
Where I came from, that was a very big deal.
A. Very. Big. Deal.
The kind of deal that comes with an engagement ring and a promise of forever.
When I looked up into Levi’s calm eyes, I saw strength there, and longevity.
“Is that a problem?” he rumbled. “We don’t have to go. I thought you might want to meet the little girl who forced me to write that letter. Especially since it made you come across the country to meet me. She’s something else. She’s going to do big things when she grows up.”
I grinned up at him, nodding with enthusiasm. Right now, I didn’t even have words. There was no way for me to know if Levi took meeting his family as seriously as me.
But it had to mean something. It just had to.
The whole night had been a blur.
First, we won the kissing competition. Then we shared what truly was the best cup of hot cocoa.
After that, Levi took me to the holiday party that his friends Ryder and Charlotte were hosting. Everyone seemed so surprised that not only had he shown up, but that he’d shown up with a woman on his arm.
But they were warm and welcoming. They made me feel like I’d been part of their circle for years, instead of a stranger attached to Levi’s arm.
After we’d spent a few hours there, we left to visit his family at his sister’s house.
So we headed there next.
The roads were getting thick with snow, but his truck was one of those giant-man-trucks that some men seemed to drive. It was steady and reliable on the road, just like Levi.
Once we got there, he changed into his Santa outfit in the bushes, and I couldn’t help but peek at him as he did it. I hadn’t even known he’d brought the costume along in his truck.
“You look good, Levi.”
He grinned at me and popped the fake beard on over his real beard. “Good enough to fool my niece?”
Good enough to eat.
Seeing him in his getup made me feel tingly all over.
I’d never thought of Santa Claus as sexy before tonight.
And now all I wanted to do was jump on his lap and tell him that I’d been a very good girl all year long and that I deserved a special treat.
And that I bet he had a Christmas gift for me hidden in his pants.
I just kept thinking about what would happen later on tonight. Would there be another kiss once we got back to his place? Would he ask me to stay the night?
Or maybe I’d grow bold and just launch myself right at him. Drag that Santa costume right off.
I giggled lightly, and he glanced down at me, squeezing my hand. “You nervous to meet them?”
“No. I was thinking about… our kiss.”
He stopped on the sidewalk and turned toward me, something serious glinting in his eyes.
Levi reached out and caressed my cheek, calloused skin rubbing against me.
Then he drawled out, his voice slow and smooth like honey, “That was a hell of a kiss, Robin. I’d like to kiss you again later if you like the idea of that.
I’d like to kiss you all over.” He licked his lips.
“I’d like to kiss that pretty pussy of yours most of all. But first, let’s go meet my family.”
He didn’t even need me to respond. Levi was confident. He knew I was like melted butter for him. And now I knew what kind of plans he had in store for me tonight.
My pussy screamed with need, shots of electricity coursing through me.
But I put those feverish thoughts aside as Levi gently led me to his sister’s front door.
As we walked up to the porch, my head bobbed everywhere, taking it all in. His sister had a cheery house with Christmas lights festooning the bushes out front, and a collection of gingerbread house blow-molds decorating her yard. It looked perfectly delightful.
“You ready?” he asked.
I nodded, hiding my nervousness.
He knocked on the door, and when it swung open, a tiny shocked face stared up at us. “Santa?”
“You better believe it. Have you been a good girl this year, Annie?”
The cutest girl in the world ran forward and hugged Levi tight.
“I can’t believe you came, Uncle Levi! You’re just in time for us to open our Christmas Eve gifts.”
Levi gave me a quick smile over her head. “I guess my costume didn’t fool her.”
I straightened his fake beard, which was sitting crookedly over his real beard. “I think you make a perfect Santa.”
Then Annie looked up at me as though noticing me for the first time.
“Who are you?”
“I’m… Levi’s date.”
Her eyes filled with wonder. “You’re so pretty.”
Grinning back down at her, I said, “So are you. I love your reindeer sweater. And your reindeer slippers. Do you like reindeer?”
“I love them!” she squeaked out.
A kindred spirit.
“Where I come from, we have a reindeer farm where you can go and pet them. I like to volunteer during the off-season to take care of them.”
Annie’s mouth dropped open. Then she stammered out, “Uncle Levi, you have to marry her so I can take care of reindeer, too!”
Levi chuckled, his hand slipping around me. His fingers slipped just under the hem of my sweater until I felt his delightfully rough touch on the bare skin of my waist. It felt like his hand belonged there, taking ownership of me, claiming me.
I tried not to swoon in place.
Then he shocked the hell out of me by saying. “Okay. But will you plan the wedding for us, Annie? I’ve never been good at planning parties.”
My entire reality shifted two feet to the left.
Levi kept talking, Annie hanging on his every word. But I couldn’t focus on anything he said. All I’d heard was something about planning a wedding.
He was joking.
He had to be joking.
What if he wasn’t joking?
My lips curled up into a big grin.
That’s when a womanly duplicate of Levi rounded the corner.
When she saw me she stopped in her tracks and put her hands on her pregnant belly.
“Who in the world are you?” she asked with a marveling look on her face. “Levi, did you bring a date to our house on Christmas Eve?!”
Then the woman, who had to be Levi’s sister, hugged me tight and dragged me inside. “Hon! Mom! Dad! Aunt Josie! You’ll never believe it. Levi brought a date!”
Levi groaned as he settled down onto the couch.
He’d just stoked the fire and added a few logs to the fireplace.
It was roaring strong now, his cabin warming up fast.
We’d stayed out until after eleven p.m. His family had been so excited to see Levi out of his cabin that he hadn’t had the heart to leave before then.
“Fuck. I forgot to get my bottle. Robin, would you mind grabbing my pills from the cabinet in the kitchen? If not, I can do it.”
I knew tonight had been a lot for him. But I was also worried about all these pills he was taking.
“Which one is it? Does your doctor prescribe it to you?”
“Yeah. It’s the prescription-strength ibuprofen bottle.”
“Ibuprofin? I thought it was going to be something much stronger than that.”
“Naw. I have a friend who got in trouble with pills. It’s because of Mary that I won’t touch anything stronger.”
Even while relief flooded through me, I felt a tiny stab of jealousy rear up. “Mary?”
“Yeah. I’m friends with her brother, Boone.”
The way he said that put my mind at ease. Levi didn’t seem to be holding a torch for Mary.
I brought the bottle over to him along with a glass of water.
He took the pill, then studied me for a minute. When he spoke it was almost a growl. “I had fun tonight.”
Nodding, I told him, “I did too. Thanks for taking me around town and introducing me to so many people. This was a really magical day for me, Levi. I’ll never forget it.”
Levi had flirted with me earlier tonight, and now I’d find out if those were just idle words or if he planned to back them up with something hard and hungry.
The man was still in his Santa outfit, and I wanted to jump in his lap and ride him until morning. I’d never felt this way about a man before, and I was swept up in an undercurrent of feelings.
He slipped a hand up to shift my hair to the side, then he caressed the nape of my neck. “Did your adventure to Red Oak Mountain turn out the way you were hoping, Robin?”
I couldn’t help but snuggle in closer to him. “It was better than I ever expected.”
Both the dogs were sleeping by the fire, Hot Cocoa nuzzling against Comet. They’d become fast friends in the span of one day.
And the haunted look that had been in his eyes earlier was gone. Replaced by something light and soft. I couldn’t believe this was the same man I’d walked up on chopping wood earlier today.
“So… it’s getting late,” he rumbled.
“Yeah. And the snowfall’s starting. Do you want me to leave? I can go find a motel.”
He shook his head. “I didn’t mention that to try to chase you off, Robin. I might be reading your signals wrong, but just in case I’m not, would you like to… stay here with me tonight?”
My heart leaped into my chest. He wasn’t trying to gently nudge me out the door. He was trying to nudge me into his bed.
My voice was squeaky. “How do you feel about that? Would you like me to stay?”
His mouth split into a wide grin underneath the fake Santa beard. His beard was crooked again, and I wanted to take his picture so I could keep this moment forever.
“Yeah, girl. I’d be over the moon if you decided to stay.”
I looked up at him shyly. “I’ve never…”
He stroked the back of my neck softly. “I know. If you’ve never kissed anyone before, I have to presume that means you’ve never been with a man.
We don’t have to… unless you want to. We could just hold each other.
” He got a goofy expression on his face.
“I’d actually like to hold you all night long. ”
It was my moment to be brave. I’d waited thirty-one years to find a man who stirred my heart. Now that I’d found him, I wasn’t going to shy away. “I’d like to do more than hold each other. I’d like Santa to give me a special present tonight.”
Levi’s eyes sparkled in the light of the fire.
“Well, what are you waiting for, Robin? Why don’t you crawl up on Santa’s lap and tell me what you want for Christmas?”
Even though this was the moment I’d been hoping for ever since I’d laid eyes on him, I felt shy now. Clumsy. Awkward.
And since he was approaching this in such a light-hearted way, did it mean we were nothing more than a one-night stand?
So many questions, and I was too timid to ask any of them.