5. It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas
IT’S BEGINNING TO LOOK LIKE CHRISTMAS
K andi
“Damn it! If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all,” Mr. Kayn growled.
I insisted that he call me Kandi, but he didn’t reciprocate.
So, I continued calling him Mr. Kayn, except for when I accidentally dropped the Mister.
He seemed to have liked that, though, if the way his eyes lit up and the slight smirk on his lips were any indication.
But that might have been all in my head.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re stuck.”
“You had to know that would happen. I mean, a few miles back, they forced us off the highway because they were shutting it down. If there was no one to plow the highways, then why would you think the back roads would be any better?”
The look he gave me almost made me wither in my seat—almost. I wasn’t too thrilled about being forced on this trip in the first place, so although I would make the best of it, I also was determined to be more vocal than I usually would be. But not so vocal that it would cost me my job.
“You saying you had a better idea than I did?” His voice was sharp and edgy.
I shook my head. “No . . . No, Mr. Kayn.”
He sighed, leaned his head back against the headrest, and closed his eyes.
My eyes went to his Adam’s apple as it bobbed up and down.
The man was so damn fine that everything he did was sexy.
Oh, what a Merry Christmas it might be if I could have licked that Adam’s apple and slowly worked my way down to his?—
“Did you hear anything that I said?”
“Uhm, no sir, Mr. Kayn.” I licked my bottom lip and glanced at him.
He had unbuckled his seat belt.
“We’re not getting anywhere in this.”
“Are you going to get help?”
“No. There’s no help in this town.”
“Just because it’s a small, cute town doesn’t mean that there’s no help,” I stated and hopped out of the car with him.
“Trust me. There’s not.”
He moved to the trunk and removed our luggage.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking to the nearest bed and breakfast to get some rest and regroup. We ain’t going anywhere in this anytime soon. Give me the most important bag and leave the rest. You can carry your laptop bag.”
I took one of my rolling bags and gave it to him, and he grabbed his bags along with his laptop bag.
His muscles strained against the coat that he wore, but he looked so good.
I was thankful that we were out of that car though.
The last two hours cooped up in the car had been difficult.
The scent of his cologne, the raspiness of his deep baritone, and the looks that he cast my way every now and then lit my body on fire.
At one time, he groaned about something on the highway, and I thought I would cum in my panties just at the sound.
“I probably should have worn another pair of shoes,” I stated as we set off after he’d locked the car up.
“The walk won’t be long. Don’t worry about it.”
“Mistletoe Falls.” I read the sign that we passed as we walked further down the main road. “How cute is that? It sounds like something you might see on TV.”
“Everything ain’t a fairy tale, Kandi.”
“Well, I happen to think that life is what you make of it. It’s as beautiful or as ugly as whatever is in your heart. I choose to allow the beauty to shine through.”
Mr. Kayn looked down at me and stared at me for several long seconds as we trekked through the snow. I shifted uncomfortably underneath his glare. It looked as if he were going to say something to me.
He finally asked, “Are you saying that I’m ugly, Kandi?”
“No, I’m not, Kayn .” I smirked up at him, waiting for his reaction. I knew that I pushed the envelope, but I wouldn’t go as far as saying Emmanuel because that would be too disrespectful.
“Good. We wouldn’t want you working for an ugly boss, would we?”
I halted in my steps, staring after him. My heart lurched in my chest before I ran ahead and apologized. “I’m sorry. I thought we were talking about your heart.”
“We were. So, my heart isn’t ugly, but I am?”
“No, . . . I didn’t mean that. I meant, . . . Mr. Kayn?—”
“Kayn is fine,” he replied as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eyes. A slow smirk tilted the corners of his lips and surprised me. He was teasing me. Whew! This fine man kept a girl on eggshells.
A small smile lifted my cheeks just as an older lady stepped out of a store, shifting the bags in her arms. “Emmanuel Kayn. Is that you?”
He bobbed his head and mumbled, “Yes, ma’am, Ms. Green.”
“It’s good to see you again, son,” she stated. He kept walking and didn’t bother to reply.
I frowned, but I could tell by the scowl on his face that he wasn’t accepting any questions from me. We had only walked so far before an elderly man who stood hanging ornaments on the door of a hardware store chuckled.
“My, my, my. If it ain’t Emmanuel Kayn returning to grace us with his presence. It’s so good to see you back, son. How long are ya here for?”
“Not long, Mr. Collins.”
Now, I was extremely puzzled.
“Well, stop by the shop and see me. Don’t be a stranger, ya hear?” he commented at Kayn’s back as he kept up his stride and crossed the street.
I ran after him, trying to keep up.
“Kayn?” I called out.
His shoulders were hunched forward, and he grumbled, “Don’t.”
I could tell that he was uncomfortable by the way his lips were turned down, and he briefly stopped to tug up his coat collar around his ears. It was almost like he didn’t want to be recognized anymore. What was this place? Who were these people?
I continued to follow him as I took in the décor of the beautiful little town. “This place is amazing. It looks like something straight out of a Hallmark movie.”
Every lamp post was wrapped in about twenty-plus feet of garland.
A different decoration hung from each of them, from elves and Santa Claus to Frosty and Rudolph.
The windows of every store, boutique, or restaurant were festively decorated with bells, garlands, ribbons, and poinsettias.
Trees sparkled brightly with tiny white lights and ornaments.
“Look over there!” I shouted like a child at Christmas.
I pointed across the street and up the block a little bit. There was an ice skating rink decorated around the edges with swans. Families and teens were ice skating and having a great time. My heart threatened to explode in my chest.
“I thought these things only existed on TV,” I stated wistfully.
“No, there are towns where this madness actually exists,” he murmured. The bad mood that had set in when the elderly woman and man greeted him remained.
I looked up at Kayn and angled my head. “Come on, Kayn. You can’t tell me that this hasn’t touched you at least a little bit.”
“Nope.”
I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. I smiled at Kayn, popped my fingers, and rocked my shoulders and hips while singing an old classic by Brenda Lee, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.”
It took a few seconds, but I finally got to him. I saw the smirk crack on his face and how his eyes lit up. After a few more seconds, he chuckled. “You’re silly,” he remarked.
“No, I just love the season. If we’re absolutely honest, I love life. You have no reason to walk around frowning all the time. Enjoy the time you’ve been given. Do you mind if I ask a question?”
“No.”
“Are you going to answer?”
“It depends on the question.”
“That man and the woman back there. Obviously, you know them. Have you visited before?”
“I have.”
“So, is that why you chose to drive through here?”
“I didn’t choose to. You were on the highway with me. You saw that they directed us off the exit because they were shutting the highway down.”
“Yeah, but there were two routes we could have taken. Most of the cars went left, and you went right.”
He shrugged and then looked up and down the street. “It was the fastest route going toward Atlanta. Most folks don’t know that.”
“But you do.”
He nodded. “I do.”
“May I ask how you know that?”
He looked down at me, rolled his eyes, and ordered in a harsh voice, “Let’s go in here.”
I turned to see that I had stopped right in front of a bed and breakfast sign. He tugged the luggage up the steps while I followed.
“Kayn, I have one last question. Please answer it,” I pleaded before he opened the door.
Kayn’s shoulders sagged, but he did not turn back around to face me. “Ask your question.”
“What’s this town to you?”
“Home.” He opened the door.