Chapter 14 #2
God, calling her up here was a bad idea.
All I want to do is kiss her. Thankfully, the music comes to an end before I’m standing with a hard-on in front of half the town of Mistletoe Falls.
The end of the song somehow severs the tie between Ashley and me.
We both blink and step back from one another.
Monica thanks all the participants and donors for their time and announces how much money was raised, while I slink off stage and grab my clothes to change into.
When I return to the hall, I bring the Santa costume back to the bin and scan the room for Ashley. She’s still out on the dance floor, enjoying herself. It’s good to see her let loose, even if it is because she’s been drinking all night without knowing it.
I break the distance, reaching for her and grabbing her hips, twirling her around. Her surprise morphs into excitement when she sees that it’s me.
“You did so great up there!” She wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me.
Her body pressed against mine has me closing my eyes and imagining what this would feel like if we were both naked.
Just then, the song ends, and rather than another upbeat song coming on, a softer, slower one starts. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” plays, and people around us pair off to slow dance.
I pull away enough to look Ashley in the eyes. “Care to dance?”
She holds my gaze with a small flirty smile that makes my dick twitch. “I’d love to.”
It’s obvious something has shifted between us. I’m not sure exactly what or when, but things feel different even if we’re both ignoring it. Clearly, she feels it too, by how welcoming she is to me.
Ashley leaves her hands around my neck, and I set my hands on her hips as we rock back and forth in a circle. I’m so transfixed by counting the gold flecks in her eyes, I realize our eyes haven’t swayed from each other’s.
“Did you like what you saw up there?” I ask after a few moments of silence.
“I did.” She bites her bottom lip, and I almost audibly groan, wishing I could lean in and pluck it free with my teeth.
“Good.”
“Good?” She arches an eyebrow. “You wanted me to be impressed?”
“That’s all I wanted while I was up there.”
She rubs against me with every shift of my body. I don’t think you could fit a piece of peanut brittle between us, we’re so close.
“Why would you hope that?” Her voice is quiet and soft, so I almost don’t catch it over the music.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
She shakes her head as we continue to move. “Not to me.”
I’ve successfully led us to the center of the room. I glance up, and she follows suit, finding the mistletoe hanging above us.
“There’s a reason I was dancing to Justin Bieber.” I laugh. “It was fair warning.”
Her gaze stays on mine, and she smiles. Then she holds her breath and waits. “Oh.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve kissed, but it’s the first time we’ve kissed with intention. I really understand who Ashley is and what I want from her.
I bring my hands up to her face, cupping her cheeks. Slowly, so gradually, I lean in, giving her time to push me off if she doesn’t want this. To tell me this is a bad idea. But she doesn’t.
At the first press of my lips to hers, our kiss instantly feels different than the first time. It’s night and day different. This kiss is all-consuming. Life-affirming. This kiss is the kind they write about in those romance novels my sister reads.
Slowly, I drag my tongue over the seam of her lips, and she opens for me. The moment our tongues meet, we both moan. Her fingers go into the hair at the back of my head, and she sways into me. My dick is hard between us, pressing against her stomach, and I deepen the kiss.
Our tongues glide along one another’s, and the taste of her feels like a shot of whiskey on a fire, flaming my arousal higher, the heat scorching.
My need to have her grows with every second of our kiss, but before I can satisfy myself, the song ends, and another high-energy Christmas carol comes on.
We pull away from each other, and our eyes hold.
“Want to get out of here?” she asks, and I love even more that she’s on board with me.
“All right. Just stand with me for a minute while my dick softens. Don’t want to give your townspeople more to talk about.”
Ashley laughs, resting her head on my chest, and my hand instinctively goes to her back, rubbing up and down. It’s not really helping me calm down, but damn, she feels good in my arms.
I scan the room for Ester, trying to think of things like evil Christmas elves running a coup in Santa’s workshop, or those sad animal commercials they always run this time of year to get people to donate. Anything to get myself presentable so we can get the hell out of here and back to her place.
After a couple of minutes, I step back. “Okay, I’m good.”
Ashley’s gaze dips to my dick. “I like it better the other way.”
Oh, she’s definitely feeling her eggnog.
“I spot Ester. Let’s get a ride from her.” I slide my hand in hers, and she tightens the hold, much to my male pride’s delight.
Ester agrees to drive us back to the B&B, and Ashley insists I sit in the front since I’m taller. I make small talk with Ester on the short drive home. Really, I’m only half paying attention because my mind is entirely on what I’m hoping will happen with Ashley in her empty B&B when we get there.
I’m not going to sleep with her tonight since she’s been drinking, but that doesn’t mean we can’t share a bed and cuddle and kiss.
I’m shifting in my seat when Ester pulls down the drive of the B&B and brings the truck to a stop.
“Thanks again for the ride. Really appreciate it,” I say.
“No problem at all.” She smiles, and we both look into the back seat, finding Ashley slumped over, sleeping. “Oh, jeez.”
I admire her peacefully before I disturb her. “I’ll carry her in. I hope her keys are in her purse.”
Ester chuckles. “Oh, city boy, she probably didn’t lock the door.”
Shrugging, I climb out of the truck and open the back door, reaching in and slipping my hands under Ashley’s legs and behind her back. “Thanks again for the ride, Ester.”
She nods and watches as I carefully pull Ashley from the vehicle, then nudge the door with my hip.
Ashley cuddles into my chest and sighs as I walk up the path toward the house. Ester is right—the door is unlocked. I turn the knob with my hand under Ashley’s legs, pushing with my back to close it.
I walk Ashley up to her bedroom and lay her on the mattress. She moans and turns a few times as if she might wake up. But she doesn’t and gets settled again, so I remove her boots and pull the covers over her.
Even though I want so badly to slip in beside her and spend the night holding her, I cast the idea aside. I don’t want to share a bed with her unless she’s invited me to, and although the dance and kiss were hot, she’s in no condition to ask me. So I quietly tiptoe back out of the room.
The entire night plays in my mind as I walk to my room—the mismarked eggnog, the Santa Strip Tease, all the new townspeople, and…
the wish tree. Shit, I meant to go to the tree and see what Ashley’s wish was.
I was vague enough in mine that no one would figure it out.
As I go to my bedroom and shut the door, I kind of hope that vision returns in my dreams because it doesn’t scare me as much anymore.