Chapter 2 #2
He smiled fondly as he recalled the story, his mind flying back to his homeland.
“Erik played along and told them that he was, and they gave him a drink. He thought it was hilarious, and he did it again at the next house. Erik was soon so drunk he could hardly walk. We had to drag him back home and sneak him into bed without our mother finding out.”
“How did you manage that?” Chelsea asked. “A mother’s instinct is pretty good.”
“Yes,” Lars agreed, “and that’s why I went into the kitchen and told her my stomach was upset.
Meanwhile, my friends had brought Erik back to our room.
She gave me some medicine and a long lecture about eating too much candy, and then she sent me up to bed.
Erik had a terrible stomachache the next day, and she blamed that on the candy, as well. ”
Kristy turned to Maeve while everyone laughed. “What do you think, Mom? Would that have worked on you?”
Maeve snorted. “If you put that much effort into it, I would’ve probably let it go even if I did know about it. Besides, it sounds like Erik got his own punishment.”
“That he did,” Lars agreed. “The next year, he made sure everyone knew who he really was.” A wistful stab of sadness struck briefly through his heart as he thought about his brother.
The front door opened just then, and a man in a dark blue uniform stepped inside.
“Daddy!” Sage had been absorbed in the game with the boys, but now she bolted to her feet and went running through the room. She threw her arms around the man.
He laughed as he spun her around. “Hey, sweetling! I missed you, too!”
“You made it!” Tina looked almost as happy as Sage as she stood up to give the newcomer a kiss. She then turned around. “Lars, this is Dex. Dex, this is Lars. He’s here from Norway.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Dex walked over and held out his hand. “I’m sorry I couldn’t join all of you earlier. Work.” He gestured vaguely at his uniform.
Lars could see now that he was a paramedic. “Can I interest you in a drink?” Lars held up the bottle, which still had a bit of aquavit left.
“I wish I could, but I have a feeling they’re going to call me out again tonight.”
“Again?” Tina asked. “But you’ve already had to work so much this week!”
Yet another man came in the door, and this time it was Arden who went running. “Daddy!”
Lars was soon introduced to Jace, who’d been out piloting a tour boat. “Even in this cold weather, people still like to get out on a luxury yacht. Of course, they spend most of their time in the cabins, but if that’s how they want to spend their money, I’m not going to argue with them.”
“Well, you can come warm up with some hot food!” Lilith announced from the kitchen doorway. “Everything is ready now!”
The whole group got up and started making their way into the other room.
Lars observed them all, the smaller clusters of family sticking together even there around friends and family.
Tina and Dex with Sage, Beck and Chelsea with Corbin, Erin and Jace with Arden.
Kendrick had his hand on Maeve’s lower back, ushering her through the doorway ahead of him.
His polar bear rolled with an inexplicable yearning.
The long dining table took up the length of the room, and it was laden with enough food that Lars doubted Lilith hadn’t planned it all out this way, no matter what she’d said before. His eyes roved over the table, and he spotted Amanda down near the end.
Kristy had just put her hand on the chair next to Amanda, but then she looked up at Lars. She let go and moved around to the other side of the table, one eyebrow lifted slightly.
Lars went for the newly freed chair, his polar bear urging him on.
Amanda glanced up, giving him a nervous smile as he sat down. “That aquavit was really good. I wasn’t sure about trying it on an empty stomach.”
“They say that it’s supposed to help digestion before a heavy meal.” Lars accepted the platter of roasted potatoes being passed to him. “I don’t know how true that is, but at the very least it makes it all more enjoyable.”
Not that Lars needed a single drop of alcohol to enjoy spending time with Amanda. He hardly knew her at all, beyond the most basic details, but he definitely wanted to know more.
“It’s nice that you could bring a little bit of home with you to share with us,” she said as she accepted the potatoes from him and carefully put a scoop on her plate. “It must be hard for you not to be near your family at this time of year.”
“It is,” he admitted, his mind briefly flashing back to his brother and bringing a bit of guilt with it. Lars quashed it quickly. He didn’t want to think about the responsibilities he’d left behind, at least not right now. “It’s also nice to see new places and meet new people.”
“Is that why you came?” Amanda turned to him more fully now. Lilith had lit elegant taper candles all along the center of the table, and their gentle fire reflected in Amanda’s eyes. Her dark hair fell in soft waves against her shoulder, a few strands catching in the soft knit of her sweater.
“I suppose something just drew me,” he finally managed, suddenly unsure of exactly why he was there at all but glad that he was. He mindlessly put more food on his plate as it was passed around. Lars was hungry, but his only focus was on Amanda.
“That happens sometimes,” she said carefully, taking the next platter and passing it on to Chelsea without looking at her. “You just feel like you have to do something.”
He knew, and now he was sure that she knew as well. But could it really be? Could he have spent his forty-seven years on Svalbard, patiently waiting, only to find out that she was thousands of miles away? “Sort of like destiny,” he replied. “It puts you right where you’re supposed to be.”
Amanda’s eyes had been steady on his, and now they flickered over his face for a brief moment before she turned back to her plate. “It could be random,” she hesitated.
“Possibly.” No. There was nothing arbitrary about this at all, but she was pulling back slightly. He’d felt her interest as though it were a palpable force in the room, but now it was retreating and leaving him far colder than the Norwegian winters ever did.
His eyes slid down to her plate. “It seems to me that your Viking feast is a little lacking.”
That brought her gaze immediately back up to his, her shoulder curving a little as her eyes sparked with laughter. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely.” He gestured with his fork. “You can still see your plate underneath. Unacceptable.”
The tip of her tongue darted out to the corner of her mouth. “You’re the expert, I suppose. Do you have any recommendations?”
He was already holding a bowl of buttered corn, and he put a large spoonful on her plate. “You need a little bit of everything, some variety so that you never get tired of any one thing.”
Amanda’s chin lifted slightly, and her lips pressed together as she tried to keep herself from smiling. “Anything else?”
Lars grabbed a warm roll and added it to the rim of her plate. “Some bread, because you need a lot of energy to get through the cold winter months.”
One of her brows tweaked up slightly as she tapped the edge of her plate closest to her. “A good start, but there’s still plenty of porcelain here.”
“That’s because you still need this.” He reached out and stabbed a large slab of ham with his fork and added it to her plate. “Protein, for lots—and lots—of stamina.”
Someone snickered, and Amanda’s eyes darted to the side.
Kristy was holding her hand over her mouth, but her giggles were escaping on either side of it.
Amanda cleared her throat and straightened up a little. “Could someone pass the butter, please?”
Lars held himself back through the rest of the dinner, but it was enough to at least be next to her for the moment, making polite conversation where he could. Far too quickly, the evening came to an end, and it was time for everyone to go home.
“Thank you so much for having us over,” Erin said as she gave Lilith a big hug. “This was the perfect way to kick off the holiday season.”
“Of course!” Lilith moved to hug Tina next. “It was wonderful. I love it when we can all get together like this.”
Everyone was hugging goodbye, and Lars found himself caught up in the fold. It seemed to be a natural part of the evening for everyone, and they included him as though he’d always been a part of it, too.
“It’s so wonderful to meet you,” Maeve said, giving him a warm, motherly embrace. “If there’s anything we can do for you while you’re here, you just let us know.”
“Thank you.” Lars shook Kendrick’s hand next, and then he turned and found himself facing Amanda.
She looked a bit startled to be so close to him. Her shoulders rolled a bit in a shrug as she reached up and put her arms around him. “It was nice to meet you.”
Her perfume enveloped him in roses with the undertone of something woodsy and earthy that made him want to draw her in even closer.
Lars felt her generous curves against him, her arms around his shoulders, her cheek so close to his, and he once again wondered how fate could work so that the two of them were standing there together.
He pulled back as she did, but he didn’t let go. Lars let his hands linger on her waist as he took one last, long look at her. “It was a shame you were standing behind me back at the hotel.”
“Oh?” She let out a short, nervous laugh as she cocked her head to the side. “Why is that?”
“Because it meant I only had a moment to look at this beautiful face without being rude.” Keeping his left hand on her waist, he lifted his right and trailed his finger down the delicate curve of her cheek.
Her face was a little more angular than her relatives, a trait that made her quite intriguing.
“You would’ve gotten away with a bit longer of a look,” she returned, her smile widening. “Good-looking people always get away with more.”
He sighed, already regretting the fact that he’d have to let go of her soon enough.
“Ah, but this is a face that should be seen through a crowd, noticed from across a big room. The kind of face that makes you feel like you might be the only person there, even if there are hundreds. The kind that men travel across oceans for.”
Her breath hitched in her lungs, making her breasts brush against him slightly. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” he said honestly. Lars hadn’t known what could be waiting for him there in America when the Alexanders had invited him to spend Christmas with them.
It had simply sounded like a fun trip, something to do that would change things up a little.
But if he’d known that Amanda was there, he would’ve come so much earlier.
“Oh, look.” Tina passed by them, and Lars realized he’d been feeling as though he was the only person in the room other than Amanda. She pointed above their heads. “Mistletoe.”
He watched as Amanda’s eyes drifted upward and then back down to his. They were intense, like dark melted chocolate. “How about that?”
Lars didn’t need to see the bit of greenery above their heads. It was only an excuse for something he longed to do anyway. He bent his head and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers.
They were exquisitely soft, and the spicy taste of the aquavit still lingered there.
Her breath was velvet against his cheek, and her fingers gently gripped the sleeves of his sweater.
His polar bear came fully to life inside him, roaring at him, cuffing him over the back of the head with the knowledge that he’d had all evening but had tried not to believe too quickly in case he was wrong. This is it! This is her!
Slowly, regretfully, he pulled back. Lars opened his eyes to look at his mate.