Chapter 4
Samuel
I’ve always been very aware where the mistletoe is in the room, since I hate Christmas and everything associated with it. I don’t really hate mistletoe kisses since I’ve never had one, except... Lucy made my first mistletoe kiss the absolute best kiss I’ve ever had in my entire life.
I barely hear the cheers of the crowd as her breath washes over my face, and I want to lower my head again.
I had no idea. I mean, I know Lucy, and I admire her, and even though she’s way too happy for me, I have always felt a bit of a pull toward her. When Allison has her over, I know where they are, and I know where she lives and works. I’ve ordered a lot of the houses that she makes as gifts for clients, friends, and associates.
Of course, she doesn’t know this. I make sure that my tracks are covered. Still, I might have what some might call an obsession with Lucy. She...brings sunshine into my life.
But I’m a guy who likes the shadows, and to me, sunshine can be uncomfortable. So I...stay away. Always have.
I’m slowly aware that everyone around us is still cheering, and I’m still holding Lucy like she’s a life jacket and I’m in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
I swallow, wondering if I went a little too far. I did not mean to kiss her like that, but she is the one who grabbed a hold of me and pulled tight, although I touched her first. I’m not sure which one of us can be faulted for deepening the kiss. It seemed like a natural thing, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t doing much thinking after my lips touched hers.
“Wow. That was the hottest Christmas mistletoe kiss I’ve ever witnessed,” Allison says, and I know I shocked my sister.
She didn’t expect to see her taciturn and straightlaced brother laying one on anyone, let alone her best friend.
“That was quite an example,” Philip says, slapping my shoulder. Philip and I have done business together for years, and his laughing blue eyes meet mine easily. He is not intimidated by my appearance, or silence, or glare. I feel like I’m throwing all three of them at him right now, and he just walks off laughing and shaking his head.
I think I should apologize to Lucy for what I just did. Sure, she might have been the one to deepen the kiss, I’m not sure, but I should have been the responsible one and not allowed it. After all, Lucy is a lot younger than me, seven years, and is like a little sister. I was in college before she was even in junior high.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to get out of hand the way it did. I meant to offer my cheek—”
“And somehow you opened your mouth and sucked in his tongue?” Bernie says, coming over and giving Lucy a glance. I do business with Bernie when I have to, but he’s not my favorite, and I definitely don’t like the way he’s looking at Lucy.
“It’s a perfectly natural thing when two people are together for them to kiss like that,” I say, not knowing where the words come from but wanting to wipe that look off Bernie’s face. Actually, I’d like to wipe the floor with it. I’m not sure where these feelings come from either. Why am I feeling so possessive and protective? Of my family, that’s normal, but of Lucy? Sure, she and Allison have been best friends for so long that she feels like part of the family, except... I never do anything with her.
My words have made her look at me in shock.
“Oh, that’s rich. You think I’m going to believe that a sophisticated businessman like you is dating a country bumpkin like her?” Bernie laughs, and it sounds nasally and nasty, and normally I would just walk away. But I have Lucy in front of me, and he just insulted her.
She doesn’t look insulted, she looks horrified, like she’s embarrassed for me.
“She’s fresh and happy and honest and caring, and exactly what a man like me needs,” I say, slipping my arm around her and pulling her close.
She doesn’t resist and in fact fits me perfectly. I have to admit, I’d always kind of thought she would. But I never really thought I was going to get the opportunity to see.
“You’re serious?” Bernie says, disbelief dripping from every syllable.
“Of course. When you have someone like Lucy, you don’t let them go. Women like her don’t come around very often.”
Bernie lifts his brows in disbelief and then looks at Lucy as though wondering if he might have missed something when he looked at her before.
I can tell him for a fact that he has, if he is wondering why someone like me would be with Lucy. He’s missed a lot if he’s wondering that. Someone like me doesn’t deserve to touch the hem of Lucy’s dress, let alone have my arm around her and pull her beside me like she belongs there. She’s everything that’s good and pure and beautiful. She’s happy and joyful and brings sunshine to the lives of everyone she touches. While I’m maybe not the opposite, but close. There are a lot of things I did when I was first starting out in my business that I regret now. People I hurt and rules I’ve bent in order to get ahead.
Those days are long behind me, and I made most of my fortune completely honestly, and I’ve given more money away every year than most people earn in a lifetime.
Bernie is giving some sniveling remark, groveling, because he understands he upset me, and I just jerk my head at him dismissively.
He walks away, and it’s not two seconds later that Lucy has turned to me and lifted her head.
“Why did you say that?”
“I couldn’t stand the way he was looking at you,” I say, and then I try to close down. I don’t want to show any vulnerability at all. I don’t want her to see that I truly do like her.
“That’s not the most important question,” Allison says, and I didn’t realize she was listening too. “The most important question is what are you going to do about it? Everyone in the room heard.”
I look at Lucy. She looks surprised but not upset.
“I guess that’s up to Lucy.”