Very Merry Married (Kringle Family Christmas)

“That’s quite a gang,” he said with a straight face.

I laughed. “How was your day? Were you hungover?”

“Nothing a cup of coffee and a Garburator couldn’t fix.”

“You went back for a Garburator?”

“Someone in my office said they were awesome hangover remedies and I have to agree.”

“Good to know.” I would have to remember to write that down.

He ladled up some soup and then split a sandwich in half and put it on a plate beside the bowl of soup. “We secured some funding I was worried about for next year’s police budget. Chief Douglass is trying to add more social workers to the staff and get more mental health training for the police officers on the force.”

“That’s progressive.”

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said with a shrug and then threw a dishtowel over his shoulder. “Now, for you tonight, mademoiselle,” he said in an absolutely awful French accent. “We have the chef’s recommendation, cream of broccoli soup. Crowd favourite, a Caesar salad with chicken. And my choice, a roast beef sandwich on ciabatta with cheddar, lettuce, tomato, and garlic aioli. And an oatmeal raisin cookie, my father’s favorite. Bon appetit.”

I stared down at the cream of broccoli soup and thought of my mother and how she’d never eat this soup for all the wrong reasons. And that seemed like such a metaphor for my life. The only things Mom thought I could trust were my looks. I certainly couldn’t trust men. Or their feelings for me. And the smartest thing for me to do would be not to have any feelings for men—at all.

“Lexie?”

“It looks delicious,” I said, which wasn’t a lie, but my smile was a lie. And Ethan, dammit, saw that.

“What’s wrong?”

“What are you doing?” I asked, setting down my spoon.

“Helping you research restaurants. So you can tell—”

“No. What are you really doing?” she asked.

“Dating you.”

“This is a date?” I asked with surprise.

“Well, you’re not making it easy, Lexie. This is the best I could do.”

That wasn’t true. I knew the best he could do. I’d had a whole magical night of it. The kind of night that felt like years. “But why?” I whispered.

“Because I don’t care how much booze I had, I wouldn’t have married you on a whim. I must have felt something. Something real. And you’ve been living in my house and working at my family inn for four days and I can feel it, Lexie. I can feel you. And…I just don’t understand why you won’t give us a shot.”

“Because you’re going to hurt me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. Because you already did. I woke up alone with all those memories. All those feelings—” To my great horror my voice cracked and tears flooded my eyes. I got up off the stool, and made for the stairs but Ethan grabbed me, spun me into his chest. “And you didn’t even leave your phone number.”

“I did, Lexie. I swear I did. Your dog ate it.”

“You sound ridiculous.”

I pushed against his chest and he shook his head. “I can’t believe that asshole was right.”

“What asshole.”

“My brother.”

And he kissed me. And it was the same. It was exactly what I remembered. The kiss that was the first domino toppling that made me fall for him. One by one they all toppled. All my good sense. The lessons my mother taught me. My own lessons I’d learned from the jerks I liked to date.

But…his mouth was so sweet. So…perfect.

And I melted.

Ethan

There was none of the fumbling. None of the careful, silent question-and-answer that usually happened with first kisses. No, this kiss was like we knew each other already. And we knew what the other liked. I nipped her lip and she moaned into my mouth, her hands coming up into my hair. Her nails scored my scalp, sending sensation down my spine and right into my dick. I remembered the feel of her body against mine. The same way I remembered that I liked chocolate cake and hot showers. It was planted deep in my brain. Deep in who I was.

She tasted like gum and coffee and Lexie. And she felt like heaven.

“I met you on that street,” I said, kissing my way down her neck. God it was a good neck. Long and graceful. I should buy her pearls. Thick strands of them to wear against this neck. “I saved your dog. When you smiled at me I was a goner. We both had things to celebrate so I proposed a drink.”

“Hmm,” she hummed. I hit the lowest spot her shirt would allow and I started to make my way back up the other side of her neck.

“You were charming and beautiful and very funny, and I was captivated. Lunch turned into drinks and captivation turned into real affection. I liked you. “

“I liked you too,” she sighed. She liked it when I kissed her just where her jawline and ear met and I sucked the skin into my mouth and her sigh turned into another moan.