Mistletoe Baby (Crescent Cove 9.50)

Even after just a day with her in my bloodstream, it seemed like she would take a fair bit of time to forget—if ever.

She lifted her chin. “Dance with me?”

I hadn’t been prepared for that one.

“Or don’t you do that sort of thing?” she asked when I didn’t reply.

“My mother made sure I could hold my own.”

Her eyebrow quirked. “Is that right?”

“Don’t get weird. I’m not that much of a mama’s boy. But we are a well-rounded bunch.”

“Then I guess you need to put your dancing shoes where your mouth is.”

“I thought I

’d put my foot in my mouth enough since I met you.”

Her eyes sparkled in the twinkle lights glowing off the tree above us.

“You didn’t even try to let me off the hook there.”

Her secret little smile was the only answer she gave me.

I drew her through the crowd to the small dance floor to the side of the stage. A jazzy version of Elvis’s “Blue Christmas” allowed me to draw her close and slowly sway with her. The music was too loud to talk, but I was happy enough to just enjoy her honey and vanilla scent. I pressed my cheek along her hair as we slowly circled in and around the other couples.

The guy on the stage lengthened the short classic tune with a few bits of flair. And he had a dramatic enough end to the song to let me dip her.

She gave a startled laugh and gripped my arms. I grinned down at her and slowly drew her back up. The song slid into a more upbeat song. Enough that I could do the two-step with her and twirl her between a few different couples.

I had the five pairs surrounding us laughing as we passed around one another. I even ended up dancing with a strapping man who reminded me of Santa for the last quarter of the song before finally ending up with Ellie back in my arms.

Her cheeks were flushed, and she was smiling so wide her cheeks must hurt. And God, she was fucking gorgeous.

The band started another jazzy version of a Christmas standard. She nodded to the edge of the dance floor and made a gesture for a drink.

“I didn’t think I could keep up with you. When you said you knew how to dance, you weren’t kidding.”

I maneuvered her through the small crush of people watching the dancers and we headed for the cider stand. The rockstar had made himself scarce so the line was much shorter now.

“Mom used to love to do the big Christmas shindig,” I said as we took our spots at the end of the line. “We’ve slowed things down over the years, but when my dad was still working at the college, she’d have all the teachers out to the farm. Did it up like it was a prom crossed with a winter dance from the sixties. Now she puts up all the decorations without the crowds.”

“That sounds…wow.”

“Yeah, my mom doesn’t do anything small.”

“And your dad is a teacher?”

“Was. He’s retired. Writing a book, I think. He’s been working on it for a while.” I laughed. “Mom keeps him busy.”

“Sounds like she’s a force.”

“Accurate.”

We finally got to the front of the line. A stunning woman with darkly-lashed gold eyes smiled at us, but her expression warmed considerably when she recognized my date. “Hey, Ellie.”

She waved. “It’s been a long time, Zoe. And you’re definitely way smaller than the last time I saw you.”