Holiday Sparks

He pressed his forehead to hers for a moment then stood back. “Okay, we’ve got some testing to do.”

She followed him to the displays, placing his laptop on the counter at the customer service desk. Ben had taken over a corner of it to set up the wireless circuit boards. It was the largest area and he could get at it easily if anything happened through the holidays. The things he could do with Bluetooth technology were as close to amazing as she’d ever seen.

He hopped over the desk and disappeared behind the tree to plug in whatever it was that he’d created back there. He flipped the switch and the front end literally glowed. Every light was on and without the rest of the store’s halogens it was even more pronounced. The tree was majestic with the classy white lights and huge, colorful ornaments he’d bought. Instead of the greens, purples and blues that had been on the first tree now it was all gold, red and orange. The only kaleidoscope of color was the trunk of the tree. He’d lined it with colored fat retro bulbs.

Their LED light was bright in a strangely flat way and served as a perfect base for the warm LED whites he’d bought. She thought it would dull the color of the tree, but it only accentuated the golds of the ornaments and made the whole room pop. If she didn’t know better, she’d be expecting a warm fire to be crackling bedside the tree.

He’d used a cooler-toned white light to decorate the evergreen wreaths behind each register. Fat silver bows hung from the bottoms with holly berries instead of ornaments. It was pure class. Even without the light show, the man knew how to create an amazing space. She lifted herself onto the podium Jaime used to watch over the cashiers and direct traffic on the busy days.

Ben was behind the customer service desk at the back wall, directly across from her. He was intent on his little shells of electronics and tapping on his laptop. Suddenly an updated version ofO Holy Night shot out of the speakers, making her heart jump. Christina Aguilera’s unique voice soared.

The displays fluttered then steadied. The tree light took on a swirling pattern in time with the soft song. It was as lovely as fairy wings. Surely something so elegant couldn’t be designed so easily. Just how much work had he put into this? The song drifted into a jazzy piano piece with a gospel chorus and the tree flashed and came alive.

She couldn’t stop the smile.

The man was good.

In fact, it was even better than she’d hoped for.

He came around the counter and walked to her as the song changed to Elvis. He crossed the floor and held his hand out to her. She laughed and shook her head. He circled her waist and pulled her down from the podium, drawing her into an easy box step. She laughed. “Where did you learn to dance?”

“Single mom.” He dragged her hands up and around his neck and laced his fingers at her back. Thigh to thigh, they swayed to Elvis’ smoky voice as he sang about a blue Christmas. The lights on the tree slowly faded in brightness, went back to full light, then twirled down the length of the tree and took a slow trip around the entire display.

“Impressed doesn’t cover it, Ben.”

“I told you I’d make the store amazing.”

“You did.” She laid her head on his shoulder and let him lead her around in a soft swaying circle. The song ended, but instead of another Christmas one, a heavy rock power ballad remake made her giggle. The powerful and gritty guitars flooded the room and amazingly the lights shimmered in time to the drums. “How?”

“Any song can be programmed.”

She played with the ends of his flyaway hair and rose onto her tiptoes. “George Michael is probably wincing right now.”

“I like it.”

Darcy laughed. “I’m never going to think of Careless Whisper without thinking of this.”

“Good.” He lowered his head and the dance of lights disappeared behind closed lids as he kissed her. This one wasn’t sweet. It was as gritty as the guitars that gave new flavor to an old song. Her fingers bunched into his shirt, her nails into the hard muscles of his shoulders as she held on. They’d teased each other all evening. “Come home with me, Darcy.” He breathed into her neck, nipping her clavicle.

“I don’t have a choice.”

He pulled back. “Of course you do.”

She crossed her forearms behind his neck, unable to stop herself from letting his hair sift between her fingers. “You live in my house.”

“Oh.” He nuzzled his nose against hers. “Come to my side. Stay with me tonight.”

“All night?”

“I’m going to need all night.”

She shivered. He wasn’t being boastful. She could see it in his eyes—he was going to take his time. She wanted him. She couldn’t deny it, not when she’d been a live wire of sensations since that moment under the tree. This was her last night to do something for herself. She’d have to face Mr. and Mrs. Blackstone tomorrow. And her Thanksgiving wouldn’t be her own. She would need to be at the store at three the day after to ready it for the five a.m. door busters.

She nodded. It would need to last her for a while.

She couldn’t wait any longer. The rules didn’t apply to anything that had Ben in the subject line. And she liked it that way.

Chapter Seven