A Mistletoe Kiss with the Boss

“She’s a great cook.”

“Hey, I made those potatoes.”

“Then you’re probably a good cook too.” He took a breath, considered for only a few seconds, then said, “My Gram had been a really great cook in her time, but the older she got the less she wanted to cook.” He shrugged. “We ate a lot of pizza.”

“As a little kid you probably liked that.”

He laughed. “I did.”

“Other stuff, not so much.”

“I just always felt left out. She wouldn’t let me sign up for Little League, or even after school activities. Said we couldn’t afford the fees and insisted there always were fees. If there were parent-teacher conferences, I knew she wouldn’t go. It’s why it took so long for anyone to recognize that I was gifted.”

“It sounds like she was just overwhelmed.”

“She was.”

“It also sounds like you forgive her.”

“In a weird kind of way, there was nothing to forgive her for. Even as a kid I recognized that I was a burden.”

“That’s not a very nice way for a kid to feel.”

He shook his head. “No.”

“But you’re over it.”

“Most of it.” He shrugged. “Lots of it. But there are some things you can’t get over. All you can do is adjust.”

“Nothing wrong with that.”

No. He supposed there wasn’t. He also couldn’t believe how free he felt talking about this with her.

When she pulled the car into a parking space in front of the hotel, he glanced around, confused. He’d thought she’d drop him off at the door. Instead, they were in the back.

He turned to ask her why they were parked, just as she stretched across the seat and kissed him. Quick and light, her lips brushed his, and then she pulled back again.

“Thanks for coming tonight.”

He laughed. “You’re welcome. That’s the first time anybody’s ever kissed me as a thank-you.”

Her head tilted. “Really?” She leaned forward and kissed him again. “Now you’ve been kissed twice as a thank-you.”

This time he didn’t let her pull back, he caught her shoulders and kept her right where she was so he could deepen the kiss. He had absolutely no idea what was happening, but if this was love, he really liked it.

After a few minutes, he realized he was necking in a car—in a hotel parking lot, with a woman he really liked who was nothing like any other woman he’d ever gotten involved with—like a horny teenager.

He took her shoulders and set her away from him, back on the driver’s side of the car.

“That was different.”

She laughed. “Really?”

“All this is so normal for you. So easy—”

“You think? You think I just go around kissing random guys?” She laughed gaily. “It’s every bit as unusual for me as it is for you. And maybe even really poor timing for me since I’m at the beginning of the project I hope will be my life’s work.”

He sobered. “I’m sorry.”

She laughed again, then shook her head. “Seriously, you need to work on thinking before you talk. I’m not saying this is a bad thing. It’s a good thing. What I’m saying is that what we feel comes with complications.” She stretched around again so that she could look into his eyes. “My family’s putting up our Christmas tree on Saturday afternoon. I’d love for you to come.”

Sitting so close, staring into her eyes, all he could think to say was, “Yes.”

She pulled back. “Take the next few days to think things through.” She put the car into gear again and drove up to the hotel door. “I’ll see you Saturday.”

Dazed, confused, he said, “Okay,” as he got out of the car. But he understood what she was saying. The timing was wrong for them. Plus, he had issues. He might not be tumbling headfirst into love as much as he could be tumbling headfirst into disaster.

* * *

Saturday afternoon, Kristen was surprised when the doorbell rang and Dean stood on the front porch of her home, holding two bottles of wine.

Her heart spun crazily. She absolutely hadn’t expected him to come to her house again. She believed he’d talk himself out of it. First, though he’d been comfortable with her family, she could see him returning to his hotel, picking the evening apart and finding a million things wrong with him getting to know her parents and brother. Second, she was positive he’d decide his work was more important than an afternoon off. Third, they were going to decorate a tree and Christmas was not his favorite holiday. Fourth, she was very sure what he felt for her confused him.