Getting In the Spirit: a Sapphire Falls novella (4 page)

Joe and Phoebe were the only people in the entire world that Levi could say with absolute certainty cared about him.

Joe’s invitation had meant more to Levi than he’d realized. He was even a little choked up.

If that wasn’t the damnedest thing, he didn’t know what was.

He hauled his bags up the stairs to the guest room. He was even more shocked when the choked-up feeling increased when he passed his niece’s bedroom. The scent of baby powder and the sight of a purple stuffed elephant sitting on the seat of the rocking chair made his cold, dead heart thump again.

Damn.

Who knew he was a big pile of mush underneath the Rolex and Armani?

It had to be the concussion. He must have jarred some feeling loose when he’d banged his skull into the car window.

The guest room was the third door on the right. Levi pushed the door open and threw his bag on the bed. Then he turned a full circle. The quilt on the bed was…a quilt. He had never slept under an actual quilt in his life. Levi would put good money on the fact someone Phoebe was related to had made the thing. The bed was a four-poster queen. The bedroom floor was refinished wood with a huge woven rug on top to keep it from being cold. There were two big windows in the west and north walls covered in simple cotton curtains that matched the maroon color in the quilt. There was an overstuffed reading chair in the corner, an armoire on one wall, and the remaining wall held a collection of black-and-white photographs that were clearly of Phoebe’s family over the generations on the front porch of this very house.

Again, Levi felt something that could have been emotions clogging his throat.

For fuck’s sake. It was like a dam had broken open. He needed to get a handle on things. He couldn’t be all weepy and sentimental. Joe would send him for further medical work-up for sure.

Levi riffled through his bag, planning to change into something more Sapphire Falls appropriate. He was heading to the Come Again. Not because he needed a drink—even though he
so
needed a drink—but because that was where he was meeting his date for the Christmas formal. The woman who was going to keep him from being a complete and total asshole who thought of women for only one thing. Okay, two things—sex and his ego.

Surely recognizing that he was a womanizing ass was a step in the right direction.

He pulled out his phone and thumbed through to the message from Joe sent earlier that day.

She’ll meet you at the Come Again at eight. Built blonde in a red dress. You won’t be able to miss her.

Built blonde. Red dress. This was already a good idea.

Finding nothing quite right for the tiny bar in the tiny town in his bag, Levi headed for the master bedroom. He dug through a dresser drawer and found a pair of blue jeans and a black cotton T-shirt. In the closet, he found a pair of black Oxford shoes. The leather was soft and they obviously weren’t new, but it was those or a pair of brown work boots.

He was going to have to ask Joe about those boots. Joe Spencer was wearing boots? To do what? Muck out the stalls in his barn?

Levi chuckled to himself, but as he turned to exit the room, he glanced out the window. This one faced east and, sure enough, there was a barn in the distance.

For a second, Levi wondered what he’d gotten into.

Changing your life around before the ghosts get to you.

It was an analogy. He didn’t really think ghosts were coming to bring him a message about changing his life. He did, however, fully expect to have a stocking full of coal on Christmas morning.

Half an hour later, he walked into the Come Again bar in tiny Sapphire Falls, Nebraska, and thought maybe the Ghost of Christmas Present wasn’t such a bad guy.

The built blonde in the red dress sitting at the bar was exquisite.

It had been clear within three seconds of stepping into the Come Again that Kate was overdressed. But a night out at the pubs in her neighborhood meant fitted red dresses, a sexy twist to her hair and full make up.

At the Come Again, the dress code was clearly denim, cotton and more denim.

Kate pressed her lips together and rubbed as she lifted her glass of wine, trying to blot some of her lipstick off. None of the other women were wearing anything more than cherry lip balm.

She sipped and then set her glass down with surprisingly steady hands. It wasn’t nerves about the date. Phoebe had set it up, and Kate knew Phoebe. This was about Kate having a nice Christmas. The guy would be great. Funny, sweet, interested in helping her have a nice time. Her antsy feelings were about being the center of attention in a room full of strangers. She could hardly miss the blatant stares from all of the other patrons. Everyone was watching her with such open curiosity she almost laughed. She had no trouble being alone. Even drinking alone. But she felt compelled to engage them all in conversation for some reason. Even stranger was the realization that she would have nothing in common with any of these people.

What was she going to talk to her
date
about? He was a Sapphire Falls boy born and raised. What was his name again? Oh God, she couldn’t even remember his name. It was some country-boy name. Trent? Trey? Tate? She wrinkled her nose. Tate was a country
club
boy’s name. She pulled her phone from her purse and opened her text messages.

“Tucker Bennett.”

Tucker. That was definitely a country-boy’s name. Kate smiled. Not having anything in common with him could only be a good thing. She wanted to get away from her life for a while.

Phoebe had also included,
“Dark hair, blue eyes, killer smile.”

Kate had texted back asking what he’d be wearing. Phoebe’s answer had made her laugh.

“One thousand percent sure he’ll be wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt.”

That was clearly a good bet, Kate thought, sipping her wine and covertly checking the room out. Every guy in the room was in blue jeans and the split between cotton T-shirts and cotton plaid shirts was about fifty-fifty.

There was a pool game going in the corner, music that she didn’t recognize other than to know it was country played from the jukebox and couples were moving around the dance floor in a coordinated pattern. She knew that was a two-step. She did watch movies and TV after all.

“Christmas just became my favorite holiday.”

Kate felt goose bumps dance down her spine at the rich, deep voice behind her. She swallowed her mouthful of wine and then turned slowly on the stool. She wanted to savor this moment. This was the first step toward her perfect, magical Christmas.

Tucker Bennett was gorgeous.

That was Kate’s first thought. Phoebe had said cute. She’d said he was a nice guy. She had mentioned the killer smile and blue eyes, but she had failed to warn Kate that she wouldn’t be able to breathe when she actually met Tucker’s gaze directly.

Holy jingle bells. This was gonna be good.

“Hi,” she said, trying to decide if she sounded sexy breathless or crazy breathless.

Obviously, Phoebe had told him she would be his date for the Christmas formal and Tucker would know she was from out of town, especially considering he probably knew every single person in Sapphire Falls and their grandmother. But she couldn’t be all gaga and pathetic. She wanted a movie-worthy Christmas, but she couldn’t fall all over Tucker. He’d signed on to be her date, not the savior of everything Christmas thus far in her life.

She needed to get a grip.

“Joe is a really, really good guy,” Tucker said.

She smiled. That sounded positive. And she couldn’t disagree. Tucker was probably a friend of Joe’s, and Phoebe had probably gotten Joe to talk him into this. Kate wondered briefly what Phoebe had told Joe and what Joe had shared with Tucker.

But it didn’t matter. He was here now and he was…magnificent.

She found herself staring at his mouth.

Crap.

She pulled her gaze back to his with a surprising amount of effort required. She couldn’t throw herself at this guy. He was a nice small-town guy doing a favor for a friend of a friend. Guys in sweet little towns didn’t do hot hook ups with girls they didn’t know. Hell, Tucker had probably known every girl he’d ever taken out since kindergarten.

Besides, she wasn’t a hook-up kind of girl. She liked sex, but she needed more than two sentences to get out of her panties.

“I’m sure hoping there’s mistletoe around here somewhere.”

Okay, maybe three sentences. Or him just standing there smiling at her.

Oh boy, this might be a problem. Or not. She did have that Christmas tree fantasy after all. She’d been planning on having a sweet, romantic Christmas with a nice guy who was fun but had no chance of breaking her heart because the expectations were clear and simple.

But she could probably squeeze in some hot sex by Christmas tree light with Tucker.

Phoebe and Joe didn’t have their tree up yet. She’d found the house a few hours ago and had unpacked, showered and gotten dressed before coming back to town. But maybe Tucker had his tree up.

As she continued to stare at him, her gaze dipping to his mouth over and over. His smile was relaxed and he stepped forward, the look in his eyes more intent than playful now. “Or maybe we can skip the mistletoe altogether.”

She was acting like an idiot.

She was vaguely aware of the fact, but she couldn’t seem to stop.

She’d dated good-looking guys before. She’d dated good-looking guys who knew they were good looking before. But there was something about Tucker. It wasn’t only his looks. It was the way he was focused on her, fully concentrated, as if the world around them didn’t exist. It was the way he moved into her personal space without hesitation, or permission, like he belonged there. It was the way he met and held her gaze. The way he blatantly studied her—but not her body, not her breasts, not her legs—her face.

It should have been unnerving. She would have expected it to be unnerving. But it was…tempting.

She felt like he was drawing her in, pulling her closer, relaxing her and opening her up.

She wanted to cuddle close, take a long, deep whiff of his scent, feel his warmth and strength against her and…yes, take off her clothes.

“This is going to be a problem,” he said softly, for her ears only.

She cleared her throat and finally forced words out. “What is?”

“The way you’re looking at me. I was under the impression that we were going to be having hot cocoa together.”

She shook her head, trying not to make hot cocoa and chocolaty melted marshmallows dirty. And failing. “What’s that mean?”

“Hot cocoa is warm and comforting and sweet.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, not following.

“The way you’re looking at me is like spiked hot apple cider.”

Kate felt herself grin at the comparison. And he wasn’t wrong. There wasn’t anything particularly comforting or sweet about the things she was feeling.

Damn, she was ruining this. She was the one who wanted sweet and comforting. If she wanted hot sex and white wine, she could have stayed in San Francisco. She knew a number of guys who would have gone for that. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” There was a gruffness to his voice that made those goose bumps pop up again.

She leaned back. She was sending the wrong message. Phoebe knew she wanted a
date
. She wanted to spend time with a nice guy who was willing to indulge her need for some Christmas nostalgia. And now she was looking at him like she’d like to cover him in eggnog and then lick it all up.

Kate squeezed her thighs together.
Don’t be the frisky city girl who comes to town for a quickie
, she told herself.
Be nice, be sweet, let him romance you. That’s what you want.

“Do you have a tree up yet at your place?” she asked. Sure, she kind of wanted to get naughty under the evergreen branches, but she also really loved Christmas trees. Her family had never had Christmas trees. For a while, she’d put one up in her apartment, but she’d consciously forgone that tradition last year, and it hadn’t even occurred to her this year.

Tucker studied her for a long moment and then leaned back. “Not yet,” he admitted. “But if you want a Christmas tree, I can find you a Christmas tree. What do you say to some cocoa after all?”

She nodded. “I’d like that.” Cocoa. Not spiked hot cider. She was here for
cocoa
.

He stepped back and offered his hand to help her off the stool. She took it and felt all of her girl parts swoon.

Crap, she was in trouble.

Maybe Phoebe didn’t realize Tucker was this potent, but he was not what Kate had been expecting. Or wanting. She wanted a nice guy. Someone who could make her laugh, someone who would hold her hand. Not someone who made her feel itchy and hot.

They stepped outside a moment later and Kate sucked in a quick breath. She was grateful for the heat he generated now. It was chilly. More than chilly. It was fricking cold. Especially compared to California.

Phoebe had left a long coat draped over one of the dining room chairs with a note that said Kate was to wear it, along with the scarf, gloves and hat in the pockets. She known that the California girl wouldn’t have any winter clothes.