Kissing Kris Kringle (4 page)

He’d never been without a woman if he wanted one. But he’d never wanted a woman as much as he did Holly McClaussen.

Her small hands pressed to his chest and then inched up around his neck as his trailed over her throat to her fragile collarbones. Needing more, wanting every sexy curve pressed against him, Kris couldn’t help himself. Gently he gripped that fine, round ass and pulled her tight. His hard length pressed into her softness and he felt like he’d been set on fire.

Something he wanted to do again, but the patter of footsteps reminded them both that they weren’t alone and reluctantly he let her go. For tonight, he’d have to settle with watching her across the small dinette in her smaller kitchen.

After dinner, they cleared the table. It all felt terribly domestic and it should have sent terror to the very depths of him. He’d always run from such cozy scenarios. But not tonight.

“I heard about the store,” he said when Joy asked to be excused to play with Cupid. She took the puppy into the small backyard and her squeals of delight carried in.

“No one is doing well this year,” Holly answered. “How is
your
business?”

Kris’s delivery business had, up until two years ago, boasted six employees—two for each fully equipped truck he had in his small fleet. Holly knew, because his trucks had been delivering for her department store for years. But lately there’d been nothing to deliver.

They worked together to clean up the kitchen. As Holly dried and put away the dishes, Kris asked, “How long has your faucet been dripping?”

“Only since I moved in. I told Mr. Frostman, but I’m sure he’s forgotten. He’s so old and I don’t think he’d have the energy to fix it even if he remembered.”

“Got a pair of pliers?” Kris asked.

In the time it took for her to finish putting away the last utensil, Kris had fixed her faucet. She thanked him, the surprise and gratitude on her face making something curl tight inside him. She needed someone to do these things for her. Someone to help with all the tedious to-do lists that came with life. She needed
him.

The words hit his mind like a bomb, staggering him in the wake of their detonation.

She needed him and, he thought, perhaps, he needed her just as much.

Now that’s just crazy.
Sure he wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her until they were both breathless. He wanted to peel that sexy warm-up suit from her body and run his hands over every curvy inch of her.

But
need
her?

“…snow might bring some Christmas spirit too,” Holly was saying. “Don’t you think?”

He didn’t know what he thought, but he nodded and tried to focus. Fortunately, Joy came back inside, distracting them both. He saw Holly glance at the clock and knew she probably had a hundred things to do. With more regret than he liked to acknowledge, Kris said goodnight and left.

That night he dreamed of Santa Claus, of course. Only it didn’t feel like a dream. In it, Santa gave him some very explicit instructions and Kris awoke filled with purpose. It was too early for the Santa chair, so he quickly dressed—no trouble getting into his
real
clothes this time—ate and fed Cupid. Then, grabbing his tool belt, he headed for the door, Cupid trotting at his feet.

“You know where we’re going, don’tcha, boy?”

From Cupid’s big puppy smile, Kris gathered he did.

Though Always Christmas department store didn’t open until ten a.m., Kris knew that Holly would be at work already and Joy at the school. He felt like a culprit as he jumped her small fence and made his way to the backdoor. As he’d seen last night, the lock didn’t work and he walked right in. He started with that, installing a new lock and hanging the keys from a hook beside it. Then he moved to the window over the sink that didn’t seal tight, letting in a draft. He worked steadily for two hours, fixing a half-dozen little things from a kitchen cupboard door that hung crooked to a baseboard that had come loose. Then he let himself and Cupid out the way he’d come in, swung by his own house for his “work clothes” and by ten he’d taken his assigned seating in the town courtyard.

As he sat in the big Santa chair, he admired the brightly twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. If he wasn’t mistaken, it even seemed a little chilly out. He sniffed the air. Still no snow, but some incredible smells wafted out of Sugar Plums. He hadn’t had the time to stop by and get coffee this morning. His stomach rumbled. No breakfast either. Cupid had gobbled up his puppy chow, but the pup gave him a look that said a snack wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

He agreed, but already a line waited. He saw Holly hurry out as soon as he sat down. She looked so pretty today he wanted to grab her, pull her down on his lap and force her to tell him every little thing she might be wanting. It seemed she heard him because she blushed.

“Here you go, Santa,” she said with a big smile. “I don’t know what magic you’re working out here, but business is booming inside. Thank you.”

She was gone in an instant.

“It’s true,” Holly said. “I had customers waiting for me to open this morning. I can’t remember the last time that happened.”

Feeling pleased and happier than he could remember ever being, Kris fished in his bags, threw a doggie bagel to Cupid and handed a muffin to Holly.

“Oh, no. I may as well paste it to my thighs as eat it.”

The visual…God the visual of licking the sweet frosting off of Holly’s sweeter thighs made his brain cells gasp as the blood surged from his head to his….

“Your thighs look just fine to me, Holly,” he said softly. “Every inch of you looks…” he swallowed thickly. “Damned near perfect.”

She turned the color of his jolly red jacket. He took her hand, set the muffin in it and grinned at her. Then he watched as she walked away, giving him a dazed look over her shoulder.

The day went by in a blur. He knew that the people in his line hadn’t come just from North Pole. He could hear the different accents, see the strange faces.
Tourists
. Like ducks answering the call of the south, they’d come.

But when he got home, he checked the answering machine and discovered that eight delivery requests had come in while he’d been off playing Santa. Eight! Excited, he called two of his drivers and put them to work. Then he fed Cupid, inhaled a cold dinner, showered and hit his bed like a fallen tree.

The next day brought more of the same. While Holly occupied all his thoughts, he found himself so busy he barely had time to say hello. Each morning he went to her house and fixed something—the lights, the trim that had fallen off, the front door, whatever he could find that needed fixing. Each day he watched her in the now busy department store and each night he called more of his drivers back to work. He was almost up to full speed and a part of him rejoiced. But a deeper part of him yearned to have a moment just to spend with Holly.

He almost laughed.
Him
. She was talking about him.

“It doesn’t drain,” she said absently. “I don’t get it. It’s like I have a guardian angel out there. Joy said it’s a Secret Santa.”

As she spoke, her gaze came to rest on him and he saw dawning suspicion in her blue eyes. “You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” she asked.

She laughed at that, and the absolute delight he saw on her face cleared all the lines of worry. He couldn’t have stopped himself if he’d wanted to—which he didn’t. He caught her wrist, stopping her when she would have turned away. And then, right there, beneath the giant town Christmas tree, in front of at least a hundred eager tourists waiting to see Santa, he kissed Holly McClaussen. Kissed her hard and deep. Kissed her with promise and possession.

The crowd cheered. The children wanted to know if she was Mrs. Claus. Kris’s heart felt like it might stop beating when he finally let her go. Holly looked dazed, delighted and entirely discomfited.

It was a good look for her.

In what felt like a blink, the next few days flew by and suddenly, it was Christmas Eve.

Kris had to get up extra early to take care of dispatching his deliveries. He had all of his drivers working overtime—much to their delight—and he’d even had to give up a couple of deliveries to UPS—a problem he wouldn’t have dreamed of a few weeks ago. Then he’d rush over to the next town so he could do a little Christmas shopping of his own. He’d finished the list he’d been running in his head of repairs at Holly’s house—the bathtub now drained like it should, the heater had been checked and all the doors and windows opened and closed snuggly but without strain. Shopping was all he had left to do. That, and don his Santa suit for the last time that year.

Everyone in North Pole was excited about the celebration planned for today. His Santa chair had been relocated to the gazebo centered in the town square and, in the brilliant glow of the giant spruce, all the other trees had been decorated too. Snow—so long awaited—had finally begun to fall that morning. Fat flakes fluttered from a gray velvet sky and frosted the ground in a wintry icing. It looked more beautiful than any snowfall he’d ever seen.

As he thought about it, Kris realized it had been growing steadily colder all week. He should have been freezing sitting outside in it for hours on end, but not once had he felt the chill. Smiling at the bit of Christmas magic that had kept him warm, he came to a stop in front of Holly who was waiting for him at the gazebo. Today she wore a gold sweater that clung to her breasts like a dream and a black skirt that hugged her hips and flattered her legs. Miniature golden Christmas balls hung from her earlobes and a bright red bow adorned her hair. Her eyes held a sparkle that warmed him from inside out.

“Good morning,” he said.

“I was worried you’d finally gotten fed up with your Santa gig and quit,” she said. But her eyes told a different story. She’d been waiting for him—not because of the kids so anxious to see him, but because Holly had missed him. Because she’d wanted to see him, too.

“Wild reindeer couldn’t keep me away,” he told her, his voice dropping so that only she could hear him. “What are you doing after the big celebration, Holly?”

She looked startled. “It’s Christmas Eve. I’m doing what every other parent is doing. Wrapping presents. Getting everything ready for tomorrow.”

“Would you like some help with that? I have great references.”

Her smile started a fire deep within him.

“I would like that very much,” she said. “Come around seven. I made a lasagna I just have to pop in the oven for dinner. It’s a Christmas tradition for me and Joy.”

Tradition. Something Kris had very little experience with, but he wanted to know what it felt like. He wanted to be a part of Holly’s traditions. In the ten days since he’d awakened with the Santa bag in his hands, Kris felt as if he’d been transformed into much more than a Secret Santa. He’d become a whole person. Funny, when he’d never before realized how many pieces of himself had been missing. Putting on the Santa suit had brought him face to face with a lot of things. Most importantly, it had brought him to Holly and now that he had her in his life, he wasn’t about to let her go. Wrapping presents with her sounded like paradise. But Kris hoped that after Joy had gone to bed, they’d be doing as much unwrapping as they did wrapping. Wisely, he kept that to himself.

“It’s a date then,” he said
.

He heard her laugh as she turned away. “What’s funny?” he asked.

“I’ve got a date with Santa Claus,” she told him. “Who’d have thunk it?”

If Kris had his way, that date would turn into much, much more. Who knew where they’d be this time next year? He hoped living happily ever after….