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Prologue
Kris looked out his office window over the busy workshop filled with his beloved elves working their hearts out in preparation for this season’s special day. A little over two months to go. Every year at this time he wondered if they would make their deadline. Every year—especially the last few—he had wondered if he could handle the enormous responsibilities he bore. He loved everything about Christmas. He loved all the cheerful, loyal elves. He positively adored his sweet wife, Martha, of over fifty years. And he cherished his precious children, although they had given—and still gave—him headaches and heartaches.
He waved down at his shop foreman and wondered where his daughter and her cowboy husband were. Merry had said they would be here yesterday. He’d fretted all night because they hadn’t shown up. Martha had calmly told him only an hour ago, “Merry is pregnant now with our first grandchild. She’ll be here soon. Be patient.”
He sighed and moved back to his desk covered with more toy requests that he needed to read. Once upon a time he’d had infinite patience. The man filling Santa’s shoes had to have oodles of patience. He spent months winding down from one hectic holiday season, months gearing up for another one. He dealt with elf issues, like this nonsensical union a few of them were talking about…fortunately, not seriously talking about. He dealt with the demands for more high-tech improvements all around the workshop. He had to learn how to work a computer, find his way around that vast Internet world, had to deal with a mind-boggling inventory management program that periodically went nuts. He sighed again and slumped into his chair. This was all becoming too much for him.
His blood pressure had been up again this morning. Martha had known it and had tsk-tsked him when he insisted on having a large cup of his favorite extra-deep-chocolate hot chocolate instead of the horrible tasting de-caffeinated coffee she’d made him. A man with all of his pressures had a right to rebel and enjoy himself now and then. He’d needed chocolate. In fact he wouldn’t mind another cup of it right now, but he wasn’t feeling brave enough to take on his sweet guard dog of a wife to get one.
The warning light about intruders entering the outer zone of Santaville flashed on his monitor and drew his attention. Only it wasn’t intruders. His daughter and son-in-law had finally arrived. The pleasure of that curled through him and lightened his mood. Soon he would be a grandfather. He so looked forward to that, even if Martha was already setting down rules. There would be no excessive spoiling of the grandchild. He would have to keep the toy and gift giving only to the appropriate times and then not to excessive amounts. There would be no excessive visits to Merry and Nick’s home. Well, his Martha was being “excessive” with her rules! He’d spoil his grandchild if he wanted to. And he’d visit their home as often as he wanted to.
He watched the warning light go off and saw the outer gates opening on the security monitor. Before he could look forward to doing all of that spoiling and all of that visiting, he needed to take care of his problem. He needed to turn the Santa responsibilities over to his oldest son, Nicholas. That was a dilemma all in itself. Where Merry had been a handful of impish trouble all her life and he’d spent a lot of time trying to tame her ways, he’d done a poor job with his sons. They hadn’t required a hands-on touch like she had. They hadn’t gotten into mischief… Well, not as much as Merry. When they’d gone out into the world to college, he had loosened his parental reins on them too much it now appeared. Both Nicholas and Pere Noel had made new lives for themselves far from the North Pole. He hadn’t even gone to see them in several years, pitiful father that he was. At least he knew where they were. Pere had made his home in Scotland, even taken to wearing one of those plaid skirt things, which made Kris shudder at the thought alone. And Nicholas had finally settled down on Kauai, having decided he much preferred living in the warm climate of the Hawaiian Islands and running around half-naked much of the time to freezing here in Santaville. His oldest, most obstinate son would just have to rethink that. At least he wasn’t married or even seriously involved with a woman, so that was one less problem to deal with. Pere wasn’t married or involved either, but that wasn’t important right now.
Kris knew it was time he started mending fences with his sons, especially Nicholas. His son had a duty to live up to. And it was time Kris moved to that next step in his life, to retirement. All he had to do was convince Nicholas that he couldn’t keep running from the role he was destined for, that of being the next Santa.
Chapter One
The day started out as most of them on this sunny side of Kauai, absolutely gorgeous. Besides that, Nick’s tourist adventure business was booming. So much so that he needed more help. The ads he’d run lately hadn’t turned up anyone, at least not like they did when he advertised during the summer. By late October his usual source of college kids were back in school. But the business would survive somehow, although he had been working his current staff of five nearly to death. Himself included.
He stood up from the disorganized desk where he’d been searching the local on-line help wanted ads again. There had been times when he’d found someone running a personal ad because they were looking for a job. Not today. He stretched, yawned, and went to the battered wooden counter and leaned tiredly on it. As if the lack of having enough employees wasn’t bad enough, he’d been growing depressed for personal reasons since September. He always did this time of year. The holiday season was fast approaching. For a lot of people that was a good thing. For him, not so good.
His gut clenched and he rubbed it. Ulcers? Maybe. Anxiety, definitely. Worry, again, definitely. This year he felt more than his usual discomfort with the approaching Christmas season. Somehow he knew there was something happening back home. Something he didn’t want to think about. He was not ready. No, he would never be ready.
Disgusted with the thoughts, he started to head to the back room for a rejuvenating glass of green tea. The wild jingling of the bell above the front door stopped him. With a sigh, he turned around and gaped—yes, he was certain his mouth had fallen so far open that his jaw hit his neck. There in the sunlit doorway stood a dripping wet woman in a black, extremely low-cut one-piece swimsuit that hugged an absolutely amazing body and showed off a pair of please-let-me-touch-them breasts to perfection. Every cell in his body jerked to alert status.
He heard the slap-slap of bare feet as she marched with purpose across the wooden floor. Not that he saw her feet; no he couldn’t take his eyes off the sweet sway of her hips or the bounce of those breasts. But he did see the furious expression marring her beautiful face when she raised a face mask and slapped it down on the counter in front of him.
She tossed some long, partially-dry strands of caramel-brown hair over a shoulder and snapped, “You rent out shoddy equipment, dangerous equipment.” Brown eyes sparked with irritation. “I demand my money back on the rental.”
Dazed, a little bit amused, Nick asked, “What?”
She looked at him as if he were dimwitted, which apparently he was at the moment. Then she stepped back to point down at her leg. “It wouldn’t un-fog. It caused me all sorts of aggravation while I was snorkeling. And it made me slip and scrape my knee on a bed of spiny coral.”
He’d been watching the agitated bounce of her breasts as she’d told him off. It took him a few seconds for his mind to become fully functioning again. When he did finally see the badly scraped right knee with blood trickling down a very shapely leg, he knew first aid was needed. Besides, he wanted to touch her and was willing to use any excuse handy.
So, while she watched him cautiously, he walked around to her side of the counter. She wasn’t a short woman, but the top of her head still only came to his shoulders. But then he was two inches over six feet and the tallest of his family. Even soaking wet, he doubted she weighed much more than his surfboard. He reached toward her.
Her eyes, slightly tipped up at the corners, widened and she sucked in a surprised breath. “What are you doing?” she squeaked.
Nick gave her his most charming smile and said, “That needs attention.”
Without waiting for a response, he picked her up and set her on the counter. The oddest tingling sensation had swept up both of his arms, starting from where his hands had clasped her waist. He wasn’t sure what that had been all about, but a glance at her face told him that she’d experienced something weird as well.
“Do you always manhandle strange women?” she questioned, a sassy smile slipping into place.
“Only hot ones in kill-a-man swimsuits.” He heard her soft laugh as he walked to the backroom for paper towels and the first aid kit.
“Was that a pick-up line?” she teased when he returned to set the items on the counter beside her.
She held out her leg and he gently cleaned the wounds. “Did it work? Will you go out to eat with me tonight?” He glanced up with a devilish look. “Maybe we could skip dinner and go right to the ‘go to bed’ thing?”
Again she laughed. “Do you really think I’m that kind of woman?”
Nick carefully put first aid cream on the cuts. “A guy can hope.”
She flinched as he touched a particularly painful spot. “I’ll think about it.” As he applied a couple of Band-Aids, she said, “About the face mask problem…”
He bent down and feathered a kiss over her knee. Again, he felt a bizarre tingling sensation and heard her startled intake of breath.
He stepped back, confused. “Maybe I need to rethink that whole going-to-bed offer. You’re sending some peculiar electrical charges my way, must be some kind of defense mechanism.”
A pair of creases furrowed her brow. “I thought it was you.” She shook her head and hair fluttered over her slender shoulders. “I’m really just interested in getting my money back anyway.”
He started to walk away, saying, “No problem. How about I give you free use of another face mask and throw in a free snorkeling lesson?”
“Hey!” she called out, stopping him. “A little help here.”
He hesitated, balking at experiencing that odd zapping feeling again. But he really did want to touch her once more, so he bucked up and went to set her on her feet. Yep, there it was again. He didn’t really mind it, though. And, damn, she smelled good. Probably her suntan lotion. Whatever. She smelled good.
“I really don’t need lessons. I’ve been snorkeling and diving and most anything sport-related to water most of my life.” She smiled, cocked her head slightly to study him. “I suppose going out to eat later would be all right.”
He grinned and had the strangest feeling that he’d just won some kind of prize. “You don’t happen to need a job, do you? I’m pretty short-employeed right now and the tourists wanting a good time at water play are streaming in here more every day.”
She worried her lip a second and then when he was going to tell her he wasn’t serious—even though he actually had been, she said, “I could work here a while.”
“Starting…” He looked at the dolphin clock on the wall. “Oh, say in a couple of hours? Or maybe tomorrow?”
She flipped her hair over her shoulder again and smiled. “No references? You don’t even want to know my name?”
Nick fought not to thump his forehead at his idiocy. Chagrinned, he held out his hand and said, “I’m Nick. Nick Allen.”
She took his hand and gently shook it. “Misty McGuire.”
Their eyes held for a few seconds. He wanted to kiss her; she looked like she wouldn’t turn him down. But Nick resisted—mentally patted himself on the back for being such a gentleman—and said, “How about dinner tonight and you start working tomorrow?”
Taking back her hand, she nodded and moved toward the door. Sunlight again surrounding her breath-taking body, she gave him a teasing smile, a heated glance. “Why don’t we eat at my place? The little pink and turquoise cottage just on the other side of Old Koloa Town, that resort, you know.” She winked. “Maybe we’ll see if you get lucky later.” Then she was gone.
* * *
The morning sun slipped in through the cracks between the blinds and danced over Nick’s golden-tanned skin as they lie naked on her bed. Misty loved mornings like this. She liked waking up first and having a chance to spend time staring at the handsome devil with a sexy laugh and a penchant for making her forget about anything but being with him. When she’d walked back into his adventure shop almost two weeks ago, she’d never expected to have her life change like this. She wasn’t sure what it was about Nick that drew her so much. His cocky attitude. His endless, sinfully playful teasing. The way he looked at her and she wanted to just melt into him. Okay, she liked all of that.
She watched the gentle rise and fall of his back and the slight play of muscles. How had he managed to escape the clutches of the single women on this island? He was such prime lover material. Probably would make an amazing husband, too. She’d been so fortunate to find him, just when she’d been feeling really down about where her life was going at the moment. The very day they’d met he’d brought back her smiles and made her laugh again.
She thought back to his offer of free use of his rental equipment and private lessons in safe snorkeling. A giggle escaped her. Just last night he’d teased her about having not only mastered all of his equipment necessary for safe water sports, but also she’d mastered how best to use his personal equipment.
Unable to keep from touching him any longer, Misty leaned over and kissed his left shoulder. When he stiffened but remained still and she knew he was awake, she began whispering kisses down his spine. Finally she stopped to lightly nip his left buttock. It clenched and he groaned.
“Naughty, naughty,” he said, shifting to his back and looking up at her with darkened eyes.
Misty sat up primly, delighted when his gaze shot to her breasts. The man was a breast man. He kissed them, massaged them, suckled them, and she adored him for every bit of that. “So what are you going to do about it?”
His cock was already swelling, pulsing. Just what she’d hoped for. Then he scooted back so that he was sitting up and leaning against the headboard. To her surprise, he snagged her hand and gently pulled her forward until he slid her across his lap. “I think a little spanking is called for.”
For just a second she was alarmed, drawn back to less pleasant times over a man’s lap. Times when a spanking had been for real and painful. But Nick lightly laid his hand on her bare bottom and she didn’t sense anything to be fearful of and relaxed. “Have I been bad?” she tentatively teased.
A pair of gentle spanks made her arch into him, made heat begin forming low in her body. Then he trailed his fingers between her legs and sought out that tender nub already aching. She nearly rocketed off his lap when he began playing with it, when he eased a pair of fingers in and out of her.
“You bit me,” he explained, pulling his hand away to give her another light spank. And then another.
“It was just a little bite,” she purred, spreading her legs, inviting him to play some more.
“Then this will be just a little spanking, my naughty girl.” First he found her nub again and tormented it until she couldn’t lie still. After that he trailed his fingers up and down between her legs until she was panting. Then he spanked her. Just hard enough that she felt a light sting. Just long enough that she grew crazed with need.
“I can’t take any more!” she cried and scooted off his lap.
That cocky grin he flashed so often was on his face again. “So what are you going to do?”
Misty grabbed his legs and jerked him down on the bed. He came willingly, of course, and his cock waved at her in challenge.
“I like a woman with a purpose,” he said huskily.
She straddled his well-toned legs. A bare split-second later she’d gone down on that thick, hard part of him she so enjoyed. Heart pounding, she looked down haughtily. “I’m going to wear you out, Stud Boy. Make you melt right into this bed.” Then she went to work to prove she could do it.
Sweaty, boneless, happily worn out, Misty watched Nick crawl off the bed and make his way toward the bathroom and a shower. Such a nice ass. The kind you just wanted to go over and pinch gently, sensually. Yummy. The man was definitely yummy. Adonis-like perfection, except for a few scars, that is, from occasionally being a little too daring in one of the many water sports he enjoyed. Like her, he was tanned and toned, although part of her darker skin tone was due to her mother having been Hawaiian. Nick’s tan was earned by spending a lot of time in the sun. Evidently a lot of time naked, too. Hmmm. And she liked the way he wore his golden-blond hair slightly scruffy. Lots of hair to run her fingers through, to grab hold of when she wanted to hold him to her as he feverishly sucked her breasts or as he…
Heat warmed her cheeks. She sat up, pulled her knees up and hugged them, and tried to put some of the very wicked things he could do to her out of her mind. It was a struggle, though. She’d had other lovers—not that many, but others—but none had touched her like he did. He touched her with his body and with his heart. He was always open and honest with her, although she suspected he had a few things about his life that he kept to himself just as she did. He could easily be “the one” for her and it frightened her to think that way. The timing wasn’t right in her life. She didn’t think it was right for him either.
She listened to the shower, pictured water dripping down over his scrumptious body. She could join him, but she was honestly too tired to think about having another wild session of sex with him. And that was exactly what would happen if she stepped into the shower. No, she needed to conserve her strength. She had much to do today, beginning with telling the precious man in her life that she was quitting her job and moving in the next few days. They hadn’t made any kind of commitment to each other, yet there was something unspoken that tied them together. She’d come to care so deeply for him, fast. With all that she’d gone through in the last year after losing her parents in the plane crash, after basically abandoning their store in Hanalei and fleeing from the home she’d lived in all her life… Well, she needed to get her life back on track before she considered taking this relationship any further. If Nick even wanted to do that. He’d never said anything to imply that he wanted something more permanent than their current hot and heavy relationship.
As the water continued pouring over him, she climbed out of bed and went to the half-bath in her rental beach bungalow. She’d make him a nice breakfast and then make her announcement.
* * *
Nick scooped a forkful of scrambled eggs and sighed in bliss as he savored the first taste. “Have I told you how much I like your eggs?” His sexy little Hawaiian was amazing in the kitchen, even more so in the bedroom. Or the living room, or on the beach, or… He shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He had to stop wandering into those kinds of thoughts. They both needed to get to work soon.
He glanced across the table and smiled. She chewed on a bite of pineapple and returned his smile, weakly.
Something in her eyes told him that his vegetarian had something on her mind beyond the bits of pineapple, mango, guava and strawberries in her bowl. Something he had a feeling he wouldn’t particularly like. He didn’t want to think about it. His life was perfect. He had a highly successful tourist business that he’d started thinking about expanding to a couple more locations on Kauai. He liked living here on this small Hawaiian island, liked the warm climate, even the frequent rainstorms didn’t bother him. And he had a woman in his life that just enjoyed being with him. She shared his work life and most of his personal life as well. Yet they both had things in their lives that they didn’t talk about. He knew he should ask about the occasional sad look that passed in her eyes, the pain he saw there. But he feared she would, in turn, question him about his occasional bouts of moodiness. So he didn’t ask and she didn’t question. Still, he was pretty sure that he’d grown to love her in the short time they’d been together. And that scared him almost as much as… No, he didn’t want to go there.
In his usual manner of avoiding anything too intense, he asked, “Have I told you what an amazing lover you are? How beautiful you are?”
As he’d hoped, the sadness faded from her eyes “I’d say the same thing, but you already have an inflated ego.” She laughed and then took a bite of mango.
He really liked her warm caressing laugh. He liked how she’d left her hair hanging down this morning, too, so that it brushed over her shoulders, how it looked so silky and soft. He liked how her lips still looked full and plump from the kiss they’d shared just before they sat down to eat. She’d initiated the kiss, as she often did. Damn but the lady could kiss. He shifted in the chair again.
“Keep licking your lips like that and…” He let the rest of his comment fade away, certain she’d already seen him squirming around on the chair. She knew him. She knew he sometimes grew hard and aching just looking at her, just being in the same room as her. Now she was killing him with the way her tongue kept sliding along those pink lips to dab off the juice from the mango.
For a second she looked ready to tease him back like he expected. Then she blew out a breath, grew serious, and said in a rush, “I’m quitting, Nick.”
Panic punched him in the gut. “What did you say?” He couldn’t have heard her right.
She set down her fork. “I should have done this before now. I’ve been avoiding some things in my life, but I just can’t any longer.”
Nick didn’t know how he managed to stay calm, but he said, “I don’t suppose offering you more money, even a partnership in my business, would make you change your mind?”
“It’s never been about the money.” She straightened the fork, lined up the juice glass with her bowl of fruit. “I have to do this. Quit. Leave.”
The storm of panic swirled higher within him. “Leave?” Quitting was one thing, her leaving was unacceptable. Why hadn’t he fought against his ridiculous fears? Why hadn’t he already asked her to marry him? Should he do it now? Could he?
“I’m not leaving Kauai, Nick. I’m just going home. I have a house near Hanalei,” she said in a whisper, like it was difficult to admit, probably because she’d led him to believe that this cottage was her home.
He drew in a steadying breath and felt the panic easing back to frustration. She wasn’t leaving the island. Good. More than good. He could still see her. Kauai wasn’t that big of an island and the north shore she was talking about wasn’t really that far away. Still, he was going to miss her during the days. A lot.
“When?” He cleared his throat. “When are you moving? I can help you pack, help you move.” He didn’t want to, but he would.
“This weekend.” Her gaze flittered around the small kitchen and then to the nearby cozy living room. “This is a rental, so not much of anything is mine. Mostly I just have my clothes and a few odds and ends to pack.”
This weekend! Two days away. The thought of eating anymore made him sick. No, it was the thought of not waking up with her in the mornings and then sharing breakfast that made him sick. Not that they did it every day because he still had his own apartment above his business. And they both needed space sometimes. Maybe he’d needed it more than she had, or so he’d thought. Until now. Now he didn’t want space from her. But now he had to give it to her because she seemed to need it.
Nick pushed back from the table and stood. “I don’t care if you only have one lousy suitcase to take, I’m helping you.” He bent to pick up his plate of half-eaten food and stopped to glance at her. “Or maybe you’d rather I not tag along to see this house of yours?”
Her brown eyes glistened with tears. “I’m not doing this to hurt you, Nick. Or to hurt us, whatever the definition of us is. This is just something that I need to do. Please try to understand.”
She got up and walked around the table, threw her arms around him and hugged tightly. “I’d really like you to see my home. Actually, it was my parents’ home until last January… Until.” She hugged him tighter, quietly cried against him. Her tears soaked his shirt. “Until they died in a plane crash.”
Nick held her, stroked her back, and kissed the top of her head. She’d never mentioned her parents or any family at all. But then he’d never asked because of his own problems with his family. Now he knew that he should have. He felt so damn heartless. She’d lost her parents in a tragic accident. He couldn’t imagine losing his, even if he had distanced himself from them. He couldn’t imagine the world without his father in it. So many people didn’t believe in him, but his father believed in them. He truly loved each and every one of the children he tried to make at least a little bit happy at Christmas time. Such a special man, his father. A man that Nick knew he had no hope of ever being truly like. He’d already failed his father in so many ways. He didn’t want to fail the children of the world, too.
“Nick,” she leaned back to look up at him. “I need you to hold me. I need you to…to make love to me again. Please.”
Without a second’s hesitation, he scooped her up and almost ran down the hallway to carry her back to where they’d spent endless hours making love last night. He wanted this every bit as much as she did. Only they’d go slower this time. He wanted to savor each moment with her. Not that he intended this time to be their last. No. It couldn’t be.
He gently put Misty on the rumpled bed that still smelled of their lovemaking. In a weak attempt to lighten the mood, he said, “I should warm your bottom for real for telling me you’re leaving me.”
Heat flared in her brown eyes as they met and held his. “But I haven’t been naughty this time.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Yet anyway.”
He pulled off his T-shirt, his heart pounded, his blood raced hotly. “Oh, but you have. You’re breaking my heart.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ah, so now you’re playing Drama King.”
“You don’t believe me?” He forced a teasing smile, glad that she didn’t suspect how much she meant to him. Even he was struggling to realize how much she did. For now it was best for both of them to keep things lighter, keep things more focused on the physical. They both certainly enjoyed the physical elements of their relationship.
He fell off that train of thought when she pulled her shirt off and revealed the fact that she wore no bra. How had he missed that? His mouth watered at the sight of the breasts he was so fond of. Then when she shoved her shorts down to reveal a tiny red thong, he struggled not to drool, not to forget all about taking this slowly. He was putty in her so delicate hands. Her “boy toy,” as she sometimes called him. Proud to be it, too. Maybe if he made love to her just right… Maybe if he could find a way to get the words out of his mouth about some kind of commitment… He really didn’t want her to move away.
