Kissing Santa Claus Read online

  “I’m making an exception for you.”

  “Don’t I feel special.” But she didn’t. There was something about the way he said it, almost like a warning. That struck her as odd.

  “You are.”

  8

  The words slipped out before Ted could stop them. Yeah, Marissa was special and, yeah, he was breaking every single one of his dating rules to be there with her. But he didn’t have a single regret over the decision. That’s the part he couldn’t understand.

  From the first time he saw her he felt a shot of something move through him. He chalked the experience up to overwhelming lust. Figured he could forget her, but then he walked into his sister’s office and saw Marissa sitting there. When he should have been interviewing her he was too busy noticing her stealing a look here and there. He could see the same intensity that churned inside him bubbling inside of her, and he realized the local-tourist fantasy could become a reality.

  She wanted him. He wanted her. No big deal.

  But it was. That’s why he stopped to get the damn flowers. Why he arranged for a surprise later this evening. He didn’t want her to think she amounted to nothing more than a convenient booty call on a short layover. If he wanted sex, he could have sex. Truth was he wanted a night with her. Not any woman. Her.

  His hands traveled down her back to settle on her sweet behind. Cupping her in his palms felt as good as he knew she would. “I’m trying to be somewhat respectful.”

  “Why?”

  He liked the way her mind worked. “Because jumping on top of you and ripping your clothes off seems like a jackass move to me.”

  Her fingers speared through his hair and massaged the back of his neck. “The one thing you aren’t is a jerk. Obtuse, sometimes.”

  “I’m still not sure what you mean by that, but I’m hoping it’s not a bad thing since you keep saying it.” He kissed her bare bicep. Then her shoulder through her tee.

  “It’s all good,” she said.

  Better than good.

  And he couldn’t wait one more second.

  He took her mouth with his letting the heat explode and wash down over them. This coming together was just as frenzied as the last. Hands moved and explored. Fingers shaped and caressed. Her soft lips moved beneath his as his tongue licked and tasted.

  He kissed her with the pent-up desire that had been simmering between them all day long. Kissed her for all they would share and the wealth of experiences they wouldn’t.

  He was dying to get his hands on bare skin. To palm her breasts. To explore every inch of her smooth skin. To get inside her that first time.

  She must have read his mind because she started pulling on his shirt. He felt a yank and then heard a pop before a button bounced against the floor.

  Hell, she could rip the thing to shreds for all he cared.

  “What is it about you?” she asked between kisses against his neck.

  “I was wondering the same thing about you.” She was all he thought about lately. But he didn’t want to dwell on what could be or should be. He wanted—no needed—to be with her.

  He didn’t hesitate another second. His hands went to work dragging her shirt over her head and unbuttoning her jeans. They were a tangle of clothes and arms as they stripped each other down. He didn’t stop until she wore only a tiny pair of lacy black panties.

  His thumb traced the pattern. Heat and wetness greeted his fingertips. “You have good taste.”

  “Take them off,” she ordered in a voice smoky enough to burn him.

  His head snapped up to meet her gaze. It didn’t take a genius to see the need burning in her eyes. She didn’t attempt to hide her desire and he silently thanked her for not playing games and driving him insane. Not intentionally, anyway.

  She reached for his belt. The metal clanked as she opened his jeans and slid the zipper down nice and slow.

  “God, yes.” He almost didn’t recognize his own voice.

  Before his pants dropped and his common sense headed for vacation, he reached into the bag and pulled out a box. In two more seconds, he had a handful of condoms spread across the dining room table.

  Marissa stood up on her tiptoes and looked over his shoulder at what he was doing. “You’re very prepared.”

  “Comes with the police training.”

  “I do love a man in uniform.”

  With his hands on her waist, he lifted her to the table. She sat on the edge, her legs open giving him more than enough space to step up and pull her close.

  “Let’s see what else you like.” With a gentle push, he lowered her to her back.

  Seeing her there, spread out and rosy pink from the fever raging inside her, his will broke. He slipped his fingers up and under the elastic to her underwear. When she lifted her hips, he skimmed the tiny scrap of material down her lean legs and threw it on the floor. The move left her bare and open to his gaze.

  God, he liked her.

  She inched her legs open even farther. “Here?”

  “We’ll start here.”

  Pushing her high round breasts even higher, she stretched her arms over her head. “Then?”

  The sight mesmerized him. “Keep going until we run out of rooms.”

  With his hands on her ankles, he spread her legs even wider. This he would savor. Seeing her wet and ready for him, smelling her salty scent, made him want to make every moment last forever.

  Then he tasted her. His tongue licked deep inside, flicking against her clit and sending her hips arching off the table.

  “Yes,” she whispered as her head fell back.

  His fingers joined his mouth, opening her until her thighs trembled. His tongue circled and his mouth sucked. Every time he pulled back, her legs flexed and her insides clenched against him. But he didn’t stop. He kept up the gentle massage until she grabbed on to the side of the table and her knuckles turned white. When her head started thrashing from side to side he touched the spot he knew would drive her over the edge.

  As she screamed and her body bucked, he dropped his pants the rest of the way to the floor and slipped on a condom. Every cell in his body screamed for him to hurry. Marissa’s panting only spurred him on.

  He pushed her legs back until her thighs touched her flat stomach. Just as he finished rolling the protection on, she reached around and guided him to her opening. That was all he needed. He pressed up inside of her with one smooth push.

  Being inside her felt tighter, richer, than he dreamed. Her inner muscles contracted around him, stealing what was left of his breath. Then he moved and kept moving. With her hands on his ass, he plunged in and out. The steady rhythm of their bodies and heavy breathing touched off a second wave inside of her.

  The tighter her body pulled, the harder it was for him to hold back. He wanted to milk every last ounce of pleasure out of her, but his body betrayed him. The second her shoulders slammed against the hard wood on a second orgasm, the tension in his body exploded. When Marissa’s mouth opened, he bent down to kiss her, drowning out her scream with one of his own.

  He yelled her name over and over as the table rocked and creaked beneath them. He jerked and emptied right as her body clenched around him again. And when her body settled and her mouth opened on a sigh, he bent down to kiss her. This time with tenderness.

  It took another fifteen minutes for their bodies to cool and for them to scramble to the bedroom. Two hours after that they finally fell asleep.

  “What’s this?” Marissa asked from the patio doorway behind him.

  She wore a big white fluffy robe tied together with a thick belt. Ted hoped that was all she had on because he could be out of his boxer briefs in less than two seconds.

  “This is one of the best ways to enjoy Kauai.”

  “With a half-naked Hawaiian native standing in front of you?”

  “From your balcony.” He lit the final candle on the small table and held out a chair for her.

  The dinner had arrived just as he planned. It helped wi
th the coordination to have a sister who ran the place. All he had to do was call downstairs and have the pre-selected dinner items brought to the room. Marissa napped and he set everything up. For a few minutes he even watched her sleep. So peaceful, so beautiful. Both giving and untouchable.

  “Tablecloth. Nice china.” She folded her fingers in his and slid into her seat, flashing him a long line of leg as she went. “I’m impressed.”

  He couldn’t resist kissing her, so he didn’t try. When he lifted his head again, they both were breathless.

  “This is only the start,” he whispered against her lips.

  “Excellent lovemaking. Now food.” She picked up a strawberry and bit into it then offered him a bite.

  Hell, this woman even ate sexy.

  “There’s a great big beautiful ocean out there, but it’s too dark to really see it,” he said.

  “I can hear it.” As if on cue a wave crashed against the shore with a giant roar. “I could get used to this.”

  She could have two days of paradise then she had to give it back. She wanted to go home and he had no intention of following her. He kept repeating that mantra in his head.

  “There’s a bit more entertainment ahead. The kind you can only get at Christmas in Hawaii.”

  “Really?”

  Her pink skin glowed and brown eyes brightened with each bite she took. From the way her hair slipped out of the ponytail and her robe fell open to treat him to more than a little skin, she intrigued him.

  After hours of sex, he still wanted her. Didn’t want to be separated from her. Couldn’t stop touching her.

  “There is one problem,” he said.

  “There is?” She asked the question over a mouthful of bread.

  “We need to share a seat.”

  She glanced at the open chair across from her then back up at him again. “I can see that we’re one short.”

  The fact she played along only made him more determined to hold her. He lifted her up without any trouble and then took her seat with her on his lap. With one hand, he anchored her legs across his. Even tunneled his fingers up to brush against her silky thigh.

  She leaned her head against his shoulder. “We’re not going to get much eating done if you keep doing that.”

  He was counting on that. “Soon, but you have a show to watch first.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What do you have planned?”

  “I can’t take credit for this one.” He nodded out to the water. The vast ocean remained dark except for the flashing light connected to a buoy.

  “Are you seeing something out there that I don’t?”

  He rubbed a hand up and down her back. “Wait for it.”

  “I don’t—”

  “Be patient. It starts at nine.”

  She gave him a long, lingering kiss that almost made him forget about anything but dragging her back to bed. Almost.

  “So, Officer Greene, what is ‘it’ exactly?” she asked when she finally lifted her head.

  “Look.”

  She followed his gaze out to the water. There on boats and floating barges was a holiday light show to make even the biggest Scrooge smile. Flashing red, white, and green lights brightened up the dark sky. Outlines of blinking colors in the form of angels and snowmen danced across the water. A tree with wrapped packages underneath moved back and forth in front of the other boats.

  Marissa sat up. “Look at the Santa!”

  She practically vibrated with excitement. With wide eyes and clapping hands, she watched the parade of lights and listened to the faint sounds of Christmas carols playing from one of the barges.

  When he hugged her close, she willingly fell back into his arms. She hummed and smiled. He had seen her in passion and in anger. Seeing her filled with happiness far surpassed anything else.

  “They’re beautiful.” She whispered her thoughts in a reverent tone of the type usually reserved for church.

  Not more beautiful than her. “They do it every year during the week for Christmas.”

  “How did I miss this yesterday?”

  “You were probably working.”

  She turned around and planted a hot, wet lingering kiss right on his lips. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

  “My pleasure.”

  “I almost hate to leave.”

  But she had to. “I thought you despised Kauai.”

  “I never said that.”

  “I thought I heard you scream that very thing in the airport right after we met that first time.”

  She had the grace to blush. “I wanted to be home for Christmas.”

  He tried not to tie any significance to her use of the past tense. “You will be.”

  And for the first time, that sounded like a terrible idea.

  9

  The next afternoon Marissa stood at a scenic overlook in the bright sunshine and stared down at the deep purple and brown bands of rock and dirt that ran to the bottom of Waimea Canyon. Ted had disappeared a few minutes ago. She used the rare minutes alone to think.

  For the first time in her life she wore shorts at the end of December. But then, this was a week of firsts. First stolen purse. First run-in with a government official. First time in Kauai. First time at Waimea Canyon. First time she cared about something more than the office.

  That last one scared the hell out of her.

  Instead of planning her schedule and working on her presentation, all she wanted to do was spend time with Ted. The same man who promised to pack her up and put her on a plane tomorrow.

  After all that time spent spinning and racing from one place to another, she enjoyed the down time. The idea of going back to the office politics of saying what needed to be said instead of what should be said nauseated her.

  “Told you this was worth it.” Ted stepped up beside her at the railing and handed her a disposable camera. “You should have photos of your time here.”

  The idea that photos would be all she ever had filled her with an unexpected sadness. “Can I take one of you?”

  “Sure. I show up on film.”

  She lifted the camera and watched him through the small lens. He stood at the edge of the deep cavern wearing jeans and a navy T-shirt. The dark blue highlighted his tan skin. The trim tee showed off his broad chest and muscled arms.

  She snapped three photos as he smiled and made silly poses. When he turned around to watch a helicopter fly down the canyon, she took a few more. She already knew the second set of shots would be her favorite. In those silent moments his sexy smile and relaxed stance came through. That was the real Ted. The man who loved the outdoors and smiled up at the warm sun.

  Snow didn’t seem so great after all.

  She slipped the camera into her pocket and stepped up next to him. Without thinking about it, she mimicked the way he leaned on his elbows against the rail and stared out over the scarred earth.

  “I have to leave soon,” she said more to the wind whipping around them than to him.

  “Of course.”

  Such a quick response. And not the one she expected or wanted. Part of her wanted him to beg her to stay—something. If he did, she had no idea what she would do, but his curt comeback felt like a sucker punch to the gut, harsh and unexpected.

  “I don’t want to go back,” she said, testing him and hating herself for playing that game.

  “But you will.”

  This time his shot ticked her off. “What does that mean?”

  He tapped his fingers together. “You have a life in Philadelphia.”

  She had a job there. She no longer saw what she had as more than that. “True, but everything is so easy here. Well, not everything. I guess I should say everything but the robbery and airport altercation.”

  “It’s compelling now because you’re on vacation.”

  “I’m here for work.”

  “And that ended. You’ve hit that time most tourists get to. We call it Polynesian Paralysis. You’re relaxed and enjoying the weather. You
’ve been away from work a bit and find that not killing yourself in an office twenty-four hours a day makes you feel better. The tension has eased.”

  All of that sounded right. “Are those bad things?”

  “They’re just not real.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Life isn’t vacation. Living here means going to work, getting groceries, and dealing with all of the stuff you deal with in Philadelphia, like mortgage payments and colds. The only difference is that the weather is better and the scenery more impressive.”

  And him. He would make being here instead of there different. Better. “You always this anti-tourist?”

  “I’ve seen hundreds of people come here for a week and decide this is the perfect place to live. After only a few days, they drop their old lives and move thousands of miles away.”

  “Isn’t that the American dream? To settle by the beach and live out their lives in paradise?”

  “That’s exactly what it is. An unrealistic fantasy. See, they get here and figure out that Hawaii has crime and traffic. That their old problems followed them here and now they live in a place where everything is more expensive and harder to get.”

  If he was trying to warn her off, he was doing a good job. Nothing he said was scary or surprising. It was the fact he felt the need to make a life here sound so unappealing for her. That he painted a horrible picture so that she wouldn’t want to be with him.

  “You might want to turn down any offers from the tourist board. You don’t exactly sell the place,” she said.

  “I don’t want to.”

  His words sliced through her. Somehow, some way, she had given him the power to hurt her.

  She was about to lay into him when she noticed his face. He hadn’t looked at her. He delivered his keep-out speech without giving her eye contact. “Any chance this theory of yours comes from experience?”

  “I told you I’ve seen it happen.”

  He was evading as sure as she was standing there. “More personal experience, I mean.”

  His movement slowed. “Did Nicki tell you about Tessa?”

  Another woman. Marissa suddenly felt the need to kick something. Like him. “No.”