A Mistletoe Affair (15 page)

“I can only imagine what you thought when you came over and saw us together this afternoon,” he continued. “I tried to call and explain, but you wouldn’t answer your phone.”

“I was an idiot. I’m sorry.”

“I think the idiot title belongs to me. I should have told you that I’d called her.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Jordan. We haven’t made any kind of declaration to each other. I’m sorry I made you feel as if you had to give me an explanation. Whether or not you see Allison shouldn’t matter one way or the other.”

He stared at her for some time before he shook his head and reached over to take her hands in his. “You don’t get it, do you?” he asked, rubbing his thumb along the backs of her fingers. “I
want
it to matter, Vicki. I’m making my declaration right now. I want this to mean more.”

He took a step forward and brought one hand up, cradling her jaw.

“I’m falling for you so much faster and harder than I’ve ever fallen for anyone before. You need to know how much you’ve come to mean to me.”

She tried to speak, but her heart was lodged in her throat.

“I’m in this, Vicki. You’ve told me what you want, and I’m telling you that I’m
in
this. Are you with me?”

Her head bobbed with her vigorous nod. “Yes,” she managed to choke out. “I’m in this with you.”

His eyes slid closed as he lowered his forehead to hers. “Thank you,” he whispered. “These past few hours of not knowing whether or not I’d completely messed things up with you have been some of the most tortuous of my life.” He opened his eyes and peered into hers. “I meant what I said, Vicki. You never have to worry about another woman, especially Allison. I’m with
you.
You’re all I need.”

His words washed over her like a soothing balm, restoring her confidence after the beating it had taken earlier today.

“I’m sorry I doubted you,” she said. “If you follow me inside, I’d like to make it up to you.”

His mouth tipped up in a smile. “With pleasure.”

Chapter 11

V
icki could feel the excitement building in her veins as she opened the final box of carnations. The mixture of exhilaration and accomplishment swirling in her belly grew more wonderfully turbulent with each stem she stuck into place. She was so overwhelmed by the time she pinned the final flower to the float that she had to stop herself from bursting into tears.

She’d done it. She’d actually done it.

Petals wasn’t a huge floral shop with corporate sponsors and a dozen employees working around the clock, just a one-woman shop with a handful of dedicated teens who believed in the work they were all doing.

At this point she didn’t even care if Petals placed in the competition. Just the fact that her float would travel the streets of Wintersage on Saturday was enough for her.

“You lie through your teeth,” she whispered to herself, a grin curling up the corners of her mouth.

She wanted to
win.
She’d come this far. Now she wanted it all.

A high-pitched whistle had her spinning around. A huge smile broke across her face when she spotted Jordan standing in the doorway. He started toward her.

“If this float doesn’t come in first place this weekend I may just have to launch another investigation into voter fraud.”

“I think one investigation is enough,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him in close. She gave him a loud smack on the lips, then went in for a deeper kiss. God, she loved kissing him.

“This looks amazing,” Jordan said. “You are going to shock your brothers speechless on Saturday.”

“If they even bother coming,” she said. “I haven’t spoken to them since the Sunday dinner when I told them off.”

“They’ll be there,” Jordan said.

“I hope they are,” she said. “I can’t wait to see their faces when they see my float. And if I win? My gloating will be so obnoxious they won’t want to be around me.”

His head flew back with his laugh. “There is not an obnoxious bone in your body.”

“Just let this float take first place on Saturday. You’ll see.”

He shook his head, his mouth still twitching with mirth. “So now that the float is finished, is the Woolcotts’ Kwanzaa celebration the only thing left on your plate?”

“Yep. I’ve completed all of the centerpieces. I don’t have anything else to do for your parents’ party until the morning when we set up.”

“So you’re free?”

“Until the parade on Saturday,” she said, suddenly suspicious of the wicked gleam in his eyes. “Why?”

“Because I just filled your calendar for the next thirty-six hours. We’re going to Vermont.”

“Vermont? Jordan, I can’t go to Vermont.”

“You just said you were free until Saturday.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. He had her there.

“
You
can’t go to Vermont,” she countered. “You have Mason.”

“He’s already being spoiled to pieces by Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Stu.”

A slow smile spread across Vicki’s face. “We’re really going to Vermont.”

He nodded. “There is a suite at the Equinox Resort in Manchester with our name on it. We leave right now and return to Wintersage tomorrow evening. You’ll be back in plenty of time to get a good night’s sleep before the parade on Saturday.” He leaned in and nipped at the skin just beneath her ear. “And you’re going to need it, because you won’t be getting any sleep while we’re in Vermont.”

The spot between her thighs instantly grew damp.

“You are so bad.” She cupped his jaw and placed a tender kiss on his lips. “But you’re also incredibly sweet.”

“I haven’t always been this sweet. You’re a good influence.” He kissed her neck. “Now let’s go and get you packed up so we can hit the road.”

They quickly made it to her house and in less than an hour were heading northwest on 495. Light snow flurries peppered the windshield as they climbed into the higher elevations of southern Vermont’s Green Mountains.

When they pulled up to the luxury resort’s grand entrance, Vicki couldn’t hold in her gasp. The towering white columns stretching to the stately structure’s second floor added such elegance, while the rocking chairs on the promenade that wrapped around the massive exterior created a cozy feel.

A bellman retrieved their bags from the car, and Jordan checked them in while she toured the spacious lobby with its simple yet refined furnishings. Moments later, Jordan claimed her by the hand and guided her to the Green Mountain Suite on the resort’s top floor.

He held up his index finger. “One minute,” he said, before inserting the key and opening the door just wide enough to peek inside. When he turned to face her, a secretive grin had made its way to his lips.

“After you,” he said.

Eyeing him suspiciously, Vicki entered the suite and, once again, was so blown away that she let out a sharp gasp.

Never mind the sheer luxuriousness of the massive space. What truly stole her breath were the dozens of roses and multitude of candles decorating the downstairs room.

“I hope you don’t mind that I had to use another florist,” Jordan said. “It would have ruined the surprise if I’d ordered the flowers from you.”

“I don’t mind,” she said with a laugh. She turned to him and wrapped her arms around him. “I don’t know what to say, Jordan. This is just... It’s amazing.”

“
You’re
amazing,” he said before leaning forward and gracing her lips with the sweetest, most decadent kiss. “I want you to forget about everything tonight. The float competition, your family, the business. All of it. I want you to just concentrate on what we have here.

“You’ve come to mean so much to me, Vicki. I don’t know why I’ve been so blind, but I thank God every day that my eyes have been opened.”

Her heart swelled to the point that Vicki thought it would burst clear out of her chest. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she tugged his head toward her and kissed him with all the love filling her soul.

They stumbled into the great room, leaving a trail of clothes in their wake. Within minutes they were both naked and sprawled out on the rug in front of the fireplace.

The blaze turned Jordan’s chest a brilliant shade of bronze. As he hovered over her, Vicki relished in the beauty of his fit body. He worked a white-collar job; how he maintained such a fabulous physique was beyond her.

He pulled a condom from the wallet he’d tossed on the sofa. His intense gaze burning with passion, he rolled the latex over his erection, then hooked his arms beneath her knees and pulled her to him. Vicki reached down between them and fisted his erection, rubbing her palm up and down the solid length before guiding him into her body.

Her eyes fell shut and her back bowed off the floor as he filled her. She would never, ever get enough of this feeling, the moment when his welcoming thickness first entered her. Nothing she’d ever experienced in life could match the pleasure she felt when his erection stretched her body to its limits.

As he pumped his hips, Vicki surged with him, the ebb and flow of their bodies creating a beautiful, sensual dance. She settled her palms against his chest, caressing them up and down his glorious skin. The cadence of his heartbeat matched her own, nearly bringing tears to her eyes as she realized the depth of their connection. They were linked together on so many levels, body and soul.

Jordan dipped his head to her neck and glided his tongue down the gentle slope, trailing it along her skin to the shallow valley between her breasts. He traced the underside of each breast before pressing delicate kisses to the tips.

The light teasing was too much for Vicki to withstand. Thrusting her chest out, she cradled his head in her hands and held him to her, pleading with him to relieve the ache his wicked tongue had created.

“Suck them,” she breathed. “Please, Jordan.”

His deep chuckle reverberated against her skin, but seconds later he put her out of her misery, closing his lips over her left breast. He massaged her right nipple, pinching and plucking it before bringing his mouth over and laving the tip with several long, wet licks. Then he sucked. Hard.

At the same time his hips thrust. Harder.

The sensations collided in her brain, shooting sparks from all of her pleasure centers and turning her entire body into a numbing mass of ecstasy.

Jordan continued his outrageously satisfying assault on her senses. His hips and mouth worked in tandem. The harder he sucked, the deeper his rigid hardness plunged inside her. Vicki didn’t know which to focus on, the magic his mouth was creating or the erotic pleasure that hummed throughout her body with every delicious slide of his solid erection.

Just as she felt the climax building in her belly, Jordan quickened his pace, plunging in and out, driving his hips against hers in rapid succession until her entire being seemed to explode into a million pieces.

And still Jordan continued to thrust, his hardness driving deeper and faster until his body stiffened above her and a groan tore from his throat.

He collapsed on top of her, the feel of his delicious weight something to be cherished. Vicki wanted nothing more than to remain in this very spot for the next twenty-four hours.

“Damn, you’re good at that,” Jordan said between shallow breaths.

“You’re not too shabby yourself,” she said with a laugh.

He braced his hands on either side of her head and started to push himself up, but Vicki stopped him, clamping her hands on his shoulders and her legs around his waist, holding him to her.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“I want to salvage the plans I had in place. Believe it or not, my intent was to wine and dine you before we got to this part of the evening.”

“I’ll bet you’re happy I’m easy.”

His grin matched hers. “That means that I can expect more of this
after
I properly wine and dine you, right?”

“You can count on that.”

It soon became apparent just how much trouble Jordan had gone to in order to wine and dine her. Dressed in plush bathrobes provided by the resort, they settled in for a candlelit dinner at a table overlooking the impeccable gardens and, just beyond them, the majestic mountain range.

After feasting on a superb meal of Maine lobster and mouthwatering filet mignon, they shared a decadent chocolate lava cake from one of her favorite bakeries in Boston. The fact that he’d both remembered her mentioning the cake from a silly conversation they’d had during one of their earlier dates, and gone to the trouble of having it brought from Boston, touched something deep inside of Vicki.

Following dinner, Jordan insisted she sit by the fire and enjoy her second glass of wine while he took care of “something special” upstairs. Several minutes later, he guided her up to the suite’s impressive bathroom, with windows overlooking the mountain landscape.

Vicki was wholly overwhelmed by the fantasy he’d created. Dozens of thick pillar candles blazed brilliantly around the bathroom. There were even more roses scattered around, including dozens of petals floating on the surface of the steaming water in the huge sunken tub. Another bottle of wine stood chilling in a wine bucket.

Her hand to her throat, she turned to him and said in a soft voice, “I can’t believe this, Jordan. No one has ever done something this remarkable just for me.”

He trailed a single finger along her cheek. “I wanted you to feel as special as you really are,” he said. “It is nothing less than you deserve.”

Vicki’s chest tightened with the sweetest ache, and emotion clogged her throat.

God, she loved this man.

It had happened much quicker than she ever thought possible, but in that moment it was impossible to deny it.

She loved him. And she wanted him to know it.

Cradling his jaw in one hand, she rested her forehead against his and stared into his eyes.

“I’m in love with you, Jordan Woolcott. I don’t know if that was in your plans. I don’t even care if you don’t feel the same way yet. But I need you to know that I am in love with you.”

“Vicki, how could you ever think that I don’t feel the same way?” he asked. “What do you think this is all about? Just saying the words wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to show you how much I love you.”

Everything inside of her melted at his achingly sweet words. He drew his lips over hers in a kiss that left her breathless, then stripped her out of her robe and helped her into the perfumed bathwater. Discarding his robe, he climbed in and settled against the rim of the tub. Vicki molded her back to his chest, savoring how good it felt to feel his smooth skin against hers.

Jordan traced dewy circles along her arm, listening as she went through the schedule of events for Saturday.

“Are you nervous about the parade?” he asked.

“A part of me is more than ready for it, but there’s still a part that is so afraid that I’m going to make a fool of myself.”

“Don’t,” Jordan said, pressing a kiss to her damp shoulder. “No matter where you place in the competition, you need to remember that you’ve done something that very few people have the courage to do, Vicki. You put yourself out there.”

“You’re right,” she said. “Just a few months ago, I never would have contemplated doing something like this. I guess it’s all a part of the process.”

“For growing your business?”

She shook her head. “For finding myself.”

She turned and looked up at him. “I’ve been hiding the real me for so long, Jordan. I’ve always been so cautious, afraid of what people would say if I stepped out of those tight boundaries that I’ve always been pressured to remain in. I was too afraid of how my parents and brothers would view me, of what Sandra and Janelle and everyone else who’s become accustomed to sweet, sensible Vicki would think if I ventured too far away from this role I’ve been confined to my entire life.”

“So what do you think about the person you’ve found?”

A small smile tipped up the corner of her lips. “I like her.”

“I like her, too,” he said. “She’s so much stronger than she realizes.”

“I’m starting to realize it,” she said. “It took me a while, but I now see that winning this float competition was never my real goal. The most important thing in all of this is finally proving to myself that I’m strong enough and capable enough to do whatever I set out to do.”