Christmas Clash (14 page)

Maybe James has more pull with the city council than I know.
And if that were true, she should really find out. And he wouldn't be so bad to sit across the table from and enjoy a nice meal.

“Okay. Dinner.”

“I'll pick you up at seven?”

“I'll meet you there.” She wouldn't be caught dead stranded without a vehicle around this guy. “The Steakhouse?” If she was going to have to go to dinner for the good of the group, then she was going to eat beef.

James smirked. “Sounds good.” He checked her out, then left.

The eye groping she'd just received made her rethink her yes, but there was the matter of her flower shop, Luke's pub, and the five other businesses. Not going wasn't an option.
Now, what to wear?
She might not care much about James, but she still wanted to look good. A girl should always look good when going on a date.

• • •

Candace arrived at the restaurant exactly at seven. She had on a dark blue dress and her hair pinned back. She wore a pair of nude heels, ones she didn't bring out of her closet much, and a coat that matched them. She wasn't going to make the same mistake again of not bringing a jacket. She didn't want any reason to wear James's—his smell on her was not as welcomed as Luke's had been.

He had a great booth in the corner and she slid in, adjusting her dress so that it lay straight and not twisted.

“Hello.” She nodded to the waiter for water. She wouldn't be drinking around James tonight.

“Hi. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

Get information out of him.
She'd thought of several ways to conversationally pump him for details. Hopefully he'd be so focused on impressing her, he'd be in a boasting mood.

• • •

Luke met his parents at the restaurant for dinner. It had been a while since he'd been able to catch up with them due to their cruise. He was walking toward their usual booth at The Steakhouse when a dark-haired woman caught his eye. As if in slow motion, he turned his head in time to meet Candace's eyes. His legs kept going even as his entire body felt the shock. His eyes moved to her date—James.
Dammit.
Of all the people to go on a date with, she has to choose his arch enemy?
Betrayal stirred in his gut, but he didn't slow his stride to get to where his parents were seated. He sat down hard on the plush bench of the nice steak restaurant and his mind raced.

No, they'd never talked about where they stood, relationship-wise. They'd never been on a formal date. But they'd kissed and it had been like nothing else he'd experienced. Obviously she didn't feel the same. Had she ever felt the same? He'd been the one basically making the advances. Sure, she'd reciprocated, but his confidence of her passion toward him waned.

She knew how he felt about James, yet here she was again—out with him. Was her interest in James totally for gathering convention center information or was there more?

“What's wrong, dear?” his mother asked.

How could Candace do that?
He refused to look over his shoulder at them. He knew—just knew—she'd be watching and didn't want to give her the satisfaction of seeming to care. He drank from the water already set in front of him.
Well, this is a crappy turn of events.
The plans he'd made for a fun New Year's were clearly out the door.

“Nothing. How was your cruise?”

His sweet mother gave him a knowing glance and he returned a reassuring look that he was fine and not to press the issue.

“Your father had the time of his life. Not that he'd admit it.”

“I don't recall it happening like that.” His father swished the ice cubes around in his short, stubby glass. “Your mother loved every second. God help me, I'm probably going to have to go on another one soon.”

“Isn't traveling what retirement is all about?” Luke asked.

“I cannot stand you milling around the house anymore.” His mother directed her argument to his father.

Luke chuckled. He was surprised his mom didn't lobby for permanently cruising around the world. Luke had taken over the business nearly two years ago, although the ink on the deed was slightly newer. Wow. He'd been at the helm of the bar for a while now.

“Best to just give in, Pops.”

Dinner dragged on, irritating at best thanks to his pre-dinner entertainment. He tried to focus, but all he could think about was Candace sitting there, looking beautiful for James. What did she see in him? James was an ass and usually ruined everything. He wasn't good enough for her. No one was.

The finally the check was paid and now he had to walk out—back the way he'd come, unfortunately. He looked over his shoulder and their eyes met. The expression on her face was unclear, almost a mix of apology and fear. If he didn't say anything or acknowledge them when he walked by, his relationship with Candace would definitely get weird. He wasn't happy, but he wasn't sure he wanted to write off what they shared either.

So he'd be pleasant to Candace. He'd show her he didn't care. She could go to dinner with whomever she wanted. Maybe he should go out to dinner with someone else. The spiteful idea fell flat even in imagination.

“Hi.”
Primo opener, geesh.

“Hi.” Her wide eyes met his, this time with a hopeful glint. Her bottom jaw moved and he could tell she was biting the inside of her lower lip. Did she care that he'd seen them having dinner?

Okay, good, he'd said hi and he was just about to carry on his way when James stopped him.

“Hey, old buddy, old pal.” James put his arm over the back of the booth.

“James.” Luke nodded. “Hope you're having a nice dinner.” He made his voice as pleasant and uncaring as he could muster.

“We're in the midst of discussing the convention project,” she said.

Yeah, right.

“As I was telling the beautiful woman, I don't control the placement. Only the design.”

“Have a good night.” Luke nodded to the two and his gaze lingered on her a bit longer than he wanted, but he couldn't help it.

He walked out the door, feeling a frustration that was new to him. Which was odd since he'd been in the same place with James before.

• • •

Well, my night was a big, fat bust.

Candace drove herself home. James had tried to kiss her, but she'd ducked his advance and headed to her car at light speed.

She'd developed a bad habit over the months since starting the flower shop. At night, when she couldn't sleep, got bored, got mad, or lonely, she'd go into the shop and work. The peace of night was a great time to get caught up on accounting, arrangements, or tidy the store. Tonight would be no different.

She parked close to the flower shop and was almost at her back door when the back door to The Pub opened. Luke exited carrying a bag of trash. She cringed.
Perfect timing. My luck sucks.
He stopped when he saw her, trash in hand.

“Where's your date?” he asked.

The word date cut through the cold air and nearly made her wince. She sighed. The shock in his face was clear earlier, and he still held on to his anger. He'd tried to hide his feelings, and did a fairly good job, but she'd seen that he was seething under all that fake smiling. She'd felt it in her throbbing head.

“Dunno.” She fiddled with her keys. “I imagine hitting on someone in a hotel bar somewhere.”

“Date didn't go so well?” he asked.

“It wasn't a date.”

“Looked like a date.” He swung the trash bag into the big Dumpster.

“He asked me to dinner, yes, but I only went to see if there was anything he could do to stop the city council from voting yes on our block.”

Why did she feel the need to explain her motivation to him? He already knew why and her reason sure as hell hadn't been personal.
Annoying
. She was done explaining herself to Luke. She stepped forward to unlock her door. If he didn't like who she was, then they were better off apart.

“You looked like you were enjoying yourself.” He stood behind her with his hands on his hips.

“Then your judgment is impaired. I wasn't.”

He scoffed. “Whatever. I don't care anyway. Go have fun with James. He's always taking what he thinks I want.”

“Excuse me?” She swiveled to face him.

“The reason we're not friends anymore, remember? I found him in bed with my girlfriend of two years right after college. You'd think that'd be the worst part, right? Nope. They'd been hooking up for well over a year and neither bothered to tell me.”

“Oh.”
Ouch.

“Go have cold-hearted babies for all I care. You two are suited for each other.”

“It sucks what happened and he's a jerk. But if I wanted to have babies with him, then you can be certain that's exactly what I would do.” Her blood turned razor sharp and hot. “What is your problem?”

“You know I hate that guy,” he said.

“So?” she asked, her brows raised and her mouth set.
Now he thinks he can dictate who I do and do not date?

“And you still go out on a date with him?” His voice was steady.

“Tonight
wasn't
a date. Furthermore, I'm allowed to date whomever I choose. At least that was the case the last time I checked.” She thrust open the door and went inside.

When she didn't hear the latch click behind her, she stopped, whirled around, and crossed her arms. Luke entered her flower shop and closed the door behind him.

“Can I help you with something?” she asked in the snottiest tone in her arsenal.

“
That
guy is
not
good enough for you.”

“Are you not listening to me? I went out with him tonight to see if he could help us, not because I wanted to spend my evening with him for fun. He was not fun.”

Luke moved closer. She didn't bother backing up or flinching a single muscle. She let him walk right up to her, nearly nose to nose.

She had a brother; she recognized the overprotective attitude. The problem was the overabundance of simmering fire she heard in his tone and saw in his eyes. This outburst was more than his being protective—this was Luke caring. His tone implied more than wanting to occasionally kiss her.

She hadn't had time to switch on a light yet. The full moon and street lights that shone in through the windows in the back and front were illuminating them well enough that she could see his unsmiling face fairly well. His eyes weren't smiling either. But she wasn't scared of him. Luke would never hurt her.

The energy between them made the air sizzle. Every time Luke was near her she felt him. At the forefront of her mind, she hoped he'd kiss her with all the passion he clearly felt. During the caroling she had felt the power behind his hold. If he had only been holding her tightly as her friend, what would it be like to have him hold her as a lover? Powerful. Sweaty, breathtaking, heart-pounding fulfillment.

Her gaze dropped to his mouth and wandered up his cheek line back to his eyes
.
She might scream if he didn't kiss her soon.
What is he waiting for?

“Do you ever wonder why we fight so much?” His voice barely rose above a whisper.

“No.”

His hand reached the pressure of his entire hand on her cheek melted her senses away. All that mattered was him standing in front of her. Touching her. She couldn't move. Tingles started on her hands and shot up through her body and rested in the back of her throat. His lips touched hers and the heat in her body turned to fiery need. She moved her lips over his, opening her mouth to let his tongue explore and to do the same. Her hands reached for the sides of his chest and traveled over his shirt to his back and pressed him against her.

The night had not turned out as she'd expected. Luke kissing her neck was much better than just about anything else. His touch left her body all too soon. He stepped back and she let go of him.

“I should … ah, get back to the pub.”

He leaned down and pecked her lips, then swayed back momentarily before kissing her again, solidly, warmly, and with intension. Candace took the opportunity to lay her hands on his hard chest. She heard a low groan right before he pulled away again. This new habit of his to kiss her so deeply, so completely, and then walk away was going to have to stop. Enough was enough. Still, she couldn't stop him this time because she was scared he didn't want her for forever. The disappointment of rejection would be too much to handle.

He kissed her forehead and left through her back door.

All I want for Christmas is you.

Candace sat on the hard bench in the city council room, staring at the same Wyoming buffalo-centered flag, and tried to breathe. The media had covered the story well, sans the misstep with Misty. Feedback from her fliers had been positive—the public was outraged and there were petitions started on their behalf. She knew Katherine Cline and Glenn had been pressured by the people in their circle to vote against their downtown block. Jeffrey Dean, of course, and Edward would vote for destroying it, and Zoey was the unknown vote. Zoey was the vote they needed. Whichever way she voted so would change their lives.

Had they done enough to save their piece of downtown? She wanted to say yes, but she honestly didn't know. The vote could go either way.

Luke hadn't sat with her and their fellow business owners. He stood in the back of the room looking absolutely smoldering in his warm gear. His dark auburn hair and clean-shaven face made her want to reach out and run her fingers through it and down his face, then kiss him. She sneaked a peek at Luke. His solemn face was fixed on the empty desk row in front. She couldn't pull her eyes from him. What would it take for him to stick around for more than a kiss? She honestly didn't know the answer. He must've felt her lingering eyes on him because he looked right at her. She swallowed hard at his intensity burning a hole in her. She wished she could've protected him from the entire situation.