Getting In the Spirit: a Sapphire Falls novella (12 page)

The guy was a fantastic kisser, but he wasn’t a bad hugger. Not at all.

Reluctantly, she finally pulled back. “I want to hear some background to these shameless tales while we’re out,” she told him. “Then I promise when we get back here, it’s all Christmas and joy and cheesy childish stuff. Anything we’ve always wanted out of Christmas and never had.”

He hadn’t fully released her from the hug and ran his hands down to rest on her butt. “Two things that I want aren’t childish at all.”

Immediately, her whole body responded. Her first instinct was to shed every single stitch she was wearing. And that was just her first instinct. She took a deep breath. “What are those?”

“I want to sit in front of the fire, wrapped up in a blanket with you and drink wine,” he said, pointing to the table in front of the couch.

That sounded heavenly. “Done,” she said.

“And the other involves the floor too.”

“Okay.”

“I want to strip you down, piece by piece, kissing everything I unwrap like you’re the best gift I’ve ever gotten. Then I want you to ride me with only the fireplace and the tree lighting up this room.”

No,
that
sounded heavenly. She stared up at him. Sex by Christmas tree light. It was like he’d read her mind.

“We’ll have to wait until dark so that’s the only light in here,” she said.

Of course, they could practice on the bed upstairs, or on the kitchen counter, or in the shower, or on Phoebe’s huge, sturdy dining room table…

“Then we’ll wait. It will build the anticipation. Make it even better.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. There was something to be said for immediate gratification. Not to mention the fact they only had a few days together. “But maybe—”

He silenced her with a kiss. An instantly hot, bold, arch-against-him-and-moan kiss.

Nearly two minutes later, he finally raised his head. “Let’s go get a tree.”

Right. A tree.

Dang, her head was still a little swirly from that kiss.

But she did want a tree. And he wanted to get her a tree. And that was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a very long time.

Except maybe Phoebe insisting she come to Sapphire Falls in the first place.

Chapter Six

“What about this one?” Levi asked.

Levi was in love. With Christmas trees, with crisp December Nebraska air, with the fact that the people at the gate had greeted them warmly and handed Kate and him each a candy cane. And then readily given him three more when he’d asked. They were tucked securely in his coat pocket and he was feeling alive.

He’d been completely sincere when he’d told Kate that he had intended to stay away from her right up until the second he’d seen her eyes light up because of a tray of cookies.

He wanted to make her light up—in so many ways.

That had to mean his soul was getting to be more of a steel-gray color than charcoal-gray.

And he was having a hell of a good time. As they’d driven to the farm and begun walking through the trees, they’d taken turns sharing family stories—good ones and bad ones. Kate’s family had been no perfect white-picket-fence family either, and that made him feel more comfortable with her. He didn’t actually think that just because someone lived in a small town in a cute house they were guaranteed happiness and sunshine all the time. But now that he’d thought about it more, he was a little intimidated by the idea of living in a place like this with a girl from here. Nothing was perfect, and the higher the expectations for perfection were, the bigger the disappointment when things didn’t work out.

That was why he worked to keep people’s expectations of him low.

He could really frustrate a girl who had been raised in Sapphire Falls. With Kate, maybe not so much.

Strange reason to like someone, but being able to be himself and not feel like a complete failure was probably kind of important for a long-term relationship.

And, yes, he’d started thinking of things with Kate in terms of long-term.

“Levi, that tree is like fourteen feet tall,” Kate said with a laugh.

He lifted the chain saw, feeling manly and stupid at the same time. He’d been surprised to find the thing in Joe’s garage, but he figured if Joe was using a chainsaw, then he could handle it. It couldn’t be too hard. He had a degree in business and finance. Technically. He hadn’t actually used his degree in…ever. But he wasn’t a dumbass.

“So? I think size matters in Christmas trees.” He waggled his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes but was still grinning. “Phoebe and Joe’s house does not have fourteen-foot ceilings.”

Ah, good point. He lowered the chainsaw and moved a few trees farther into the row they were in.

“How about this one?” He didn’t hear anything behind him so stopped and turned.

Kate was standing in front of a tree a row over. She was looking up at it like she’d never seen anything more beautiful.

Levi stayed where he was, content to watch her for a minute. She looked young and happy and vulnerable. It hit him that this was very important to her. He’d known it, he’d heard her say it, but looking at her now, as if a childhood dream had just come true, he found himself a bit choked up.

Finally, she took a deep breath and pulled her gaze from the tree. She looked around and then saw him standing there. Her lips spread into a big smile and he realized that she’d been looking for him.

He walked toward her. “Hey.”

“This one,” she said.

“Okay.” He stepped back from her, his hand on the starter rope, but as he was about to pull he heard, “Levi! Kate!”

He lowered the saw again and turned.

A big guy and a gorgeous brunette were coming toward them with huge smiles.

“Lauren? Hi! Oh my gosh.” Kate and the woman embraced.

“Hi, Adrianne told me you guys were coming out here. I had to stop by and say hi,” Lauren said.

“Hi, I’m Travis Bennett,” the man said, extending his hand to Levi. “You’re Joe’s brother, right? Joe’s been working out on my farm with me for a couple of years now.”

Levi recognized Lauren’s name. She was one of Joe’s bosses. And Levi knew Joe wasn’t actually doing farm work. He was the PR and government-relations guy for Lauren’s company, Innovative Agricultural Solutions. He hung out on the farms with the farmers so he knew what he was lobbying for in Washington.

“Nice to meet you,” Levi shook Lauren’s hand too. “Thanks for keeping my brother employed,” he told her.

“It is keeping him out of trouble?” Lauren asked.

“It’s keeping him from using our private plane at least. More availability for me,” he told her.

She laughed. “Joe’s the best. But don’t tell him I said that. He’s cocky enough.”

“Runs in the family,” Levi said smoothly.

“Oh, that and a few other things, I’m guessing,” Lauren said.

Yep, she was one of those women it was hard to charm. She saw through bullshit. He could tell within two minutes of meeting her.

Which meant she was the type he usually stayed away from.

He looked at Kate. Now though, he might not have to resort to bullshit. Maybe he could just be himself.

Kate was staring at Travis. In fact, she was checking Travis out.

Oh really? Levi turned to face her, watching her with a mix of interest, amusement and, yep, jealousy. He wasn’t used to feeling jealousy. It was an interesting emotion.

She looked Travis up and down…and clearly liked what she saw.

Was it the jeans that had clearly been washed a million times, or the heavy jacket or the clunky boots he wore? As far as Levi could tell, Travis Bennett fit the part of a down-home farmer perfectly.

“Bennett?” she finally said. “Are you related to Tucker?”

“He’s my younger brother,” Travis said with a nod.

“Do you…um…look a lot alike?”

Levi scowled.

Lauren laughed. “They’re definitely related. I got the hottest one though.” She slid her arm around Travis’s waist and he kissed the top of her head.

“Huh,” was Kate’s reaction.

Levi gave her a look. She seemed to shake herself slightly and had the grace to blush.

Yeah, he’d show her all kinds of reasons to be glad she’d mistaken
him
for Tucker last night when they got back to the house.

“What are you guys doing?” Travis asked, eyeing the tree behind Kate.

They were on a Christmas tree farm a few days before Christmas and Levi was holding a chainsaw. This seemed self-explanatory. “Picking out our tree,” Levi said, emphasizing
our.

Which was stupid. Kate might like looking at Travis, but Travis was clearly
with
Lauren. Travis tucked one hand into the front pocket of his jeans and put the other on the back of Lauren’s neck under her hair. She leaned into him and Levi felt the damnedest ache in his chest.

He wanted that.

It was such a foreign thought that it almost knocked him over.

“You going to cut it down?” Travis asked Levi.

Well, he was holding a
chainsaw
. “Yeah.”

Travis nodded and didn’t say anything more.

Was he going to stay and watch?

Dammit.

Levi didn’t really know what he was doing, and beside the other man, who was obviously dressed for outdoor work and who had probably wielded a chainsaw a thousand times, Levi was acutely aware of the fact that he wore black Oxfords, his brother’s jeans and a coat that cost more than Travis’s pickup.

“This tree is pretty big,” Travis finally said, studying the tree.

“Yeah.” What the fuck else was he going to say?

“I don’t think I could handle that tree on my own,” Travis said.

Levi pretended to study the tree and gave what he hoped was a manly grunt.

“I mean, I’d want two saws and four hands on that thing for sure,” Travis added.

“Huh.” Levi pretended to be considering that. Two chainsaws and four hands? What had he gotten into here?

“I could help you out,” Travis offered. “I have my chainsaw over in my truck. It’s no problem.”

Ah, he was a man who
traveled
with a chainsaw. Levi had been impressed that Joe even had one in his garage. If Travis ran into things he needed to chainsaw on a regular basis, then Levi might even be a little smitten with Travis—in a purely bromance kind of way.

He was comfortable with that.

He tried not to look too eager. He nodded and gave a shrug. “Sure. That’d be great.”

“Why don’t you ladies go over and check out the ornaments and stuff,” Travis said. “We’ll get this thing cut and loaded up.”

There was an area that was made up of several long folding tables set up and draped with red and white tablecloths. On the tops was a huge display of locally made ornaments, photo frames, wall hangings, wreaths, yard signs and baked goods.

“Oh, but I was—” Kate started.

But Lauren wrapped an arm around her shoulders and started in the direction of the crafts. “Let me show you the candles Mrs. Pierce makes. They’re amazing.”

The women wound between the trees and were soon out of sight.

“Let’s go.” Travis clapped Levi on the shoulder and turned him in the opposite direction.

“Where are we going?” Deeper into the trees with a guy he didn’t know and a chainsaw? He’d seen this horror movie.

“To get you a tree,” Travis said with a chuckle.

They stepped out from the rows of live growing trees into a fenced-in area that had already-cut trees on display.

Understanding dawned. “We’re getting one that’s already cut.”

Travis laughed. “For sure. Cutting a tree down is hard work, and the one you picked is enormous.”

“You can’t actually cut a tree down?” Levi asked.

“Oh, sure I
can
, but why? These guys already went to the trouble.” Travis started forward, looking through the displayed trees until he found one that looked a lot like the one Kate had picked out. “Here you go.”

“Kate might be disappointed if I don’t actually, you know, act all manly and tough.”

Travis slapped him on the back. “She’ll never know. Once it’s loaded in the truck, she won’t be able to tell if it’s the one she picked or not. Have her help you drag the thing into the house and put it up. It’ll be heavy and will look a lot bigger once it’s inside—she’ll never know this isn’t the one back there.”

“You sound like you speak from experience,” Levi said suspiciously.

“Damn right,” Travis said. “I cut Christmas trees down with my dad every year growing up. It’s cold, hard work. Last Christmas was the first one Lauren and I were together, so I cut the tree down with her watching. This year, I already had the thing in the corner of the living room when she got home from work. She figured I’d cut it down. Trust me, you won’t lose man points because she’ll
assume
you did it. I’m your witness.” Travis looked him over and then bent and grabbed a handful of snow that also contained dirt and pine needles. He threw the mess on the front of Levi’s coat.