Sweet Christmas Kisses (71 page)

He shook his head. “Not a soul. The place seems deserted. Everybody must be sleeping off the booze they consumed at the association party last night.”

She sipped her soda. “At least something is going our way for a change.”

Rock settled in next to her and placed his arm along the back of the loveseat. They sat quietly watching the multi-colored lights on the tree twinkle to the music. “That’s a beautiful tree,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s a shame we have to take it apart.”

“Don’t you think it’ll look just as nice in front of the patio doors in your penthouse? Not only that, but it’ll hide the damage to your drapes.”

He curled his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Probably, but it won’t be just you and me up there.” He captured her gaze. “I enjoy sitting here alone with you.”

Something in the way he whispered those words began to melt her heart and she wished they could spend the day together on this loveseat, shutting out the rest of the world. She sighed, wanting to curl up under his arm and press her cheek into his warm, inviting shoulder. He’d never made any secret of the fact that he wanted to be more than a friend. She couldn’t deny that she wanted to deepen their relationship, too, but she held back, knowing she couldn’t give herself to a one-night stand with this man, or five nights, if his mother chose to stick around that long. Once Zelda packed up and left for Vail, Kim’s agreement with Rock would conclude and it would be time for her to leave, too. No matter what happened between them, it would be over.

At least this way I’ll depart on my own terms with my dignity intact, she thought grimly.

She didn’t naively believe in fairytale endings the way her mother had. A man didn’t fall in love with a woman just because they slept together. If that were true, Veronica would have had too many marriage offers to count.

Pushing those
happy
thoughts aside, she set the empty flute on the coffee table and stood. “If I don’t start moving, I just might fall asleep sitting up. I’ll get the boxes.”

Rock stood up and examined the seven-foot balsam fir, loaded with decorations. “Gee, I don’t know where to start.”

Kim went to the closet to drag a stack of plastic storage cartons out and as she bent over, the seat of her pants gave way, parting with a loud tearing sound. She shot up straight, placing her hands over the gaping hole in her backside. “What the heck is going on with this outfit?”

Rock shrugged, but the sparkle in his eyes hinted that he could barely contain himself from the sight of her hot pink panties peeking through the hole.

“Well,” Kim said with as much dignity as a person could with her booty on display, “I’m going to change.” She briskly sidestepped past him, making sure he only saw her front as she hurried by. “I thought you said Diona’s clothes were fine quality. I hope she got them on clearance.”

A couple minutes later, she emerged from the bedroom wearing a similar pair of black slacks. “All fixed.” She busied herself taking ornaments off the tree, glad to put the incident behind her.

They worked quietly side-by-side for a few minutes, sorting and packing decorations, some dating back to her childhood.

“This is interesting,” Rock said and held up a small, hand-painted rocking horse made of delicate glass. “Where did you get it?”

Kim took the fragile ornament and gently cradled it in her palm as bittersweet memories filled her heart. “Glen Foster gave it to me for Christmas the year he and my mother dated,” she said softly. “I must have been seven or eight at the time; just a pipsqueak, as he used to call me. I really grew attached to him. He brought me presents all the time and treated me like his own daughter. I took it harder than Veronica did when he left us.”

She wrapped the item in a piece of tissue paper and laid it carefully in the storage box. “He never even said goodbye. Not to me, anyway.”

She reached for a crystal icicle hanging on a branch just above her head and couldn’t quite grasp it. Rock stepped behind her. Laying one hand on her shoulder, he stretched his other hand above her head, hooking the icicle with his finger. He lifted it off the branch and handed it to her. His hand left her shoulder and slid snugly around her waist. Gently gripping her chin with his thumb and forefinger, he tilted her face toward him. “Maybe the man thought it best to simply leave. You were so young you probably wouldn’t have understood his reasons.”

She paused, considering his suggestion. “You know, I never thought of it that way.”

He gave her a little squeeze as he gazed into her eyes. “Sometimes things aren’t what they seem. Or people.”

“Meaning you?”

He rested his forehead against hers. “I’m not as bad as you think I am.”

“I never said you were bad,” she said with a twinge of regret, “just wrong for me.”

Brenda Lee’s song about rocking around the Christmas tree came on the stereo. Suddenly Rock grabbed her hand. “C’mon, I’ll show you what a great guy I can be,” he said and led her in a lively swing dance around her living room.

She laughed as he skillfully maneuvered her through the steps. “I didn’t know you could dance like this!”

“I learned it on a cruise,” he said and guided her into an outside underarm turn, bringing his left arm over her head while pivoting her away from him. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, all of which are good.”

They danced around the room, rocking their way between the living room furniture, the tree and the dining room table. Once the song ended, they fell onto a loveseat, gasping for breath and thirsty, but not too tired to laugh at their own spontaneity.

Breathing hard, Rock unbuttoned the front of his shirt to let in some cool air then opened another can of soda and refilled their glasses. “Whew. I haven’t danced like that in a long time.” He held up his glass, motioning a toast. “I declare that we’re going to have a good old-fashioned family Christmas. I’m determined to enjoy the rest of this week, no matter what happens. How about you?”

Kim touched the rim of her glass against his and laughed, just grateful that she’d changed her slacks before he whirled around the room. “Whatever you say, Sparky.”

Rock set her glass on the coffee table. “I have that movie, you know. Diona left a stack of DVDs in the family room and
Christmas Vacation
happened to be one of them.”

“I’ve heard people talk about it and say some of the lines, like the one I just quoted, but I’ve never watched it, myself.”

He gave her an incredulous look. “You mean to tell me you’ve never seen
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
?”

She laughed. “No, but by the look on your face, I guess I should have.”

“Well, I can fix that. After dinner, I’m sitting you down in the family room and we’re watching it together. We’ll get Mother and her nurse to join us. We can’t go anywhere until the weather improves so we might as well enjoy what we have at home.”

She smiled at his enthusiasm. “Then we’d better get going because we’ve got a lot to do before I start cooking again.”

He pulled her to her feet. “Speaking of food, I want to thank you for that terrific meal you made last night. You’re a fabulous cook. Mother really enjoyed it.” He slid his arms around her waist facing her. “I did, too.”

The scent of his cologne filled her nostrils, jarring her thoughts as she struggled to stay on task. She knew he wanted her to glide her arms around his neck, but instead she placed her palms on his chest, keeping him at bay. “I love to cook, and since we’re on the subject, I can’t wait to use your Artisan stand mixer to whip the potatoes.”

His brows furrowed in confusion. “My...what?”

“Your mixer is that apple green appliance sitting on the counter in your kitchen. You know—that heavy-duty thing with the stainless steel mixing bowl? I’ve always wanted one exactly like that. If you don’t mind, I’d love to borrow it sometime.”

“You can use it any time you want,” he murmured in a husky tone, “as long as you borrow me as well, to have dinner with you.”

His slow, sexy drawl sounded so tempting, she began to falter. Dinner with him, alone, sounded heavenly, but... Weak-kneed and breathless, she pulled back and swallowed hard, shaken by the growing desire in his deep brown eyes. “Rock, I—”

His BlackBerry began to chirp in his jean pocket. He let it ring several times, but it kept making noise. With an irritated sigh, he let go of her and shook his head as he pulled out his phone. “Hello,
Mother
. Yes, we’re on our way. See you soon.” He shoved it back into his pocket, looking frustrated over the interruption. “She’s bored and wants to know what’s taking us so long.”

“I guess I’d be bored, too, if the only person I had to talk to didn’t talk at all,” Kim said dryly and began to grab ornaments off the tree.

Though she made sure not to show it, she secretly thanked Zelda for the intrusion. The less time she spent with Zelda’s son away from Mama Bear’s watchful eyes, the better. It would be so easy to give in to Rock’s charm here, in the privacy of her own home and allow him to sweep her into the moment, but it wouldn’t be as easy to forget him when it was all over. And forget him she must because after this week, they’d simply be neighbors again. He’d go back to his corporate, jet-set lifestyle and she’d be merely someone he’d slept with for a week.

She began packing up faster than ever.

That afternoon...

“Straighten that branch, my dear. It’s making the tree look lopsided.”

Zelda sat on the sofa, drinking tea and snacking on a plate of cookies, or biscuits, as she called them. She pointed at the crooked limb in question on the artificial tree standing in front of the wall of windows as Rock adjusted the top section. “Fix that garland near the bottom, too. It’s twisted.”

Kim grew up having a real tree at Christmastime, but the association had ruled against the residents using organic pine trees, declaring them a fire hazard. So, she’d ordered a top-of-the-line tree, complete with twinkle lights, on the Internet instead. It looked as close to the real thing as she had ever seen and very beautiful when fully trimmed. She just hadn’t bargained on decorating it twice in two weeks.

“Here, take these,” Zelda barked as she handed Kim a box of multi-colored ornaments. Ever since Kim and Rock walked into the living room navigating the cart, Zelda had been digging through the boxes, plucking out items and ordering people around from her spot on the sofa—thoroughly enjoying herself as the project manager of the Christmas tree development plan. Rock didn’t seem to notice his mother’s brusqueness, but Kim had to bite her lip to keep from saying something she might regret later. Or maybe not...

The sooner they put this tree back together, the sooner she could disappear into the kitchen, her private domain away from Zelda’s bossiness and Marie’s annoying flirting. Besides meatloaf and mashed potatoes, she planned to make cheesy cauliflower and bake something for dessert. With any luck, her work would keep her busy until dinnertime. One could only hope!

Rock had uncorked a bottle of Chianti that he’d borrowed from her wine rack back at the condo and poured her a glass. She’d refused at first, but at his insistence, she accepted a couple ounces, wondering if he’d pressed a glass in her hand to get her to loosen up around his mother and that goose of a nurse. Ironically, the first sip tasted wonderfully good. So did the next one and before she knew it, Rock had replenished her empty glass.

Zelda pulled a flat box out of a red and white storage container at her feet and shoved it at the nurse. She said something to Marie in French then added in English, presumably as an afterthought, “And be careful, they’re crystal.”

They’re Swarovski crystal, Kim thought and sipped her wine. The set of twelve handcrafted icicles came from a little shop in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, a present to Veronica from one of her lovers.

Marie took the box, adjusted her oversized glasses and began to circle the tree, hanging the fragile pieces as she hummed along with the Christmas music playing on the stereo. She looked like the dead had come to life in her milk-white dress, pale skin and mousey wig, not to mention the fact that she was actually
moving around
instead of parking her skinny butt on the sofa, expecting someone to serve her. Someone called Kim.

Marie ducked under Rock’s arm then straightened, positioning her face mere inches from his. She smiled coyly and slowly turned away, as if coaxing him to follow her. He didn’t seem to notice and instead kept unrolling a spool of glittery gold ribbon around the tree.

Kim pretended to be engrossed in spacing out the different colors of ornaments, all the while surreptitiously keeping an eye on the white tornado. The nurse’s tacky ploy to get Rock’s attention began to wear thin on her right away. Maybe she was just feeling the effects of good wine, but she had the unmistakable urge to take those icicles away from Marie and shove them where the sun didn’t shine. In the end, her manners prevailed and instead of behaving like an immature teenager, she busied herself to keep her mind off things she shouldn’t be thinking. Rock didn’t belong to her and if he wanted to flirt with that idiot of a nurse, she didn’t have a right to become jealous or interfere. Yeah, but just the same, she wanted to!

She took a step backward to get a good look at her progress and nearly fell over Roscoe. The tubby tabby had positioned himself right behind her, engrossed in watching the activity, but when she stepped on his paw, he scooted between her legs with a yowl, almost tripping her. She staggered a couple steps before Rock caught her in his arms.

“Are you okay?” His piercing dark eyes studied her face with concern.

She smiled, placing her palms on his broad chest as a warm, languorous glow spread through her being. “I am
now...
”

“Roscoe, come here!”

Zelda sat forward and imperiously waved her arm. The cat ignored her and trotted across the living room then leaped onto the coffee table where he sat with ears perked, eyes wide, mesmerized by the lights twinkling on the tree.