A Christmas Affair Read online

  He hesitantly began to touch her, pulling her closer, kissing her quickly as he drove, moving his hand along her leg so lightly she ached for more.

  “I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered when they’d left the lights of town behind.

  “I feel the same. I’m afraid we’ll have to have a very long affair. We’ve both waited for this. The fire that’s been building may burn us.”

  “I don’t care.” He laughed. “Tell me your dream.”

  She placed her chin on his shoulder and whispered near his ear, “We could build up the fire in the old fireplace in my house. As it warms I’ll take off my clothes and let you see me with the firelight dancing off my skin. Then you’ll have to get undressed so I can feel every part of you.”

  “Don’t I get to touch you?”

  “No. You only get to look and think about where you want to kiss me when the fire burns low.”

  He almost ran off the road and she laughed that she could affect him so with words.

  They whispered of what they planned to do as the night aged. How they’d explore each other. How he’d kiss her all over. How they’d be wild and crazy and making love like two kids, and not two respectable business partners.

  On the porch, she led the way, pulling him inside. “First, I have to feed you.”

  “I’m only hungry for one thing, dear,” he whispered, and for once she heard the hunger in her shy Wes’s voice.

  “I know, but feeding you is part of the seduction I’ve planned.”

  When they closed the door and began pulling off their coats, they heard someone crying.

  Maria straightened.

  Wes froze and groaned as Maria pulled away from him and formally invited him in as she turned on the light.

  “Maria!” Dakota cried out as she unfolded from the couch. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

  Maria moved to her sister’s side. “What is it?”

  “Blade hasn’t called. He promised he’d check in every night, but he didn’t call last night and it’s getting late now. I’m worried. Something has happened to him. I can feel it.”

  Wes stood in the center of the room, looking as forgotten as a New Year’s balloon on January 2. He must have no idea what to do. Leave? Stay?

  Maria talked to her sister, trying to convince Dakota that her fiancé would call soon, but in truth, she was worried about him, too. Her future brother-in-law had a dangerous job. If he’d been able to call, he would have.

  Wes finally sat down in a chair next to the couch and tried to help comfort Dakota, but he wasn’t very good at it. He mostly asked questions about what Blade did, which didn’t make anyone feel more relaxed. Blade jumped in behind the burns sometimes in his investigations of how fires started. He studied burn sites in buildings that were crumbling. He was on site where fires had been set, and bad people didn’t want him to find anything. He stormed into danger to arrest men.

  Wes didn’t feel like he could relate. One almost-robbery had him rethinking his security, or lack of it.

  But they did have one thing in common. Wes loved Maria, and Blade Hamilton loved Dakota. He’d call as soon as he could. Maria already loved him like a brother, so he had to be a good guy.

  After her sister finally calmed, Maria did the only thing she knew to do when upset. She cooked. Dakota and Wes moved to the bar, keeping her company. The conversation seemed to circle around and around, repeating the same things. Blade would call. He was all right, just not near a phone. It really wasn’t that late. There was still time.

  An hour passed. They all picked at their food. Dakota had stopped crying but she still glanced at the phone on the wall, willing it to ring. Twice she checked her cell to make sure it still had power. She thanked Wes for bringing Maria home half a dozen times.

  Wes just ate. He talked little. Maria swore she could feel his eyes following her every move. The dream she’d told him about stripping in front of the fire was fading, but she knew it still lingered in both their minds. Every time the fire got low in the old fireplace, Wes would go rebuild it, as if trying to keep her dream alive.

  Finally, the phone rang. All three jumped, but Dakota darted to answer. A moment later she was crying and laughing at the same time.

  For the first time since they’d arrived, Maria moved close enough to touch Wes. She wanted him to hold her, but now wasn’t the time to explain him to her sister.

  Dakota hung up and hugged Maria, then Wes. “He’s all right. Just had a long day and a late night, but he’ll be home soon. By Christmas Eve. He promised. He says he’s bringing my present, as if there is anything I could want besides him home.”

  She laughed. “I’m sorry for being so worried. Thanks for bringing Maria home, Wes. That was nice of you. And thanks for sticking around to keep me company.”

  “You’re welcome.” Wes stood, almost toppling his stool. “I guess I’d best be going.”

  Maria wanted to scream. This wasn’t what they’d whispered about in the car. This wasn’t what they wanted. Where had the wild affair gone?

  Maria wanted it back but she couldn’t exactly attack Wes in front of her sister. After all, affairs were supposed to be private.

  She did manage to walk him to the door while Dakota went to the bathroom to wash her face.

  “This isn’t how I wanted tonight to end.” She couldn’t have kept the disappointment from her voice even if she had tried.

  “Me either.” He brushed his hand over her hair. “I was hoping to be alone with you about now with no clothes on. I’d really like to see you that way.”

  “I wouldn’t mind feeling you that way.”

  They stepped out on the porch and she pulled the door closed behind her. For a moment, in the cold night air, it was just the two of them.

  “Maria,” he said close to her ear. “This secret affair isn’t working out. Would you consider dating instead? At least then we could be together and your sister might stop thanking me for bringing you home.”

  “No,” she answered. “I want the affair.”

  His cold lips touched hers. “Anything you say. We’ll try again tomorrow. You’ll come to my house. I don’t have any relatives around. Of course, I don’t have a fireplace either.”

  “Do you have a shower?” she whispered. “I have this dream that we could take a shower together. You know, wash each other slowly.”

  His hands pulled her close to him. “Don’t tell me any more. I’ll never be able to sleep tonight. Your dreams are keeping me awake.”

  Laughing against his throat, she whispered, “Oh, but you must sleep tonight because you won’t be getting any sleep tomorrow night on our date. I plan to bother you all night long.”

  “I’m a dead man.”

  “Buy eggs and cheese. I’ll make you an omelet in the morning.”

  His hand moved over her back so he could press her body closer. “I like that idea, dear, but I don’t have to buy them. I own the store.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and added, “I’m planning on cooking for you in the nude.”

  “No,” he said. “You’ll wear an apron. So I can help you out of it.”

  “Why, Mr. Whitman, I believe you’re having your own dream.” She put her hands on either side of his face so she could feel him blush.

  He kissed her tenderly. “I’m beginning to think this affair will never be more than a dream, but it’s the best dream I’ll ever have. Good night, dear one.”

  She listened to him walk away.

  She’d think of something. Wes might not know it, but he was going to be the best lover in the world. She’d made up her mind. And, she decided, he’d be one before Christmas.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “MORNING, TRAVIS,” Deputy Cline said as he entered the store. “You’re here early.”

/>   “Three more days until Christmas,” Travis answered. “I want to work all I can till then. After Christmas break I’ll have to start school.”

  The deputy pushed his hat back, revealing hair that never looked under control. “You know, when I picked you up a few weeks ago I would have sworn you’d be on the run by now. You didn’t seem to want to stay around here.”

  “To tell the truth, that was my plan. But I haven’t had time to run. Mr. Whitman needs me. I think he’s getting Alzheimer’s or something. He’s forgetting things. If it wasn’t for me and Wanda Lee, I’m not sure the shelves would be stocked. And all the elderly people across the street want me to help them. Some of them even have lists.

  “When I’m not here in town, I’ve got the three old guys at home to take care of. You wouldn’t believe how much trouble they are. I swear, I got here right in time. I don’t think a one of them would have made it through the winter.”

  Cline laughed. “You love them, don’t you?”

  “Someone has to. Not a one can find his glasses. Dice even forgets that he needs glasses. They watch the same reruns and laugh at the same spots every time. They forget which way they’re heading, and if I feed them beans I swear they sound like a three-piece band playing.

  “If I don’t tell Horace different, he’ll head to town in his pajamas, Dice smokes ‘one cigarette a day’ every hour and Cap talks to himself. Which wouldn’t be so bad but sometimes he gets in an argument.”

  “What do you like about them?”

  Travis grinned. “They all think I’m something special. No one in my life ever thought that. They talk to me like I’m lucky to be a Fuller and I’m the best one to come along. Dice thinks I should be a cowboy. Said he’d help me buy my first square of land. Cap wants me to be a fireman, but Horace sent away for information on what it’ll take to get into the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. I didn’t even know there was a school like that.”

  “Let me guess,” Cline said. “It’ll take years.”

  “Right, but Dice says I’m going to live a long life so I might as well go for it.” He shrugged. “I know it’s a long shot, but it seems better than going nowhere. Maria told me her sister is working on a degree in architecture and would help me. Maria even said I could have her old books when she finishes her classes. She says maybe I could work with her next summer.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” The deputy looked around. “Any chance Wes is here? I got some bad news for him. Might as well let him know now.”

  “He had to go to Lubbock. Should be home soon if he remembers the way back. Wanda Lee says he doesn’t have his head in the game lately, but I’m thinking it’s probably his whole body.”

  Cline nodded. “Tell him the hardware store can’t get the lights in time.”

  “Okay.” Travis raised an eyebrow. “What lights?”

  “Oh, Wes had this crazy idea about lighting up the gazebo on the square. I told him it was too cold, too late and too much trouble but for some reason he wanted to do it anyway.”

  “For a blind person,” Travis said, more to himself than Cline.

  The deputy shook his head. “That really doesn’t make sense.” He tapped two fingers against his hat. “Well, got to run. Remember to deliver the message.”

  Travis watched him go. “I will,” he said under his breath.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  WES HAD BREAKFAST with Maria at the church, then they helped decorate for the Christmas Eve service. She’d hand him the ornaments and each time they’d touch much longer than necessary. He told himself he didn’t have time for this. Not in his busiest season. Not in the bad weather.

  But he’d gotten to hold her hand when he’d taken her home. And that would have to be enough. He couldn’t do more because her grandmother had decided to come along. Apparently it never occurred to her that they might be on a date.

  He’d had lunch with Maria the other day and taken her to the Christmas open house her sister was having at a new home she’d helped design. They’d managed to share some very warm kisses in the back storage room, until someone banged on the door and said they needed more cups out front.

  Wes had gone over to Maria’s house one night and had an hour of cuddling on the couch before Dakota came home.

  He’d loved that hour they’d been alone. Maria had unbuttoned her blouse and laughed when he’d discovered she’d forgotten to wear a bra. She’d thought it was funny and he’d decided it was heart-attack sexy.

  Kissing his warm cheeks, Maria said she loved surprising him. “You’re going to have to get used to the feel of my skin,” she whispered as his hand moved from her throat to her waist. “Lovers have to learn each other, and I want you to memorize every inch of me.”

  She put her hand over his and showed him how slowly she wanted to be touched. “You have to be gentle so I know you cherish me but with enough pressure that I know you’re branding me forever.”

  “That sounds like it came from a book.” His words were light, but his hands did exactly as she’d directed.

  “It did, but it’s what I want in our affair.”

  “Then it’s exactly what you’ll get.” He pushed her back against the arm of the couch and kissed her full-out.

  When he finally pulled away, she was the one blushing.

  “Had enough?” he asked, without lifting his hand.

  “Never. Do it all again.”

  The second time he leaned over her, he held her tighter, rougher, for a need unlike he’d ever known was building in him. Somehow, she’d changed him. In one white-hot moment, he knew that this could never be an affair.

  Wes could not live without her.

  She must have felt it, too, for she pulled him closer until he let the weight of his chest press against her heart. “More,” she whispered. “More.”

  He pulled her up and onto his lap. She was shaking, breathing fast. Starving for his touch.

  “Do it again and again,” she whispered. “I want more of this. More of you.”

  “Not here,” he answered. “Not now, but soon.”

  He could hear a car pulling up outside and knew once again their time was about to end. “Tell me you love me,” he said as he pulled away enough to look at her.

  She shook her head. “This is just an affair. A memory I’ll keep. I love that you love me; isn’t that enough?”

  “No.” He held her away when she would have closed the distance between them. “Tell me you love me. Tell me the truth. No dreams. No lines from books.”

  She lowered her head.

  He could feel her anger, but he didn’t let go. “The truth, Maria.”

  “I just want...”

  “The truth, Maria.”

  “I don’t want...”

  “For once, Maria, I need to hear just the truth.”

  “I... I love you.” Tears ran down her face.

  He could hear footsteps coming up the steps outside as he crushed her to him. “It’s all right, dear one. It’s all going to be just fine. I just needed to hear it once.”

  Wes felt her nod against his shoulder, then she pulled away and was gone by the time the front door opened.

  Dakota banged her way in, purse, briefcase and groceries in hand.

  Wes stood, having no idea what to say. All she had to do was look to probably see every nerve in his body was raw. He’d held Maria so close and then he’d made her cry. She’d said she loved him, but he felt like he’d made her say it.

  “Oh, hi, Wes.” Dakota set her groceries on the bar without really looking at him. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “Get used to it,” he said with a shrug. Maria would get over being mad at him, and right now her admitting she loved him gave him hope.

  “Oh.” Dakota finally looked at him, eyes
wide with confusion. “Where is Maria?” She looked around as if she half expected to see a body.

  “Probably in the bathroom crying, would be my best guess.”

  Maria’s sister frowned the looking-for-a-weapon kind of frown. “You want to tell me what just happened here?”

  Wes shook his head. He wasn’t sure what to say and he didn’t much care if Dakota picked up the nearest skillet and slammed it against his head. All logic had been dribbling out of his brain since the day Maria had kissed him, and Wes saw little hope of getting it back.

  Picking up his coat, Wes moved to the door. Three feet from Dakota, he faced her. “Maria just told me she loved me, and she’s not happy about it.”

  “Oh,” Dakota answered, looking like she’d just realized he was insane. “And how do you feel about that?”

  He took a deep breath and tried to form words. He didn’t want to talk to the sister. He wanted to talk to Maria, but he’d already messed that up. Why did he have to make her face the truth? She was happy living in her dream.

  “I don’t know how I feel,” he finally said. “But you can tell her one thing. We are not having an affair.”

  The bathroom door slammed against the wall so hard it sounded like a cannon in the hallway. “Yes we are, Wes Whitman!”

  Maria stormed into the room. She was so angry. So beautiful. Wes had to fight to keep from running to her.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized he’d done the same thing to her as she’d done to him. He’d made her feel. He’d made her come alive. He’d made her fall in love.

  Dakota stepped between them and faced Wes. “I don’t have any idea what is going on here, but I think you should leave.”

  Wes nodded. If he stayed he’d probably do or say something crazy. Why not? He seemed to have been doing that for days.

  He loved Maria Anne Davis and she had said she loved him. That one fact seemed to be making them both miserable.

  “Leave, Wes,” Dakota said again, softly. “You two can talk tomorrow.”