Page 118 of Again, In Autumn

“Well, circle it on the Amazon catalogue, you never know what that might lead to.”

I let out a laugh, but it stops as soon as it arrives.

“Hold on there.” David halts me at the arched dining room entrance. He points up.

A sprig of mistletoe tied in red ribbon dangles above my head.

Adam brushes up beside me. “What’s going on?” He frowns at the other standing with amused looks on the other side of us.

“Dave,” I threaten.

Adam finally looks up. “Oh.”

David argues with a wide grin, “It’s the laws of Christmas, Vienna. You two have to kiss under the mistletoe.”

I wait for someone to brush him off and tell him to let us go, but the others find this just as amusing.

“This is stupid,” I fight.

“It’s the law,” Francesca cheers.

“It’s not Christmas,” I bark.

She says, “Everything after Halloween is Christmas. I am prepared to die on that hill.”

I roll my eyes, crossing my arms, considering pushing past the human shield of David’s body. I haven’t kissed Adam in fourteen years, so I am certainly not going to do it right now, in front of my family. If we had enough restraint during our episode in the woods yesterday and while staring at the red lover’s bed we have to share tonight, then I’m surely not going to waste my –

Too late.

Adam’s hand grips my waist to spin me facing him. His lips press gently to mine. Everything else fades. I can’t hear our breath, feel my pulse, or smell the aftershave on his chin. I can only taste his soft, wet mouth and when my lips begin to open, I feel his hand stiffen, holding me in place.

It’s enough to snap back into my own corner.

“For Christmas,” Adam jokes, throwing his hand in the air as if he just sacrificed his standards for a silly tradition. Meanwhile, I can’t stop my hand from covering my mouth. Both for shock and to subconsciously hold the kiss in a little longer.

I’m pathetic. My wine might have spilled a little bit.

Caroline laughs and claps, prompting the kids to follow, and they walk to the table where Kate sits, talking to Mackenzie. David bites back a smile, and he and Adam join them.

I ask Francesca, “What?”

Her arms hang by her sides. A suspicious expression grows on her face. “That was quite the first kiss,” she muses.

“It wasn’t a first kiss,” I argue.

“So, it wasn’t your first kiss?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

She lingers on my face, searching it for something. “Well, if someone kissed me like that, there would sure be a second kiss.”

I tuck a hair behind my ear, hoping that my lipstick isn’t smeared and my face isn’t too flush, wondering what she suspects. By the vastly different reactions of Adam and I, she probably thinks I’m obsessed with him and he’s over there washing his mouth out.

She gives me one last once over, then I follow her to a round table. I place my wine glass at a setting between Caroline and Kate. On our plates is a menu with a selection of two different soups and five different entrees. Adam and I meet eyes while everyone else has their noses in the menu. His mouth is marked with red lipstick.

I point to my mouth. He frowns. I discreetly gesture for him to wipe it off with the napkin.

Francesca snaps her head up, darting her eyes between us.

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