Page 20 of Mishaps and Mistletoe

She rubbed her neck with her free hand. “You know—” She chuckled lightly. “My sister always said, ‘Joy is contagious—be a super spreader.’ Leave it to the nurse of the family to make analogies that sound so medical and communicable disease-y.”

Kevin shrugged. “Well, there’s your answer.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you need to, uh, infect the resort with joy.” Even he shuddered with that description, but the melodic sound of Josie’s laughter drowned out the voice in his head telling him he was no good at thinking on the fly.

“Look, my boss would like me to attend a couple of these activities at the resort. I’d go alone—”

“I’ll come with you,” he blurted with more enthusiasm than the impending invitation warranted. He mentally scolded himself, because what if she wasn’t going to ask him?

Her grip on his hand tightened as quickly as her eyebrows rose. “Would you?”

“Of course.” The response was automatic. A no-brainer. After what she’d done for him all those years ago, there was no way he couldn’t help her now. Except—no fraternization with our clients.“You work at Oglebay,” he thought to himself. But he’d said it aloud.

“Yeah…” She drew out the word, probably wondering if he’d been paying attention to anything she’d said in the past five minutes. That was the problem—he’d been payingtoomuch attention to her. To her pale pink lips. To her unblemished porcelain skin. To her deep, pine-colored eyes. Yes, he’d paid so much attention, he was only now realizing where she worked.

“That was rude of me. You said you moved here for a new job, right? I never even asked where you work. What do you do?”

Memories of the bubbly girl he knew on the beach filled his mind. Words of the woman sitting across the kitchen island, rounded eyes pleading for help, reverberated in his head. Though he was never quite sure what to say to people, in this moment, he knew exactly how to respond.

“I’m in photography.”

It wasn’t a lie—his photographs were a huge part of the advertising packages he put together. But he couldn’t tell her the whole truth. Right now, she needed him. Probably more than he’d needed her all those years ago. And as much as he hated to lie, he’d hate himself even more if he didn’t help her now.

Besides, his boss told him not to date clients. Hanging out with her was fine. But she might see things differently. Not want him to jeopardize his career. He and Josie weren’t an item. They never would be. Theycouldn’tbe. So this was all fine. But with each heartbeat thrumming in his eardrums as he looked at a woman he thought he’d never see again, he wondered if he was now telling two lies: one to Josie and one to himself.

“Who’s a sweet boy?” she said from behind him.

“Huh?” He turned to see her fussing over his dog, and his ears turned red from embarrassment. He was also oddly jealous of his dog.

“Did you think I was calling you a sweet boy?” She chuckled as Linus flopped to give access to the other side of his belly.

“No,” he said, like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. But he kinda had.

“You are, though. Incredibly sweet, that is. You always were.” She rose from her crouch, standing so close he could smell the candy cane she’d eaten earlier on her breath. The scent mixed with the sweetness of the white chocolate, and the intoxicating smell beckoned him to have a taste. And he wasn’t imagining it—her breathing had picked up the pace as much as his. “Thank you for taking me to the tree farm today. It really meant a lot.” She took another step closer, and he matched it with one of his own.

“I was happy to,” he croaked. How long had it been since he’d been this close to a woman? His eyes stole a glance at her pink lips, and the stern lecture he’d given himself about keeping Josie in the friend zone fluttered away like a dusting of snow swept in a breeze.

But she doesn’t date.

He was reading this all wrong. Her eyes were dark, but maybe that had more to do with the lack of light in the room and less to do with her wanting the same thing he did: his lips on hers. If she wanted that, she had to make the first move.

“Jos—” She trapped the rest of her name in his mouth as her lips gently touched his. Before he could fully appreciate the softness of her full lips, before he could move his arms to wrap them around her, before he could savor this moment for what it was—something he’d thought about so many times since he was a teenage boy—his cell phone rang, and the moment ended as quickly as it began.

ChapterSix

“What?!” Johnny squawked. Several Mountain Brew patrons snapped their heads in his direction.

“Johnny,” Josie hissed. “Keep your voice down.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. It’s just—” He shook his head quickly. “I can’t believe Kevin is seaweed guy.”

She nearly choked on her midday pick-me-up. “Seaweed guy? You make him sound like Aquaman’s lame, superpower-less, younger brother. And I told you that story in confidence. I mean, if I ever thought I’d see him again, I obviously would have kept that detail to myself.” Her ears burned hotter than the time they got sunburnt at the beach. Especially when she thought about what happened last night.

Oh, there was no chance she was telling him about last night’s kiss. Or peck? What was it, really? It was over before she knew it. Thank goodness. What the heck was she thinking? She’d sworn off men. She also didn’t kiss random people. No matter how hunky they were. No matter how sweet they seemed. And Kevin didn’t justseemsweet. Nope. The call that had interrupted them? It was his elderly next-door neighbor thanking him for raking her leaves the other day. Imagining him out there with his fluffy-balled ski cap and puffy vest, raking leaves for little old ladies around the neighborhood—that made her stomach flip and her heart flutter. And that was a problem.

“I won’t repeat it to anyone. Promise. But what does this all mean?” Johnny asked.

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