Page 20 of Candy Canes & Peppermint Kisses

The corner of his mouth kicked up ever-so-slowly as if he’d heard... the what? Heat? Desire? Longing in those words?

I could have melted right into the floor from the look he gave me. A man shouldn’t be that damn attractive.

“It’s a fact.”

A tingle raced through me, and I told myself not to visibly shake.

“Seeing as I’m playing Santa, and I hear you’ll be my Mrs. Claus.”

MyMrs. Claus.

Why the hell did that make me all tingly... down there?

I opened my mouth, but I honestly didn’t know what I could say in response to that. A beat of silence passed as all sorts of things bounced through my head, all of which would most certainly not be uttered out loud to this stranger.

“I’d be happy to be your Mrs. Claus.”

“Can I sit on your lap when it’s all said and done?”

“Want to come down my chimney and give me some of that holiday spirit?”

Oh my God, my thoughts were running wild.

“Oh good, you met Logan.”

I forced my head to the side and saw Wellsie standing beside me. When the hell did she arrive? I’d been so transfixed by Mr. Tall and Sexy that everything else had just faded away.

“Saves me the trouble of introductions.”

I glanced at Logan and saw he stared at me. Intently. A flutter moved through me. I never thought I could hold a man’s attention so raptly, especially not around Wellsie. She was gorgeous, where I was... plain.

Although she didn’t date and kept to herself, wherever we went, she drew attention as if she were this warm light, and everyone wanted to be close to her. Men were always staring at her, even if she was totally oblivious to the fact.

Case in point—Beau, who, as I saw him across the room, had his eyes locked on my sister at this very moment.

“Logan has been making the flyers for the event for the last few years. He owns his own printing company, Marsh Printing…”

I was vaguely aware of Wellsie talking, but I wasn’t paying attention, not when a set of deep-green eyes held me mesmerized.

“That sound good to you guys?”

I blinked a few times and looked at my sister. “What?”

She lifted a brow at me then glanced at Logan, this almost knowing smile playing across her lips.

“That works fine,” Logan said, but he still watched me. As he held his gaze with mine, he rattled off apparently everything my sister said, not missing a beat.

God, his voice was deep as hell with this slight gruffness to it, this huskiness that had me clenching my thighs together.

“Yeah, that all sounds good.” I honestly had no idea what Wellsie was saying, as I hadn’t heard a damn thing, but I was winging it.

Wellsie was pulled in another direction, and then it was Logan and me all alone again—well, as alone as we could be in a roomful of people. Which strangely enough felt pretty damn intimate.

“Logan Marsh,” he said in that grumbly voice of his.

He held his hand out, and it was like my body was on autopilot as I lifted my hand and let him envelop it with his own.

Good God, his palm was massive, mine so much smaller than his, like a little doll hand encased in his warm, very male one. I felt callouses, knew for some reason it was because this man did manual labor.

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