Page 4 of Putting the SeX in Xmas

“Search the internet for customs, recipes, etcetera, and you’ll find everything you need. I’ll bet you.”

“And wow, would that be a coup, to give him what he wants.” Kati bounced on the purple chair cushion. Tara liked bright colours. Maybe that was why she was usually cheerful. On the other hand, she could be distressingly realistic. Hopefully, she didn’t show that side of her personality to her patients.

“I’ll make the U.K. Christmas the final step—the aha moment of my plan,” Kati announced triumphantly.

“What plan?” Tara threw her arm across her forehead and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure I really want to hear this.”

“I won’t be happy until he initiates sex.” Kati held up her hand to stop any unwelcome remarks. “He has to want me so badly that he makes the opening move. Then, just to show him the tables have turned, I’ll take charge and show him what this woman is made of.” She chuckled gleefully. She’d just come up with that idea.

“If Andrew is properly enamoured, he’ll ask me to spend the night. And following a night of wild and wicked fucking, he’ll suggest I move in.”

“Just like that? You could benefit from some of Andrew’s reserve, Kati. You want everything to happen ‘right now’.”

“My ultimate goal, of course, is for him to decide he can’t live without me and declare his undying love.” Kati, not about to let Tara stop her, held out her left hand and wiggled her third finger. “A diamond engagement ring would make a lovely Christmas present.”

As she unfolded her intentions aloud as they crystallized, her excitement mounted. “A Christmas like Gram’s will be the cherry on top. He’ll be dying to marry me.”

“You are a conniving woman, Kati Johnson. That’s really underhanded, making a plan to trap a man through fucking him to death.” Tara broke into laughter. “You’re too much.”

“I don’t plan to kill Andrew. I just want to lower his resistance. And a real old-fashioned Brit Christmas will be my ace in the hole. If he proposes then, he might give me a ring on New Year’s Eve, and I’ll suggest a February 14th wedding. Valentine’s Day would be perfect for the marriage of Kati Michelle Johnson and Andrew James Howell, II.”

“Aren’t you being a little greedy?” Tara asked. “Couldn’t you settle for just moving in together? Marriage isn’t a must these days. It makes it easier when you decide to part ways.”

Tara had been living with a guy for a year when he’d walked out, and she was still cynical.

“I know a wedding band and licence don’t come with a guarantee, but it makes two people try harder to make their relationship work. I’m an old-fashioned gal,” Kati said. “I’ve wanted to be a bride since I wore white and a veil for my first communion.”

* * * *

Back in her apartment, slightly inebriated and tongue in cheek, Kati wrote a Christmas letter.

Dear Santa,

I’ve been a good girl (really great, Andrew says), and this

is what I want you to bring me, please.

1. Seduction initiated by Andrew.

2. An invitation to sleep over.

3. One for me to move in with him.

4. Four little words ~ I love you, Kati.

5. Andrew to love the British Christmas I create

6. Five little words ~ Will you be mine, Kati?

7. A diamond on my left ring finger.

8. Marriage to Andrew Howell. (The last one can come later.)

Love, Kati Johnson

Taping her letter, AKA ‘Kati’s plan’, inside a kitchen cabinet door, Kati crawled into bed where she lay awake, thinking of ways to lure Andrew into seducing her.

Chapter Two

---