It was an all out war by the time they reached the house. Her hands were frozen, her clothes soaked, and when Sean grabbed her coat and pulled it away from her neck, tossing a handful of snow down the back of her shirt she squealed and danced around the yard to try and dislodge it. His laughter filled her head and made her heart feel light. The front door opened moments later and the laughter of her family joined her own as they rushed off the porch and joined the fight. When they were all winded and soaked to the bone, Macy stared across the yard at Sean. He was smiling at her. His cheeks were ruddy red, his wet hair standing up in various angles and as unkempt as he seemed, he'd never looked better. He looked truly happy.

When they all returned to the house, shedding coats and running for the fireplace to warm their hands, Macy stopped in the doorway and took in the scene. The tree was lit, the twinkling lights filling the room with a kaleidoscope of color bouncing off the walls. The sound of laughter, and the loving voices of her family, making her sigh, contented. This is what she missed most. Being surrounded by people who loved her and would do anything to see that she was happy.

She looked up when Sean stopped beside of her. His cheeks were still red but there was a sparkle in his eyes she'd never noticed before. When he turned his head to look at her, the smile he gave her warmed her to the bone. She'd give anything to have him look at her like that every time she saw him. Like he wanted nothing more than to be in her presence. It was long minutes before she realized the noise in the room had died and she turned her head back to her family, shocked to find them all staring at her with funny smiles on their faces. “What?” she said. “Why are you looking at me like that?"

Derek laughed before nodding his head at her. “You're standing under the mistletoe."

Macy looked up. There, hanging above their heads by a bright red bow, was the clump of mistletoe they brought home earlier in the day. The leaves were bright and shiny, clustered around the small berries clinging to it. She saw Sean shift his weight and looked down at him. He was staring at her. Her pulse started to race instantly.

"Well, don't just stand there,” her mother said, grinning.

"Kiss her, Sean. She's a mistletoe virgin too!” The round of laughter that followed Derek's comment caused Macy's cheeks to heat as she blushed. She glanced away from Sean, looking at the expectant faces of her family. Their smiles were still in place and the only sound in the room was the crackling of logs in the fireplace. Looking back up at Sean, she whispered, “Just do it quick. They'll badger us to death if we don't."

What exactly Macy had been expecting, she wasn't sure, but when Sean raised his hand and cupped her cheek, threading his fingers into her hair before lowering his head, her heart skipped a beat. She thought a quick peck on the lips, maybe, or a hard press of lips to make it appear as if they were kissing. What she got was a slow, languid slide of Sean's lips across her own. Her eyes closed an instant later as her limbs turned to jell-o. His tongue swiped her bottom lip and with a small gasp, she opened her mouth, a little moan escaping her throat when he slipped inside, taking a lazy taste of her. His free arm wound around her waist and she leaned against him, tilting her head and returning the kiss with her own exploration. Tingles raced up her spine as his hold on her tightened and she lifted her hands, bunching the material of his sweater in her fists, pulling him close to her.

The kiss only lasted moments, but when Sean pulled back, his breath hot against her lips, she knew she'd spend the rest of her life wanting to recapture every second of it. He was staring down at her, his eyelids drooping slightly, and the look on his face, she was sure, matched her own. It was a perfect kiss. The only one she'd had in years.

The laughs and hoots of her family caught her attention and she looked away from those intense eyes holding her in place and turned to look into the living room. She smiled, feeling her cheeks yet again heat as she blushed. “Okay,” she said. “Enough of that. It's over, all right."

"Oh, she's blushing,” Pam said. “Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

Pam's comment only caused the heat to intensify. Macy ducked her head, avoiding their laughing gazes. When Sean wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his chest and said, “She always gets like this when I kiss her in public,” she wanted to crawl under the nearest bed and not come out until New Years. She pinched him in the side, laughing when he jumped and grunted.

Breaking his hold on her, she took a step back and said, “I'm going to take a shower,” before making a hasty retreat. She ran up the stairs and hit the bathroom running. Once locked inside the small room, she finally took a breath. Her reflection in the mirror showed her complexion to be tinged pink. Her eyes were sparkling and she grinned, pushing off the door.

Her lips still tingled where Sean had kissed her and just thinking of the kiss caused her pulse to leap again. If his kisses were that drugging, what would it feel like to be in his arms? To have those kisses scattered across her skin as he made love to her? Her stomach clenched suddenly and she shoved the thoughts racing through her head away. They would only leave her longing for something she couldn't have.

She showered in record time, drying off only to realize in her haste to escape her embarrassment, she hadn't thought to grab her clothes. Wrapping the towel around her, she opened the door, peeking out into the hall. She could hear her family downstairs, their squeals of joy reaching all the way to the second floor.

Racing to her room, she slammed the door shut behind her and walked to the suitcase she hadn't bothered to unpack yet. She bent, retrieving a change of clothes and straightened. She dropped her towel seconds before the door swung wide open. Macy gasped and yelled, “Sean!” as he slammed the door behind him. Snatching her dropped towel from the floor, Macy hastily tried to cover herself as Sean paced back and forth at the foot of her bed.

Sean shook his head and wanted to kick his own ass for being so stupid. Why did he tell them that ridiculous story? Why didn't he just lie… in a good way, and not tell them anything that would come back to bite him later on. Turning, he faced Macy where she stood near the dresser. One look at her and he gaped, his eyes widening. She was standing there trying to cover herself with a very small towel. Her hair was wet and hung in thin clumps over her shoulders. She clutched the towel to her breasts but they swelled over the material and the soft curve of her waist flirted with the edge of the towel. His gaze skimmed the gentle flair of her exposed hip, the toned, tanned thigh that was so delightfully drawing his eye. All the blood in his brain immediately traveled below his belt, pooling with heat to inflame his cock in ways no woman had managed to do in years. He swallowed heavily before raising his head and meeting her gaze. She looked as shocked as he felt. “I'm sorry,” he said. “I didn't realize you were…” His throat tightened the longer he looked at her and he remembered that tantalizing kiss she'd given him downstairs. She'd been nervous, that much he did know. She'd been shaking when he touched her but it had given away to her leaning against him, her hands clutching at him as she gave as good as she got. He'd nearly forgotten they had an audience. He could have spent the rest of the evening standing in that one spot, tasting her sweet lips while her warmth sank into his bones.

When she shifted on her feet, he shook his head slightly to clear the haze fogging his brain. He cleared his throat and gave her an apologetic look. “I'm sorry,” he said, again. “I should have knocked."

She took a shuddering breath before looking quickly to the floor. “It's okay. Just… turn around, would you, so I can get dressed."

He nodded and turned, putting his back to her. He could hear her moving around and tried to distract his mind from the fact she was standing completely naked behind him. A glance to the left and he wished he'd been born with bad eyesight. A mirror on wall showed her in all her glory. All that creamy flesh just begging him to look. He closed his eyes with a groan, shifting on his feet and tugging at the waistband of his jeans. Her image was seared into his brain. Even with his eyes closed he could still see her. The slope of her breasts, the roundness of her bottom. All that glorious flesh beckoning him like a siren's song. Her gentle, “you can turn around now,” reached him moments later. He turned, looking at her flushed face before giving her a tiny smile.

She shifted on her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. “So,” she said. “What was so important you barged in here without knocking?"

Chapter 5

It was Sean's turn to blush now. He sighed and ran his hand over his face to try and get the image of her, naked, out of his mind before looking back over at her. “I think I made a mistake today that is going to go terribly wrong for us."

She raised one eyebrow at him. “What sort of mistake?"

He grimaced and looked at anything but her. “Your brothers grilled me pretty hard today and I may have said something I shouldn't have."

"Something like what?"

Sean could hear the fear in her voice. He walked to the bed and sat down on the edge. “They wanted to know if I had plans of making an honest woman out of you."

Her eyes widened. “Oh no."

"Oh yes,” Sean said, laughing. There was no mirth in the sound, only desperate whining to his ears. “I thought I did the right thing,” he said. “I told them of course I was going to marry you. Why wouldn't I?"