Gina Wilkins - Make-Believe Mistletoe

Tyler pounced on the large wooden rig, his eyes huge and excited. “Oh, wow. This is so sweet,” he said, using his favorite adjective. “It looks just like those big machines that have been building the new gas station down our street. You made this, Banner? Really? What does this scooper thing do? Why's it got bucket things on both ends?”

Banner set his mug on the coffee table and moved to kneel beside the boy. “This is a backhoe. It digs, or trenches, with this end. And this other end is a front-end loader that can be used for moving or scraping dirt. See, you use these levers to raise and lower the…”

Ignoring the guys, Tricia had already put her doll to bed in the cradle and was rocking it gently. “She's sleepy,” she told her mother. And then she smiled sweetly at the others. “I'm going to name my doll Annie Lucy. Is that okay?”

Both Lucy and Miss Annie solemnly agreed that they were honored to have such an adorable namesake.

When the children had finished admiring those gifts and had politely thanked Banner and Miss Annie, Joan pulled out the books Lucy had contributed. At Lucy's urging, Joan had selected two books for each child, and they seemed very pleased with her choices. They thanked Lucy without being prompted, so sweetly that she was touched-and very glad she'd had the bag of books in her car.

“I've got something for you, too, kiddos,” Bobby Ray said. He brought his left hand around from behind him to display two brightly colored and beribboned boxes of Christmas chocolates. “Your mom said it was okay for you to have these.”

“Oh, wow. Candy.” Brown eyes gleaming, Tricia licked her lips in anticipation. “Thank you, Bobby Ray. Can we have some now, Mama?”

“Not for breakfast,” she replied, smiling as she shook her head. “You can have some later.”

“Speaking of breakfast…” Banner rose, leaving Tyler to play with the truck rig on his own. “I'll go get something started. No, stay with your kids,” he added when Joan automatically moved to help. “I can handle it.”

Lucy sprang to her feet. “I'll help.”

“That's not-” Banner abandoned the argument when he saw her expression. Probably because he didn't want to lose an argument in front of the others, Lucy decided. And he would have lost.

Bobby Ray was on the floor playing with Tricia and Tyler and their toys when Lucy followed Banner into the kitchen. “That was fun, wasn't it?” she asked as they headed for the pantry.

Banner shrugged a little, keeping any emotion out of his voice when he replied, “The kids seemed to enjoy it.”

She refused to be discouraged by his lack of enthusiasm. “It really made my Christmas. I loved the look on Tricia's face when she saw the presents under the tree. She was so surprised. And so thrilled.”

“I could have done without the shriek. I nearly jumped right out of my skin.”

Lucy laughed. “She was excited.”

“No kidding. D'you think she would be as excited by instant oatmeal made with boiling water? Because that's about all I've got left for breakfast.”

“I don't know if you'll get a shriek, but I'm sure she'll eat whatever we prepare. Neither Tyler nor Tricia seem to be picky eaters.”

“If there's anyone who doesn't like oatmeal, I've got some canned fruit in the pantry. Maybe they would rather have that.”

“Anything will be fine, Banner. I'm sorry we've emptied your food supplies.”

He shrugged. “That's due more to the power outage. I have plenty of canned goods, but the perishables are running low.”

“The kids love the toys you made,” she said as she began to take bowls out of the cabinet. “They'll treasure them for years, maybe pass them down to their own children.”

“I'm glad they like them. I didn't really have anything else to do with the things.”

She looked at him from beneath her lashes as he started the water to boil and set boxes of instant oatmeal on the counter. “Do you ever picture yourself making toys like that for your own children at Christmas?”

“I don't have any children.”

“I didn't mean now. I mean in the future.”

His characteristic shrug told her nothing about his feelings. “Don't expect to have any. Why don't you get out a couple of cans of fruit?”

She moved slowly to the pantry. “You don't want children?”

“Not particularly.”

“I'd like to have at least two.”

“Figures.”

“What does that mean?” she asked, setting the cans of fruit beside the oatmeal packages.

“Just that it didn't surprise me. Hand me that roll of paper towels, will you?”

“Why doesn't it surprise you that I want children?” And why would it surprise him? Certainly not every woman wanted children, but almost all of Lucy's friends and acquaintances planned to start families at some point in their lives.

“It just confirms my belief that you and I couldn't be more different. The can opener's in the drawer left of the sink.”

It occurred to her then that Banner was sending her a not-so-well-buried message within the casual conversation. If he had known about her prospect list, he would be telling her flat-out that he didn't belong on it.

As if she hadn't already figured that out. And as if she hadn't already put him on the list, anyway.

Banner might have written off any chance that there could be more than a passing acquaintance between them, but Lucy wasn't so sure.

It looked as though it was going to be up to her to take the initiative. Because she seemed to have missed inheriting the shy gene altogether-at least when it came to something that was of particular importance to her-she moved a step closer to him, rested a hand lightly on his chest and smiled up at him through her lashes. “There's one holiday tradition we've forgotten.”

He immediately looked suspicious. “What?”

“The mistletoe.”

“We don't have any-”

“Pretend we do,” she advised him just before rising on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his lips.

He didn't respond at all at first, and she wondered if she had made a miscalculation. And then his arms went around her and she found herself pressed against the counter as he kissed her with a barely contained heat that almost singed her eyelashes. Even as she was a bit startled by the emotions she had unleashed, she was gratified to confirm that Banner wasn't nearly as disinterested as he had tried to act.

His lips were hard and hungry against hers, moving with a rough skill that drew an equally powerful response from her. She felt her heart pounding against her chest, and she was pressed so tightly against him that he could probably feel it, too.

She could certainly feel the signs of his arousal, which only made her heart slam harder against her rib cage.

A burst of laughter from the other room intruded on the moment, catching Banner's attention and causing him to lift his head. Without releasing Lucy, he closed his eyes in an expression of self-recrimination. “Damn it.”

Hardly the most romantic conclusion to a spectacular embrace, Lucy thought with a soft sigh. But from Banner, maybe it was more revealing than any other man's flowery compliments.

“I thought it was a great kiss, too,” she murmured with a shaky smile.

He hesitated a moment, studying her face intently, and then he stepped back. “The water's boiling,” he said. “We should call everyone in for breakfast.”

He was right, of course. There were still too many other people around. There would be time for Lucy and Banner to explore their attraction later, after the others had gone.

Proving that she could be patient when the incentive was important enough, Lucy decided to enjoy every moment of this unexpectedly magical Christmas morning.

Temperatures warmed rapidly during the morning, and by lunchtime the ice was all but gone except for in the most deeply shaded areas. Traffic was beginning to move on the highway again, the number and speed of passing vehicles increasing as Christmas day progressed and the roads dried.

Banner raided his kitchen one last time for lunch, opening cans of soup, which he served with crackers and cheese and the canned fruit that had been left over from breakfast. Lucy noted that the entire group was a bit more subdued than they had been before, perhaps because they knew their time together was coming to an end.

Everyone seemed ready to proceed to their original destinations, she decided, but they had enjoyed being here more than they had expected. She was pleased to know they would all have some pleasant memories of this Christmas morning to carry with them.

Tyler and Tricia pretty much dominated the lunchtime conversation, talking about the gifts Santa had brought them and anticipating the ones they would be getting at their grandmother's house. Tyler was expecting a highly touted new game for the video game system he had received for his birthday in September. Though his mother warned him about not being too confident of what his grandmother had gotten him, something about her tone let Lucy know the boy wouldn't be disappointed.

Lucy couldn't help noticing that Joan and Bobby Ray were doing quite a bit of quiet talking at the other side of the table. She overheard Bobby Ray say something about giving Joan a call after the first of the year. Lucy hoped that meant Bobby Ray was planning to ask Joan out and that he had not been referring to something less promising.

The more Lucy had thought about it, the more she believed that Bobby Ray and Joan made a great couple.

She smiled as she visualized Banner and Bobby Ray sitting beneath the Christmas tree, a big shiny bow on each manly head. Maybe Santa had arranged a pleasant little surprise for both Lucy and Joan.

“What does that smile mean?” Banner leaned over to ask her, studying her expression with a curious frown. “It looks sort of…wicked.”