Dawn Temple - Moonlight and Mistletoe

Fate must have been working on his side, because when he hit the passenger pickup area he found one cab, its driver sound asleep behind the wheel. After a stiff negotiation-and some serious pleading-he had a ride to Land’s Cross.

Kyle spent that dark, quiet hour trying to come up with an excuse for his silent exit Tuesday morning. Any sane man knew better than to walk away from a well-loved woman without a word, especially if you ever wanted her to speak to you again.

Kyle desperately wanted much more than just conversation from Shayna. He flat out wanted her. Which was why he was jacking with his career and jeopardizing his future.

While flying out to Tennessee without his client’s approval wasn’t enough to get him disbarred, his actions once he got to town very easily could be. It all came down to Walker. If his client pursued actions designed to harm Shayna, Kyle wouldn’t be able to stand silently by. And stepping in would be akin to stepping down. The next twelve hours would either make or break his career. So why the hell was he more concerned with Shayna’s reaction to his unsanctioned return to Land’s Cross than Walker’s?

The setting was soft-focused and beautiful-a gently flowing creek provided the background music and wildflowers carpeted the large open field. Kyle, wearing nothing but her best bathroom towel, laid her out on the bed of sweetly scented flowers. Love shone from his crystal-blue eyes. He smiled at her, that adorable dimple creasing his left cheek.

“Shayna, I have something very important to tell you,” he whispered, that deep voice she loved vibrating within her own heart.

Sure he meant to offer the proposal of her dreams, she was all trembling inside. “Yes!” sat on the tip of her tongue, just waiting to be unleashed.

Then Brinks woke her when he sat up, howled for all he was worth and took off downstairs. She slowly opened her eyes, staring up into the darkness. Darn dog. Couldn’t he have waited another two minutes?

She started to throw off the covers, but the ringing of the phone stilled her movements. Middle-of-the-night calls were rarely good. She’d left the phone by her bed, hoping Kyle would return the message she’d eventually had no choice but to leave. But would he really call this late? Or had there been an emergency elsewhere?

Deep woofs continued to echo up the stairs. “Hang on,” she called to Brinks as she rolled over and snagged the phone. “Hello?”

“Shayna?”

The connection was a bit staticky but there was no mistaking that warm, deep voice she loved so much. “Kyle? What time is it?”

“Too early. I’m sorry, but I was afraid you’d be scared.”

Her eyes flicked to the bedside clock-3:27 a.m. “Why?”

“The barking.”

The barking? She pushed herself up awkwardly with her elbows and tried to shake the sleep from her brain. “How did you know about that?”

“Brinks is barking at me.”

That woke her up. “Where are you?”

“Your front porch.”

With a complete lack of self-control that would have embarrassed her had she been fully awake, Shayna slammed the phone shut and jumped out of bed, propelling herself downstairs at breakneck speed. There was no light, but she made her way to the door by habit and yanked it open.

Seeing him on the porch, that familiar black wool coat flapping, snapped some sense back into her. What was she thinking, rushing down here like some heartsick ninny? This man, who’d made fabulous, wonderful, awesome love to her then silently slipped out of her bed, hadn’t so much as said boo to her for four days. She couldn’t just roll over like Brinks and show him her belly.

At least not until she gave him a moment to apologize.

She backpedaled into the den. “Come in,” she directed, grabbing an afghan off the sofa and tossing it around her shoulders.

She turned and found him squatting, petting Brinks, who, as predicted, lay there, paws up, belly exposed. Way to stay strong, dog, she thought as she flipped on the lamp. “Kyle?”

He looked up, and the longing in his eyes-like a shipwrecked man who’d just spotted a rescue boat on the horizon-nearly knocked her on her rump. He stood and took several slow steps in her direction, a multitude of thoughts flashing across his expression, none sticking long enough for her to get a handle on. “I shouldn’t be here, but I couldn’t stay away.”

The combination of anguish and sincerity in his voice did her in. Her heart flopped over and gave itself completely, irrevocably, to him.

He came to her and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. “I have something very important to tell you, and it couldn’t wait until daylight.”

The words were so like her dream, Shayna feared she’d pass out from anticipation. “Yes?”

“Monday was the most incredible day of my life, Shayna, starting from the moment you opened the door at the KC Hall until the second I slipped out of your bed. Every hour was perfection, and I’m a complete ass for not telling you sooner.”

“You came all this way to tell me that?”

“No. There’s more. But that’s the most important part, and I needed to make sure you understood that before we tackled anything else.”

At this moment there was only one thing Shayna wanted to tackle. Him. She rolled onto the balls of her feet. Giddy lust tickled her toes and raced up through her body.

She really needed to work on camouflaging her expressions, because Kyle seemed to instantly understand her intentions.

“Hang on. That’s not what I came here for.” His gaze darted to her blanket-covered breasts, giving him away.

“Liar.” She laughed, chasing him as he tried to flee. His back hit the door, and this time she had him pinned. Nice.

“Okay, I’d hoped-prayed-we’d eventually end up here but not immediately. Things have changed since Monday. We really need to talk.”

“I’m too tired to talk. Let’s wait till morning.”

“It is morning.”

“You’re just a regular Big Ben, aren’t ya?” She slipped her right hand out from the blanket draped over her shoulders and started toying loose the big buttons on his jacket. She felt rather than heard his sharp intake of breath.

Embracing the full power of her feminine strength, she dropped the afghan, knowing how little her nightgown concealed. His eyes closed. His Adam’s apple jumped. She pushed open his overcoat and stepped up, pressing her body against the length of his. Under the thin fabric of her gown, the hard ridge of his arousal pulsed.

Empowered by his response, she tortured them both by shimmying her hips. His erection swelled further. Kyle let his head fall back. She took immediate advantage, nibbling down the exposed length of his throat.

He groaned. “You’re making it impossible for me to do the right thing.”

“This feels awfully right to me.”

“Yeah, it’s great, but…” His wide-palmed hands cupped her cheeks, his thumbs strumming her lips as he tilted her face. Desire flushed his skin and darkened his eyes. Worry bracketed his tightly drawn lips. “I don’t want to screw this up.”

She pancaked her hands over his. “I know ignoring the future and the differences between us isn’t practical, but will a couple of hours really change whatever it is you’re so anxious to discuss?”

“No.”

“Would it help appease your conscience if I told you I’d been dreaming of making love to you when Brinks woke me?”

She’d begun to lose hope of ever convincing him, so when Kyle’s mouth swooped down and stopped her litany of good reasons for making love, it took her a few seconds to catch up.

Goodness, she loved the way this man kissed. It felt as if he wanted to touch all four corners of her soul in one deep breath.

“Tomorrow, we talk.” His intensity warmed her every bit as much as the sensual feel of him between her legs.

“Yes, sir.” She crawled up his chest, leaving him no choice but to pick her up and carry her upstairs. She worked his buttons loose and nibbled his skin as he made his way through the darkened house.

“Shayna,” he growled into her mussed hair. “You’re killing me.”

Bent at the waist, Shayna tied a towel turban-style around her long, wet hair and stood up, causing the towel wrapped around her breasts to slip. She caught Kyle’s stare in the bathroom mirror, his thoughts clearly visible.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” She wagged a finger at his nearly naked reflection and cinched up the slipping terry cloth. “Thanks to your remarkable shower skills, I’m already running late.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Goodness, no. I’ve never had such a thorough scrubbing.” Warm heat stained her cheeks at the memory of all the places Kyle had kissed and cleaned. “But if you touch me again, I’ll never make it to the parade on time.”

“So I can look as long as I don’t touch?” He settled on the lip of her claw-footed tub, the towel he wore opening to expose a delicious amount of inner thigh.

“I don’t think that’ll work, either. You’re a distraction, Kyle, no matter where you are or what you’re doing.”

“At least this way, one of us is happy.”

“Oh, I didn’t say I wasn’t happy. Just wonderfully distracted, which I can’t afford to be this morning. Please, take pity on me, for the children’s sake.”

“How about this? I’ll go put on some clothes and promise to keep my hands to myself, but I have to stay close. We still have things to discuss.”

“Okay, but you have to quit looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re picturing me naked.”

“But I am.” His grin turned wicked. “You’ve got the most beautiful body, sweetheart.” He stood up and crossed the narrow bathroom in a single stride.

“Kyyyylllle.” She drew out his name, desire flaming through her body again. Goodness. This man had turned her into an insatiable wanton. She prayed it would never end, but at the moment, she needed to find a pause button. “Please behave.”

“Yes, ma’am. But first…” His lips captured hers in a promise of delights yet to come. Gentle and unhurried, it was the kind of kiss they ran the credits over at the end of a romantic movie.

He released her lips and gave her bare shoulder a teasing nip. “Better cover up fast before I break my promise.” He returned to the bedroom, leaving her trembling and hanging on to the bathroom counter for dear life.

Her old green robe hung on the bathroom hook, but Shayna felt the need for more protection. She pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a golden sweater then tackled drying her hair. It would need to be set on rollers before she could twist it into Ms. Noel’s fancy updo.

A steamy cup of coffee magically appeared just as she turned off the hair dryer. She took a grateful sip before scanning the small space and finding Kyle, once again perched on the tub. He wore a pair of jeans and a snug white T-shirt under an open flannel shirt whose blue and black pattern really set off his stunning eyes. His feet were bare, which she found uncommonly sexy.

This was getting dangerously close to her idea of domestic bliss.

Concentrate, she ordered herself as she dug out her hot rollers. Remember the kids.

“I received the letter from Chester’s office yesterday,” he said.

Fabulous. He couldn’t have picked a less sexy topic. “I tried to call you and tell you about it, but I kept catching your voice mail. I didn’t want to tell you such great news in a message.”

“Great news? Baby, this isn’t great. It’s a disaster, and it certainly isn’t in your best interest. I can’t allow you to submit that letter to Walker. He’s not going to respond well.”

“I don’t care how he responds, although it seems to me the bigger fuss he tries to make for me, the more attention he’s going to attract to his mistakes. Once he thinks it over, I’m sure he’ll realize it’s not a very good idea.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised by what that man would consider a good idea.”

“Listen, I discussed the whole thing with Chester, and he agrees with me that-”

“Chester isn’t as competent as you might think. No lawyer in his right mind advises a client to turn down such a huge settlement offer.”

Shayna quickly started twirling her hair around the heated rollers. “A lawyer who understands his client’s wishes does. I’ve never wanted his money for myself, and as for the good that money could do for others, I decided I couldn’t sacrifice my own soul, my own principles, not even for that.”

She clipped a pin against the final roller and pulled out the bag that held her meager makeup supplies.

He reached the end of the room and spun, stalking back to her. His eyes softened as he ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. “Shayna, he will destroy your happiness if you don’t give him what he wants. He’s already taken the first step by arranging-”