All I Want for Christmas Is You (5 page)

"Yeah!" Kristen declared and began pulling her mother toward the concession stand.

That's when she saw Kyle talking to the woman behind the concession stand as he patted a gigantic dog tied to a barrel. Her first thought was to change directions and head toward the gazebo. Maybe she could get lost in the crowd. But she was too late. He swung around and saw her walking toward him, making no attempt to hide his surprise or pleasure at their arrival.

He stood up straight just staring at her with his cool as ice eyes, pushing the strands of hair the wind had blown in his face back with one brush of his hand. Even from the distance they were at she could tell he was a good ten inches taller than her five foot six frame. She noticed for the first time what she couldn't last night, he was exceedingly handsome. His hair was long, touching his shoulder blades in the back, with blonde tips and rich brown roots that gave it an almost frosted appearance. It was something she hadn't noticed last night when his hair was wet from the snow. His facial features were strong and hard, reminiscent of a Viking.

When he'd come out of nowhere last night and offered her aid, she'd feared him. She knew she had need. She tried to tell herself it was because she was alone and he was a stranger. And now she feared him again, but it had nothing to do with her and Kristen's safety. It had everything to do with a need that lay dormant inside her for far too long.

"I'm glad you made it," he said when they reached the concession stand. Lauren remained at a good ten foot distance, fearing the behemoth dog might leap on Kristen. "Oh, don't be frightened. They're big, but these dogs are pretty much harmless," Kyle assured them. "That is as long as you don't have any fried dough."

"Or a perfected basted and stuffed turkey," the woman that Kyle had been conversing with spouted from behind the counter.

Up close, Lauren guessed that she was no more than ten or fifteen years older than Kyle. She was petite in size and her short brown hair curled around her ear muffs. What she noticed more was the way her cocoa colored eyes gleamed with affection at Kyle, making Lauren wonder about the nature of their relationship.

"A word of warning, my dear. Make sure you keep your hands and food held high."

Kyle laughed, but appeared slightly abashed. "Are you still sore about Thanksgiving, Ma?"

"What do you think?" the woman returned, rolling her eyes at Kyle.

"I think I'd better quit while I'm still ahead," he answered.

"Good thinking."

Kyle brushed his arm across Lauren's back and she immediate felt a pulse of warmth beneath her heavy coat from his touch. "Ma, this is Lauren Alexander and the little one hiding behind her here is Kristen."

Kristen shyly pulled into her mother in an attempt to hide herself. It was a typical reaction for Kristen when meeting new people. Of course, Kristen had no idea that she'd already met Kyle the previous evening and still felt intimidated.

"This is my mother, Judy Preston," he told Lauren.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Preston," Lauren returned cordially. She held her eyes on Judy, noting her youthful appearance, then glanced back at Kyle as if to make the link. But she couldn't figure out what didn't seem right about the connection.

"Please call me Judy. Did you have any trouble finding a parking space? It gets so crowded and with all the snow, parking is scarce."

"We live just a few blocks from here so we walked," Lauren told her. "I had no idea this was such a big deal. We've never been."

"Really? You must be new to town. Brimfield has been putting on this celebration for years." Judy seemed nice and friendly, Lauren decided.

"We've lived here a few years. We just haven't had the opportunity to come."

"We're a rowdy crowd but we have a good time," Kyle said, giving her a mischievous grin.

Without warning, he placed his arm loosely around her shoulder. The gesture felt so natural that Lauren didn't think to pull away until it seemed it would become too obvious to everyone around them. Although the wave of heat his touch generated filled her with a stirring deep beneath the pit of her belly, she found herself enjoying the fire kindling inside her. It had been way too long since any man spawned such desires.

"So, Kyle tells me you're coming for dinner on Sunday," Judy said as if it were a confirmation of something already discussed.

"I beg your pardon?" Bewildered, Lauren looked, first at Judy, then at Kyle.

Kyle blew out a breath and gave her a crooked grin. "Ma, would you let me get around to asking her first?"

"What are you wasting time for? Just ask the girl for cripes sake," Judy chortled.

"Well, I, uh-" Lauren stammered.

"Are we going somewhere, Mommy?" Kristen asked curiously, looking up at Lauren with widened eyes.

"Here, have a cup of hot chocolate to warm you." Judy extended a Styrofoam cup filled with hot chocolate and piece of fried dough lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Lauren automatically accepted, keeping the hot chocolate for herself and handing the pastry to Kristen.

Kyle quickly whisked her away from the concession stand. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay. She's just..." Lauren turned to look back at the concession stand, still reeling from the strange conversation.

"What is it?" he asked, answering her befuddled expression.

"I'm sorry. It was rude of me to stare. It's just that your mother..."

"I know. She spoke a little soon. But the invitation still stands. I mentioned to her this afternoon that I wanted to invite you and Kristen to dinner on Sunday. I hope you'll be able to make it," he said, squeezing Lauren's hand.

"No."

He stopped walking and jerked his body around to look at her. "You won't come for dinner?"

"No, that's not what I mean. It's just..." She didn't quite know how to verbalize her thoughts, especially since it was a cause of concern over being so young herself when Kristen was born. "Your mother seems so young." Heat filled her cheeks. It was a stupid thing to say, but honest none-the-less.

Kyle laughed. "She'd probably kiss you if she heard you say that."

"She seems too young to have a son your age is what I'm trying to say," she added.

"Most people pick up the fact that I tower over my parents or that they both have brown eyes and mine are blue."

Feeling embarrassed for such an inconsequential observation, Lauren crouched down to fiddle with Kristen's mittens that were now covered with powdered sugar from the fried dough.

As if sensing her discomfiture, he offered, "Mom and Dad knew early on they weren't going to have kids of their own. They adopted me."

"It's none of my business," Lauren blurted out, trying to brush off a flood of seven-year-old memories the word adoption evoked.

"It's okay. It doesn't bother me. It shouldn't bother you," Kyle returned as they made their way to the long line of people still waiting for Santa Claus to show.

"It doesn't," she stopped and turned to face him, trying her best to appear unfazed. The last thing she wanted was for him to misread her hang-ups over adoption as being a negative reflection on him. The truth was, Lauren had never quite given up the guilt over almost giving Kristen up for adoption all those years ago.

"Really? Why do I get the feeling there is something more?" It was frightening, the way Kyle's eyes seared through her as if he was penetrating her soul, reading her deepest fear. No one had ever come close to doing that before.

She darted a quick glance at Kristen, then back to Kyle. A prickly heat scorched beneath her scarf and began to feel like a noose around her neck. His eyes softened and his expression fell as they took their place in the long line.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his voice was drowned out by the roar of the crowd as Santa Claus arrived on the back of a bright red fire engine. The truck drove around the common with lights flashing as Christmas carols blared on the loud speaker and scattered people lost in the crowd sang along to Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Lauren breathed a heavy sigh of relief for the distraction. She hadn't spoken a word of her guilt to anyone since the day she left the hospital with Kristen all those years ago. She'd be damned if she started now.

# # #

Chapter Three

The flash of fear in Lauren's eyes startled Kyle. Her eyes were wide and luminous, like a deer shocked by the headlights of an oncoming car. It was many years ago, but he'd seen that same brand of fear before in Chas. Although a lot had changed since those rebel days, the memory of his friend's pain was etched in his brain forever.

And now he was seeing it again in Lauren. His first reaction was to reach out to her, hold her. Anything to erase that pain. But when he reached out to take her hand, she did something completely unexpected.

She laughed and shouted, "Come on!" Pulling both Kristen and Kyle deep into the crowd of people already joyfully caroling, she began singing at the top of her lungs. Kristen sang in between giggles and jumping up and down with glee.

A rush of excitement mixed with bewilderment consumed him. Was this the same woman who bluffed so miserably last night? Just when he thought he knew what to expect, she did a one hundred and eighty degree turn on him and raced in the other direction.

"You better watch out," she sang. "What's wrong? Join in," she urged.

They sang and laughed as Santa rode around the common before making his way through the crowd of people. With the music still blaring over the loud speakers, she shouted teasingly, "It's a good thing they don't discriminate for singing out of tune."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Why's that?"

"Because you would have been kicked out of the choir long ago. You can't carry a tune to save your life." When she laughed, her voice was rich and pure and her face was brighter than the midday sun.

His breath caught in his throat. "Hey, it's the enthusiasm behind the song that counts."

She nudged him. "If you say so."

As Santa Claus made his way through the cheering crowd, the town Christmas tree was set ablaze. A chorus of oh's and ah's filtered through the town square along with cheering.

Kyle gazed down at Lauren's face and was transfixed by the awe he saw there. Her mouth was agape and her eyes were as wide with wonder. Along with Kristen, she stared up at the Christmas tree as if she'd never seen anything like it before. In fact, both mother and daughter looked as if they had just walked into Santa's winter wonderland with the golden key.

God, she was beautiful. He wanted to touch her, but didn't want to break the spell that had come over her.

They waited in line to see Santa, toes and noses frozen in the dipping temperature, watching the mist from their breath, without any real conversation. Despite the laughter they'd shared earlier, Kyle knew that there was something Lauren was holding back. She'd acted weird, to say the least, when she met his mom and he mentioned that he was adopted. Suddenly, he needed to know the reason why. Given the right moment, he fully intended to get to the bottom of what made Lauren Alexander tick.

"Look, the line has died down for sleigh rides. Why don't we take advantage of our luck?" Kyle said, gently tugging Lauren by the hand. It felt so natural holding her hand that when he realized he was doing it, he just held on and savored the toasty feeling it gave him.

"I really should get Kristen home," Lauren said. "She's been out late two nights in a row."

"It's not a school night. Surely, she doesn't have to be in bed so early," he challenged, hoping he could gain a little advantage by soliciting Kristen's help. He wasn't disappointed.

"Yeah, let's go see the horses!" Kristen squealed, scrunching her shoulders up to keep herself warm.

She shot a you're-playing-dirty glance at Kyle and turned to Kristen. "But honey, you look so cold. I think we need-"

"We'll keep her warm. We can sit her between us," Kyle interjected before Lauren could make another protest. Moving closer he drew in the scent of her, fresh and clean, uniquely feminine and he added in a whisper, "Will that be a safe enough distance for you, Ms. Alexander?"