The Kringle Girls - Collection (12 page)

Will hesitated, licking his lips. A tingle of interest
sparked low in Noelle’s abdomen.

“Crazy stuff. That the deer belong to Santa Claus.
That you’re one of his daughters. Small towns, right?”

“You’re saying I’m not?”

Will gave her the look that most men gave her when the
talk turned to Santa – impatience and disbelief.

“I’m not really one for fairytales.”

“Just wait until you’re surrounded by elves searching
your pockets for spare candy.”

A pause, and then, “I don’t believe in any of that
stuff.”

Noelle just smiled. She wasn’t going to argue with him
– he’d see the light soon enough. There was something about the quiet, almost
brooding man next to her. She didn’t need her magical intuition to see that he
was hiding something – a deep hurt. Noelle was surprised at the sudden desire
to offer comfort.

“If you’re going to take this job,” she said lightly,
“you may want to keep an open mind.”

WHAT A STRANGE WOMAN,
Will thought to himself,
watching her delicate profile as they sped down the highway toward town. She
was direct and nosey, but there was something whimsical and playful about her
that would have made him smile if his smiling mechanism hadn’t been kicked into
tiny little pieces over the last year. She was also a flirt. He could feel it
in his bones, and that little bit of knowledge had his stomach clenching. He’d
felt her frank appraisal back at the ranch all the way to the soles of his feet
– there had been admiration and interest in her gaze.

She’s going to be your boss, that’s it
, he
reminded himself, and focused on the wintery landscape outside. It was snowing
now, but lightly, a preview of things to come. A trek out into a coming storm
seemed like madness to him, but he wasn’t going to let this crazy woman head
out alone – emotionally dead or not, he’d never forgive himself if something
happened to her. But she confused him. Vanessa had been delicate, needy, and
refined. Noelle gave off the impression that she didn’t need anyone or
anything, and heaven help the man who got in her way.

She pulled the truck up in front of the town’s little
market and leaned over him to rummage in her backpack on the floor by his feet,
the move brushing those epic tits against his thigh. Every muscle in his body
tightened as her sweet, pumpkin pie scent swirled around her. Noelle sat up,
holding her wallet, and grinned. She knew exactly how she affected every male
of the species, and clearly enjoyed that power. Not for the first time, Will
wondered if this was a good idea – he could move on, work construction in some
anonymous company in some huge city. Better that than trying to ignore a woman
his dick was starting to show some serious interest in, despite their brief
acquaintance. He gave his thickening member a stern lecture, reminding it what
happened when he caved to his base desires.

“I want to get some food and snow chains, and then
we’ll get gas and get the hell out of here. There’s a cabin about halfway there
– we can stop there for the night.”

“Where is this place, anyway?”

“North,” she said with a grin, and hopped out of the
car.

Thirty minutes later they were on the road again, and
Will was frowning over the puzzle that was Noelle Kringle. The run into town
had proved surprisingly informative. Clearly she was popular – everyone knew
her, which was not shocking given the size of the town. What was weird was that
everyone seemed to embrace the “Santa’s daughter” story, and greeted her with
well-wishes for her father’s journey and last-minute questions about the
reindeer and the Naughty & Nice List. She answered them all with grace and
laughter, paying particular attention to the kids that rushed up with messages
for the reindeer.

It was…odd. And refreshing. Will felt his icy inner
shell crack just the tiniest bit and vowed to just get through the next couple
of days. Once they were past the holidays, he was sure they’d fall into a
normal working routine, and he could get back to being miserable for the rest
of his life. For the first hour or so, while the beat up radio still had a
signal, the cab was relatively quiet. Noelle was lost in thought, and Will took
advantage of her distraction to watch her and wonder why such a vibrant,
beautiful young would hide herself away in the middle of nowhere, tending to
endangered reindeer.

She was a knockout, and from the way she looked at
him, and the affectionate teasing the locals gave her about behaving herself,
she obviously liked men, and had no trouble seeking out a good time. Will’s
brain immediately started whirring, thinking about having a good time with
Noelle on a cold winter’s night. He frowned at the thought of her teasing and
toying with the men who passed through town – bikers and truckers mostly –
surprisingly annoyed. Did she smile at them? Tease them with her fabulous
breasts and the swing of her hips as she walked? Will tried to shake it off.
Her sexual history was none of his business, and besides, she wouldn’t be the
first woman to use a convenient man to get what she wanted. That thought had
him freezing – he was turning into a raging misogynist.

Great.
Just because Vanessa screwed you
over, doesn’t mean that all women are going to do the same.

The truth was that Will
loved
women. He loved
everything about them – the feel, the smell, the taste. There was nothing
sexier on this Earth than a beautiful woman with a sharp mind. The problem
wasn’t with women. The problem was with Will. He had been a trusting soul, and
laid his heart on his sleeve for a woman who decided to use him to sharpen her
claws on. Will feared that being able to trust himself or anyone again was
something he might never be able to do.

“You look pretty serious over there. You’re not one of
those people who gets all depressed every Christmas, are you?”

Startled out of his reverie, Will tried to focus on
the question.

“What? No. Christmas is…fine. I don’t really have any
family, so I never made a big deal about it.”

“No parents?”

“I never knew my dad, and Mom passed away a few years
back. Cancer.”

“I’m so sorry.” Her voice was low and soothing.

“Thanks.”

“So you just ignore Christmas?”

“Well, my ex used to drag me to every stupid high
society party she could get into, so I kind of lost my taste for the whole
holiday merriment thing.”

“You were married?”

“For a few years.”

Noelle chewed her lower lip, frowning.

“She must have been a total bitch.”

Will was surprised by the rumble of laughter that
worked its way out of his chest.

“What makes you say that?”

“If she wasn’t, you’d still be with her, instead of driving
into the snowpocalypse with me.”

She was right on both counts, and the snow was really
coming down now.

“Well, we’re stuck together for the moment, so you may
as well tell me all about it.” Noelle smiled, beguiling, and Will felt a wave of
dread swamp over him.

Shit.

NOELLE REALLY WANTED TO punch Will’s ex-wife. After
hours of slow progress along the increasingly snowy road, she’d managed to drag
the full story out of him, like pulling teeth – his frigid ex-wife’s
manipulation, her greed, and the affair with his business partner that led to
Will losing everything he’d worked so hard to build. No wonder the man was
resistant to her light attempts at flirtation. After a while she’d cut it out,
honestly fascinated with him. She’d given away more than she usually shared as
well – her love of the mountains and the family business, her frustration with
her father treating her like a child. She’d kept the Santa talk to a minimum –
he’d be confronted with the truth in a matter of hours.

 I want him
, said her libido. No surprise
there. The twist in her heart was new, however.
She liked him.
She
genuinely liked him, and that was a surprise.

Probably shouldn’t sleep with him
, she thought.
They were going to be working together, side by side, with only the reindeer as
company. He seemed determined to resist her advances, and based on his history,
was wary as hell of all women.

So that’s that. What a shame.
Noelle couldn’t
even muster up the satisfaction that her mother’s grand plan had failed so
miserably.

“Oh hell.”

She snapped back to reality as the engine
sputtered
and the headlights flickered, and then went out. She quickly yanked the truck
to the side of the road, skidding onto the shoulder as the engine died.

“Fucking great,” she muttered. If Will said, “I told
you so,” she was going to hit him. But he only glared at her, and it was almost
as bad.

“Now what?” he asked.

“Well, I can’t fix it in the dark.”

“Where are we?”

Noelle scanned the dark, wooded road.

“The cabin should be about a mile from here. We’ll go
on foot and come back in the morning.”

“It’s a blizzard out there. Are you sure?”

Noelle nodded – of the two of them, he was the one to
worry about. She had never had a problem with the cold, and could romp naked in
the snow (and had) for hours on end without feeling chilly. Her own unique
Kringle Girl perk. Grabbing her backpack and a sack of supplies, she hopped out
of the car. Will slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and they headed out.

It was more like three miles. Three miles of cold, wet
snow, practically no visibility, and Noelle worried about Will, who was turning
blue with every step. His jacket was no match for this kind of weather, and she
realized that if he’d been drifting around the country, he wouldn’t be prepared
for a harsh northern winter. By the time they spotted the little log cabin in
the mountain clearing, he was shaking, and clutching his duffel bag with frozen
fingers.

Noelle found the key under the mat and propelled him
inside. The interior was dark and musty with disuse – rustic, woodsy, and
freezing. Noelle quickly discovered the source of the cold – a broken window in
the small bedroom, which was covered in snow and branches. She shut the door
and quickly rolled up a throw blanket from the couch to shove at the base,
keeping the draft out.

Will was standing where she’d left him, shivering, the
duffel bag at his feet. She was no expert, but he was probably going into
shock.

“Will. Come on, let’s get you warmed up.”

He didn’t protest as she pushed him toward the tiny bathroom,
tugging off his jacket to reveal a soaked shirt below. Noelle swiftly turned
the shower on and the pipes shuddered, and then water rushed out, brown at
first, then running clean. She heaved a sigh of relief as it warmed, and soon
steam was filling the tiny space. Will still hadn’t said a word, and Noelle
pulled off her own jacket and shoved him under the hot water, clothes and all.

HOT. BLISSFULLY HOT. WILL nearly cried out as the hot
water seeped through his wet clothing into his skin, and huge shudders overtook
him as his body reacted to the sudden change in temperature. The first mile
hadn’t been so bad, but the second was worse, and by the third he was gritting
his teeth, focused on putting one foot in front of the other, worried about
Noelle. He shouldn’t have bothered – through the whole trek she remained upbeat
and encouraging, and didn’t seem to feel the bitter cold that sliced through
his skin to fill his veins with ice.

He’d puzzle over that later. Right now he just wanted
to spend the rest of his life under this life-giving spray of water, thawing
out. Eyes closed, he barely noticed that Noelle had stripped away his wet shirt
and started rubbing his chilled muscles, trying to speed up the process.

I can’t believe I talked so much.
Will couldn’t
understand it. Her probing questions in the car had been annoying, but all of a
sudden he found himself telling her everything – his misery over the last year,
his fickle ex-wife, and all the stress he’d been carrying around. She liked to
talk, but she was a good listener, too, and Will felt another crack or two in
his armor as Noelle talked about her family and the lonely life she’d carved
out for herself in her beloved mountains.

The shudders were easing now, and Will’s tight
shoulders started to relax as the heat seeped in. Noelle was still touching
him, and he suddenly became aware that her impersonal rubbing had morphed into
stroking, and there was nothing impersonal about it. She tested the width of
his broad shoulders, shaped his pecs with warm palms, and circled his flat
nipples with curious fingers before letting them slide down to explore the
rigid muscles of his torso.

Push her away,
he ordered himself, but
apparently the cold and the touch of Noelle’s hands had caused his mind to check
out, leaving his big, dumb, cock running the show, and the throbbing member was
more than happy to oblige, pressing up against the denim of his jeans in an
eager bid for attention. Will cracked his eyes open and wished he hadn’t.

She was still fully clothed, but soaking wet, her hair
in long wet ribbons of flame down her back. The white shirt she wore was
plastered against her body, doing nothing to conceal the lace bra that cupped
her generous tits in a loving embrace. His eyes widened as he noted that her
nipples were hard, her eyes darkened with heat, and she licked a drop of water
from those pouty lips as her hands learned the contours of his body.

Dangerous.

Will opened his mouth to tell her that he was good, he
could take it from here, but all that emerged was a groan. Her hands had found
his cock, and she
fucking purred
as she traced his hard length through
the wet denim, cupping his sac with her free hand. His hands flattened on the
wall behind him, and he couldn’t help pressing up into her hand. She seemed to
like that, because she
squeezed
, and Will felt a slap of lust so strong,
it took everything he had not to come into her touch. Despite the soaked fabric
between them, he wanted to give her everything he had, and then peel off her
clothes and explore her creamy satin skin with his hands, his mouth, and his
dick.