An Unexpected Kiss (8 page)

“Like
squirrels?” Cole asked, thinking that might be a harsh evacuation.

Both Lucy
and the man laughed so hard, Cole felt his face flush with embarrassment. It
wasn’t that funny.

Finally,
Lucy composed herself enough to answer. “The machine gets rid of dead needles
or any bugs or spiders living on the tree.”

“Too bad
we can’t shake it before we cut it down. I hate spiders,” Cole said, as he climbed
onto the seat of the rented ATV.

“Don’t
worry about it. I’ve never once seen a spider in any of our trees.” Lucy
grinned. “And spiders don’t bother me so if you see one, I’ll take care of it
for you.”

Still
smiling, she took her seat behind him. Cole started the engine and looked at
her over his shoulder. “Ready?”

She
nodded her head. “Don’t go too fast, okay?”

He felt a
twinge of disappointment. Going fast was fun, plus it meant Lucy would hold on to
him tightly. “I won’t.”

He
started out, and followed the path made from the other 4-Wheelers. Lucy’s hands
gripped the side of the ATV but when they hit a small bump, her arms wrapped
around Cole’s middle. Lucky for him, the trail was bumpy most of the way so
Lucy’s arms stayed securely around him.

After
driving for about five minutes, they came to an area where Cole could see
several fresh tree cuts. Lucy pressed close and spoke in his ear. “This looks
like a good place to stop.”

Bringing
the machine to a stop, Cole cut the engine and waited for Lucy to climb off
first. He stood up, pocketed the key and jumped down. Right away he noticed
without her warm body next to his the air seemed a little nippy. He glanced
around at the trees, and spotted a beautiful tree.

“What
about this one?” he said, walking over to the large tree.

Lucy came
up beside him. “It’s beautiful all right, but we can’t choose the first tree we
find.”

He
laughed. “Why not?”

She
started walking toward another cluster of trees. “Because it will ruin the experience.
We need to each find one and then argue their good points.”

“I take
it you and your brothers get into a healthy debate about which tree is better?”
he said, moving in her direction.

“Sure,
it’s all part of the experience.”

Cole
chuckled and followed her around as she inspected several pines before choosing
a tree that looked similar to his, but in his opinion not nearly as full.

“Now here
is a beautiful tree,” Lucy said, circling around it. “Look how perfect and
straight the top is. The other one kind of looked like it was leaning a
little.”

“It did
not.” Cole slowly walked around the tree until he stopped where Lucy stood.
“And I say this tree is too skinny.”

“This
tree is not skinny,” she protested. “It’s perfect.”

Cole
shook his head, as he made one more pass around the tree. “No, my tree is much
fuller. We can get some of the twine to measure both of them if you want me to
prove my point.”

Suddenly,
something cold and wet smacked Cole in the neck. He whipped around and narrowed
his eyes at Lucy. “Did you just throw a snowball at me?”

“Maybe,”
she said, barely holding back a laugh.

“Let me
guess,” Cole said, wiping away the snow from his neck with his glove. “A
snowball fight is all part of the experience too.”

She
grinned and lifted one shoulder up. “One does what one has to do in order to be
the winner.”

“Good to
know.” Cole bent down and scooped up a handful of snow.

“Cole
Taggart,” Lucy said, hiding behind her skinny tree. “Don’t you dare throw that
at me.”

“One does
what one has to do in order to be the winner,” he teased, forming the snow into
a compact ball. He took a step forward and Lucy squealed.

“I was
kidding. We never have a snowball fight.”

“You
can’t keep changing the rules, Lucy.” Cole took another deliberate step toward
her.

“I’m
warning you, Cole, don’t come any closer.”

Closing
in on her, Cole debated about where to aim the snowball. He’d either miss on
purpose, or go for her legs. He didn’t even get the chance to choose either
option. The next thing he knew Lucy pulled back on the tree and let it go,
showering him with snow, most of which hit him in the face.

Lucy
giggled as Cole gasped from the shock. He hadn’t seen that one coming.

“I can’t
believe you just did that.” Cole dropped the snowball and used the back of his
glove to wipe away the snow.

“I told
you not to come any closer.”

She was
still laughing when Cole lunged for her, grabbing her around the waist. Her
laughter turned into shouts of protest. “Let go of me!”

She
squirmed and managed to get away. Cole took off after her. He wasn’t sure what
he was going to do with her once he caught her, but he
was
going to
catch her.

The deep
snow impeded her getaway, and Cole’s legs were longer. He caught her within a
few seconds, but the momentum of their chase pulled them both down into the
snow. Lucy ended up under him, and Cole shifted his weight so he didn’t crush
her.

“Now,” he
said, his breath a little ragged from the impromptu game of tag. “Let’s talk
about which tree is better.”

Lucy’s
face was only inches from his, and he felt her warm breath against his skin as
she continued to giggle while at the same time accuse him of cheating.

“How did
I cheat?”

“You’re
taller than me. It wasn’t a fair race.”

He laughed.
“Do you always change the rules to fit your needs?”

“My daddy
calls it smart thinking.”

Cole was
about to make a witty comeback when their gazes met and locked. She stilled
beneath him, and he watched the color of her eyes deepen. His pulse surged,
heat racing through him like a match to a dried-out Christmas tree.

“I told
myself I wasn’t going to kiss you again,” he murmured.

“And what
are you telling yourself now?” Her voice came out soft and breathy.

“That
rules can always be altered.”

With
that, he lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. He didn’t rush the
kiss, but took his time, enjoying the incredible sensations she evoked in him.
The cold world around them disappeared, leaving them in a cocoon of warmth and
sunshine.

Lucy returned
the kiss, her arms coming around his back, pulling him closer. Cole deepened
the kiss, exploring her sweet mouth, tasting the candy cane lip gloss she’d put
on earlier. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard the sound of giggling.

He and
Lucy broke apart, and Cole looked up to find two teenage girls watching them
from a few feet away.

“Are they
hurt?” a deep voice asked.

One of
the girls turned around and shook her head. “No, Dad. No one’s hurt.” This
elicited more giggles from the two teenagers.

Aside
from the fact they had an audience, it suddenly became apparent he and Lucy were
lying in cold, wet snow. Cole jumped up and held out his hand to help Lucy
stand.

“What’s
our cover story?” Lucy whispered to Cole as she brushed snow from her pants.

“I don’t
know. You’re better at this than me.”

A
slightly overweight man came into view, dragging a tree behind him. His face
was red, like he’d been running. Clearly, he thought Lucy and Cole had been
injured, most likely thrown from the ATV.

“You
folks okay?”

“Yes,”
Lucy said with a laugh. “Sorry if we scared you. My husband is afraid of
spiders, and when he saw one in the tree we’d picked out, he screamed like a
little girl and took off running and tripped in the snow.”

That
was her cover story? Cole shot her a disbelieving look, but kept his mouth
clamped shut. He had absolutely no defense for that.

The girls
snickered, while their father eyed Cole suspiciously. He either didn’t believe
Cole was the type of man who screamed like a little girl when confronted by a
spider, or he couldn’t believe Cole called himself a man and screamed like a
little girl when confronted by a spider.

“Do you
need me to cut the tree down for you?” the man asked.

Awesome.
He didn’t think Cole was man enough.

“Oh, no
thank you,” Lucy said, slipping her arm through Cole’s. “Facing his fears is
all part of his therapy.”

Cole
really hoped he didn’t end up being this family’s doctor. Hopefully they
weren’t even from Snow Valley.

“Well,
all right. You have a nice day.” The man pulled on the tree. “Come on, girls.
Let’s get this tree home to your mother.”

“Merry
Christmas!” Lucy hollered cheerfully as the family left them alone.

Once they
were out of sight, Cole looked down at Lucy. “I scream like a little girl?”

“Actually,
I have no idea. Do you?”

“You can
be quite annoying, you know.”

She
laughed. “Next time you come up with the story then.”

“Oh, I
will. Trust me.”

Cole
watched her tread back to the tree she’d found. “Let’s get this cut down. I’m
freezing.”

He rolled
his eyes, not bothering to argue. Luckily he didn’t meet any spiders, or any
other critters as he chopped down the tree. After securing it to the back of
the ATV, he held out the keys.

“Still
want to drive?”

Grinning,
she snatched the keys from him and took the driver’s seat. Cole climbed up
behind her and straddled the seat. Lucy started the engine, and drove slowly
back along the path they’d come. After about two minutes without increasing her
speed, Cole settled his hands on her waist and leaned in close. “You can go a
little faster.”

“I don’t
want to lose the tree.”

“At the
rate you’re going, the tree will be dead from boredom.”

She
smiled, and increased the pace, but not by much. Cole didn’t say anything else.
For one, he was enjoying the close proximity way too much to keep bugging her
about going faster. Two, he needed the added time to figure out his next
strategy with her.

An
unexpected kiss from this girl had turned his life upside down. Although he hadn’t
counted on meeting someone like Lucy, he knew he couldn’t just let her go. One
thing he’d learned today: rules, especially self-imposed rules, were meant to
be broken.

Lucy
ended
the call with her mother, and grinned at Cole. “Mom spotted Allie and her kids
at the Winter Carnival. Pastor John and his wife just invited them to go on a
sleigh ride. That won’t be for another hour, so in the meantime Allie and her
kids are going on some of the rides.”

“So we
have about two hours?” Cole asked, glancing at the clock on the dashboard.

“Maybe
longer, but just in case their plans change Mom said she’ll call me if they
leave earlier.”

Cole
studied Lucy for a few seconds. “Does your mom think you’re doing this all on
your own?”

“No, but
I told her everything was a secret for now.” Her mother had drilled her for
over an hour to give up her anonymous Secret Santa partner. Lucy had prevailed,
but she knew it couldn’t last much longer.

It looked
like Cole wanted to say more, but finally he put the car into gear and drove to
the old Carpenter house. With the engine idling, Cole turned off his
headlights. Aside from the porch light, the house was dark. But she and Cole
would have plenty of light to work by. The full moon shone on the pristine
snow, making it brighter.

“I sure
hope the gutter can withstand the weight of the lights,” Cole said, putting on
a dark beanie.

“I know.”
Lucy put on her own hat and gloves. “By the way, did we bring a ladder?”

“Nope,”
Cole said, glancing over at her with a frown. “I knew we forgot something.”

“My
parents aren’t home, but I think my dad has a tall enough ladder,” Lucy said. “Do
you want me to call him?”

“No, I’m
pretty sure Uncle Will has one, but we’d waste thirty minutes going to get it.”
He pulled out his phone. “Let me call him. If I can catch him before he and
Beverly leave for the carnival then he could bring one by.”

While
Cole called his uncle, Lucy studied the Carpenter house. At one time the small
Victorian styled house must have been beautiful. The gabled roof, and wrap
around porch were missing most of the gingerbread trimming. The white paint,
now mostly peeled away, had faded to a dingy, gray color. From what her mother
said when she’d visited Allie and her children, the interior was in pretty
rough shape, but had been clean.

“Uncle
Will isn’t answering his phone.” Cole turned toward Lucy. “Do you know anyone
close by we could borrow one from?”

“Yeah, Lance’s
house is just up the road about a half mile.”

Cole’s
gaze narrowed a fraction. “Besides him?”

If Lucy
didn’t know better she’d think Cole was jealous. She smiled. “Sorry, other than
going back into town, the Christensen’s are the only option.”

Not
waiting for permission, Lucy took off her gloves and pulled her phone out of
her jacket pocket. Before she got a chance to make the call, a pair of bright
headlights lit up the inside of the SUV as a big truck pulled up alongside
them.

Recognizing
the truck and its driver, Lucy slipped her phone back in her pocket. “Wow,
speak of the devil. There’s Lance now.”

Cole
lowered his window at the same time Lance did. Lucy watched Lance’s lips
flatten.

“You
having car problems or what?”

“No, but
we were just about to call you,” Cole said.

One of Lance’s
eyebrows rose up. “Oh? What about?”

Lucy
leaned across the seat. “Hey, Lance. We need to borrow a ladder.”

“For
what?”

“We’re
going to put Christmas lights up on the Carpenter house.”

Lance
looked at the house and squinted. “Seriously?” He brought his gaze back to
them. “Why?”

Lucy
rolled her eyes. “Because Christmas is in five days.” When he still looked
skeptical, Lucy told him the whole story. One thing about Lance was he had a
big heart. He looked crushed when he heard what TJ had said about Santa not
coming to their house.

“I’ll go
get the ladder on one condition.”

If his
condition involved a date, Lucy was going to be sorely angry, not to mention
disappointed.

“What
would that be?” Cole asked, sounding as irritated as Lucy felt.

“That you
let me help. No kid should have to wake up Christmas morning without a tree or
gifts around it.”

Lucy felt
tears sting her eyes. “You’ve got a deal. Thank you, Lance.”

Lance
nodded his head. “Do you need anything else like extension cords?”

Both Cole
and Lucy looked at each other. They had totally forgotten to get power cords.
Cole glanced back at Lance. “We didn’t bring any so if you could get those
that’d be great.”

“Okay, be
right back.” Lance made a U-turn and headed back down the road.

“I didn’t
see that coming,” Cole said, turning toward Lucy. “I thought for sure he would
only let us borrow the ladder if you went to the Christmas ball with him.”

“That’s
what I was thinking too.”

Lucy
couldn’t look Cole in the eyes as guilt pressed heavy on her chest. It appeared
that Lance had finally accepted Lucy was no longer an option for him, but only
because he thought Cole was her boyfriend. However, Lance did seem different
from the last time Lucy had come home for a visit. She knew since his father’s
stroke this past spring he’d had to take over running the ranch.

“You
going to be okay with him working with us?” Cole asked.

“Yeah, Lance
is a good guy.”

“I think
you’re right.”

Lucy’s gaze
shifted to meet Cole’s blue eyes. “So are you, Dr. Taggart.”

A slow
smile slipped across his handsome face. “So, does that mean you’ll go to the
Christmas ball with me, then?”

Surprised
by the invitation, Lucy felt her mouth go dry. An evening dancing with Cole was
very tempting. Really, she should tell him no. Going with him would only make
things harder when she had to leave.

“I don’t
know. Going to a dance together in Snow Valley would be like making an
announcement, and my mother will be there.”

The skin
around his eyes crinkled. “I’ve told you before your mother doesn’t scare me,
but if it will make you feel better, we can go separately. You just have to
promise to dance with me.”

Cole’s
blue eyes held her captive, and all of Lucy’s rational thoughts vanished.
“Okay. I promise to dance with you,” she whispered.

The air
crackled with awareness between them, and Lucy was unable to stop herself from
leaning toward him. Cole’s eyes darkened as he met her halfway and pressed his
mouth against hers. Overwhelming sensations flooded her body as he skillfully
kissed her thoroughly, and deeply. Too soon, Cole ended the kiss.

His
breath a little ragged, he kept his eyes locked with hers. “I plan on kissing
you again, Lucy, but not when Lance is around. He is a good guy, and I don’t
want to hurt him anymore than he already is.”

Lucy nodded
in agreement, trying to fight the emotions rushing through her, but realized it
was futile. She was falling in love with Cole Taggart. She just had no idea
what to do about it.

***

Cole knew
if he didn’t do something else, he might voice what his heart already knew. He
was in love with Lucy. There was no use denying it any longer. Truthfully, he’d
probably been in love with her ever since she’d thrown her arms around his neck
at the airport and begged him to kiss her.

Fighting
the urge to kiss her again, he cut the engine and opened his door. “Let’s go
ahead and open up the lights so they’ll be ready to go.” He climbed out of the
car and rounded the front of the vehicle to open Lucy’s door. “When Lance gets
back he can help me get the tree off of the roof. While he and I put the lights
on the house, you can put the lights on the tree for Allie. That way she and
the kids can plug it in and decorate it when they get home.”

Lucy
exited the SUV and put on her gloves. “Sounds like a plan.”

Lance
pulled in a few minutes later, and hopped out of his truck. “I brought two
ladders to make it go faster. We don’t want Ms. Parker and her kids returning
before we’re all done.”

“Good
thinking,” Cole said as he helped remove the twelve-foot ladders from the back
of the truck. He told Lance about the plan for Lucy to string the lights on the
tree while they did the house. The two men worked together, and quickly had the
fresh tree in the stand.

“Nice
tree,” Lance said.

Lucy
beamed. “Thank you.” She started unwinding the lights.

Lance
secured the first ladder next to the porch roofline, while Cole placed the
other one a few feet down. “I’ve never put up lights before,” he confessed.

“It’s easy,”
Lance said, climbing the ladder. “Especially using these light clips.”

He
demonstrated what to do with the clips, and Cole mirrored the procedure. The
work went fast, and soon he and Lance were stringing the lights across the
gutter. Cole and Lance were on the last set of lights when Lucy announced she
was done with the tree.

“I’m
going to plug it in to make sure it looks okay,” Lucy said from below.

Cole
watched her search for an electric outlet. When she couldn’t locate one, Lance
suggested she look on the side of the house near the power meter. Using the
flashlight app on her phone, she moved out of Cole’s line of sight.

“Did you
find it, Luce?” Lance hollered a minute later.

“I think
so. I just need to—”

Her words
were cut off abruptly when she yelped out in pain. Cole was down the ladder and
around the house before she could make another sound. He heard Lucy whimpering,
like she was trying not to cry.

“What
happened?” Cole asked, fumbling for the flashlight in his pocket.

“I took
my glove off so I could get to the outlet and cut my finger on something
sharp.” She sucked in a breath. “Ooh, it’s really bleeding.”

Turning
the flashlight on, Cole shone the beam toward Lucy. Immediately, he could see
bright red blood staining the gray glove she’d wrapped around her injured
appendage.

“Is she
okay?” Lance asked, coming in behind Cole. “Oh, man, that doesn’t look good,”
he said when he spotted the blood.

Cole
handed the light to Lance. “Hold this so I can assess her wound.”

“Sure,”
he said taking the light.

“Lucy,
let me take a look,” Cole said.

She held
out her hand, still gripping the glove around her index finger. “I don’t want
you to get blood on your coat.”

“I’ll be
careful.” Cole gently took her hand. “Lance, bring that light a little closer,
please,” he said, removing the glove. He winced when he saw the deep slice that
ran the length of her finger from above her first knuckle to the base of her
finger. Right away, he knew the wound needed stitches.

“What did
you cut it on?” Cole asked, wrapping the glove back around the finger.

“A piece
of sheet metal is partially blocking the outlet. I took off my glove so I could
slide the plug in easier, but it was a tighter fit than I thought.”

“I need
to get you to my office,” Cole said.

“Your
office?” Lance questioned. “You should take her to the ER. She might need
stitches.”

“I do?”
Lucy said, her eyes wide.

Cole
pinned an annoyed look on Lance. “I won’t know that for sure until we get the
bleeding stopped.” Cole put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward his
vehicle. “Once we get to the office, I’ll examine it again.”

“No
offense, dude,” Lance said, following close behind. “But she needs a doctor,
not some overprotective boyfriend.”

“Lance,”
Lucy said calmly. “Cole is a doctor.”