PERFECT (8 page)

It sounded like
Darcy didn’t have much respect for her brother and from her comment last night
her sister-in-law wasn’t high on her list either. “How does your sister-in-law
feel about that? Wait. I’m sorry. That’s prying. It’s none of my business.”

“No.” She shook
her head. Her hair cascading over her shoulders shimmered in the afternoon
sunlight.

He rubbed the
fingers of his empty hand together to rid them of the itch to feel Darcy’s soft
waves.

“It’s okay. Sadly,
Rebecca is not the nurturing type either. She’s in charge of half-a-dozen
social organizations— from saving the wild boars in the back woods of Oconee
County to saving the restrictions on their Atlanta country club. I feel sorry
for the kids, actually.”

“That’s why you
said last night you’re not your sister-in-law by a long shot.”

She nodded,
picking up her coffee cup, taking a sip, and stared out the window.

Dylan knew she
didn’t see the village of Black Moose. The streets were deserted except for an
occasional local resident rushing to a car from one of the businesses
surrounding the common park. The wind picked up the dry snow that had fallen
overnight and swirled it into the air. The flakes glistened in the bright
sunlight. Darcy wasn’t focused on any of the village’s charm. She was hundreds
of miles away, and maybe years in the past.

“I wish I could
give those kids one Christmas to remember,” she said softly. Her long fingers
wound into her red locks and twirled the strand. “One with meaning.”

Her frown pulled
at his heart. He wondered if she was recalling a special holiday, or a lack of
one. That saddened him, thinking the latter might be true. His parents always
made a huge deal out of holidays, just like Bob and Elizabeth. Although his
parents had a zany hodgepodge eye for decorating.

“Making this
Christmas special for Katy and Jillian is exactly what has me worried. I
totally screwed up Thanksgiving and as for Halloween—we won’t talk about that
fiasco.” He took a gulp of his coffee and sat the mug down with a clunk. “I
haven’t had a Christmas tree since I lived with my mom and dad. I have no idea
about decorating, making cookies or fixing a feast.”

Her green eyes
slanted toward him. “Let me help you.”

He smiled and
pushed his empty bowl to the side. “I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Why the hell
not?” She placed her cup to the side, slid her bowl next to his, and shifted
forward on her captain chair. “I’m a workaholic trying to fend off a serious
boredom bug. I’ll go nuts on this mountain by tomorrow with nothing to do. I
love to decorate. You know I can cook and bake. I don’t have my credentials
with me, but I’m sure you’ll accept Tom’s word. Come on,” she pleaded. “What
else am I going to do for the next week?

“You came here to
spend time with Tom?”

“And I will, when
he’s not working. You know the hours he keeps. What am I supposed to do? I’m
not going to go to the restaurant with him. And, as enchanting and well stocked
the general store is, I’m not that big on shopping.”

“There are other
stores. Wendy’s Christmas Village.”

“I am not that big
on shopping,” she said one word at a time, repeating her opinion on shopping.
“By the way, is every store in this town named after their owner?”

“Well, Harry’s
auto shop is actually owned by Butch Conner now. Harry passed away last March,
but Butch kept the name because old Harry had boxes and boxes of unused invoices
and Butch thought it’d be a waste to just throw them out. I guess Harry got
them at a real good price.” He chuckled and Darcy followed suit. He was glad to
see the sparkle back in her beautiful eyes. “Oh, you could ski. Our slopes are
amazing.”

“I’m from the
south. The idea of strapping wooden planks to my feet and free falling down a
mountainside scares the bejeesus out of me. No thank you.”

“You could catch
up on your reading.” He sat forward.

She leaned toward
him. “I’ll get eye strain.”

The adorable way
she crossed her eyes caused a hearty burst of laughter to escape him. He
glanced around the room and saw they had the full attention of all the other
patrons. He waited until everyone went back to minding their own business
before saying, “There are a thousand other things you could do and a lot of
interesting places to visit.”

Her gaze narrowed
into green slits. “Why don’t you want me to help you?”

Noting Armell and
Linda, her waitress, watched them with interest, he said quietly, “I didn’t say
that.”

“It sounds like
you don’t. Is the idea of spending time me so unappealing?” She traced her
finger down the side of her face to her chin and ended the move at the center
of her plump, very wine-colored lips.

Dylan felt the
rush of heat to his cock. Standing up to pay the check wouldn’t be an option
for a few minutes. The woman knew how to win an argument.

Out of propriety,
he turned his thoughts back to Jillian and Katy and his desire to make
Christmas special for them. “Okay. On one condition.”

Darcy arched her
perfect right brow in mistrust. “What?”

“You let me teach
you to ski.”

She sat back,
shaking her head. “As we say in the South, my mama did not raise no fool. That
is not a good idea.”

Oh, he loved a
game of dicker. “That’s the deal. I’ll let you help me decorate the house. You
can bake cookies for us. You can even help me make Christmas dinner, if you
also join us, but I get to take you skiing.” He grinned.

She gasped. “Why
do you want to make a fool out of me?”

“I don’t know.” He
shrugged. “Fun.”

She slumped back
in her chair and gave him a wary look. “Fun, huh?”

“Yeah. Fun.”

It took everything
in him to hold back his chuckle. Darcy was visibly troubled at the prospect of
swooshing down a mountain side. He’d let her squirm for a while before he’d
leave her off the hook. She was so damn cute herself.

“Skiing.” She
snatched her napkin from her lap, tossed the crumpled wad on the table between
them like a gauntlet and said, “Well, I never backed away from a challenge in
all of my twenty-seven years, and I’m not going to start now.”

“Wow. You’re
twenty-seven.”

She sat
straighter. “Yeah, why? Do I look… How old do you think I am?”

“At least twenty—”

“Spill it.”

“Five. I was going
to say five.” He raised his hand. “Honest. I was an Eagle Scout. So we’re going
skiing?”

“Yes, but I’ll
have to go shopping and buy some warmer clothes, I’m afraid. This leather coat
is warm enough in South Carolina but here, not so much.” She mocked a shiver,
because Armell’s Country Kitchen was quite cozy with a fire crackling in the
stone hearth. Darcy snatched her bag from the seat of the empty chair between
them. “When do you want to start decorating?”

“I was actually
going to dig some things out of the attic this afternoon. I’m not sure what or
where Elizabeth has the stuff stored.” He pulled back his thermo-shirt sleeve
and blinked. Somehow two hours had gone by. “Damn.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nearly two.
The girls will be home in an hour and a half.” His chair legs scraped the plank
floors as he pushed back from the table. “And I have to go to work at the ski
lodge at seven. I’m off tomorrow. Can we start tomorrow morning? I’d really
like to surprise the girls when they get home from school.” Dylan flipped the
check over and fished in his back jean pocket for his wallet.

“You know, if you
want to make this Christmas special, you could buy your own decorations. If you
use your brother’s and sister-in-law’s stuff and decorate the way they always
do, it could make thee girls think of their parents’ absence more.”

He shook his index
finger at her. “You’re right. I never thought of that. Let’s head down to
Wendy’s Christmas Barn and whatever she doesn’t have, I’ll check for at the
Whoseher’s General Store. My truck is parked out front of there anyway.” He
rose, slid his arms into the sleeves of his coveralls and shrugged on the heavy
garment. “I’ll pay the check and we’ll take off.”

Darcy stood and
grabbed her jacket from the back of the chair. “If you’ll excuse me, just a
moment. I’m going to freshen up and call Tom. I want to let him know you’re
going to drop me off. He must be wondering what the heck I’m doing.” She dug
her cell phone from her purse and held it up. “I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time.”
Dylan watched the sway of Darcy’s hips in her form-fitting jeans as she walked
away. She glanced over her shoulder and caught him enjoying himself and winked
openly. Thank goodness he had his extra heavy coveralls on. His off stride
would be contributed to them and not the making of a good hard-on.

Christmas. He
sighed. The coming holiday looked much brighter than it did yesterday. If he
hadn’t stopped last night for that drink with Tom, the holiday would still look
bleak. Thank goodness he had.

An hour later,
Dylan pulled up to Tom’s house. The old farmhouse his friend had remodeled sat a
few hundred yards down the road beyond the Grist Mill. If Tom had been in the
dining room of the restaurant, no doubt he saw them pass by.

However, Tom was
not on his mind. Darcy was. In the past ten minutes, the cab of his truck got
very warm, and the heater wasn’t running. He didn’t want to leave her.

He hadn’t laughed
this much in a very long time and he felt like the happiest guy on the
mountain.

He shifted the SUV
into park.

“Thank you for
driving me here,” she said, smiling at him and wringing her gloved hands
together. “I’m sure Tom appreciates it too.”

“Not a problem.
Thank you for helping me choose decorations.” He hitched a thumb toward the
back seat piled high with packages. “So what are you going to do this
afternoon?” He asked, unwilling to let her go just yet.

“I don’t know.
Make some notes concerning my restaurant. Check my car and if it’s thawed, take
a drive. See some of the interesting places I’ve heard about. Or I might just
stay in, fix something for dinner, take a hot bath and then, maybe, read a
book.”

“You’re going to
relax?”

“Well, when in
Rome.”

They gazes locked.

Erotic impulses
danced their way down Darcy’s spine. She could sit there forever taking in
every inch of Dylan’s maleness. Damn the cold biting at her toes. To hell with
the fact he had to get home in time for the girls to come off the bus.

The girls.

She wasn’t going
to be the reason two little girls were left out in the cold. He had to go. “I
better let you go. Thank you so much for showing me around town, and for
lunch.”

“It was my
pleasure. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning after the girls get on the school
bus—around eighty-thirty. Is that okay?”

“Sounds good.” She
lifted her purse onto her lap. “I guess I’ll see you then.”

“Yeah.”

She twisted to
undo her seat belt and that’s when it happened.

The contact of
Dylan’s calloused hand cupping her face sent Darcy’s pulse racing. He drew
closer, his gaze crossing her face. She saw his long, dark lashes lower before
her own eyes drifted closed. His mouth covered hers with the slightest brush,
testing her lack of resistance. Again, his sweet lips swept hers, teasing them
with his tongue. The affirmation of the physical desire they felt for each
other manifested in their kiss and the next and the next.

His hand wound
into her hair and held her in place.

Pushing against
the floorboard, she lifted up from her seat, struggling to get closer to him.
Her purse thudded against the floor. She ran her hands through his soft hair
and over his wide shoulders, longing to feel the clean, strong lines of his
body without the obstruction of his bulky coveralls.

The cab of the
vehicle grew warmer and warmer as each passing second saw them touching one
another. And tasting. The savory mixture of him uniting with her was wonderful.

Dylan shifted over
the console to get even closer to her and set the vehicle’s horn blaring. They
jumped apart by mere inches, still grasping each other. Realizing what had
happened, they burst into laughter. The rise and fall of his chest matched hers
as their foreheads joined.

“I’ve wanted to do
that since the moment I saw you last night when you walked into the Grist
Mill.”

His words had her
dancing inside. Zipper teeth bit into her palms as she gripped his coveralls at
the V opening. “You did? You didn’t even know me,” she said breathlessly.

“It didn’t
matter.” His eyes shifted to the digital dashboard clock. “Damn. I wish I could
stay, but I really have to go. The bus will be at the house in fifteen
minutes.”

“I know.” She
heard her body scream, “No. Don’t let him stop.” She had to let him go. He had
responsibilities.

He kissed her
again and then his tongue crossed his lips. “You taste so good.”

“It’s my grape lip
balm.” Darcy smiled against his lips.

“I’m sure it’s the
combo.” He kissed her once more and licked his lips again.

She pushed him
back, knowing if he didn’t stop kissing her, her willpower would break and he’d
be late getting home in time for the girls arrival.

He moaned.

“I know, but you
must go,” she purred. “And we’ll see each other tomorrow.”

“I’ll walk you to
the door.”

“No. Go. I’m
okay.” Before he could grab her again for another quick kiss, she opened the
door and jumped outside. She grabbed her purse, slammed the door and then
retrieved her shopping bag which contained Tom’s plaid long johns from the back
seat.

As he pulled away,
she waved good bye. When Dylan’s truck rounded the corner and disappeared from
sight, she tucked her arms closer to her body, already missing his warmth. She
stamped her cold feet while making her way up the sidewalk and onto the front
porch. She did need to go shopping for warmer boots and coat. In her present
apparel, tomorrow she’d be a frozen Popsicle helping Dylan decorate the outside
of his brother’s house. Which might not be a bad idea. He could warm her up
afterwards.