Sweet Christmas Kisses (91 page)

He shrugged. He hadn’t been thinking about all of them when his plans took shape. There was only one person he had in mind then, and now. He walked back into the living room to see her sitting with Holly reading one of the books John and Kathy had given her.

“Hey, punkin,” he said. “’Bout time for bed, I think.”

“Can we play with Sofia again tomorrow?”

“You’ll be going to Granny & Grandpa John’s tomorrow to spend a few days with them. Remember?”

“Okay. Sofia, will you come play with me there?”

Sofia hugged her. “We’ll see, honey. Maybe you and I can go have lunch one day. I’ll talk to your grandparents.”

Mom swept into the room and swung Holly into her arms. “Let’s have a bubble-bath, and get into jammies.”

Nick thanked her and sat next to Sofia. Dad was nowhere to be seen. Tom helped Allie into her coat and they called their good-byes as they slipped out into the night. Sofia’s dad had left a while earlier, needing sleep before going back to work.

Realizing Sofia was staring at him, Nick raised an eyebrow at her.

“I will never be able to thank you enough,” she said.

“Your smile was thanks enough.”

“Which one? I haven’t stopped smiling since I got here. Is this what Christmas is always like with your family?”

“No. I haven’t even stuck around recently, if you’ll recall.”

“I will always treasure this one.”

“You looked so sad when you said your mom was out of town and your dad would be working. I didn’t want you to be alone for Christmas.”

She leaned over and hugged one arm around his waist. “Thank you.”

He leaned his cheek against her head. “You’re welcome.”

She shifted to rise and Nick caught her shoulders, looking for some kind of permission in her eyes before he kissed her. He must have mistaken what he saw because she pulled away.

“I should get going. Are you headed back down south tomorrow?”

“Yes, right after I take Holly to Morgan’s parents’ house.”

“Well, have a safe trip.”

That sounded so formal. So much like good-bye. Not “see you later.” He stood and helped her into her coat. “We could go for lunch before I leave town.”

“That’s okay. I know you have work to get back to.” She shouldered her purse and picked up the basket that now held the small gifts she’d received.

Following her to the door, he wondered what had changed while he’d been helping his mom clean up. He could have sworn he and Sofia were closer than ever up to that point. “Okay, then.”

“Okay.” She opened the door, calling, “Goodnight,” as she walked away.

Nick spent the next three days handling the phone calls and emails he should have looked at while he was in White Oak. He didn’t regret one minute of his vacation, and reminded himself a few times that he was technically still on vacation until after January second, when the office reopened.

Every time he got a text message, he hoped it would be from Sofia. She’d sounded so final when she said goodnight, he hadn’t wanted to push the issue and call. He didn’t want to ruin their friendship by doing something stupid.

He turned off the TV since he wasn’t paying any attention. It was a little after nine p.m., not too late to talk to a friend. Of course, Sofia might keep earlier hours as a teacher. He decided a text message was less likely to wake her if she’d already gone to bed.

A few minutes later his phone chirped with her reply.

It was fun. She’s a very bright little girl.

Yeah, it’s kind of quiet here with her gone.

I’ll bet. Are you able to get a lot more work done with her away?

My mind hasn’t been on work,
he typed. Not wanting to scare Sofia off, he didn’t say he’d been thinking of her the whole time.

That’s good. That’s what vacations are for. Spend a little time on you for a change.

How did she know he didn’t do that normally? That was a stupid question. She could see he spent most of his energy keeping Holly happy. Life was hard as a single parent, making sure there wasn’t a big hole in the child’s life.

He typed.
You are right. I should spend more time on me. What I want.

She sent a happy face in response.

You aren’t going to ask what I want?

??????

Did that mean she really didn’t want to know?

He was being stupid, and he knew exactly where stupid choices landed him. He tapped the phone screen to switch to call mode.

She sounded hesitant when she answered. “Hello.”

“I was tired of typing. I’m not good at it.” He wasn’t good at talking about himself, or his feelings, either. “Katie mentioned something about a New Year’s party at the Royal Oak.”

“They have it every year.”

“You sound like it’s not very fun.” Was it the party she objected to, or spending time with him?

She was quiet for a minute. “Let’s just say I had a bad time there last year.”

“Were you still with that guy, then?”

“That was the beginning of the end.”

He waited, unsure what to say next. Where was the line between commiseration and prying?

“I don’t think I should go out on New Year’s Eve this year,” she said.

“Because everyone gets drunk and does stupid stuff?”

“Because my expectations are too high. Everyone makes such a big deal about kissing someone at midnight.”

Which was exactly what he was hoping for. Wow, had he gotten his cues mixed up. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m volunteering for that job.”

“I know. I’m just not sure how to feel about that.”

“No, that’s not it.” She sighed, hesitated, and drew in a breath. “People put such expectations on who they kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve.”

“People. Like…your friends?”

“Like me.” She went into a rushed explanation about some guy named Harry who wanted to spend the rest of his life with Sally, but Nick wasn’t sure how it related to him and Sofia.

Totally lost and ready to give up, he said, “I’m not asking for the rest of your life. I’m asking for one date.”

“See? I put too much into everything. You really need to stay away from me.”

He ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes. His gut was a pretzel. “Look, my track record might say otherwise, but I’m not usually a bad judge of people. I think you and I are good together. I just want a chance to see if that’s true. Please go out with me. If you aren’t having a good time, I’ll take you home before midnight.”

She was quiet for so long, he looked to see if the phone was still connected. Her voice was quiet when she spoke. “I’d like that. I’m sure it’ll be fun.”

His breath came out in a rush. “You could put a little more excitement into that. You’re crushing my ego here.”

From the size of the crowd at the Royal Oak, Nick decided it was the place to be seen in White Oak now. Easily twice as many people as had been there at the Christmas party, with the age range covering the spectrum. “I didn’t think there’d be so many people,” he admitted to Sofia.

“Katie and JD know how to throw a party.”

“JD?”

As if Sofia had summoned him, the guy Nick recognized as Katie’s boyfriend held out his hand. “Juan Diego. We met before.”

“Right. I don’t remember any place around here being this busy.”

Juan Diego grinned. “I do everything in a big way.” He stepped aside so they could push their way to the bar.

Nick yelled in Sofia’s ear. “I don’t think we’ll get a table tonight.”

“I guess we’ll just have to dance all night.”

He followed her deeper into the crowd. Being pressed so close together, he kept getting whiffs of her sweet floral perfume. He liked the scent, and kept bending to sniff it again to try to place what it reminded him of. Then she stopped short and he bumped his nose on the top of her head.

“Oh, sorry,” she said. “The guy in front of me stopped to talk.”

“My fault, I should have been paying attention.”

A voice called out from the darkened dance floor. “Sofia!” Her friend Pauly’s head bobbed up and down through the crowd like a dog bounding through a wheat field. He finally broke through in front of them. “I thought you were staying home,” he said to Sofia.

“I was asked out,” she said.

Pauly looked over her shoulder at Nick and grinned. He threw his arms wide and hugged Sofia. “I’m so happy for you.”

When he turned to Nick with his arms spread, Nick took advantage of the crowded room and offered a handshake. He wasn’t the hugging type.

The three of them found a clearing in the crowd where they could dance, if you could call the controlled thrashing going on dancing. Still, it was fun. Loud music, tons of laughter—including his own.

The constant music, live band alternating with a deejay, made the night pass quickly. Pauly disappeared with friends. Familiar faces said hello. Everything was a whir of motion and sound, keeping him from talking to Sofia.

She looked happy though. Not as happy as Christmas Day, maybe, but happy enough. If the vision of her joy was all he got from the evening, it would be enough.

The deejay’s voice suddenly cut in to the song. “Okay, people, it’s time! Grab your guy, your girl, your best friend, your wife, your best friend’s wife…and count it down with me!”

Numbers flashed on the screen and the crowd called them out. “Ten…nine…”

Nick realized he had no idea if Sofia would kiss him or not. She turned from watching the screen and her gaze met Nick’s.

She chewed her lower lip, and her eyes dropped to his mouth.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, inhaling her sweet scent one more time.

“Three…two…”

Nick tipped his head in question. Sofia nodded. His heart jumped and he leaned down to kiss her as the room exploded in cheers and a scratchy recording of Auld Lang Syne.

He lifted his head. “Let’s get out of here,” he yelled.

“Yes, let’s.”

They hurried through the freezing air to his cold car, and he drove straight to her apartment. When they got inside they pulled off their coats in the heated room. Sofia flipped the switch to light her fireplace and they stood in front of it.

The only light came from the streetlamp outside and the flickering fire. Shadows danced across Sofia’s face, not letting him make out her expression. Suddenly it was extremely urgent that Nick knew what she was thinking. “I had fun tonight.”

“It was fun.”

“You let me kiss you.”

“I did.”

“You aren’t disappointed?”

She shook her head.

“I like you, Sofia. You know that?”

“I like you, too. I kind of always have.”

“I really hurt you with Morgan, didn’t I?”

Her gaze lowered. “Yeah, but you didn’t know I liked you then. It’s not really your fault.”

His lips pulled back on one side. “Don’t let me get started on what all was my fault. I’m just getting over that.”

She stood a little taller. “You’ve done well with your life since then, even if you did put yourself last for a bit longer than you should have. Not only did you help Morgan’s parents to heal this Christmas, you helped me tell my parents what is important to me.”

“I get lucky sometimes and come up with a halfway decent idea.”

“Like when you texted me?”

“Like when I asked you out tonight. I’d like to do it again sometime.”

“Next New Year’s Eve?”

“Sure. And maybe a few times between now and then, if you aren’t busy.”

“I think I can pencil you in.”

Relief almost overwhelmed him and he kissed her again. And again. He could do this, stay in White Oak when he brought Holly for visits. Maybe even come up more often. Not rush into anything, but take the time to really find out who Sofia was. Find out who he was, when he relaxed and forgot about work.

He stepped back to better see Sofia’s beautiful face. “I know what to get you for Valentine’s Day.”

“What’s that?”

“A pen.”

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To see more of Sofia, Nick, Holly and the other residents of White Oak, look for my other Small Town Sweethearts books!

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Aileen Fish, author of The Bridgethorpe Brides Regency romance series and the Small Town Sweethearts series, is an avid quilter and auto racing fan who finds there aren't enough hours in a day/week/lifetime to stay up with her "to do" list. There is always another quilt or story begging to steal away attention from the others. When she has a spare moment she enjoys spending time with her two daughters and their families, and her fairy princess granddaughter.

Stay up to date with book releases at her website
www.aileenfish.com
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Patricia Forsythe

Copyright © 2014 by:

Patricia Forsythe

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