The Mistletoe Experiment (6 page)

the boy was there. His brain really was still trying to sleep.

“I don"t know.” Magnus grinned. “Old habits, I guess. I

bet you"ll get used to it in no time. I"ve also made sure we

have daylight bulbs installed in every room of our house.

They emit full spectrum light which should help.”

“Thank you.” Lance smiled. His fiancé was so

thoughtful. “I"m not sure I"ll get used to it, but I"ll just

remember what summer will be like, and I"m sure I can get

through it.”

“I don"t think it"s hard to wake up at all.” Jakob was

almost bouncing in his seat.

“It isn"t?” Lance suspected that the second cup of hot,

sugary cocoa his grandmother Carine had given him was to

blame. Maybe he should have some as well? It couldn"t hurt,

could it?

“Don"t you think it"s exciting to move into our new

house? I hope the neighbors have kids so I can find some

new friends. I can"t wait to have all my stuff back and to

explore the garden.” Jakob grinned.

“In all this snow? You haven"t had enough of it yet?”

Lance shivered. He was going to take up residence right next

to the fireplace and not move until it was spring.

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

42

“But I love snow!” Jakob pointed at Magnus. “He"s told

me all about it, and I can"t wait to examine the Swedish

variety more closely, just as he taught me.”

“I can see how that makes sense, since you want to be a

glaciologist like Magnus when you grow up.” Lance shook his

head. “Me, I"m going to stay indoors until the sun

reappears.”

“You"re going to be stuck inside for a very long time.”

Jakob finished his cocoa.

“That"s not a problem.” Lance grinned back. He was only

half-joking.

When everyone had finished with breakfast, the taxi was

there. They hugged Carine and Enar goodbye, got into their

coats, gloves, and winter boots and made their way to the

waiting taxi.

Thank God the car Magnus had rented was a sturdy

SUV, with excellent heating and huge snow-safe tires. The

drive to their new home didn"t take very long. It was located

between the International School, near the centre, and the

university in the north. The neighborhood was fairly quiet for

being this central, and the house itself was even bigger than

the one in Mistletoe.

The moving van was already parked in the driveway

when they arrived, and they hurried to open the house up so

the men could start carrying everything inside. Lance heated

up some soup for everyone for lunch, and the men were done

shortly afterwards. The new furniture had also been

delivered, and they spent the rest of the day making sure

that Jakob"s and their bedrooms were set up.

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

43

They practically fell into bed not long after Jakob had

finally fallen asleep. Lance crawled into Magnus"s arms and

closed his eyes. They had only two more days until the New

Year. It boggled the mind.

BOXES, boxes, and more boxes. Lance was so sick of them,

and he was only about halfway through them all. He was

never going to move again. Well, maybe once, to somewhere

farther south, where people had normal days and nights.

He grinned when he remembered how Magnus had

taken “special care” this morning to make sure that he was

awake before they left their bed. The blowjob his fiancé had

given him had definitely made him feel a
lot
more awake

than yesterday.

Now Magnus had taken Jakob to go shopping for

groceries, one of Lance"s detailed lists in hand, of course.

Lance had taken one look outside, seen the half-darkness

that passed for day, and suggested he stay home to make

sure their things were cleared away as soon as possible. He

had just settled down in the living room to sort out their

DVD collection and the communal books, when the doorbell

rang.

Who could that possibly be?

He opened the door. There was a man on the porch who

looked like yet another Norse god. An inch taller than

Magnus, with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes, his

smile was as devastating as his dimples. Of course he had

perfect white teeth, deep red lips, and just the right amount

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

44

of stubble on his jaw to make Lance want to caress his

cheeks.

His shoulders were broad, his chest almost too wide for

the tight T-shirt he wore, and his abs were visible through

the thin cloth. Lance refused to look further down. The whole

vision of the man was too tempting, and he was engaged to

be married.

But, holy shit, were all Swedish men this gorgeous?

The vision held a large plate filled with fresh-baked

cinnamon buns. The scent made Lance swoon, reminding

him that lunch had been hours ago.

“You"re wearing a T-shirt?” Lance could have kicked

himself the moment the words had left his mouth.
Way to

make a good impression
.

“Hi. My name is Ragnor Eklund, and I"m your neighbor

from across the street.” Ragnor pointed behind him with one

hand, without moving his gaze away from Lance. “I just

wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood, so I brought

you some
kanelbulle
. And yes, I"m wearing a T-shirt. It isn"t

all that cold, and my house isn"t far from here.”

“Hi, Ragnor.” Lance"s mouth was dry.

The man was just too distracting. He was amazing

looking, had a killer smile, seemed friendly, and was offering

those scrumptious little cakes.

“Hi.” Ragnor"s grin grew wider.

He explored Lance"s face with his eyes, then let them

wander down his body. Lance was wearing old scruffy jeans

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

45

and a worn-out sweater, but Ragnor seemed to like what he

saw as he continued to undress Lance with his eyes.

Lance was feeling the cold seep into his bones, despite

the other man"s heated looks. He couldn"t remain just

standing there, and he didn"t want to just send him away.

And he had looked forward to getting to know some of the

neighbors.

“Won"t you come in for a moment?” Lance stepped aside.

“I"m sorry about the mess, but we"ve only just moved in….”

“No problem, I understand. I"m happy to help, if you

want.” Ragnor stepped inside and closed the door behind

him, holding the plate with the tempting cakes out with the

other. “Where do you want these?”

“In my mouth.” Lance laughed. “No, actually, in the

kitchen will be fine. They won"t get dusty in there, and I

won"t be tempted to eat them all before Magnus and Jakob

return.”

“Sure.” Ragnor followed him and put the plate onto the

table before looking around. “Wow, this is a well equipped

kitchen. Do you like to cook?”

“Yeah, I love to cook. I"m a housedad, so I have lots of

time to experiment.” Lance held his breath. Somehow

Ragnor"s reaction was important to him.

“That"s wonderful!” Ragnor grinned and turned his full

attention back to Lance. “I work from home, so I get to bake

a lot.”

“Maybe we can exchange recipes? I"d love to learn how

to do some more Swedish dishes.” Lance had been learning

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

46

from Carine, but having someone around the corner for help

was even better.

“Sure, I"d be happy to show you some of mine, if you

show me how to do some of yours?” Ragnor waggled his

eyebrows.

It made Lance blush. Was the man flirting with him?

MAGNUS had never really liked grocery shopping, and

today"s
expedition
with Jakob had only confirmed his intense

dislike of busy stores, greedy shoppers, and lines that

seemed longer than necessary. There"d been several closed

cash desks when he"d stood in line, waiting for it to be his

turn. Why didn"t they open all of them? The fact that most

people seemed to panic just before the New Year celebrations

and went on shopping sprees as if a famine was about to hit

was surely no surprise?

He sighed. Maybe it was to someone who hadn"t learned

to plan properly. Or maybe regression analysis didn"t work

for retailers, who knew? Whatever the reason, he"d been

stuck in the store much longer than he"d anticipated and

was more than eager to make it home to help his
älskling

unpack all his books. He hadn"t wanted to leave him to his

own devices in the first place, but the groceries wouldn"t

carry themselves home, so someone had needed to go.

“Thanks for all your help, Jakob.” Magnus smiled at the

boy who was doing his best to move more bags into the car

than Magnus.

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

47

“No problem. I like shopping.” Jakob grinned and moved

faster. “They have different things here than they did in

Mistletoe. Even the cereal is different!”

“You like shopping?” Magnus raised his eyebrows.

“Sure, I get to watch all the people in the store, and you

let me pick what I wanted.” Jakob put the last bag into the

trunk. “Lance never lets me pick what I want. At least not all

of it.”

Magnus groaned. He had created a monster by giving

Jakob too much leeway in his choices. Lance would never let

him live it down.

“Don"t worry, I won"t tell him.” Jakob winked at him and

jumped into the back seat.

While Jakob had been able to stop using a booster seat

in Wyoming after he turned nine, here the law was different

and he"d still have to use one for the next two years or so,

depending on his height and weight development. Jakob had

grumbled initially, but when
Farmor
Carine had given him

one with a Spiderman design, he"d been somewhat mollified.

Magnus shook his head as he got into the driver"s seat,

started the car, and turned them toward home. Jakob was

far too perceptive for his own good if he"d noticed the

differences in shopping habits between Lance and himself

and was now making use of them.

When they"d made it home, he parked the car in the

double garage, opened the door to the pantry, and was about

to yell “We"re back,” when he heard voices, then laughter

from the direction of the living room.

Two male voices.

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

48

Knowing that Jakob was starting to unload the car, he

made his way to the living room to find out who was with

Lance. When he entered there was a stranger next to Lance

on the sofa, his arm around Lance"s shoulders, and his head

suspiciously close to Lance"s. They sat with their backs to

where he was, so didn"t see him at first.

Magnus thought he might explode.

Before he could say anything, though, Lance turned

around and his eyes lit up. He looked almost relieved.

“Baby, you"re back!” Lance got up, impatiently removing

the stranger"s arm from his body, and walked right up to

Magnus with open arms.

There was only one reaction to that, the stranger

already forgotten at the sight of pure need in Lance"s eyes.

“Hey,
älskling
.” He bent his head down for a kiss.

Lance clung to him as if they hadn"t seen each other in

months. His soft lips were pressed up against his own, his

lover"s hot tongue was exploring his mouth as if to make

sure he was real.

“I should go shopping more often, huh?” Magnus was a

little out of breath.

Lance shook his head no, still clinging to him as he

turned around and walked them around to the front of the

sofa. The stranger held a photo album of their last holiday in

Florida in his hands, but quickly put it onto the coffee table

when they approached.

The Mistletoe Experiment |
Serena Yates

49

“This is Ragnor, our new neighbor.” Lance smiled, but it

was one of those carefully polite smiles he used in public.

“Ragnor, this is my fiancé, Magnus.”

The stranger got up and they shook hands.

“Nice to meet you, Magnus.” Ragnor grinned as if

nothing was wrong. “Lance has been telling me about you.”

He had?

“Ragnor came over to welcome us to the neighborhood

and we got to talking.” Lance looked almost apologetic. “I"m