The Mistletoe Phenomenon (5 page)

"You are to me." Magnus frowned. "I don't know why, but I just get this sense of how you're doing when I'm close to you. You've taught me to listen to my feelings where Jakob is concerned, and now I'm doing it with you as well. I can't turn it off."

"I'm sorry. I don't want to burden you with my problems."

Lance swallowed.

"That's not what this is about." Magnus smiled. "I think there's something going on that's eating at you and I want to know what that is. I can't resist a puzzle and I'm a problem solver, Lance. This isn't going to go away by you ignoring it, okay?"

"I hear you." Lance looked up. "But I really can't talk to you about it. I'm sorry."

"Oh, shit, this is about me or Jakob, isn't it?" Magnus blinked slowly.

"How did you...."Lance bit his tongue.

"It was just a suspicion." Magnus's shoulders slumped. "I was afraid we'd crowded you. You have a life of your own and we've been monopolizing your time."

"No!" The anguished sound was out of Lance's mouth before he could stop it.

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"But we have." Magnus looked back up with pain in his eyes.

"Yes." Lance nodded, desperate to make it better. "But that's not the problem."

"It isn't?" Magnus sighed. "I'm sorry Lance, I'm new at this stuff and I don't get it. You'll have to help me understand."

"Okay." Lance sighed. "Just not in the middle of the store?"

Magnus nodded.

"Tell me why you're here?" Lance put the last toys away, trying to keep his hands busy so he wouldn't touch Magnus.

"And where's Jakob?"

"Jakob's up front helping Katie." Magnus smiled. "I wanted to ask you if you want to have dinner with us. Jakob and I missed you today. We'd get take out so that you don't have to cook. But now...."

"I'd love to spend the evening with you guys." Lance was so relieved it hurt. He'd wished for this all day but he hadn't felt like he could just invite himself.

"You would?" Magnus's eyes lit up.

"Of course I would. I love spending time with both of you."

Lance's world was all right for now; he'd deal with the rest later.

Later came sooner than he wanted. They'd had a great Chinese meal and had taught Jakob how to use chopsticks.

Two rounds of Cluedo later Jakob was falling asleep in his chair and they'd put him to bed. The little boy had insisted on kissing both of them goodnight, and it had made Lance feel very warm inside to be accepted like this.

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Now they were sitting on the soft rug in front of the lit fireplace, leaning back against the couch and sipping
glogg
, the Nordic version of mulled wine that Magnus had made.

"Can you tell me why you were so sad earlier?" Magnus looked up. "Please?"

"The problem isn't that you've been taking me away from my own life." Lance sighed, his stomach in knots. He wasn't ready to tell Magnus that he had no life without them, but he had to tell him something. "The problem is that I want to spend more time with you and Jakob."

"You do?" Magnus sat up, eyes wide.

"A lot more time." Lance nodded.

"But that's great." Magnus put down his empty mug.

"It is?" Lance's heart was surging in hope.

"Yeah." Magnus smiled and leaned forward. "Remember Brian and Nancy and their threats of 'dire consequences'

when we kicked them out on Monday?"

"Sure. How could I forget?" Lance shuddered. Those people were a little scary.

"Well, I found out those 'consequences' when the sheriff came around this morning. They'd lodged a complaint about me being an unfit guardian! I think they expected him to take Jakob and turn him over to them right then. But you know what? Your technique of using emotions as arguments worked perfectly." Magnus grinned.

"It did?" Lance was light-headed, he was so relieved.

"Yeah. I convinced the sheriff that I was a very fit guardian. He did make me think about something, though."

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that he wouldn't recommend trying to raise children on my own. He said it would be better if there was a second person around to help carry the burden. I'm sure he meant a woman."

Where was Magnus going with this?

"But I have no intention whatsoever of getting married to some woman to provide a mother for Jakob." Magnus fisted a hand, and then relaxed it. "I do want help with Jakob, though, and was wondering if, well, if you might be interested in the position?"

"What? As Jakob's nanny?" God, that was so close to what he really wanted. "Position" just sounded so cold. He'd be living with them, he assumed, but would that be enough?

"Well, I don't know what you'd call it." Magnus narrowed his eyes in thought. "I don't think 'nanny' is quite right."

"So you're doing this just for Jakob?" Lance's heart hurt at being so close and yet miles away from what he really wanted.

"No, not just for Jakob." Magnus looked him straight the eyes. "Look, I know we only met six days ago. But there's something going on between us that I'd like to explore. The fact that I need help with Jakob just means I'm asking you to move in with us faster than I normally might. If it's not what you want, that's not a problem, we can take it more slowly.

But you said you wanted to spend more time with us, so...."

"What about my job?" Not that Lance really wanted it, but he needed to find out what Magnus was thinking.

"Do you really like that job?" Magnus tilted his head.

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"No." Lance sighed. He might as well tell Magnus everything. "My last lover dumped me on Thanksgiving.

Cleared out our bank account and vanished. The police told me since it was a joint account, there was nothing they could do."

"What?" Magnus knit his brows.

"Yeah. I had no choice but to come back here since there were no jobs available in L.A., and I thought the ski resorts around here might need a physical therapist. Turns out they don't, and I'm not qualified as a sports masseur. So I'm stuck in a low-paid job with an apartment I can hardly afford until I can save enough to pay for retraining." Lance didn't dare look at Magnus.

"Do you want to work as a masseur?" Magnus's voice was soft, careful.

"Not really." Lance shook his head. "But I have to make a living."

"What if I paid you a salary?" Magnus put a finger under Lance's chin and made him look up into those silver-blue eyes.

"You would do that?" It wasn't what he wanted but he couldn't really ask Magnus to consider him his partner and share everything.

"Of course!" Magnus sounded determined.

"Okay." Lance smiled when Magnus's eyes lit up with joy.

Moving in with them was a first step. He'd see if it could become more soon enough, especially given all the mistletoe all over the house.

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Chapter Eight

Magnus was over the moon that Lance had said yes. The discussion about money had been awkward. Something didn't feel right, but Lance hadn't said anything, so he'd ignored it.

"Uncle Magnus?" Jakob sounded like he was a couple of aisles over.

"I'm in the play corner, Jakob." Magnus grinned.

"Huh? What are you doing there?" Jakob walked up to them and his face lit up when he saw Lance. "Hi, Lance. Will you have dinner with us?"

"Yes, I'd love to." Lance hugged Jakob.

"He's going to do more that have dinner with us very soon." Magnus almost couldn't contain his happiness.

"Is he going to stay for a sleepover?" Jakob's eyes sparkled.

"A sleep- sleepover?" Magnus blushed at the pictures appearing in his head. "Actually, I've asked him to move in with us so that we can spend more time together."

"You have?" Jakob turned to Lance. "And you said yes?"

Lance nodded and Jakob launched himself at the other man, trying to hug the stuffing out of him. Magnus wanted to do that too. Why hadn't he?

"Can you stay tonight?" Jakob let go of Lance. "The guestroom is all set up!"

"I'd love to stay tonight but I need to pack." Lance looked over at Magnus. "If that's okay with you? It's not too fast?"

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"The sooner the better." He nodded. "Do we need a trailer?"

"I haven't got much." Lance looked embarrassed. "The studio is furnished, so there's nothing big to transport."

"No problem." He grimaced; Lance had
told
him how tight money was for him.

"Let me go talk to Katie about my job here." Lance frowned. "I don't want to leave her in the lurch."

* * * *

Magnus was grateful to Katie for letting her brother go right away. He hadn't expected that, had been ready for a transition period where Lance would still go to work every day. The store was really busy with Christmas now only a little over a week away. But she'd insisted that Lance's new life was more important than her store. Lance's eyes had lit up. Magnus had been surprised that she hadn't called it a job like Lance did.

Now it was Saturday evening, and Lance had already lived with them for three days. They had been some of the best days of Magnus's life. It wasn't just that their food had gotten better since Lance had taken over in the kitchen; they'd had fun exploring their new environment during the day and their evenings were filled with laughter, whether it was playing board games, reading books, or singing Christmas carols.

Lance had encouraged Jakob to open up, letting him talk about his parents and how much he missed them. That was helping the little boy to accept what had happened and move on, without feeling that he was abandoning his parents or his 47

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love for them. Magnus had been carefully included in all of it.

He was in awe and depended on Lance's presence and judgment more every day.

Hell, who was he kidding; he was falling for Lance faster than an avalanche came down a mountain. The connection he'd felt since that very first kiss had only grown. Their

"experiments" under the mistletoe all over the house had been fun, but Magnus wanted more. Research had its purpose, but he'd drawn his conclusions and was ready for action.

He glanced around the living room, making sure everything looked as seductive as possible. Candles all over the room replaced the ceiling lights, he'd bought extra pillows and placed them on the couch, and he'd drawn the curtains.

He was particularly proud of the mistletoe garlands he'd strung across the ceiling while Lance was upstairs, making sure there wasn't an uncovered spot to be found. He made himself comfortable in a corner of the couch, ready for Lance to finish the phone call with his parents which he'd taken in his room.

* * * *

Lance had been tired and ready to call it a night when he went downstairs. Now he stood and stared. The living room looked like a scene from a romance novel. The intent was clear, even without the mistletoe garlands that had appeared along the ceiling. Magnus's silver-blue gaze was filled with desire, making his smile and open arms a clear invitation.

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None of his lovers had ever gone to this much trouble for him. Was this a sign that it was okay to trust Magnus with his heart? He already trusted the man with everything else.

Lance swallowed and walked over to the couch. He sat down next to Magnus and took his hand to twine their fingers.

"Magnus?" Lance had wanted more than a "position" as Jakob's nanny. But was that what Magnus was offering here?

"What's this about?"

"I wasn't sure how else to tell you that-that I want more with you." Magnus's gaze didn't waver, but a muscle in his jaw twitched. "I'm not very good at talking about my feelings.

I've never needed to because I was never emotionally involved."

"That's sad." Lance couldn't imagine a life like that. "It probably saved you a lot of heartache, though."

"Maybe. It also suddenly feels like I missed a lot." Magnus lifted Lance's hand and kissed it. "You've changed that.

You've made me realize that I can listen to my feelings and follow them. You've helped me get closer to Jakob, which I'm more than grateful for. And now I can see that our

'experiments' with the odd kiss here or there are nice but not enough."

"What do you want from me?" Lance wanted everything; he just wasn't sure Magnus was ready to give it.

"I want you to teach me how to make love." Magnus closed his eyes for a moment before returning his intense gaze to Lance's. "I know how to have sex, but I don't know how to make it mean something."

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"Oh, Magnus. That's not something I can teach you; making love is about how you feel about the other person, not about what you do." Lance almost chuckled at the scientist's attempt to understand with his brain what could only be felt with the heart.

"It is?" Magnus's eyes were big, the pupils dilated. "Well, in that case, I have something to show you."

Magnus lifted his free hand and cupped Lance's cheek. He moved their heads closer together until their lips were touching, just a light back and forth, until Lance sighed and opened up, needing more. Magnus slipped his hot tongue into his mouth and tenderly caressed every surface.

Lance thought he'd died and gone to heaven when the hand cupping his cheek moved along his jaw to the back of his neck and started caressing his sensitive nape. Waves of arousal chased each other down his spine. His cock was hard in seconds. He slid his free hand around Magnus just to have something to hold on to.

Magnus let go of his hand and pulled him over his lap so Lance straddled his thighs. A hard erection touched his through too much fabric. He ground his own against it, moaning in bliss. Not letting go of his nape Magnus used his other hand to open Lance's pants. A hot fist enclosed his throbbing cock, making him groan. He pulled back from their wild kiss.