gently wiped the snow from her eyes. “Do you surrender?” Alex asked, keenly aware of the deeper meaning to his question.
She nodded, her gaze fixed on his, her lips parted. He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and, to his surprise, she turned her face into his palm, tempting him with a subtle sign of her desire, closing her eyes to await his kiss. Groaning softly, Alex bent nearer, already anticipating the warm sweetness of her mouth, the flood of need that promised to rush through his bloodstream.
But a moment before their lips met, Alex heard a rustling in the nearby trees. He released her wrists and pushed up, bracing his arms on either side of her head. When Eric’s scream split the cold, silent air, Holly stiffened beneath him, then began to wriggle.
Alex groaned. “The kid has impeccable timing.”
“Let me up!” she cried.
The electricity between them died instantly, doused by a healthy dose of reality. When Alex saw Eric’s boots beneath the trees, he rolled to the side. Holly scrambled to her feet and frantically began to brush the snow from her clothes. “You shouldn’t have done that,” she murmured, refusing to meet his gaze. “I—I’m here to do a job and nothing more. I trust you’ll remember that from now on?”
Alex smiled as he struggled to his feet, evidence of his desire pressing against the snow-dampened fabric of his jeans. “Hey, all’s fair in love and war,” he replied. “Isn’t that what they say?”
She opened her mouth to snap out a reply, but just then Eric appeared from behind the tree. He took in his father’s appearance, then grinned. “Holly got you good!” he cried. “We win, we win!”
Alex cleared his throat, then nodded. “Yeah, Scout, Holly got me good.”
The “victor” pasted a bright smile on her face and held out her hand to Eric. “We better get going,” she said. “We still have three trees to find.” Without looking at Alex, she brushed by him and trudged off on her quest for perfection.
When Alex caught up to them, a full five minutes later, he’d managed to quell his physical reaction to their encounter, but couldn’t banish the sense of regret he felt. What might have happened if they’d been alone in the woods, without interruption? Would they have given in to their attraction, finally and fully? She’d wanted him to kiss her. He’d seen it in her eyes, in the way her mouth quivered slightly, in the soft clouds of frozen breath that betrayed her excitement. But how much longer could they both deny what was so blatantly obvious? They wanted each other, in the simplest, most primal way.
“Come on, Dad!” Eric called. “Holly found a tree she likes.”
She stood beside a balsam that resembled every other balsam she’d rejected, her hands clutched in front of her, her attention firmly on the tree. “This is the one,” she murmured, again refusing to look at him.
Alex circled the tree, knowing full well that she’d chosen the first thing she’d come upon. It was clear she’d do anything to escape his presence, including settling for a substandard tree. “What about this bare spot?” he asked.
“We can put it against the wall,” she said, her earlier enthusiasm diminished, her expression uneasy. “And that little one, over there, will be fine for the library. And the one over there for the family room. If you’ll just cut them down, we can be on our way.”
She was upset, but Alex wasn’t sure why. Could he have misread her reactions? Had he been so long without a woman that he couldn’t tell the difference between desire and distaste? He cursed inwardly, cursed his runaway urges and his unbidden reaction to them. “Eric, why don’t you take Miss Bennett back to the house. She looks a little…cold.”
That brought a response, narrowed eyes and cheeks stained red from more than just the frigid air. “I can find my way back on my own,” she said defensively.
“I’m sure you can. But I’d feel better if Eric showed you the way. He knows this land as well as I do.”
Alex watched them go, standing in the same spot until they disappeared behind a low rise in the landscape. Then with a soft groan, he sat down in the snow. Though he’d tried his best to resist her, there was no denying the truth. He wasn’t going to be satisfied until he kissed Holly Bennett, long and hard and deep. Maybe then, he’d be able to put this strange fascination behind him. That was the answer, then. At the next available opportunity, he’d pull her into his arms and kiss her. And finally, that would be the end of it.
Or maybe, it would just be a beginning.
4
THE FLAMES IN THE fireplace had ebbed to glowing embers by the time Holly finished decorating Eric’s tree in the family room. He’d grown bored with hanging ornaments and was now fast asleep on the sofa, his head nestled against Thurston’s stomach. Though Alex appeared to be absorbed in the newspaper, Holly felt his gaze on her every time she turned her back, making the hairs on her arms prickle and tingle.
How had things moved so quickly between them? Just three nights ago, she was standing on his front porch, a complete stranger, and now they were lusting after each other like love-starved teenagers. Though she’d tried to control her impulses in his presence, she always seemed to forget herself, to ignore the woman she was supposed to be.
Holly had never put much stock in passion. She and Stephan had shared a satisfying relationship in bed, but it had never been fireworks and angel choirs. But then, she’d never expected that, so how could she have known what she was missing?
Now she did. That little flutter that leaped in her stomach every time she looked at Alex. The ache she felt deep in her core every time he brushed against her. The look she saw in his eyes when he meant to kiss her. She’d come to crave them all.
Her head warned her to keep her relationship with Alex strictly business. But her heart said there was more than just business between them. After their tumble in the snow, she could think of nothing more than finishing what they’d started, giving in to the kiss that hadn’t happened. But where would a simple kiss lead? The only path Holly could see was the path to a broken heart and she was determined to avoid that route.
She placed the last ornament on the tree, then stepped back. Though she hadn’t been completely sold on the idea of a “bug” tree, she had to admit the nature theme worked well. They’d added bird ornaments to the lady-bugs and butterflies and bees, along with Eric’s dragonfly lights. Holly had found natural garland made of tiny pine-cones and dried wildflowers to emphasize the backyard garden theme. Though it wasn’t her most sophisticated tree, it had its charms. “What do you think?” she murmured, staring up at the birdhouse that topped the tree.
“Pardon?”
Holly tweaked one of Eric’s dragonfly lights, then turned around. “What do you think?”
Alex glanced down at Eric. “I think I’d better put this guy to bed.” He set his newspaper down, then reached out to slip his arm beneath his son. The little boy opened his eyes and yawned.
When he caught sight of the tree, ablaze with the twinkling dragonflies, he smiled sleepily. “Cool,” he murmured. He pushed up from the sofa and crossed the room. Wrapping his arms around Holly’s waist, he gave her a hug, warming Holly’s heart. “See you in the morning, Holly.”
She patted his head,
