Page 51 of What Happens This Christmas
The thing I’ve wanted from the moment we met.
You.
My soft Candy cane.
The woman who is hiding behind a mask.
But sometimes the search for a missing person had to end, and to my incredible misfortune, I believed this was one of those times. “Absolutely nothing,” I finally replied, taking away any uncertainty. “Nothing at all.”
She gave me a confused look, her eyebrows raising to her hairline before entertaining me with a weak smile. “Why don’t we find those sheets, hmm?”
“Sure.” I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to do less, but we were already dancing, so we might as well continue until the music stopped playing.
To hurry things along, Candy busied herself, finding a store employee who could assist us. I was all for it since it would help us get out of here faster. I felt like the larger-than-life department store was closing in on me. Cognitively I knew that didn’t make much sense, and I wasn’t claustrophobic, but that was the best way to describe how I was feeling. This shit with Candy was getting on my last nerve.
“I usually handle engaged couples. I take care of registry needs,” she told us, her voice hitting an unnatural decibel. Shewas cheery and overly excited. It was unsettling, to say the least. She was working. What was there to be happy about? Nine times out of ten people loathed their job, so what was her problem? “But I don’t mind showing you two cuties around.” Great, it must have been our lucky day. If lucky meant unlucky. “Follow me,” she insisted, waving at us to do just that. She was holding a device and one of those fancy pencils for it.
Candy moved her purse higher up on her shoulder as I extended an arm for her to walk first. She did, licking her lips. God, what I wouldn’t have given for another taste of her. The length of time we had gone without kissing could only be noted as absurd. And I didn’t want to wait again. I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her. She would never hear of it, but part of me wanted to guide her to a secluded area of the store, pin her up against a wall, and kiss her deliriously.
Cameras would catch us, but so what? To be honest, I’d pay a small fortune to get the footage from security to keep.
All right, that sort of thinking needed to stop. I was already getting hard, the blood flow to my brain diminishing faster than my ability to pretend that I didn’t want to have my way with my wife.
“Egyptian cotton sheets are my favorite too,” the woman shared. I wasn’t sure why I cared, but okay. More useless information I’d dump out of my head. “Bedding is one of the most important things to consider in a marriage, you know?”
Really? I disagreed.
“Sleeping accommodations are pertinent to a good, REM-filled sleep,” Candy said like she worked for a sleep therapist or someone else just as educated in sleep patterns.
I shook my head, scratching my chin as I tried to make sense of how I got myself into this predicament. Yes, that was it. Those shoes. Shoes that I hadn’t seen on the inside, by the way. Instead, I was shopping for bedding. We had bedding. Perfectlyacceptable bedding, might I add. But Candy wanted something new, so that was what she’d get.
I let out a deep chuckle. “I don’t think sleeping is what she’s talking about,” I whispered into the shell of her ear.
Candy’s eyes followed my voice, and she drew a ragged breath. “Oh.” Her cheeks must have heated because they turned a deep pink, her lips parting alluringly as realization sank in. “Of course.”
I didn’t want her to feel stupid, so I contributed in my own way, which did little to ease her discomfort. “We don’t tend to use the bed in that way, but some people aren’t as flexible as we are.” At least she was uncomfortable on a whole new level now.
She pulled her shoulders back and pushed her feet together as we came to a stop in front of a collection of Egyptian cotton sheets. Knowing exactly the way she was feeling, I tuned out the woman’s voice, focusing entirely on Candy. Candy would listen and respond to the woman. I also trusted she’d get us a comfortable pair of sheets.
My interest was on something entirely different. Just as it always was when Candy was in my vicinity. My gaze dipped down her face, her torso, and subtly lingered between her legs. She could feel me watching her. I knew she could because she clenched her thighs. She was nodding at something the woman said, but I wasn’t confident she was paying her the attention she should have. Not that I could chide her for it.
When the woman made herself scarce, I leaned in and whispered to her again, causing her body to visibly shudder. “What do you say we get out of here?”
“And go where?”
Her hand found mine between us, and she laced our fingers together.
I kissed her temple, and it was quite possible it was all in my head, but I could have sworn I heard her heart thumping in herchest. Another sign that it beat for me. Just as mine beat for her. “How do you feel about nuts?”
“What kind of nuts?” Her voice was low and almost seductive, her glossy lips acting like a beacon, luring me in faster than a moth to a flame. Both of us at risk of getting burned. Both of us going toward it anyway, consequences be damned.
“Roasted chestnuts.”
Chapter 23
You’d steal the moon for me
Candy
