Bride Under the Mistletoe: The Magic of a Family Christmas

She grinned and waved a piece of candy at him. “Want a Peanut Butter Bite?”

The no that should have tripped off his tongue, tripped over itself. He hadn’t had a piece of Barrington’s Candies in at least ten years. The scents wafting through the factory combined with a vivid memory of the taste of sweet chocolate and smooth peanut butter, and somehow moved his feet closer to the packing cylinder.

“Actually, my favorite is caramel.”

A younger woman stretched her gloved hand to the distributor and plucked off a piece of candy. “Here you go.”

His mouth watering, Cullen took the chocolate-covered caramel she handed him. He popped it in his mouth and groaned.

“I’d forgotten how good this was.”

The packing ladies giggled.

“Want another?”

“Maybe one for after lunch.”

The first packer snagged a piece and set it in one of the little brown paper cups that lined the Barrington Candies boxes. “Here you go.”

He smiled at her. “Thanks.”

From her position in shipping at the back of the factory floor, Wendy watched Cullen, crossing her arms on her chest, pride swelling inside her. She wasn’t entirely sure why he’d come onto the plant floor, but unlike his first trip to have her introduce him around, his demeanor was totally different. And he’d accepted candy from strangers.

She wanted to giggle, but didn’t want to call attention to herself, which might shift the attention of the employees milling around her to Cullen. He was doing so well building the employees’ confidence in him that she didn’t want to ruin that.

She pulled in a breath and let it out slowly. He was such a good guy. Really good. The affection he had for Harry could be explained by Harry’s charm. But the gracious way he’d agreed to ease the employees’ worries about the company closing was all Cullen. He was a good-hearted person. A nice guy.

A nice guy who wouldn’t even look at her now.

She watched him laughing with the packers, accepting the various pieces of candy they handed to him, until ultimately Jennie Ferguson gave him a box in which to store his goodies. Wendy smiled at his silly behavior. He wasn’t simply a good person; he was a fun person. Fun had been missing from her life for two long years and in a little over two weeks, Cullen had her toasting marshmallows, making cocoa from scratch, Christmas-shopping and kissing again. For the first time in months she’d actually thought about sex. Not because of a physical need but because of him. This gorgeous, sexy, sweet guy had her tiptoeing into uncharted territory. But she was a small-town girl with so little experience she constantly made mistakes with him.

Before anybody noticed her staring, she turned and began taking inventory of the items in the first aid kit in shipping and receiving.

Like Patty and Emma, she’d thought for sure he had come to her house last Thursday night to see her. But he couldn’t even sit with her for two minutes after he’d read Harry’s story. Now, he wouldn’t look at her. She suspected he hadn’t yet noticed that Emma and Patty had given her a makeover. And if he had, he’d probably realized she was dressing up for him and that was why he was keeping his distance.

This time she’d made a fool of herself without even opening her mouth.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so disappointed. So embarrassed. Seeing him laughing with the candy packers, her humiliation grew. She was the only person he seemed nervous around. Because of their damned attraction. Because he realized she wouldn’t mind having an affair with him. Because she was now strutting around in skirts instead of slacks, wearing makeup…making a fool of herself!

He’d warned her off. But she couldn’t take a hint and now she felt like an idiot.

With a box of assorted chocolates under his arm, Cullen glanced in the direction of shipping and receiving and didn’t see Wendy.

He turned to his candy posse—which is what they’d told him to call them since they intended to make sure all his chocolate needs were met for the rest of his stay. “Anybody see where Wendy went?”

“She left through the side door,” Annette said, pointing to the opposite end of the plant floor. “Probably on her way back to her office.”

“Thanks.”

He arrived in Wendy’s office, smiling. After his encounter with the ladies in packing, he now understood that most of the people in this town were happy-go-lucky and generous with their time and attention. He didn’t have to worry about Wendy. She wasn’t falling for him. She was simply being nice to him because that’s the way people in this town were.

Walking into her office, he displayed his box of chocolates. “Look what I got.”

She didn’t look up from her work. “That’s nice.”

“How can you say that’s nice when you didn’t even see what I have?”

“You have a box of chocolates.”

“How do you know?”

“I saw you talking with the ladies in packing.”

He thought about that for a second. She should be dancing for joy that he was doing as she asked, mingling, making himself seem normal, putting everybody’s mind at ease that he and his father had no intention of closing the factory.

Yet she was angry. Why would she be angry that he talked with the packing ladies?

His eyes narrowed. Unless she was jealous?

A sweet pang of self-satisfaction danced in his belly. But he stopped it. That was ridiculous. First, she didn’t seem like the kind of woman to be jealous. Second, he didn’t want her to be jealous. Now that he understood what a bad idea it would be for them to have an affair, he wanted their relationship to be strictly professional.

“They’re all very nice,” he said softly, not quite sure what else to say.

She rose from her desk and walked with the safety binder to the filing cabinet. Sliding it into position with the other binders, she said, “Wasn’t I the one who told you that?”

Her clipped tone made him sigh. “All right. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I have work to do.”

The sharp tone was a downgrade from the clipped tone. Whatever had her angry, it was getting worse. “Why are you angry?”

She spun to face him. “I’m not angry.”

He took a step closer, set his candy on top of the filing cabinets and touched his index finger to the red spots flaring on her cheeks. “These say otherwise.”

But as the words came out of his mouth, he realized she wasn’t angry. She really was upset.

His index finger hovered above her soft cheeks, so it was a natural movement when his hand shifted to cup her jaw.

Her big green eyes blinked up at him and his pulse scrambled. He didn’t take the time to evaluate the situation. Didn’t give himself an opportunity to issue the three thousand warnings that were ringing like bells in his brain. The sweet syrupy feeling tightening his chest had him under its spell. It urged him to shift forward, just brush his lips across hers.

He did and wasn’t sorry. Her taste was sweeter than a thousand candies. Her soft mouth responded to his, naturally, honestly, sending another pang of need through him.

His hands fell to her waist, nudging her closer, and she melted in his arms.

But it was the way she melted with total trust that brought him to his senses. If they got involved, one way or another he would let her down. Even if things worked out the way she wanted and they fell in love, he knew love didn’t last. His parents had sniped at each other for nearly forty years. When his mother had died, Cullen had actually struggled with the worry that his father had been relieved. Though he’d cried at her funeral, the next day he’d been off on his boat and soon he was out at parties with friends. In a week, it seemed that Cullen’s mom had been forgotten by everybody but Cullen. There was no way he wanted that for himself. But more than that, there was no way he wanted that for Wendy.

He pulled away. She blinked up at him, her pretty green eyes bright. Her lips were glistening from his kiss.