Christmas in His Bed: Talking in Your Sleep... / Unwrapped / Kiss & Tell

“Uh-oh, we’re one-nothing now—want to go to bed early and even the score?” he asked teasingly, weaving his hands through her hair and nuzzling her warm skin.

He could taste the sheen of perspiration that had formed there, turning him on more. This first time had been fast, taking the pressure off, but when he got her upstairs he’d show her that her dreams paled compared to reality. He wanted to make her scream with pleasure while she was completely awake.

“Oh, no, I don’t think so. That’s all right,” she said quickly, extracting her hand and slipping away from him, hitting the light switch by the door.

He blinked in confusion, watching her bend to pick up her keys and coat, putting her keys in her pocket. She smoothed her shirt and hair, as if, well, as if they were done.

“Excuse me?” He walked over and tugged her up against him, looking down into her eyes, her face only inches from him.

The desire he’d experienced with her in the semidark by the door vanished, however, the only hints of it remaining in the color of her cheeks, her swollen lips and the musky smell of sex between them. He could see the stemmed desire in her eyes, the tautness of her features, as if she were under stress. He’d be happy to relieve it for her, but had no idea what she was doing.

“What game are you playing, Joy?” He was still on edge, his body hot for hers and his emotions scrambling. He didn’t like how she just shut it off, the passion. It made what had happened, well … cheap.

“No games.” She put her hands on his arms, pushed back, getting some physical distance. “I … I don’t know why I did that. It was nice, it’s okay—you don’t have to, ah, even the score. It was a mistake, obviously.”

“Why?” He wrapped his arms around her even though she gasped an objection and tried to push away. But he held her there, moving his hands firmly around her back. Her resistance was nominal, as if she were fighting herself more than him. Finally, she looked up at him.

“You’re only here for a few weeks. This won’t go anywhere. I don’t know you.”

What he’d interpreted as distance he now realized was not that at all, but instead closer to fear or anxiety. He loosened his hold, but stayed close.

“So you’ll spend a couple weeks getting to know me, and we’ll have some fun. Remember fun, Joy? Have you ever really let yourself go and not worried about every little thing?”

“Easy for you to say, you’re on vacation, you don’t have a career that needs your attention, and you—”

“You said you don’t know me—and you’re right,” he reminded her tersely. “You don’t. This isn’t completely a vacation, Joy. It’s a leave of absence because I couldn’t do my job. A job I happen to love, and which has been my whole life. So don’t say I don’t understand that. Now I can’t do it, because I can’t get a damned night’s sleep.”

He stepped back, wiping a hand over his face, lowering his voice when he saw her stunned expression. Great. She’d hit a nerve, and their emotions were running high, but that didn’t give him the right to lash out.

“Listen, maybe you’re right, I’m sorry—”

She took a step forward. “No … You’re right. I don’t know you, so I shouldn’t make assumptions. I didn’t mean to do that, I didn’t know …” She drifted off as if searching for the words, and he waited.

“You’re right. I haven’t had fun in so long…. Maybe that’s why my blood pressure’s up—”

“You have high blood pressure?” he asked, slipping into his EMT role without a second thought.

She smiled. “Slightly. The doctor wasn’t concerned, but she did tell me to find ways to relax more. I guess I didn’t really follow that prescription.”

He took another chance. “Maybe I could help with that?”

His stomach actually did a little flip when her cheeks turned hot as if merely thinking about having fun excited her, and he experienced the corresponding stir in his lower regions again. They could have a little fun together.

“I don’t know, Rafe, I can’t make any promises about … that.” She glanced meaningfully toward the door, and he knew to what she was referring. “I’ve never been very good with, uh, sex. I don’t seem to enjoy it much.”

Saying the word made her cheeks burn even hotter and he watched her flailing, wondering how she could think such a thing about herself.

“Coulda fooled me, honey, but a lot of people are insecure about sex and—”

“No, take my word for it—that’s why I keep dreaming, like I do—that never happens in real life. Ever. It’s never been my … thing.” Her hands flew up, covering her red face as she moaned with embarrassment. He pried her fingers away.

“Listen. Part of having fun is no pressure, so there isn’t any. There’s fun, and then there’s fun, and I’d like to have both kinds with you, but you lead the way, okay?”

She took a deep breath, obviously relieved, though her hands were ice cold in his. He was going to make it his personal challenge to warm her up.

“Okay. Thanks,” she said.

“Who knows?” he said, pulling her against him. “Maybe we’ll end up making a few dreams come true.”

8

“THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST magical nights of my life,” Pam whispered, a delicious shiver running down her spine as Ted’s big, powerful hand touched her gently at the spot where the back of her dress scooped down past her shoulder blades.

“Every night is magic since I met you,” he responded in the husky drawl that she loved. If they weren’t at a business-oriented event, she would have snuggled even closer, thrilled that their first public appearance together was going so well.

Her forty-two-year-old hormones were dancing right along with them. Who knew love and passion would find her at this point in her life? Being with Ted made her feel as if she were twenty again. They couldn’t seem to get enough of each other. The flames of desire were licking at her again.

“I wish we could be open about everything so that everyone could admire you as much as I do,” she said regretfully, and he squeezed her hand in response.

“It’s better that they don’t know how we met, for the sake of the shelter, but for me, too, Pam. I don’t want people looking at me for where I came from. I want them to see me as I am, now. With you. With my degree in hand, my new place, my new job … The past should be left in the past.”

Pam didn’t completely agree, if only because Ted had picked himself up from such a low point and had not only defeated the odds, but beat them senseless. She loved him; she was proud of him and she knew his story would give other people hope. Unfortunately, it would also raise suspicion and cast a jaundiced eye on her reputation as a nonprofit manager. While they were two consenting adults, they couldn’t make their history general knowledge. It was too risky.

They couldn’t even have people at the shelter know—it would open too many doors that should stay shut. After a while, when Ted was out on his own, established in his work and his life, they could let everyone know, saying they’d gotten together after the fact.

Still, it bothered Pam so much to have to lie.

The music ended and she didn’t realized how tense she’d become in Ted’s arms until he looked into her eyes with concern. She blew out a breath, laughing softly.

“Okay, sorry. I know I should leave work at the office.” She dropped her hands from his shoulders as they walked from the dance floor. “I love that tux—you look right at home in it.”

“Pays to buy quality.”

She stepped back in surprise. “You bought that? It’s yours?”

He grinned. “I wasn’t taking you out in a rented monkey suit, and I plan to get a lot of use out of this over the years. Clothes make the man,” he reminded her, a quote from one of their favorite goofy movies, Joe Versus the Volcano. She grabbed his hand and tugged him down close.

“No. I think in this case it’s very much the opposite.”

“Well, thank you ma’am,” he said, his eyes sparkling with desire. “How about one more drink, and then we can take the party home?”

“That sounds like a perfect plan,” she agreed.

She’d stayed a respectable time, had fun, mingled with the people she needed to mingle with, catching them up on the shelter’s latest doings and making sure they knew how critical their donations and services were to the shelter’s success. She’d even managed to convince the manager of a small local grocery chain not to drop their program asking customers to donate at the cash register. Every small victory counted.

Glancing toward the bar to see if Ted was making his way back to her, Pam caught the eye of Martin Solese of Solese Construction. She hadn’t seen him earlier, and he was one person she was trying desperately to hold on to—the shelter needed new front steps in the worst way and she didn’t have enough cash on hand to pay full cost. However, Martin had become so in demand in the local housing market that she never really saw him anymore. His secretary said she forwarded Pam’s calls, but Pam never got a response.

She thought it might have to do with the fact that he’d asked her out once and she’d said no, definitively. She didn’t mix business with pleasure as a rule, and she’d explained that to him; she hadn’t wanted to jeopardize his support by going out with him. She’d also just met Ted at that time and hadn’t been interested in anyone else. She pasted on a smile as Martin approached the table.