Molly was beaming with pride as she led Tori over to the
display of wreaths. “Rose is such a sweetheart. She used to date my Xander when
they were in high school. I hate that it didn’t work out.”
They stopped in front of a stone wall covered in about ten
different wreaths. There was a variety of sizes, all with decorations of
different styles. Tori wasn’t really in the market for a wreath, but she would
buy one. If she didn’t, she’d probably buy a package or two of the homemade
fudge by the register, and she certainly didn’t need that.
She picked the first one that really caught her eye. “That
blue-and-silver wreath is gorgeous. I think I’ll take that one.”
“That’s one of my favorites, too. Let me get the hook to get it
down.”
Molly headed off across the store, pausing only when the
jingling of bells signaled someone else had come in. “Oh, Wade, perfect timing.
Could you get that blue wreath down for me?”
Tori snapped her head around to see Wade shaking the snow off
his boots on the entryway rug. Today he was wearing a deep red cashmere sweater
with a white collared shirt beneath it. It made his shoulders look impossibly
wide and strong. After being so close to him last night, she found it wasn’t
hard to imagine being wrapped in his arms. And being pressed against his chest…
Tori shook her head to chase away the unproductive thoughts.
“Sure, Mama,” he said without turning her way.
“And I want you to meet Tori Sullivan,” Molly continued. “She’s
the one who bought that little piece of land near the ridge.”
At that, Wade stiffened and turned in her direction. He frowned
for only a moment, wiping the expression from his face before his mother could
see it. He followed her over to the wreath display and, without speaking,
lowered the blue-and-silver wreath into his mother’s arms.
“Tori, this is my oldest son, Wade. He’s in real estate in New
York. Perhaps you two run in the same circles. Wade, Tori is an architect. She
bought one of our lots, and she’s designing a beautiful house to build up
there.”
“You flatter me,” she said, avoiding Wade’s gaze until she had
to greet him. When she did, there was a polite blankness in his eyes. He was
obviously going to pretend they had never met before. She was willing to play
along with that for now. “It’s nice to meet you, Wade.” She held out her hand to
him.
“And you, Tori,” he said very formally, while managing to
emphasize the pronunciation of her first name. It was the first time he’d called
her that since he’d shown up at her trailer. Actually, it was the first time
he’d ever called her “Tori.” When she’d worked for his company, she’d gone by
Victoria. She couldn’t help but watch his lips as he said her name. There was
something oddly seductive about the way his mouth moved that just wasn’t there
when he called her Miss Sullivan.
When he finally reached out and shook her hand, Tori realized a
second too late that touching him was probably a bad idea. She was right. The
minute his hand encompassed hers, it was as though she had dipped it into a warm
bath. The heat of his soft touch engulfed her, sending a delicious surge of need
up her arm that tightened her chest and made it hard to breathe. She found she
couldn’t pull away from him.
Her body was betraying her, and for what? A chaste, polite
handshake?
But then she looked into his dark green eyes and realized it
was more than that. He, too, felt the current of desire that traveled through
their skin-on-skin contact. Unlike last night, when Wade was prepared and in
control of the seduction, this seemed to catch him off guard. For just a brief
moment the animosity and arrogance was stripped away, leaving him only with the
expression of pure, unadulterated desire. He was fighting the urge to devour
her, then and there.
His gaze was so penetrating, it felt like a caress. When his
thumb gently stroked the back of her hand, her heart started racing, her breath
quick in her throat the way it had been the night before when she thought he
might kiss her. The feeling was intense. Too intense for a Christmas store with
his mother only a few feet away.
Tori jerked away suddenly, hoping Molly didn’t notice the
invisible sparks as she rubbed her palm on her jeans to deaden the lingering
sensation from his touch. Wade’s eyes didn’t stray from hers for a few moments,
intently searching her as though he were looking into her soul. He turned away
only when Molly spoke.
“Tori, I’m going to get this wreath boxed up for you. Do you
have a hook to hang it?”
“No,” she admitted, sounding oddly out of breath for someone
standing still. “Pick whatever one you think will look the nicest with it, and
I’ll take that, too.”
Molly grinned and dashed off to the other side of the store,
leaving Wade and Tori alone.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, his tone unquestionably
accusatory, yet low enough for his mother not to hear them.
Tori crossed her arms under her breasts, burying her
still-burning hand. “Shopping, obviously.”
This time, when his green gaze raked over her, there was no
heat behind it. Just irritation and suspicion. “Did you come here to get back at
me for last night?”
“Get back at you for what? You claimed you were just hanging
out with some friends. Do you think I came here to tattle on you to your
mama?”
“No,” he said, although the deep lines of the wary expression
on his face gave away his lie.
Tori cracked a wicked grin, knowing she’d easily discovered an
Achilles’ heel. Of course, any son of a decent family had a soft spot where his
mother was concerned. Even the pushy, arrogant sons. She opted to rub it in by
parroting the line he’d used on her last night. “I’m here buying some Christmas
decorations. If your mama just happens to supply me with some information about
you, then great. I like to be well-informed. Especially when going up against a
worthy adversary.”
“Touché,” he said drily before casting a quick glance over his
shoulder to see where Molly was.
“I take it Ken and Molly don’t know what you’re trying to do to
me?”
His head snapped back to look at her.
“Do
to you?”
he whispered with a touch of incredulity in his voice.
“Offering to pay you four times your property value is hardly twisting your arm.
But no, they don’t know about it, and I’d like to keep it that way. They don’t
need any more stress.”
“If they don’t care, why are you so determined to get it back?
I don’t understand.”
A barrier went up inside Wade. Tori could almost feel the steel
walls slamming into place. She’d obviously trodden into dangerous territory with
him.
“I don’t have to explain to you why this land is important to
me. All you need to know is that I intend to get it back one way or
another.”
“So you seem to think.”
Tori watched as Wade’s hands curled into controlled fists at
his side. She couldn’t tell whether he wanted to kiss her senseless or bludgeon
her with a nearby reindeer statue. But he couldn’t do any of those things. Not
with Molly nearby. Tori had no doubt he’d give her a piece of his mind the
minute he could. She was kind of looking forward to it.
“Wade?” His mother’s voice called over the cheerful carols
playing in the store.
They both turned to look at his mother, and Tori noticed a
curious expression on Molly’s face. She seemed…intrigued by their quiet
discussion. Tori hoped she hadn’t mistaken their subdued animosity for real
attraction. Tori wouldn’t put it past her to try to fix them up. Yes, there was
a current running beneath the surface, but it was pointless to consider what
that meant. Fortunately, Wade’s living in New York would easily put a damper on
anything Molly tried to start up.
“Coming,” Wade said before he shot Tori a heated warning glance
and turned away. She watched him talk to Molly for a minute, then nod and walk
out of the store without another word to her.
Tori let out a deep breath and realized she’d been holding it
long enough for her lungs to start burning. Her whole body was tense from
bickering with him and—if she was honest with herself—anxious with the need he
built inside her with a simple touch. It was an extremely confusing
combination.
“Your package is ready, dear.”
Tori returned to the counter. “Thank you. I’m sure it will look
great. The silver and blue against the shiny aluminum will be perfect.”
“It will,” she agreed. “What are you doing for Christmas? Do
you have any family nearby?”
Tori shook her head. “No. My parents travel a lot. The last
time they called, they were in Oregon. I’ll probably call and check in with them
Christmas Day, but I haven’t spent an actual holiday with them in years.”
“What about any brothers and sisters? Aunts? Cousins?”
“I’m an only child. And my family moved so much that we never
really connected with our extended family.”
“Hmph,” Molly said thoughtfully, although Tori wasn’t exactly
sure what that meant. “Would you like to join me by the fireplace for some hot
mulled cider?”
“I don’t want to take up your time.”
“Posh! The store is empty. Business won’t pick up until later
today, and then just with last-minute folk in a rush. Come on, I’ll fix you a
cup. I’ve also got some snickerdoodles I took out of the oven right before you
came in.”
Unable to turn down the Christmas pied piper, she followed
Molly over to the refreshment stand, then to the rocking chairs in front of the
fireplace.
“You guys really have a lovely place here. It’s like a child’s
Christmas fantasy.”
“Thank you. That’s really what we were going for—a treasured
holiday tradition as opposed to just a shopping trip. Ken and I have always
loved children. We’d hoped to have at least five or six.” Tori watched Molly
gently finger the rim of her paper cup as she spoke. “When that didn’t work out,
of course, we started taking in foster kids. Wade was the first child we took
in.”
“Oh,” Tori said, the pieces of her conversations with Wade and
the bartender finally clicking into place. That was why he had a different last
name from the people he considered his parents. He obviously adored Molly as
though she were his biological mother. Perhaps not all of his story was meant to
play on her emotions. It was possible he did want to preserve the land that had
been a special home for him.
Did that change how she felt about selling her property? No.
But it did change a little of how she felt about him.
“I didn’t realize Wade was a foster child.”
“Yes. Julianne is the only child nature blessed us with. The
rest came to us through the Litchfield County Social Services office. We had so
many over the years, but Wade, Brody, Xander and Heath were the ones who really
became a part of our family. It gave us a lot of joy to give a home to children
who really needed one. We’d hoped that one day we would be able to turn the farm
over to one of them, but that probably won’t happen. We raised them to dream
big, and they did. Unfortunately, none of them dreamed of being a Christmas tree
farmer.”
Tori took a bite of one of the warm cookies and nearly moaned
with pleasure. The cinnamon, sugar and butter were a divine combination. She’d
honestly never had a cookie this good before. “Oh, Molly, this cookie is
wonderful. I couldn’t have expected anything less with everything you have here.
I never had a Christmas tree growing up, but I always imagined buying one at a
place like this.”
“You’ve never had a Christmas tree?” Molly looked appalled.
“No. My family liked to travel. My mom homeschooled me so we
could move from one town to the next every few weeks. The camper wasn’t much
bigger than the one I have now, so no real room for a tree. Sometimes, on
Christmas morning, my parents would get up really early and decorate one of the
nearby trees in the RV park where we were staying.”
“Christmas in a camper.” Tori could see the wheels turning in
Molly’s head. “Then I suppose a huge turkey with all the trimmings and homemade
pies were out of the question.”
Tori chuckled. “Not once in my life have I ever had that. My
parents are hippies, really, so they were more into tofu and organic vegetables
when I was young. And, yes, even if she’d wanted to cook a turkey, my mom didn’t
have the room or the equipment. Sometimes we’d eat at a Cracker Barrel when my
dad got nostalgic for home-cooked food.”
At that, Molly paled beside her. The rosy cheeks had vanished
as though Tori had just told her there was no Santa Claus. “You’re coming over
to our place Monday night for Christmas Eve dinner.”
Tori’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, no,” she insisted. Wade
would think she’d deliberately done this. He’d make her miserable, glaring
accusingly at her across the table all night. “I couldn’t possibly intrude on
your family dinner.”
“Nonsense. Come up to the big house Monday night around five.
We’ll eat about six, but I want you to get there in time to meet everyone.”
“Everyone?” What had Tori gotten herself into?
“It’s just me and Ken and the kids. You’ll get to meet my other
boys. Brody will come up from Boston. He runs a software company. Xander is a
congressman, so he’s flying back from D.C. Heath, my youngest, will be up from
Manhattan. He owns an advertising agency. And my daughter, Julianne, will be
home from Long Island. She has a sculpting studio and art gallery in the
Hamptons. I’m so excited. I only get them all together once a year. Christmas is
a big deal for our family.”
Holy crap. Molly made them sound wonderful, but Tori wondered
if she wasn’t wandering into a trap. How many of them knew about Wade’s plans?
Would she have his four siblings staring her down, as well? Tori didn’t know if
she could refuse three powerful CEOs and a congressman if they ganged up on her.
She couldn’t help imagining herself being slipped a roofie in her eggnog, waking
up hog-tied in the basement and being forced to sign over her property.