CHAPTER 9

C HAPTER 9

Zack stayed against the back wall of the civic center while he sipped a beer and watched the giggling, giddy guests stream in for the Christmas Eve Kiss Ball.

Emphasis on Christmas. The decorating committee had clearly wanted to make sure no one forgot the occasion—there were holiday decorations everywhere. Holly wreaths, twinkling lights, and at least a dozen trees—thankfully none of the singing variety. The music had been left to a DJ, who was now in the process of playing a soothing rendition of "Silver Bells."

Some of the guests were actually slow dancing to it but most were eating, drinking, or hanging out with friends. Like the room, everyone was dressed for the occasion in holiday colors. Santa hats and elves' shoes were in abundance. So was mistletoe, thanks to the mayor's assistant, who was at the door handing out sprigs of the stuff that had been formed into dangly balls attached to sticks, like lures on small fishing poles. Presumably this was so even a short person could get enough height to hold the plant over the head of the person they intended to kiss.

Of course, the thought of kissing reminded him of Reese.

Everything did. Simply put, he just hadn't been able to get her out of his mind. Zack wasn't so sure it was the same for her. Yes, she'd texted him multiple times over the past three days since she'd left. Messages to let him know she was okay and to ask how he was doing. But she hadn't said anything yet about returning. Nor had she issued an invitation for him to go see her.

Zack wanted to give her the time and space she obviously needed, but he felt lost without her. Ironic, since their romance had been a whirlwind by anyone's standards. In the span of a week, they'd gone from testing second-chance waters to landing in bed. Now, he had to hope that Reese didn't have so many regrets about the fast pace that she wouldn't let him back into her life.

A burst of extra-loud giggling caught his attention, and he saw most of his police force coming in with their kissing partners. Clearly they were in a festive mood, and since Zack didn't want to bring them down, or have them ask again how he was doing, he stepped back into a narrow hall that led to some storage rooms and a back exit he figured very few people would be taking that night.

Despite the fact he was now in extra-dim light, his mother spotted him from across the now-crowded dance floor, and she gave him a perky wave. She was the main reason he was here. He wanted to support her, and it was expected of him. That's why he'd spent nearly a half hour mingling, saying hello and doling out Merry Christmases. If he'd stayed away, it would have fueled the gossip even more.

If "more" was actually possible.

All of Loveland was gabbing about the three-balled bigamist who'd crushed the hearts of three women. Elwood's name was mud here, but Zack figured the man was wallowing in misery over what he'd done. Zack hoped he was anyway. Wallowing and then maybe also moving on; he had that same hope for the wives Elwood had abandoned.

The main doors opened again, and Zack saw his grandfather come in with Hal and Harrison. Somehow, his granddad had managed to squeeze into the green suit he'd been wearing when Zack and Reese had interviewed him. Amid the abundant Christmas decorations, the suit no longer seemed as gaudy or outdated.

His granddad and his two friends took the mistletoe balls and cups of Christmas punch as they strolled toward the stage to watch the photographer setting up for what would soon be the big group-kissing shot. Zack would make sure he took a couple more steps back into the hall for that. He was only in the mood to kiss one woman, and she wasn't there.

He caught sight of his mother again as she made her way onto the stage and to a microphone. "Merry Christmas, everyone," she gushed, and she got plenty of greetings back. "This is your heads up. All the kissers need to be on the dance floor in twenty minutes for the big picture."

That was his cue to move even further into the hall, and he was in the process of doing just that when the door behind him opened. A gust of wintery air rushed in. And so did someone else. He'd barely managed a glimpse of the person from over his shoulder when someone took hold of him.

He stiffened. Then he smiled when he saw his captor: Reese, wearing a red dress that hugged all her curves and a glittery Santa hat.

"I've kidnapped you, and you're now my plaything," Reese said, putting his back against the wall and pressing her body to his. "And you can't escape because I have this." She dangled a mistletoe ball over his head.

Zack heard a smattering of giggles and looked to see his mother, granddad, Sylvia, Maeve, Arabella, Harrison, and Hal all grinning at him.

"My accomplices," Reese muttered. "You can arrest them later."

He'd be thanking them, but for now, he had something he needed to do. He kissed Reese, and oh, it had some Christmas magic to it. Then again, any and all kisses with her fell into the magical realm. No mistletoe needed.

Reese melted into the kiss while she melted against him. Suddenly his arms were filled with her, and it occurred to him that nothing had ever felt quite so right.

He kissed her and kissed her, letting the taste and feel of her seep into every part of his mind and body. Yeah, this was potent all right, and they didn't ease back from the kiss until oxygen became an issue.

"I was hoping you'd come," he managed to say.

"Wouldn't have missed it." But then she stopped, shook her head. "Okay, I almost missed it. I was waiting to make sure Sylvia was okay, and while I was waiting and worrying about her, she called your granddad this morning, and they came up with this plan."

Zack smiled and didn't miss the little nudge she gave his body with hers. "They orchestrated a fake kidnapping?"

"No, their idea was just to have me show up here and surprise you. The kidnapping was my idea. I thought maybe I could get it right this time and you wouldn't have to ask me who I was."

"Uh, who are you?" he teased.

She nipped his bottom lip with her teeth and sent a shot of pure fire through him. Then again, the fire shots had already started with that kiss. And just the sight of her.

"I'm the woman who wants to get to know you a whole lot better," she spelled out.

"Good." He kissed her again. "Did you get enough thinking time?"

She nodded. "I accelerated it, like our dates. And, yes, I know that's risky, especially for me, but it felt like a bigger risk if I didn't take this risk with you. Am I using the word risk too much?" she asked, smiling.

"Just the right amount," he assured her. "I've also been doing some accelerated thinking, and I'm miserable without you."

She grinned. "Music to my ears, and that's why I got you this." Reese plucked out a little card from her tiny purse and handed it to him.

"This card entitles the bearer to fifty dates and another kidnapping," he read aloud. He raised his eyebrow at the last part.

"Three kidnappings will make me a serial offender," she spelled out. "I'm thinking you'd have to . . . detain me or something." Her kiss let him know that the detainment would be very enjoyable indeed.

It was hard for Zack to hold back on the kiss, but he reminded himself that they were in a public place. Soon, though, he intended to get Reese behind closed doors. For now, he took the pen he'd seen in her purse, turned the card over, and started writing.

"Your Christmas present," he explained. "This card entitles the bearer to fifty dates, unlimited kisses, and a detainment or two."

Their gazes met, held, and her smile was filled with joy and hope. And lust. Because, hey, lust was their default.

"What happens when we run out of fifty dates?" she asked.

"We do fifty more," Zack was quick to say. "And then sometime during that, we make a big deal about how we fell in love at second sight."

He braced himself in case Reese froze with deer-in-the-headlights shock over what he'd just said. But she didn't. "Love at second sight works for me," she muttered, and she moved in to kiss him again.

A sudden flurry of movement and voices stopped them. "It's time," his mother's voice said over the microphone. "Everyone on the dance floor for the big kiss."

Reese took hold of his hand and pulled him out of the hall and into the crowd. They were surrounded by at least four hundred people, but to Zack it felt as if it were just Reese and him. Just this moment. This kiss.

He slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him, and he caught another flash of the joy on her face as he moved her closer. Closer. Closer.

Their mouths met just as they murmured in unison, "Merry Christmas."