Chapter 6

Chapter Six

B ennett had spent the last several days actually working and absolutely not thinking about Kira and her ancient radiators and if they should be making that hissing noise all the time and if the return pipe in the basement should be hot. Though he thought it probably shouldn’t be.

If he hadn’t been suddenly swamped putting out fires at work, he might have wandered back up to the farm one more time just to check that things were running smoother. But it was probably for the best that he hadn’t been able to. Watching YouTube videos of old men explaining steam heat every night before bed was already going too far.

He needed to stop. Kira hadn’t even asked for his help. Was it any wonder that his last year of dating had turned into him doing favors for women he barely knew? It was the energy he was putting out in the world. What did Aunt Dot tell him just the other day when he’d had dinner with her and Jeanie? Your vibe attracts your tribe. Well, apparently, Bennett’s tribe consisted of a lot of people needing favors. Bennett Ellis: free rides, moving services, and now, heating help. Maybe instead of a dating profile, he should just have business cards made up.

He was purposely ignoring the fact that Kira was different than any other woman he’d ever dated and that she hadn’t taken advantage of him at all; she’d barely let him in and had only begrudgingly let him help. And she was beautiful and interesting and maybe a little bit sad and a little bit lonely in a way he thought maybe he understood.

But he was going to keep ignoring all of that because he was only here for the month and he had no business chasing after a woman who he would only have to leave behind. Even though he was pretty sure the chase would be great.

He shook that last thought from his head and finished his walk. From the sound of drifting Christmas music and the glow of more twinkle lights than any town should ever own, he was nearly at the Dream Harbor Fifty-Third Annual Christmas Tree Lighting and December Holidays Extravaganza. Or at least that was the name written across the banner hanging over Main Street. According to his sister, this was Dream Harbor’s biggest event of the year and that was saying a lot because from what he’d heard, this town loved an event.

He couldn’t help the little kick of excitement in his chest. Even at twenty-seven, Bennett loved Christmas. How could you not love it? The cozy lights, the near constant intake of cookies, the secret thrill of finding the perfect gift. And this year, he was back on the East Coast, and it was actually cold. He loved it. His Christmas wish, if he was being honest and wasn’t a grown man, was for a snowy Christmas. There was just something magical about snow on Christmas.

His mouth hitched up just thinking about what Kira would have to say about that.

‘There you are!’ His sister’s voice rang out over the music and the general hum of the crowd. Jeanie had one of the first booths on the square. The little wood huts were lined up in a row, strings of white lights running from roof to roof.

‘Hey! How’s it going so far?’ he asked as he joined Jeanie in the Pumpkin Spice booth. There was already a line and Jeanie’s cheeks were pink as she handed free cups of cocoa to customer after customer.

‘It’s crazy! Do you see this crowd?’

He did. This end of Main Street had been closed off to traffic and was filled with people milling around, stopping at the booths along the way. It was already getting dark, even though it was only late afternoon, but the glow of the lights made everything cheerful and warm.

‘Do you want some help?’ he asked, even as he bumped into Logan who was filling cups. There wasn’t exactly a lot of space inside the booth.

‘No, no. We’re good. My baristas, Joe and Crystal, are coming to relieve us in about an hour. We’ll track you down then. They light the tree at six.’ Jeanie smiled at him. ‘Go enjoy the festival. Maybe buy your favorite sister a gift. I really liked the scarves at Bernadette’s handicrafts a few booths down. If you need a starting place.’

Bennett laughed. ‘Okay, noted. See you later.’

Logan nodded his goodbye in the middle of explaining to someone for the twelfth time since Bennett had been there that cocoa was free, all other drinks were three dollars, even though that same message was clearly written on the sign out front.

‘It’s right there, clear as day,’ Logan pointed down at the sign and the older woman at the window slapped a hand to her forehead.

‘Oh, would you look at that! If it was a snake it would have bitten me!’

Logan grumbled under his breath and Bennett stifled his laugh.

‘Good luck!’ he called as he ducked out of the booth and back into the chilled air.

He didn’t really have a plan of where to go first, so he decided to just let the crowd pull him along. Besides Jeanie’s booth, he spotted Annie’s bakery, at least five crafters selling handmade scarves, a soap maker, a candle maker, and an artist painting miniatures of the festival. And that was just what he could see in his first scan.

But it was the delicious smells wafting by that made up his mind on where to go next. Just past a crafter selling personalized ornaments and Christmas stockings was a booth with a giant waffle sign posted out front. The air around it smelled like waffle cones and caramel and the line in front was longer than any others. That was enough to convince Bennett that this was the place to be.

He got in line behind a figure in a familiar olive-green parka as he debated if buying personalized stockings for the dogs would be cute or one step too far, even for him.

Kira turned around, her face peeking out from her fur-lined hood. She narrowed her eyes when she saw him, and he couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. It made her scowl deepen.

‘Of course, you’re here,’ she said. He knew she was trying to sound like she was annoyed to see him, but he would swear he heard something else, too. Something that said she was glad to not be alone in the crowd anymore, like maybe she was relieved to have someone to talk to.

‘I think everyone in a fifty-mile radius is here.’

‘Well, I don’t need any rescuing at the moment so you can go on your merry way.’

Bennett raised an eyebrow as she tried to dismiss him.

‘How cocky of you to assume that I’m here to see you,’ he said.

Kira scoffed. ‘You’ve shown up at my house multiple times now. It’s not cocky, it’s just pattern recognition.’

He laughed and took secret pleasure in the fact that Kira bit down on her bottom lip to suppress her smile.

‘Actually,’ he said, peering over her shoulder. ‘I’m a big fan of’—he read the sign above the booth but there was no way that word was a real word—‘of these … waffles?’

‘Stroopwafels.’

‘What?’

Kira rolled her eyes. ‘Stroopwafels. That’s what they’re called.’

Bennett grinned. ‘I’m impressed.’

‘You’re impressed that I can read the sign? Or that I know that they’re thin waffles with caramel sandwiched between them and that they originate in the Netherlands?’

All of it. He was impressed with all of it. With her.

‘Impressed that you can say that word with a straight face.’

She did smile then, brief and bright, and Bennett immediately wanted more. But before he could figure out how to make her do it again, he was jostled by the crowd and knocked into her instead.

‘Oof.’ She let out a small puff of air against his neck as his body collided with hers.

‘Sorry.’ He grabbed her arms to keep them both upright and the action pulled her even closer to him. His face was practically in her hood with her now, her hair a soft, silky brush against his cheek, her breath warm against his throat.

She was tall, and even when he was standing straight he was only a few inches taller, but now when he pulled back, still a little stooped over, still holding her arms, they were eye to eye. Hers were somewhere between green and brown, like they couldn’t quite decide which way to go, with dark lashes. They were wide at the moment, for once not narrowed in annoyance at him.

She was warm and soft in his arms and there it was again, that urge to pull her closer. She smelled like pine and fresh air and that indescribable something that was purely Kira. Another small breath left her and if he wasn’t sure she hated him, he would have called it a sigh. Almost as if she liked being held by him, as if she wanted to stay right here in his arms as much as he wanted to keep her there.

His gaze flicked down to her lips, so close to his in their current stance, so pink and plump, so biteable. Her eyes were dark when he looked up, dark and filled with something he hadn’t dared to think about until now. Was it possible that Kira could want him, too?

As if in answer to his unspoken question, Kira cleared her throat and the world around them slid back into place. The crowd, the festival, the weird waffles, the fact that Kira wasn’t his to kiss or bite or hold onto like he still was.

He dropped her arms. ‘Sorry about that.’

Kira nodded, her gaze still on him, a slight flush to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before.

‘Right. Well, you’re entitled to get waffles, too, if you want them, I guess.’ She turned on her heel to face the front of the line and Bennett immediately missed her face. He spent the rest of their time in line wondering how he could go about convincing Kira to spend more time with him.

And if that time led to her lips on his, then that would just be his little Christmas gift to himself.

* * *

Bennett smelled like peppermint candy. Kira knew that now that he had nearly knocked her on her ass but instead pulled her close and subjected her to the sturdy heat of his body. And now, as she waited for her Stroopwafel, it was all she could think about. It didn’t help that he was still behind her, his body only a few inches from hers, and for a crazy moment she could picture leaning against him as they waited. He would wrap his arms around her and she would rest her head back on his shoulder and it would be like a scene out of one of those romantic Christmas movies she loved to mock with her sister every year.

But, no.

No, no, no.

She was not going to think about Bennett’s warm body or her traitorous sister or sappy Christmas nonsense. She was going to get her caramel-y waffle, wait for the mayor to light the damn tree, make her official grand opening announcement, and then she was going to go home.

Back to her dark, cold house.

Alone.

Kira swallowed the lump growing in her throat. It was nearly her turn.

She didn’t need Bennett or Chloe or her parents’ money or … or … anyone, really. She just needed customers.

‘Hello, Merry Christmas!’ A tiny white-haired woman who could have won any Mrs. Claus lookalike contest greeted her from the booth window. ‘How many?’

‘Two, please,’ she said without thinking. Two Stroopwafels. Two of everything. She’d always ordered two of everything when she was out with her sister. When had she ever gone out for food by herself? Never. Did people do that?

Well, she couldn’t take it back now. The woman had already turned to the young man working with her and he was already pouring batter into what must be an ancient Stroopwafel iron. It was too late. The waffles were in motion and despite her current reputation in this town, she didn’t want to insult Mrs. Claus. She was just going to have to eat two of these things. What she hadn’t realized until the woman handed her the order, was that each order came with three Stroopwafels wrapped in white bakery paper. So now she was on the hook to eat six and even though they were more like cookies than waffles, she didn’t know if she could manage it.

‘Here.’ She spun to face Bennett, handing him both bundles. ‘Hold these.’ She pulled out her wallet and paid, bidding Mrs. Claus a Merry Christmas as she pulled Bennett away from the booth by his sleeve.

He was looking at her with an amused smile by the time they found a place to get out of the crowd, tucked behind the food huts. The music was drowned out back here by the sound of multiple generators powering the electricity for the festival, the smell of all the food blending together into a general sweetness that filled the air.

‘You could have just asked me to eat with you,’ he said. ‘I would have said yes.’

Kira frowned. ‘That’s not what happened.’

‘Oh? And what happened, then?’

‘I … well … I didn’t realize that two would actually mean six and then I had too many so … there you go … I didn’t want them to go to waste.’

Bennett was smiling as he bit into his first waffle.

‘I’ll just … go now.’

He put a hand on her arm. ‘Stay.’ He pointed above her head. ‘We have a prime spot under a heater,’ he added.

Kira huffed. ‘Well, I’m not going to say no to a heater.’

Bennett grinned and she bit down on her waffle to avoid doing the same. They were crunchy and chewy at the same time and filled with sticky caramel that oozed out the sides. They were delicious. She might have been able to eat six after all, but she couldn’t help feeling relieved that she had someone to stand next to while the crowd meandered by.

It was nice, that was all. It was nice to have someone to eat with after so many nights eating alone as she scrolled through her phone and thought about how she was failing at everything.

‘How is the heat at your house, by the way. Any better?’

‘It is, actually. The radiators definitely get hotter than they did before. And I got the chimney inspected, so I can have a fire in the fireplace now.’

‘Oh, that’s good.’ The relief on Bennett’s face would have been funny if it wasn’t so damn sweet. What was she doing talking to such a sweet guy? Had Chloe’s departure really screwed her up that badly?

‘Yeah, too bad I don’t actually know how to start a fire,’ she said with a laugh, only meaning to make fun of her ineptitude, but she should have known how it would land with Mr. Fix-It.

He shifted on his feet, took two more bites of waffle, pretended to watch the crowd, did apparently everything in his power not to offer to help her, and it lasted all of about two minutes.

‘I could show you how to do it. I mean, maybe. When I come to pick out my tree.’

He looked so earnest, so damn eager. It was too much. Kira didn’t do earnest guys. When it came to men Kira required two qualifications: temporary and unacceptable to her mother. Men without steady jobs, men with face tattoos, men who considered themselves ‘professional protesters’ and smelled like patchouli. One time, she’d brought home a guy who parked his motorcycle on the front lawn and then helped free her mother’s prize-winning cockatoos. The birds were probably terrible for the local ecosystem, but it had been the principle of the thing at the time. Her mother had freaked out and her date was on his way to New Mexico for a PETA conference by morning. A win-win in Kira’s book.

She preferred the thrill of not knowing if the guy would still be in the country the next morning to the consistency of a guy that texted back. Where was the fun in that? And she was sure Bennett was the type who would text back, like immediately.

But maybe she hadn’t needed sweet before. She hadn’t needed earnest and consistent because she’d already had all those things in her sister. And now she didn’t have Chloe anymore. Her sister had a new soulmate, and a Danish one, at that. Maybe with Chloe gone, Kira needed a different type of man in her life.

Shit.

How annoying.

‘Yeah, maybe,’ she said, and there it was again, the heat she’d seen in his gaze when they’d bumped into each other in the waffle line. Her gaze snagged on his lips, tipped into that perfect smile. What would it be like to kiss those lips? To lean into this moment and kiss this man and know he would call her back afterwards? And that she might actually want him to?

She swallowed hard, heat creeping across her face. Okay, she’d clearly been alone for too long. When she lifted her eyes to his, he was still looking at her like he had plenty of ideas on how to keep her warm. And they had nothing to do with her fireplace.

Oh, damn.

They were closer to each other than they had been a moment ago, like the force of his handsomeness was pulling her toward him. He reached out and Kira froze as his thumb grazed the corner of her mouth. She felt that brush of his fingertip across her entire body.

‘You had a little something there.’ He pulled his hand away and Kira wanted to cry at its absence.

‘Thanks.’ She flicked her tongue out to lick the rest of the caramel-y crumbs from her mouth. Bennett’s dark gaze tracked the movement.

Heat flared in Kira’s belly.

What the hell was going on here? Was she getting herself worked up over the wholesome guy determined to tidy up her life?

No way.

She took a step back, letting the cold air rush in between them, giving her space to breathe. Bennett’s brow hitched up slightly, but he kept his distance.

She avoided his gaze, letting hers rove over the festival instead, willing her body to calm the hell down. She looked over the craft booths, over the strolling families, the excited kids in winter hats and mittens, the bell-ringing Santa. She had to hand it to the Dream Harborians… Harborians? Whoever they were, they sure knew how to throw a festival.

And then she saw it. The perfect thing to distract her from her confusing feelings for this man.

‘Reindeer!’

‘Reindeer?’ Bennett’s gaze followed hers to the fenced in enclosure in the middle of the town green.

‘Reindeer,’ Kira echoed, already moving toward the sweet, furry babies with Bennett trailing behind her. ‘Look at them! Where do you think they came from?’

‘The North Pole?’

Kira shot him a disbelieving look, but she couldn’t keep her grumpy act up when she was in the presence of such adorable animals. She tugged off her mitten, and dutifully ignoring the sign that warned the reindeer might nibble her fingers, she stuck her hand between the wood slates and rubbed the soft snout of one reindeer and then the other.

‘So fuzzy,’ she whispered.

The reindeer stared at her with big black eyes. The other wandered over to where some squealing children were holding out a carrot, the jingle bells on its harness tinkling as it walked away.

‘I want one,’ she declared.

‘Maybe finish getting the farm set up before you add animals.’

Kira huffed. ‘Maybe worry about your own animals and I’ll worry about mine.’

‘Fair enough.’ Bennett took off his own glove and joined her in petting her new furry friend. She kept her hand safely on the other side of the animal’s big head. She didn’t need their fingers to touch, not when she could still feel the imprint of Bennett’s thumb on her lips.

‘You want to come home with me, right?’ she crooned to the deer. He nudged her hand with his furry head. ‘I think you do, you big handsome guy. I’d take good care of you.’

Bennett cleared his throat.

‘Yes?’ she said, glancing up at him.

‘You’re making a big mistake here,’ he told her.

‘Oh, really? And what is it I’m doing wrong now?’ This guy. How dare he butt in again? If she wanted reindeer for her Christmas-tree farm, then she was damn well going to get them. As soon as she figured out how.

‘You’re not nearly as scary as you pretend to be,’ he said, his voice dangerously close to her ear.

Kira’s eyes fluttered closed for a brief second, but she forced them back open. No. No Christmas magic for her. ‘Trust me, I am.’

‘I don’t think so.’ Bennett’s warm breath coasted along her cheek. She should have kept her damn hood up. ‘And you messed up.’

‘I messed up?’

‘Yep, every time you talk to an animal, you give yourself away. You show how sweet you actually are.’

Sweet?! No sir, that would not do.

Kira gave the reindeer one more scratch between the ears and straightened to her full height, forcing Bennett to take a step back.

‘I have never been described as sweet in my entire life.’

Bennett shrugged. ‘Well, you are.’

‘No, Chloe is the sweet one. And the sensible one.’ The favorite one. She swallowed that last bit.

‘I’ve never met Chloe, but I have three dogs and at least one reindeer that would agree that you are a very sweet person.’

Kira scowled. He only thought that because he didn’t know her sister. Her whole life, Kira knew Chloe was her better half. The one who kept her grounded. The one who’d kept her from getting arrested on more than one occasion, with her sweet smile and her southern belle charm. And until very recently, Chloe was the one who kept her from making questionable financial decisions.

‘Well, I have an entire town here that would disagree.’

‘I don’t think so. I think they just want to get to know you, that’s all.’

‘I didn’t come here to make friends.’

‘What did you come here for, then?’

‘I already told you.’

‘Oh, right. Something about pickles … and pouting about your sister’s Danish husband.’

‘I am not pouting.’ At some point Kira’s hands had ended up on her hips. ‘I am recreating myself. I am starting a self-sustaining, ecologically friendly homestead. And I am … I am… Okay, maybe I’m pouting a little bit.’

Bennett let out a surprised laugh and she dropped her defensive stance. It was exhausting staying mad at this guy, and maybe she had no reason to. Maybe she should stop lashing out at the one person in town she hadn’t managed to scare away.

‘It’s just… I mean, did she have to move so far away?’

‘You miss her a lot?’

‘So much.’ Oh, no, her voice cracked with emotion. This was why she had to stay mean. There was no in-between for her right now. She could either be angry or sad, and angry seemed like the safer bet. She hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘It’s ridiculous, really. I’m a grown woman. I should be able to live without my sister, but … I just never had to before.’ She sniffled pitifully and she hated herself for it.

‘Maybe you should pet the reindeer some more.’ Bennett’s voice was gentle and teasing. ‘It seemed to make you feel better before.’

Kira sighed. He wasn’t wrong.

She reached back into the enclosure and stroked the reindeer’s soft head. It really did help. Could anyone feel sad when they were petting an animal? She didn’t see how they possibly could. It was like the reindeer was sending all its calm energy to her through her fingertips.

‘Better?’

She glanced up to where Bennett was leaning against the wood post of the enclosure. ‘Oh, are you still here?’ she snapped at him, but he just flashed that perfect smile. It was like he understood that she had to stay mean or she’d crumble completely and, like, maybe he didn’t mind.

‘So, when are you making your big announcement?’ he asked.

‘After the mayor lights up the tree.’ She sighed. ‘I tried to get him to just make the announcement for me, but he insisted it would be more effective if I did it.’

‘Are you ready for the influx of customers you’re going to get after tonight?’

Her stomach flipped at the thought. Customers. Money. Heat. Things she desperately needed. But she was nervous. This was her big moment. The first time she wasn’t living off her parents’ money, or working for her father’s company in that bullshit marketing job he’d made up for her so she could learn some ‘responsibility’. Her mother had been banking on her marrying one of their rich friend’s sons but that hadn’t exactly panned out either.

And now here she was, reliant on this quirky town to want plenty of Christmas trees.

‘I’m ready,’ she said with more confidence than she felt. ‘I hired a few college guys to help load the trees onto people’s cars and a groundskeeper to trim the trees.’ And that was all she could afford at the moment. If the customers didn’t start rolling in, she wouldn’t even be able to pay the few employees she had.

‘Still looking for a Santa, though.’ She let her gaze trail up and down Bennett’s body and couldn’t help but laugh at his surprised expression.

‘I don’t think I’d make a very good Santa.’

‘Oh, suddenly you’re not so eager to help?’

He chuckled. ‘Even I have my limits.’

‘That’s too bad. I think you’d look cute in red,’ she said, as she trailed away from the reindeer, making space for a crowd of kids speculating about the whereabouts of a certain red-nosed reindeer.

She left Bennett sputtering for a response.