The chair I'm standing on to hang up mistletoe while listening to yet another tirade about my dog from Kris, suddenly turns sideways when I look over at a barking Jolly and I let out the strangest squeak of shock I’ve ever known myself make. Everything’s a blur in the next few moments as my mind reels and my heart hammers away as I realize what is happening.

The mistletoe, the chair toppling, falling backwards, arms reaching out to grab me and... Kris.

KRIS!

I inhale sharply as I feel the heat radiating off him, a sudden feeling of relief and security sweeping through my body. Between his unexpected rush to catch me as I fell and Jolly’s frantic barking, my head’s buzzing with confusion, but....

But I feel safe.

Normally this kind of thing would have me shaking like a leaf, but being in his arms... his face buried in my hair, the feel of his nose and breath on my neck.... For just a second, I want nothing more than to wrap myself around this man and snuggle him like he is the dearest thing on earth.

What, did you think I was going to say I wanted sex? With Kris?

Well, okay, you’d be half right. I’ve always held out for the right man; we really are a small little community and as frequent as the attention has been from the men here, none of them have hit my buttons like Kris does. Right now, all I want to do is now is throw all caution to the wind, tear myself away from him and spread myself out like the finest of Christmas feasts before him... oh, how, now I wonder.

* * *

God, I’ve waited so long for this moment, to have her in my arms like this. I never want to let her go, I could stand like this forever.

“Thank you for catching me.”

Her words snap me out of my daydream. I suddenly realize I’m still standing here breathing her in, like she’s some wild exotic flower. I slowly set her down, my mind screaming at me, rebelling at releasing her, telling me to take her straight to her bedroom and do everything I've dreamed of doing to her so often over these past couple of years.

“You need to be more careful Joy,” I scold her, fighting to keep my voice both calm and stern. “You could get yourself seriously hurt. You need a fucking keeper.”

Standing in front of me while attempting to put the mistletoe back together, I see a teasing grin flash across those soft, kissable lips. “Are you offering?”

A growl slips from my throat, deep and thunderous as I move forward, leaving her backed up against the wall, hands pressed on either side of her head. Leaning close, I let my lips brush against her ear as I try my hardest to retain my gruff demeanor and not let my cravings take over. “I promise you this, Joy, if I was your keeper I’d have you bent over my lap right now while I spanked your naked ass for being so reckless.”

I hear the hitch in her breath, sense the shift in her as something melts and back up before I lose all control and do something stupid like take her down to the floor and fuck her among all her Christmas decorations – somehow, I don’t think she’d appreciate broken ornaments... but I could be wrong.

Instead of finding out just how much she would or wouldn't mind, I slip away and head out the still open front door, but not before firing a parting shot, “Oh, and lock your goddamn door from now on. You never know who could come walking in.” I smirk slightly as I see the torment of desire and fury swim across her face.

* * *

Well, shit, that didn’t go as expected.

I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the floor, my head a mess of desire and outrage at his parting comment. Of course, Jolly comes bouncing over to me and crawls into my lap, fussing as always.

I scratch behind his ear as he looks up at me and tilts his head to the side, the look he gives me when he wants a treat. “Oh, no, Jolly boy, no treats for you, you’ve done enough troublemaking for one day.” Jolly climbs from my lap and trots over to his bed by the fireplace and plops down with a huff.

I swear it’s like having a four-legged teenager some days. I shake my head again and look around at the decorations that I still need to put up, like doing so will help clear my mind of the feelings that are flooding through me. I can’t help but check, and surprise, surprise I’m soaked. Jesus, if he can do that with just a look and some words....

“Whoa, get a grip, girl,” I tell myself. I’ve got stockings to hang, mistletoe to bunch back together and then I need to find that little Elf on the Shelf that seems to have walked away, not to mention the baking I must get started on.

But first, I need a very cold shower.