Under the Mistletoe

And kissed her.

Feeling intrusive, Mia took an involuntary step back, unable to put a finger on what she felt exactly. Envious that she’d broken up with the love of her life while Carlos was clearly so happy? As unflattering as that was, yes. She must have made a sound because Carlos broke from the kiss and turned to face her. He was wearing dark, reflective sunglasses, which he slowly shoved to the top of his head. And then he smiled.

The woman in his arms disentangled herself and turned with curiosity in Mia’s direction. Carlos murmured something soft to her, squeezed her hand, and then left her, heading toward Mia.

“Hey,” he said, genuine affection in his voice as he reached for her. Mia was so relieved that it wasn’t awkward that she walked right into his arms.

It wasn’t the same kind of embrace he’d just shared with the woman still watching them, not even close. Nor was it the same kind of embrace that Carlos himself would have given Mia once upon a time. It was warm and friendly. Not sexual.

Mia waited for the hit of disappointment over that, but though being held by Carlos was bittersweet, she ached for someone else.

For Nick.

She missed his solid warmth, the way he always tightened his grip on her in a way that made her feel like she was his everything.

His pick.

For a moment, she closed her eyes against the sorrow that was threatening to bring her to her knees and held on to the oh-so-painfully-familiar Carlos. Then she stepped back and gave him as big a smile as she could manage.

“It’s good to see you,” he said sincerely. “You look beautiful. You must be fighting the guys off left and right.”

No, just scaring them off…

“Yes,” she said lightly, “and it’s quite the chore.”

Carlos smiled, and then turned to the other woman and held out his hand for her. When she came close, he said, “Theresa, this is Mia.”

Theresa’s smile was as reserved as Mia’s. “Ah,” she said, “the one who got away. I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re the one who taught him how to treat a woman right, which makes me eternally grateful to you.” She moved into Carlos a little bit, marking her territory. “Hope you enjoy your stay.”

* * *

Mia found everyone in the large B&B kitchen—her parents, Maddie and Jax, Chloe, and Sawyer. They were all in an assembly line, wrapping what appeared to be an entire Toys R Us warehouse of stuff.

After welcome hugs and kisses, Mia was put to work wrapping presents for Maddie and Jax’s two kids.

“We might have gone overboard,” Maddie said, passing Mia a pair of scissors.

“Might?” Sawyer asked drily, attempting to fold a neat corner and failing.

Chloe took over for him. “Tell us, Mia.”

“Tell you what?”

She smiled gently. “Why you’re looking like you just found out there’s no Santa.”

“I’m fine,” she said. And then she burst into tears.

Chapter 4

Mia told everyone about Nick over eggnog and more wrapping, which temporarily halted when a baby’s cry came through the monitor. Jax left the room and came back holding his sleepy three-month-old son, Ryder, in one arm like a football. “Sierra’s still sleeping,” he said.

A relieved Maddie went back to the discussion at hand. “I think the text means he’s sorry,” she said to Mia. “It’s actually kinda sweet.”

Nick was a lot of things. He was strong of mind and body, he was both street and book smart, and he possessed a wicked sense of humor. He treated Mia like she meant something to him.

But she wouldn’t classify him as sweet.

“I like the ‘please,’” Chloe said. “The ‘please’ is always good.” She gave Sawyer a secret smile.

“If he’s long term,” Maddie said, wielding a spool of ribbon like an expert, “he needs to be the kind of guy who thinks you’re beautiful when you’re not. So, for example, he wouldn’t care if you live in yoga pants even though you hate yoga.”

“You hate yoga?” Chloe asked. She was Maddie’s yoga instructor. And a tyrant. “You said you liked it.”

Jax choked on his beer, making Ryder mewl in his sleep.

Maddie shot her husband a look as she soothed the baby. “He needs to let you know how much he cares,” she said to Mia. “He needs to see you and think you’re it for him.”

Jax tugged on Maddie’s hand until she moved in close. “You’re it for me, Mad. For always. And I love your yoga pants.”

Maddie smiled and kissed him over Ryder’s head.

Mia’s heart sighed.

“Oh good Lord, get a room,” Tara said before looking at Mia. “Look, Nick let you go. Not okay. As I see it, he’s got to earn your heart back.”

“Harsh,” Ford said.

Sawyer snorted. “Says the idiot who once had to do the same thing.”

Ford leveled a long look at Sawyer. “You want to tell tales?”

Sawyer just smiled. “In two days, I’m going on a honeymoon to a South Pacific beach. We’re packing sunglasses and sunscreen, and that’s it. Nothing you say can bug the shit out of me.”

* * *

Mia woke the next morning to a knot in her gut that came from missing Nick like she’d miss a limb. She’d clearly misread things. She’d mistaken affection for a deeper emotion. She’d mistaken passion for love.

Could she go back to New York and resume right where they’d left off and accept less than she’d hoped for?

If she was being honest with herself, the answer was no. She couldn’t do it. It would kill her slowly.

She opened her eyes. She was on Ford’s boat, docked at the marina at the B&B. He and Tara had a house on the hill above town, but Mia had wanted to sleep on the water. They’d stayed with her, taking the tiny cabin. She had the narrow couch in the galley area. Sitting up, she saw that they were cooking breakfast.

Tara was the chef in the family, but Ford could totally out-cook her when he wanted. Proving it, he jostled a pan and expertly flipped the eggs.

Tara rolled her eyes at him. “Show-off.”

He grinned and gave her a smacking kiss on the lips.

“Morning,” Mia said, and they both turned to her. They were still smiling, but she could see worry in their gazes.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Of course you are, sugar.” Tara’s southern drawl came out as she made up three plates with quick efficiency. “You’re a Daniels and a Walker.” She shot Ford a wry smile. “That means you’re ninety-nine percent fine stubbornness, tenacity, and resilience combined.”

“And the other one percent?” Mia asked as they sat at the tiny galley table and ate elbow to elbow.

Ford wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her in close. “Perfection.”

Turning her face into his chest, Mia closed her eyes and ignored the burn in her throat as he stroked her hair.

It was going to be okay, she told herself. Somehow, it would. So she’d made a mistake and had fallen for a guy who hadn’t fallen back. Welcome to Womanhood.

“There’s something you should know, Mia,” Ford said quietly.

She lifted her head. “What?”

“Actually, it’s more a confession than a what,” Tara said.

Oh, God. “Are one of you sick?”

“No.” Tara took Mia’s hand. “Nothing like that. It’s just that your phone was buzzing off the hook while you were sleeping, and I didn’t want it to wake you up, so…” She grimaced.

“So you turned it off?” Mia asked.

Ford chuckled softly, and Tara reached over Mia to smack him.

Ford simply caught Tara’s hand. “Your mom doesn’t quite have that much control,” he said to Mia. “What she’s trying to tell you is that she not only answered your phone, she meddled.”

“Hey, it’s in my blood,” Tara said, sounding like a Steel Magnolia. “And I’m not sorry for it. Okay, maybe I’m a little sorry for it, but not as much as he will be if he screws this up.”

Mia’s heart stopped. “If who screws what up?”

“Maybe you should just go see him,” Ford said. “He’s at the B&B waiting for you. He’s been there since dawn.”

Mia blinked, unable to fully process this.

Ford handed her a coffee, which she gratefully sipped. The caffeine hit her system in thirty seconds. “Okay,” she said, “that’s better. Because I could have sworn you just said there was a guy waiting at the B&B for me.”

Tara just looked at her, and Mia’s heart kicked. “You aren’t kidding.”

“Sugar, I never kid about men.”

Ford lifted his wife’s hand to his mouth, smiling at her over their entwined fingers.

Normally, Mia would take a moment to think about how sweet it was that they loved each other so much, but…Nick had come? With wobbly knees and a rush of blood through her head, she set down the coffee and started to scramble above deck, but Ford gently pulled her to him by the back of the sweatshirt she’d slept in. He looked down into her face, his own unusually serious.

“I remember that look,” she said. “It’s the look you once gave Carlos right before you threatened to kick his ass.”

“I can still kick ass,” he said with absolute steel. “I just wanted you to know that.”

Mia went up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “No worries. I inherited the ability from you.”

Once again, she started to go, but quickly backtracked to brush her teeth, making Tara and Ford laugh. Then she hit the deck. The tide was in and choppy, knocking the boat around some. She jumped to the dock and crossed the wide yard to the Victorian B&B with…well, she didn’t know what exactly was humming through her veins. Hope? No. Even if he’d come, he couldn’t take back what had been in his eyes the other night.

But none of that mattered because the man staring down at the flower beds wasn’t Nick.

It was Carlos.

He turned and took in her baggy sweats and undoubtedly rumpled bedhead, and the corner of his mouth quirked. “Like the look,” he said.

She tried for a smile and failed, and then his faded, too. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing.” Everything… “I thought…” She shook her head, not trusting her voice. She wasn’t going to cry again. Hell no. She’d save it for really important events, like watching The Notebook after a round of brutal finals, or the National Humane Society commercials.

“Ah, hell,” Carlos said. “He f**ked it up, didn’t he? Did he hurt you, Mia?”

Throat burning, she shook her head.

With a sigh, he pulled her into him.

“I’m a mess,” she whispered.

“A cute mess.”

She found a smile after all. “I did miss you, you know.”

“I missed you, too.”

They paused, then at the same time both said, “but…”

Carlos pulled back and gestured for her to go first.

“But…” She drew in a deep breath. “I don’t love you anymore. Not the way I used to.”

He nodded. “I know. It’s okay, chica. We’re both okay.”

She wanted desperately for that to be true, but was afraid it wasn’t. “Do you love her? Theresa?”

Carlos hesitated. “Mia.”

“It’s okay. Really,” she said softly.

He looked at her for a long moment. “I didn’t think I’d ever get over you. But I was wrong,” he said. “She’s the one for me, Mia.”

She nodded, wondering what Nick would say if someone asked him if he loved her. Would he hesitate? Say no? She thought about how he’d pretty much done exactly that, and felt her face heat with embarrassment and hurt.

She’d been so sure that they’d been in a very different place…

“Mia,” said a low, unbearably familiar voice behind her.

Mia went still, then whirled around, coming face to face with Nick, silhouetted against the morning sun slanting across the water.

Chapter 5

Nick watched Mia’s emotions chase each other across her face. Hope, hurt. Temper. He was going to hold on to the first one, in spite of the fact that Carlos was standing at her back.

“Nick.” The genuine surprise in Mia’s voice was a direct hit. Clearly, she hadn’t expected to see him, hadn’t expected that he’d come for her. He took a step toward her, but before he could say a word, the door of the B&B opened. In the doorway stood Mia’s uncles, both of whom he’d met when he’d arrived last night. Clearly interested in his and Mia’s reunion, their imposing, impenetrable vibe was broken only by the little girl and huge brown Labrador at their feet.

Mia’s aunts were in the window. They’d been incredibly kind but incredibly vague about Mia’s exact location. Not up to par on family protocol, Nick figured he had some serious ass-kissing to do. He was prepared to do that. What he wasn’t prepared for was the glacial wall of protectiveness from Maddie’s husband, Jax, and Chloe’s husband-to-be, Sheriff Sawyer Thompson.

The dog and little girl weren’t imposing. The little girl was offering a soggy cookie to the dog.

“Baby, don’t feed Izzy,” Jax said, and hoisted her up into his arms.

The dog shot Jax a look of reproach and sighed.

Everyone else looked at Nick.

This was possibly the most important moment of his entire life, and he had an audience. Well, what the hell. He was good at tuning out the bad shit. He’d been able to tune out unfavorable foster parents, nosy teachers, menacing bullies…everything. It was a unique gift. So he used it now, and looked only at Mia.