Mistletoe & Kisses Read online

  “Seeing the way your eyes light up when you talk about her makes me so happy.” Out of the corner of my eye I could see the smile that graced her lips.

  “She makes me happy too.”

  The rest of the drive was spent answering questions about Danielle. I’d convinced them to wait to ask wedding questions until we got back to the apartment, when Danielle could answer them with me.

  “Here we are,” I said, pulling into Danielle’s space.

  “This is a nice neighborhood,” Mom commented.

  “It is. I actually helped Dani pick this apartment out.” Who knew at the time that I’d actually be living with her there?

  “Should we get the luggage now?” Dad asked stepping out of the car.

  “Nah, we’ll get the bags after dinner. Let’s get you guys inside to meet Dani.”

  I stepped up to the door and pushed it open to find Danielle standing in the middle of the living room, wringing her hands. Immediately, I walked over to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. “Mom, Dad, this is Danielle.”

  Even through her nerves, she took a step forward with her hand extended. “Mr. and Mrs. Marano, it’s nice to meet you.”

  Mom took her hand and pulled her into a hug. “It’s good to meet you.”

  Danielle’s hands were trapped at her sides and my guess was my mom was squeezing the life out of her.

  “Mom, do you think you could let Dani take a breath at some point,” I said with a chuckle.

  “Of course,” she said, taking a step back, her face a bit red. “And please call me Kathy. You’re going to be my daughter someday. But don’t worry will work on you calling me ‘mom’ later.”

  Danielle’s shoulders seem to relax and a smile spread across her face. “Yes I will,” she said, shooting a smile over her shoulder at me. The warmth that spread through me was indescribable. If you were to have asked me six months ago if any of it was a possibility, I would have told you no. To see all of this unfolding in front of me was more than I could have ever dreamed.

  Mom turned with Danielle’s hand in hers. “Danielle, this is Tanner’s dad, Dennis.”

  Just like Mom, Dad bypassed Danielle’s proffered hand, instead pulling her into a hug. “It is wonderful to see that my son is going to marry such a beautiful woman.”

  Danielle’s face flushed at the compliment. “Thank you.”

  When Dad let her go, I took their coats.

  “You must be hungry,” Danielle said. “Why don’t y’all have a seat and I’ll bring dinner right out.”

  “Sounds wonderful.” My mom smiled.

  “Do you need any help?” I asked, giving her a brief kiss on the forehead.

  She shook head. “No, not with the food, but why don’t you take care of the drinks?”

  “Anything for you.” I looked over at my parents. “Come on, let’s get you seated.

  Deciding on a bottle of Pino Noir, I got everyone a glass by the time Danielle had all of the food on the table.

  “This looks wonderful,” Mom said, eyeing the food. “I know Tanner didn’t help with any of it.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Hey, I helped.”

  Mom raised a brow. “With what? Because unless something drastic happened since the last time we saw you, your cooking skills don’t match this.”

  “I’m not that bad.”

  This time it was Danielle who looked at me like I was crazy. “Umm . . . do you really want to go there?”

  That’s when Dad started. “The last time we came for a visit and Tanner attempted to make dinner, the pasta was a rather bizarre shade of brown, and it was hard as a rock. We probably could have used it to pave the driveway.”

  Danielle’s eyes went wide the same time she slapped a hand over her mouth to stop the laugh from escaping. She was right on the edge. One little push and she wouldn’t be able to hold back. And it was exactly what she needed. I reached out to take hold of her hand.

  “If you really want, I could make it again for you sometime, and maybe this time we can build shelves out of it for the living room.”

  That was all it took. Danielle slumped down into her chair in a fit of giggles with my parents joining in. They were right; I was a terrible cook. The only time I ever got anything right was when Danielle was standing right next to me, watching my every move. Even though the laughter was at my expense, Danielle’s broken tension was well worth it.

  Chapter Four

  Danielle

  TANNER’S JOKE LIFTED me up, quashing the anxiety I’d felt from the moment they walked in the door. It felt good to let it all out, and to see his parents joining in the fun. Actually, his parents had started it. They were a lot like my parents and Liam when it came to me. It gave me more confidence about everything.

  “Okay, okay. I’m a pretty terrible cook without Danielle’s guidance.”

  “That is so true. And to think you offered to cook for me on one of our first dates. I can only imagine how that would have turned out. And you said it was because you didn’t have time.”

  Kathy turned to Tanner. “Please don’t tell me you actual considered cooking if you expected her to stay with you?”

  His eyes dropped to the ground. “Maybe I was going to have Greg cook for me.”

  Once again, I was thrown into a fit of hysterics. “I should have known better.”

  “That’s the way to do it,” Dennis said.

  Kathy was still laughing with me the same time she smacked her husband on the shoulder, saying, “Don’t encourage him,” which only caused everyone else to laugh harder.

  As the laughter died out we began to pass the dishes around, filling our plates with food. The conversation was light—mostly about me, my job, and a little about Tanner’s last deployment. When we finished eating, Tanner helped me clear the dishes into the kitchen. The chocolate cake I made earlier in the day was fawned over by both of Tanner’s parents, his dad looking at it like he wanted to eat the whole thing himself.

  As soon as the plate touched the table, Dennis dug his fork in. Not Tanner’s mom though. She had other plans.

  “Now tell me about the wedding plans,” she said looking between Tanner and myself. “Let’s start with when.”

  Tanner covered my hand with his. “We’re thinking of a late March wedding, since I probably won’t deploy again until late April.”

  “A spring wedding sounds wonderful.” She clasped her hands together in front of her. Her eyes held a delighted sparkle to them. “I’m so happy you’re finally getting married, and to such a wonderful woman.”

  The warm feeling from her words spread all through my body, making me feel positively giddy. “Thank you.”

  “We can talk more about the wedding plans this week while I’m here. Anything I can help with, I’m ready. Now what about kids? Are you two planning to have them right away?”

  It was the question I feared the most. Not because I wasn’t going have kids, or that I was making the wrong decision, but I was worried about their reaction to us wanting to wait. My parents knew me well enough to understand why I’d want to spend time just with Tanner. Our time together was already limited by the time he spent on deployment, and I wanted us to have time together as husband and wife before we had to share each other. Don’t get me wrong, someday our children would be our world, but I wanted Tanner’s world to revolve around me and mine around his, at least for a little while.

  This time I took the opportunity to answer. “We’re actually planning on waiting a bit for kids.” I looked to Tanner for support. “With Tanner’s deployment schedule, we want to have time to ourselves before we add any babies to the mix.”

  Kathy nodded and grinned. “I think that’s a good idea. Having kids is hard enough. The stronger you two are as a couple, the easier it will make being parents.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  Tanner squeezed my hand, his own way of saying I told you so. It felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. All that time I’d been
worked up over their reaction to everything, and here they were, happy about every decision we were making. It went a long way to banish the fears I’d held since I found out they were coming.

  Tanner took a quick peek at my face and started to chuckle. “Mom, I think you just made Dani take her first deep breath in hours.”

  If he hadn’t been right, I probably would have smacked him.

  She reached out to pat my arm. “Don’t be nervous, sweetheart. You’re everything we could have hoped for for our son.”

  “Besides, any woman who can cook like this is perfect for Tanner,” Dennis said, his eyes never leaving the cake on his plate.

  “Dad, I don’t expect Dani to be my personal chef.”

  He lifted his head, pointing his fork at Tanner. “You might want to consider it. That or a cooking class because someone needs to save you from self-induced food poisoning.”

  Once again, Tanner’s dad’s perfectly timed joke left me laughing so hard my sides hurt.

  Later that night, after we’d gotten his parents all set up in the guest room, we went to our own room to get ready for bed. The warmth of Tanner’s body as I cuddled up next to him, coupled with the exhaustion from the last few days pulling me quickly toward sleep.

  “You’re parents are pretty cool,” I whispered against his chest. My eyes drifted closed and before he had the chance to say anything I was asleep.

  * * *

  The next few days went by in a blur. Tanner and I spent the week working, but that still left all of us enough time for my parents and Danielle to continue to get to know each other, as well as finishing up those last minute holiday to-do list things. The thing about that Christmas was that I wanted it to wipe away all of the memories of the year before. It was a new start for both of us, and I was holding onto that with both hands.

  Christmas Eve was a quiet night at home which was good, because I needed all the time I could get to prepare for the next day. Marissa came over to exchange presents and hang out for a bit, since she would be spending Christmas Day with her family. She didn’t want to miss the time with them, but I knew she was kind of bummed at missing Christmas with all of our friends too. Somehow, the boys had gotten together and Tanner and my brother Liam decided that our friends Colin and Greg should spend Christmas with us. Neither of them could get leave to go home to their families, and when it really came down to it, they were our family. Colin had been there for me at a time when I never thought I’d see the light again, and Greg helped me see that Tanner was that light.

  Tanner’s parents liked Marissa immediately. She just had one of those personalities. You had to try and not like Marissa. We’d met in the first grade, and had been inseparable ever since. There wasn’t anything she didn’t know about me, and she could read me like a book. It was good to be able to spend time with her for part of the holiday. Last year she’d given up her time with her family to take care of me, for which I could never repay her.

  It was fun spending the night with her watching our favorite movie marathon, It’s a Wonderful Life. We made sure every year to watch the movie together at least once. It wasn’t one of Tanner’s favorites, but he put up with it because I liked it. I also promised him that we would watch something else on Christmas Day.

  * * *

  The feather light touch across my back was enough to stir me from sleep. That didn’t mean I was ready to get up. Instead I snuggled into the warm body behind me, Tanner’s warm hand sliding down my thigh, then slowly back up and under the t-shirt I was wearing to cup my breast at the same time a pair of lips presses softly against my neck. What a way to wake up on Christmas morning. His lips moved down the back of my neck and over my shoulder, making me shiver.

  “Merry Christmas,” he whispered in my ear.

  Needing to see him, kiss him, I turned in his arms. “Merry Christmas,” I whispered before covering his lips with mine.

  Without wasting a moment his mouth opened, taking control of the kiss, sending me to a place where nothing else mattered. There was only him and me. The fact that his parents were sleeping across the hall meant nothing. Twisting so that he was on top, his hand slid up my side to cup my breast, creating waves of sensation that reach my clit, and when his fingers lightly caressed my nipple, the whimper that I’d held back slipped free.

  “Shh,” Tanner whispered, his hand covering my mouth.

  Oh God!

  His parents were right across the hall. Even though what he was doing felt amazing, we needed to get ourselves under control. Eyes wide, I tried to hear if there was any movement or sound coming from anywhere else in the apartment. Shaking my head, I tried to shift out from underneath him.

  “I don’t think so, sweetheart. You’re staying right here with me.”

  He lifted his hand from my mouth.

  “Tan—”

  The rest of my protest was cut off by his mouth taking possession of mine, robbing me of breath and making my head spin. As much as I wanted to be shy and worry about what his parents might think if they heard us from their room, the way his hands and mouth worshiped my body as he removed my T-shirt and panties, caressing all over my body, made it all seem insignificant. When he thrust into me the first time, my whole body trembled with passion and want. All I needed was for him to take me to new heights.

  Our bodies moved together as if we were one. I could feel my insides begin to tighten and just before he let go, the orgasm took hold of me. The minute the scream began to leave my lips, Tanner covered my mouth with his, swallowing down any sound I might have made.

  When he finally lifted his mouth from mine, we were both breathing heavily. Tanner collapsed on the bed next to me. I knew the feeling. My body was absolutely boneless. I couldn’t have moved if I tried.

  As we both lay there, watching each other, there was a spark as our eyes connected. In that moment, I felt closer to Tanner than ever. Don’t get me wrong, the love I had for Tanner would never fade, but this was something different, something that made a warmth spread from my chest throughout the rest of my body. There would never be a time in my life where I wouldn’t remember this moment. A feeling of connection so deep and so pure, it made me want to stay there forever. Blindly his hand reached out to squeeze mine, and the connection grew.

  Bang.

  Bang.

  Bang.

  Our eyes flicked to the door, and just like that, the connection was lost. It was moments like those that I stored in the back of my mind for those long months when he was thousands of miles away. Tanner looked back and reached up to lightly graze my cheek with his fingers.

  “That was the best Christmas morning I’ve ever had.”

  The same time I felt the blush rush up my cheeks at the thought of what we’d just done with Tanner’s parents down the hall, a chuckle escaped my lips when I registered exactly what Tanner had just said. Rolling on top of me, he pinned me to the mattress once again. Stealing a quick kiss he asked, “What’s so funny?”

  “I can’t believe we just did that,” I whispered, jumping out of bed to pull some clothes on.

  “What can I say? You’re absolutely irresistible.” He was still lying in bed, the sheet draped over the lower half of his body, painting an irresistible picture of his own. The knowing look and salacious grin he sent my way heated my body once again, until I remembered why I was freaked out in the first place.

  “But your parents are down the hall.”

  “And? My parents sleep like the dead. They’re probably not even up yet.”

  “Then what is that banging?”

  Tanner looked over at the clock. “Well, knowing Colin and Greg, my guess is it’s them. Nothing like an early start on Christmas.” He smirked.

  “It’s only eight in the morning.” He couldn’t be serious. I’d known Colin a long time and this seemed ridiculous, even for him. Then again, this was the first time he’d spent the holidays with people other than his family. “He wouldn’t be here this early, surely?”

  Tanner s
tood and walked over to where I was frantically dressing. “Sweetheart, remember they’re in the army. This isn’t early for them. You’re the only one that thinks any time before nine is early on your day off.”

  I scoffed. “Well some of us work reasonable hours. Not everyone goes running at the crack of dawn.”

  “Yeah, but you love the benefits of early PT.” He ran his hands down his chest and perfectly defined abs, flexing his biceps at the same time.

  All I could do was stare at the muscles that held me and were the starring fantasy in most of my dreams. My mouth must have been hanging open because Tanner used his index finger to push my chin up. Grabbing a pair of gym shorts, he slipped them on and walked to the door.

  “You finish getting yourself together, I’ll go let them in.”

  Leaving me standing there in a state of shock, he walked out the door and soon enough the sound of male voices traveled down to the bedroom. The sound filled me with warmth and a small sense of longing. Tanner was everything I wanted and I loved him more than life itself, but there was a part of me that would always miss Nate. I’d invited his parents over for the day, but they’d decided to go away on a cruise. I couldn’t really blame them. They memories in my old apartment would have been too much. Even last Christmas had been too much for me to handle. I’d shut myself off from the world. But Tanner had helped me find the land of the living again. A reason to get up every day. A reason to let the real Danielle back out into the world. There were still days like today. Days that made me think and remember.

  Deciding that a hot shower would help me shake off the melancholy feelings, I moved the bathroom and turned on the water. This Christmas was going to be different—even if it meant taking a few minutes to let myself deal with my emotions that way I could enjoy the company of the family and friends surrounding me. There were no need for feelings of guilt. I deserved to be happy.

  Chapter Five

  Tanner

  THE TWO IDIOTS were still beating down the door as I made my way to the living room. With all the racket they were making, I was surprised that they hadn’t woken up my parents. Either way, I wanted to beat both of their asses for interrupting Danielle and me. That moment before the banging started was one of the most intense of my life. I felt like I could see into Danielle’s soul and, it was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure how today would go—with all of the memories. I just had to hope that I could do enough to keep the smile on her face. Then again, I knew my gift for her would do that. I’d done well at keeping it hidden. Only the two morons beating down my front door had any idea what I had planned.