Got Mistletoe?

  Dedications

  To Ashley and Mom,

  Thank you for always believing in me

  and being my biggest cheerleaders.

  I love you both.

  To Chris, because you make my life complete.

  Got Mistletoe?

  1

  “Ohhh… the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is sooooo delightful, and since we’ve no place to go… let it snow, let it snow, let it snooooow….” Ryan sang as he grabbed the last of the small boxes of twinkling lights and started stacking them neatly on the shelf.

  “Ryan! Spare me, please!”

  Ryan laughed as he slowly spun around to face his best friend, carrying yet another huge box of lights to be stocked on the already overcrowded shelves.

  Angela was always a sight for sore eyes, even if she was being grouchy. Her long brown hair was put up haphazardly with a sparkling red clip. Her sweet, round face always had a rosy flush to her cheeks, and her dark eyes glittered with mischief.

  Ryan took the box from her arms, set it down, and grinned at her as she put her hands on her ample hips. “Angel babe, you know you love my singing,” he said as he puckered his lips and made kissing noises at her. She laughed and shook her finger at him.

  “Honey, just because you like Dean Martin doesn’t mean you can sing like him! Besides, I’ve never seen Dean Martin wear reindeer antlers while he crooned “Let it Snow” on any of his Christmas specials he used to have every year.” Angela reached up and flicked one of the antlers on top of his head, causing the bells to start jingling.

  “And, he’s the lesser man for it,” Ryan teased as he wrapped Angela up in his arms and dipped her backwards, causing her to laugh, just like he intended for her to do.

  He heard someone behind him clear their throat.

  “Excuse me, I hate to interrupt the newest solid gold dance moves, but could you tell me where the wrapping paper is?”

  The smooth and slightly tense masculine voice washed over Ryan from behind. Angela immediately disassembled herself from Ryan’s arms and stood there looking over Ryan’s shoulder with a slightly embarrassed smile on her sweet face.

  Ryan slowly turned around, and had to stop himself from gasping with pleasure.

  Standing a couple of feet from him was the most beautiful man Ryan had ever seen. At five foot seven inches, Ryan was used to men towering over him, but not like this man. Tall, dark and handsome definitely fit the bill for describing the stunningly beautiful man before him. Beneath a wealth of gorgeous black hair shone the bluest eyes Ryan had ever laid eyes on. They seemed to twinkle from within. His smooth olive skin, tousled hair and five o’clock shadow gave him that sexy, just-got-out-of-bed look that Ryan always found so adorable. He was dressed casually in a worn brown leather bomber jacket, red T-shirt and jeans that were so old and tight, they hugged his muscular thighs and encased a prominent bulge at his crotch that made Ryan want to fall to his knees and worship the ground he walked on. He was gorgeous, and Ryan knew he was totally and utterly in love.

  The man’s full lips formed a half-smile and he cocked his head to the side as he looked expectantly at Ryan, as if waiting for something.

  Ryan felt himself cringe as he felt the unwanted heat of a flush come over his face and body. Damn! Being a natural redhead definitely had its drawbacks. Ryan knew his face was probably as red as Rudolph’s red nose, which caused him to blush even more.

  The man’s crooked smile turned into a full one, causing his blue eyes to light up and small wrinkles to appear beside each, proving that this gorgeous hunk of a man smiled often. Between his brilliant white smile and ocean blue eyes, Ryan found himself immediately captivated with him.

  “Can we help you?” Angela asked, apparently not having any trouble finding her own voice.

  The man looked slowly from Ryan to Angela, and his smile dimmed a little.

  “Could you point me in the right direction of the wrapping paper?”

  God, even the man’s voice was amazing, deep and smooth, with a slight Southern accent. Ryan would bet his measly year’s worth of salary that the sexy man standing before him could sing “Let it Snow” and women as well as men would be throwing themselves at his feet to hear more.

  “Um, well, I’m not exactly sure where it’s located at, but my associate Ryan would be more than happy to show you where you need to go,” Angela said sweetly as she indiscreetly shoved Ryan in the right direction, bringing him out of his trance.

  Feeling totally off balance, Ryan felt himself flush even more as he stumbled toward the man. God, even his feet weren’t working right!

  The man reached out and grabbed Ryan lightly by the arms, keeping him from stumbling further into the man himself. Through the warmth of the handsome stranger’s hands, Ryan felt a tingling sensation from the top of his red hair to the tips of his toes. “Are you all right?” that deliciously deep voice asked softly, causing Ryan look up into those concerned blue eyes. Ryan could feel the warmth of the man’s hands through his long sleeved T-shirt as he started rubbing his hands up and down Ryan’s arms, as if to soothe any pain away.

  He’s talking to you! Say something, idiot!

  Ryan cleared his throat and attempted to smile at the man.

  The man smiled back and slowly let go of Ryan’s arms as he took one small step back as if to put some space in between them.

  “Ooops! Sorry about that! I must’ve had too much eggnog during break,” Ryan joked, as he shrugged his shoulders and smoothed down his “Got Mistletoe?” T-shirt.

  The man laughed.

  Oh my God, he’s got a gorgeous laugh too!

  “That eggnog will get you every time!” the man said, almost reaching out to touch Ryan’s shoulder but stopping himself midway.

  At the sound of the stranger’s joyful laughter, Ryan felt happiness flow through him and a genuine smile come across his face.

  2

  All Blake had wanted to do was to buy some damn wrapping paper. He knew that three days before Christmas any store would be a madhouse. But here he was, once more putting off buying Christmas gifts and all the other things that seemed to go along with the holiday until the last minute. Again.

  He had been anticipating the crowds, the hustle and bustle of people trying to buy their last-minute gifts. What he hadn’t expected was this adorable young man standing before him with a brilliant smile on his small elfin face.

  Blake found himself mesmerized by the cutest man he’d seen in a long time.

  Calling the man handsome wouldn’t be appropriate, Blake decided as he slowly assessed the smaller man who stood in front of him with a mischievous grin on his sweet face.

  Even though he was short in stature, his spiked, blazing red hair would make him stand out in any crowded room. His small, pale nose was feathered with freckles; his dark green shirt only enhanced the emerald green eyes gazing up impishly at him.

  As Blake’s eyes slowly glanced down to further assess the younger man, Blake felt his body start humming with awareness as he took in the faded jeans that looked like the man had just poured himself into them. While Blake had grabbed the man to keep him from falling, he found himself wishing that he had just allowed the man to fall into his arms instead.

  Ryan was everything Blake found attractive in a man and more. Even those cheesy reindeer antlers looked adorable on him, and when the man laughed it was with his whole being. Ryan’s laughter was hearty and strong, which was quite a contradiction coming from such a small man.

  “Thanks for keeping me from falling! That could have turned out to be even more embarrassing than it already was.”

  Jesus, even Ryan’s melodic voice was appealing. Blake was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to protect the adorable creature standing in front of him.

  “No problem. Sorry I interrupted your impromptu dance moves a minute ago,” Blake said, fighting the urge to reach out and run his fingers lightly on his elf’s sweet face. His elf. Good Lord, he’d already started thinking of the imp as his, and Ryan had barely said more than a few words to him. Instead, Blake shoved his hands in his jacket pocket to keep himself from giving into the temptation to touch again.

  His temptation laughed again. “That’s okay. I was just fooling around with Angela. She’s kind of grouchy today, and she desperately needed to be swept off of her feet.”

  Blake found himself smiling at the man’s laughter. “Well, we all need to be swept off of our feet at one time or another, don’t we?”

  “Especially during this time of year. It gets pretty hectic around here at Christmas time,” the man answered, gesturing around him. For the first time since he had laid eyes on the delectable man, Blake noticed that the aisle they were standing in was congested with customers. Funny how he hadn’t noticed them before while in the presence of this man.

  Suddenly aware that he was keeping the younger man from doing his job, Blake reluctantly decided to get back to the business at hand.

  “Could you tell me what aisle the wrapping paper is at? I’ve looked all over, and I can’t seem to find it.”

  Instead of pointing Blake in the right direction, his elf reached out and lightly took hold of the sleeve of his leather jacket, smiling up at him.

  “Come with me, it’ll be easier to just show you.” He lightly pulled Blake toward him, then let go of his jacket, turned around, and walked in the same direction Blake was facing, giving him a generous look at his delicious ass. The man might be small, but he had an ass that Blake could lose himself in for days and days.

>   Now this is a view I could get used to.

  Blake followed his elf down the aisle, hearing the bells jingle off of those ridiculously cute antlers and somehow dodging other customers without taking his eyes off that sweet ass. Blake felt his cock slowly start to harden, taking personal interest in the view before him. He gritted his teeth and, as discreetly as possible, adjusted himself as he followed the adorable man down a few aisles.

  3

  Ryan could feel the weight of the man’s stare on his back, or perhaps his backside. He fought the nervous urge to turn around and see exactly what the handsome man was looking at, and somehow by sheer determination kept his eyes in front of him.

  The man made him jittery and aware of every step he made.

  What was it about this man that unnerved him so? Ryan had always taken pride in the fact that he could be pretty levelheaded under pressure. But this gorgeous man made him feel self-conscious of every move he made,

  Ryan’s first instinct told him that Sexy Guy was straight, but after the short conversation they’d had—not to mention the weight of those startling blue eyes checking him out as they talked—Ryan was doubting his first impression.

  Ryan hoped he wasn’t reading the signals wrong. He thought he felt Sexy Guy’s attraction to him, but these days you just never knew. Hopefully he really was checking Ryan out, and hopefully he liked what he saw.

  As Ryan dodged a child running past him with a toy car in his hands, his nervousness increased. Even if the man was attracted to him, which would be a very Merry Christmas indeed, should he make the first move? What if he made a total ass of himself again in front of this man? What if he already had a boyfriend or a partner to come home to? Ryan wouldn’t be surprised if the man was indeed already taken, considering how gorgeous he was. Probably by some tall, blonde hunk that could bench press three hundred pounds a day, with a year-round tan and a body to die for.

  Ryan glanced down at his slight form in disgust; as he did, he heard the bells jingle on the antlers he was wearing and silently cursed his luck. This would be how he would run into the man of his dreams, wearing these ridiculous antlers. He fought the urge to snap the band that held the antlers off of his head and run his fingers through his wild red hair. He groaned and shoved his hands in his blue jean pockets instead, as he came to the conclusion there was no way in hell that Mr. Sexy Guy would ever want to have anything to do with him.

  Ryan knew he was the type of man a lot of men didn’t find attractive. Oh they thought he was okay in a rainbow-flag-flying kind of way, but even the few boyfriends he’d had in the past never really acted as if he was someone that desirable, or even that special for that matter. Of course, Ryan’s past boyfriends didn’t hold a candle to Mr. Sexy Guy walking behind him.

  Feeling like he’d imagined the man’s attraction to him, he suddenly fought the urge to weep.

  Thank God he was off in less than an hour; he didn’t know how much longer he could keep up the perky image and positive outlook for which he was well-known to others. Maybe after work he should just go home and bake some Christmas cookies, or even some fudge. Baking always made him feel better.

  Ryan tried to shrug off his wayward thoughts as he approached the bins of colorful wrapping paper. He forced a smile as he stopped and spun around, ready to point out the wrapping paper and then make a cool and unassuming exit, when he noticed Mr. Sexy Guy’s gorgeous blue eyes plastered to where his ass once was located before his turned around.

  Mr. Sexy Guy quickly looked up at Ryan, and when their eyes met, Ryan saw the man’s handsome face flush with embarrassment, obviously from getting caught admiring Ryan’s ass red-handed.

  Holy, shit! He really was looking at my ass!

  Ryan felt his heart beat faster as hope and joy spread through him.

  “Here’s the wrapping paper. There’s probably some more in the stockroom if you don’t see any that you like,” Ryan said, as he smiled shyly up at Blake.

  Blake glanced past his elf and saw what had to be hundreds of tubes of wrapping paper. Good God, did he say there was more in the stockroom? How much wrapping paper did one store need? Blake returned a smile back to his sweet elf. “If I don’t find something among all of these, I’ll definitely let you know.”

  His elf’s smile faded somewhat, but he nodded politely at him. “Okay. My name is Ryan; if there is anything else you need, just let me know.”

  Ryan stood there for a moment as if he was waiting for something.

  Blake suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t know how to keep his elf with him much longer without making a complete fool of himself.

  Say something, idiot! He’s waiting for some kind of response from you!

  “Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate all of your help.” Blake managed to croak out. Something flashed in Ryan’s green eyes before he nodded briefly and started to walk away. At that moment, Blake felt like he’d missed an opportunity. Not knowing what else to do, he stood there helplessly, watching Ryan slowly walk away from him.

  Stop him, you fool!

  Suddenly Blake’s mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and his palms started to sweat. He never was one to take many chances (which was obvious from the astonishingly small amount of boyfriends he had in his life). But for some reason, as he watched Ryan walk down the aisle and out of his life, he felt like he had to stop him or he would be making a huge mistake.

  “Ryan!” he managed to croak out.

  Ryan stopped and slowly turned around, a hopeful look on his face.

  “Um, I could use some help picking some paper out. I’ve never been really handy at wrapping presents and that sort of thing, so I’m not sure how much to buy. Do you mind helping me out?” Blake managed to say, shrugging his shoulders with a nervous smile. Blake’s smile broadened as Ryan grinned and practically ran back over to help.

  “Sure! I would love to help you.” Ryan said, moving directly beside Blake. “How many presents do you have to wrap? Are they for adults, or children, or both?”

  “Both. I’ve got quite a few to wrap. I’ve got a big family, so I’m sure I’ll need several rolls.” Blake felt a rush of relief flow through him. He’d managed to keep his adorable elf with him for a few minutes longer. Now all he had to do is figure out what to do next.

  “Well, there’s always these variety packs that have several rolls in them, but frankly I always like to pick out exactly the paper I want, not just what they think I need,” Ryan said, first pointing out a package of several smaller tubes of wrapping paper all cellophaned together.

  “I’ll go with what you recommend. I’m horrible at this stuff. I’ve been teased mercilessly by my family because I always just give the gift in the bag from the store I bought it from,” Blake said, picking up a roll of paper that was decorated with Santa Claus’ face. He felt Ryan gently take the paper from his grasp and put it back in its bin.

  “Since you’ve got a reputation of not wrapping gifts for you family and friends, why don’t you surprise them this year and really go all out? You could get some brightly colored paper, and top your presents off with a big gorgeous bow. You could wow your family with the effort it took to wrap each package,” Ryan suggested, grabbing a couple big tubes of metallic paper for Blake’s inspection. As Blake looked from the shiny colored paper and then up at Ryan, he became mesmerized by the animated look on Ryan’s angelic face.

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Ryan! Do you think I could actually pull it off?” Blake asked, feeling himself relax under Ryan’s excited gaze. As soon as Blake mentioned his name, Ryan grinned even more and nodded excitedly as if he was pleased that he acknowledged it. “Of course you can do it! It may take some time and effort, but it would be worth it for you to see how thrilled your family will be to see the effort you put out doing it just for them.”

  Blake knew his family would be shocked to see their presents in more than a paper bag, but he seriously doubted his ability to wrap a present with any more skill than his two-year-old niece. As he stood there contemplating what to do next, Blake felt Ryan’s gaze sweep over him. Warmth filled his heart as he gazed down into Ryan’s beautiful green eyes.