Page 31 of The Mistletoe Mix-up

“Only because I want to know everything about you. Who you are now, I mean.” Sam suddenly pushed back from the table, asking, “Do you want some wine? I feel like we may need wine for this conversation.”

“I’ll take water,” she said, grinning at him. Was she getting a kick out of how discombobulated he was?

Sam got up from the table and filled two glasses with ice water, wondering why he was so jumpy. Wren was an old friend over for dinner, not a date.

Maybe that’s what was off. If this was just a hookup, he’d already have his next move planned. They’d finish dinner, and after a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up, they’d move to the sofa. From there, it would just naturally progress to sex.

With Wren, he hadn’t been thinking about getting her into bed when he’d offered to make her dinner, but about catching up. Finding out who she was now. It was different than their first go-round, when he’d asked her out for burgers and they’d ended up making out by the lake. They hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other, just two horny teens letting their libidos run the show.

There had been more though. So much more. When Wren’s best friend had rolled her truck and needed to be LifeFlighted to Boise, he’d held her all night while she cried as they waited for news. When he’d thought, for just a moment, that college might be for him, she’d been there to open his rejection letter. He’d brushed it off like he didn’t care, but she’d railed against the school and what a bunch of idiots they were. Sam remembered smiling so hard his face hurt until he pulled her down into his arms and told her he loved her for the very first time.

Then tonight, as he’d leaned over her in the hallway, watching her pulse jump in her throat and the way her eyes locked on his mouth, that rush of need hit him like a ton of bricks.

“Are you okay in there?” she called.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” What was going on with him? Why was he hung up on whether what he had with Wren in high school was real?

Maybe because of the handful of women I’ve lasted longer than a night with, she is the only one I never stopped thinking about? And having her in my home is bringing up all kinds of unresolved emotions?

Sam carried the glasses back to the table, tamping down the tiny voice in his head.

He settled in across from her and set her glass of water to the left of her plate. “There you go,” he said.

“Thank you.” She took a drink of her water and set it down with a smile. “Back to my experiences . . .” She tapped a finger against her mouth and shrugged. “There’s been a lot. I’ve worked in five major cities, and I’ve been punched, kicked, stabbed once, and I got a bullet in the butt during my last job in Sacramento.”

“Pause,” he coughed, having inhaled a mouthful of wine when she’d gotten to bullet in the butt.

“Sorry, I know,” she said, smirking, “that last one catches everyone by surprise.”

“How did that happen?” he wheezed, still trying to get his coughing under control.

“My partner and I responded to a robbery in progress, and while I was chasing the first suspect, I missed the second guy. He had a gun and caught me in the left butt cheek as I was hopping a fence after his buddy.” The way she relayed it, her tone a mix of cheerful humor and anger, made her voice thick, almost trembling. “My partner managed to tackle him, and another uniform grabbed my guy around the corner. I don’t know which hurt more, the bullet or hitting the sidewalk below.”

“Damn. I’m so sorry,” he murmured, trying to put himself in her shoes.

She shrugged, taking another drink and setting it down. “It took me a while to heal, and when I did, I froze the first day back. There were horns blaring and people talking everywhere, and I couldn’t handle it. That night, I decided that I didn’t want to work in the city anymore. I wanted a quiet beat and to live in a place where the crime rate wasn’t insane.” She smiled a little too brightly and added, “Now, I’m here.”

“Sounds like you have been through a lot and deserve a little peace.”

“You aren’t kidding. What about you?” she asked, her expression shifting to flirtatious. “Any experiences you want to share?”

Sam chuckled at her singsong tone. “Like I told you, I was living in Oregon. I’d worked my way into a spot at a local tattoo parlor, and my boss and I had a great relationship.” His jaw muscles tightened when he thought about what he’d lost. “I trusted him, and turns out I made a mistake. So, I came back here, where I get to be with my brother and my nephew, and it’s great for the most part.”

“Do you ever miss Oregon?”

“Sometimes,” he said, thinking about the music and art scene where he’d spent most of his weekend nights during his twenties. “There’s not a lot to do in Mistletoe except hit one of the two bars in town. But here, at least I have family. Clark and Jace, plus the Winters, who have become a surrogate family to me. I have fun messing with Chris and teasing Victoria. They welcomed me into their home. I can never repay that.”

Wren took another bite from her plate before responding, “I think that’s sweet. I’ve always liked the Winters. They’re good people.”

“Yeah, they are. The Winters even threw me a surprise birthday party a couple of years ago. They’re a lot warmer than my parents ever were,” Sam said bitterly, thinking about the time they’d left on a trip the week before his birthday and hadn’t come back until four days after. They hadn’t even called him to wish him a happy birthday. For some people, that wouldn’t have been a big deal, but it was just further proof to Sam that he and Clark didn’t matter to them.

“I remember.” Wren reached across for his hand and squeezed. “One of my favorite memories is of you, me, and Clark going camping for the weekend to celebrate your birthday and my brothers crashing our bonfire. You were so freaked out at first, but it ended up being a blast.”

“Says you!” Sam protested, setting his fork down to cover his heart. “Every time I glanced their way, they would send me threatening gestures. I figured I was going to wake up being dragged into the lake!”

Wren snorted. “My brothers could be overbearing and controlling like my dad, but they warmed up to you, and the point is, you had a great birthday despite your parents being jerks.”

“How did you manage to escape after graduation? I expected to find you off in a tower somewhere, being guarded by a dragon.”