* * *
“Mistletoe?” Molly came running from the kitchen, a gleam of excitement in her eyes.
Wade and Tori both looked above their heads and back at each other with a touch of dismay. Dangling from the ceiling was a small sprig of green leaves tied with a festive red ribbon. What the hell was mistletoe doing in the house? Everyone here was related. If not by blood, by circumstance. His mother never hung mistletoe.…
Then it hit him. She’d invited Tori to dinner. She’d hung mistletoe. Molly was plotting. The woman had five children in their late twenties or early thirties and not the slightest forecast of weddings and grandbabies in her future. She must have gotten it in her head that Tori would be perfect for one of her boys. Maybe even him. What was she thinking?
By now, the entire family had piled back into the living room to watch.
“Mama,” Wade complained. “Why did you hang this stuff? It’s silly.”
“It’s tradition,” Molly countered. “This is the first year I’ve been able to hang it, so you bet your sweet bippy you’re going to play along and make me happy.”
Wade swallowed the lump in his throat and turned from his family to look at Tori. She looked even more anxious than he felt. She was stiff, her light blue eyes wide with shock from the unexpected declaration. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. He didn’t know if it was from their argument or the embarrassment of kissing him like this.
Two seconds earlier they’d been fighting, and now he had to kiss her in front of his entire family. Several times over the past few days he’d fantasized about doing just that. Running his hands through the silken fire of her hair. Halting the flow of poisonous words from her mouth by kissing her into silence.
But not now. Not like this. Not in front of everyone.
“If you don’t do it, I will,” Heath offered from the back. Julianne threw an irritated elbow into his ribs, doubling him over. “Ow, Jules!”
That made Wade frown. He sure as hell wouldn’t let Heath anywhere near Tori or the mistletoe. He’d punch his brother in the jaw for even thinking about kissing Tori.
He’d worry about what that meant later.
“Just hurry up and get it over with.”
Tori’s voice distracted him from his brother’s taunt. He frowned at the redhead. Even though the sensible thing to do would be to give her a quick peck and move on, he didn’t like her attitude. Never in his life had a woman asked him to “hurry up and get it over with.” It made him want to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless. He wanted her to eat her words.
But doing that in front of his family was dangerous. Brody would worry that he’d let sex distract him from their goal. Molly would start knitting booties. He needed to just kiss her so they could have dinner and send Tori on her way.
“Kiss her!” someone shouted. He wasn’t sure who.
Wade took a step forward, Tori’s whole body tensing as he did. Leaning in to her, he didn’t hesitate to bring his lips to hers. He had every intention of giving her the kind of kiss appropriate for a stranger caught in this awkward ritual. But the moment his skin touched hers, it was just like before. The handshake in the gift shop had nearly thrown him for a loop. Touching her so innocently had sent his blood boiling, and he hadn’t been able to make himself pull away.
Just like now.
Tori’s mouth was soft and more welcoming than he’d expected. There was no tight-lipped resignation. Instead, she leaned in to him just slightly, tasting like the honey she’d put in his tea a few days earlier. The gesture was enough to coax him into closing his eyes and deepening the kiss. His right hand slipped up to caress her cheek.
The surge of desire that ran through his body urged him forward, keeping him from pulling back the way his brain knew he needed to. In the back of his mind he registered that Tori wasn’t pulling away, either. There was something stronger than both of them holding them in place. A tingle of electricity danced across the palm of his hand where he touched her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her. He wanted to forget about their circumstances and press his body against hers.
A loud wolf whistle from one of his brothers startled both of them out of it. As if receiving an unexpected slap, Wade jerked back. Tori did the same. He looked at her, a little startled by his reaction to her. The intensity had completely caught him off guard. Judging by the wide-eyed expression on Tori’s face, she was equally confused by what had just happened.
Glancing behind her, he saw that his whole family stood with mixed expressions on their faces. A few were surprised, Brody was irritated, Heath was amused. Only his mother was grinning, a smug satisfaction in her eyes. Wade could tell she was picking out the perfect color of pastel yarn at that very moment.