her arms around me thanking me for looking after her baby. Rob slapped me on the back.
“Oh look,” Sarah pointed out as we stood near the door. “Ian and David are under the mistletoe.” Damn! I’d forgotten about that. I’d put it up because Dad and Gary had a thing that wherever they were at Christmas, they had to kiss under the mistletoe.
“You have to kiss,” Viv said.
“No, that’s silly,” I said as I reached up to grab the holly.
“Stop!” Rob scolded me and grabbed my elbow. “It’s bad luck!” I’d never heard that superstition.
“It’s okay. We don’t have to,” David murmured as an adorable spot of pink appeared on each cheek.
“No, it’s tradition,” Sarah agreed and shrugged. “Nothing to do but smooch!”
Being a head taller than David had me leaning over, but there were four pairs of eyes latched on to us. Weird. Were they all holding their breath waiting for our lips to meet?
David tilted his head and I did the same to avoid the awkward nose smushing. His breath with the hint of coffee and syrup curled around me making my heart thud at twice the normal speed. It had me reliving our breakfast where we’d engaged in cheerful conversation.
Soft lips met mine. A light touch from one almost-stranger to another. With an audience who’d forced us into this, there was no gasping for breath, or tracing my tongue over his lips. And definitely no grinding of hips with our hands grabbing at one another’s clothes.
We pulled apart, and for a second the onlookers faded, along with their expectations. I stared into his deep blue eyes, wondering what lay hidden in their depths. But my thoughts were interrupted by clapping and cheering from David’s family.
“Now we can go,” Viv said.
“I can walk,” David insisted as we placed my food on the sled. “Besides I want to explore the farm.”
“Well, you’re on it,” Rob pointed into the distance. “The house is straight across the field, you might be able to see smoke from the chimney. Apart from that you won’t see much except…
“Snow?”
Everyone laughed. We set off, Rob and Mac taking turns to pull the sled. I offered, but they said after rescuing David, I was a hero and therefore got a pass. That was a little over the top especially when I recalled yanking David’s clothes off. Viv and Sarah pointed out the barn to David as we got closer to the house.
“Oh, we left my wet clothes at your place,” David tugged at the jacket of mine he was wearing. The family exchanged glances and Sarah pulled back the coat I’d lent him to reveal the dark blue sweatshirt underneath. “Never seen you wear sweats before, and a coat that’s a size too big.”
I was much taller than David and it was obvious the clothes he had on were not his.
“They’re Ian’s.”
More furtive looks and smirks.
“Mine were wet, and Ian had to get them off.”
Oh David, you’re digging yourself in deeper. Me too. I was Vic and Rob’s employee, not part of their family. Would they object if they thought I’d slept with their son? Probably not, but if they had an inkling I’d taken advantage of him, then yes, they’d be upset and they’d have good reason to be. And I might lose my job. “David was so cold when he arrived. I had to get him into dry clothes.”
Viv patted my arm. “We understand, Ian. It was the smart thing to do.”
“I’ve read to warm up a person, you need to get into bed naked. Together,” Sarah piped up.
I dared not look at David or anyone else. Heat prickled over the back of my neck as I inspected my boots. I hoped David understood it hadn’t happened. “That’s true, but we didn’t get naked.” Just saying the word somehow made it worse.
“Moving on,” Rob interjected.
We trudged over a slight slope and the house came into view. With its roof covered in snow it reminded me of a chocolate box. It was just missing the ribbon. David was sending me furtive glances, and I hoped I hadn’t embarrassed him.
The Anderson house smelled amazing when we walked in as Viv had food in the oven, and after putting my bits and bobs in the fridge, she told me she and Rob were the Christmas chefs and would be cooking up a storm.
“Mom, not the best choice of words,” Mac told her. Her brow furrowed and Mac continued. “Storm!”
“Ian’s an amazing cook,” David chimed in. He made