Page 6 of The Mistletoe Kisser

She stopped abruptly on the path. “Right,” she said, the truth of it hitting her like a bolt of lightning.

As he rambled on about not wanting to work five days a week and shopping allowances, Sammy’s brain turned the idea over.

There was nothing that said she had to go to Ohio State like her mother. Or that shehadto use a veterinary career to build a legacy and a reputation. She could do it the wayshewanted to. Heck, she didn’t even need to join her mother’s practice. She could practice veterinary medicine anywhere she wanted, and it wouldn’t be because her parents said so.

Maybe, just maybe, she could find a happy medium between rebelling and conforming.

“Oh. Hey. Look at that.”

Sammy followed the direction he pointed. Straight up.

“Mistletoe,” she said, her pulse fluttering.Oh boy. Oh boy. Oh boy. She forgot all about her potential future and focused on the present moment.

She’d caught the eye of the cute guy, saved a sheep, and potentially solved her own “rebel or conform” debate. And then accidentally wandered into Mistletoe Corner.

It was a secluded little section of the park where a tall spruce wore hundreds of colored Christmas lights. In front of the tree, the Decorating Committee always strung a canopy of lights interspersed with mistletoe plants.

Maybe the Solstice magic wasn’t over yet.

She wet her lips nervously, wondering if she should make the first move.Did she know what the first move was? Should she stand on tiptoe? Tilt her head?

Mid-worry about what to do with her hands, Ryan leaned down. That shock of blond hair tumbled across his forehead again. It was the last thing she saw before his lips touched hers.

Her first kiss was utter perfection. Under the mistletoe on a background of Christmas lights. She half-expected it to start snowing in further confirmation of a Solstice miracle.

But instead of fat, falling flakes, she got a shriek of dismay from a tall woman dressed in a puffy, lime green jacket and yellow ski hat.

“Ryan Shufflebottom! You get your fanny over here right now!” The woman stormed into the clearing like a principal about to start doling out detentions.

Sammy jumped back guiltily.

“Uh-oh,” Ryan said.

“Yeah, uh-oh,” the woman agreed. “You’resogrounded. We’re leaving. Now!”

Sammy wished the ground would swallow her up.Was he in trouble because he kissed her? Would he think it was worth the punishment? Or was he already regretting it?

“See you around, blue eyes. Maybe we’ll meet again,” her teenage Lothario said, giving her a little wink and one more hair toss.

She watched as Ryan Shufflebottom from Des Moines was dragged away by his mother, who was reciting the words “military school” like a mantra.

“What the hell just happened?” she wondered out loud.

2

Friday, December 20, present day

“What in the hell is happening?” Ryan growled as yet another VW Bus cheerily tooted its horn while the driver tossed him a jaunty peace sign. “Stop waving. I don’t know you.”

In his opinion, it was too frigid for friendliness. There was actual snow on the ground. Not the kind of flaky crap that fell from the sky in Christmas movies. But frozen crusts of it, just lying there glistening like icy death traps in the fading afternoon sunlight.

He didn’t bother wondering why he gave the driver a half-hearted wave—despite the fact that his life had imploded, he wasn’t a complete asshole—but he did give passing thought to why this hippie hellhole had so many Volkswagen vans.

It seemed unnatural, as did everything else regarding his current situation. Including the fact that his knees were embedded in his armpits because the last rental car on the lot had been designed as a child’s toy and not for a six-foot-two-inch-tall man.

“Turn right on Dharma Street,” the car’s snooty French GPS voice announced.

Ryan grudgingly took the turn. He was pissed off, unsettled, and several other adjectives along those same lines. The trip had been a whim. He didn’t have whims. He had plans. Goals. Lists. Whims led to situations likethis.