On The Naughty List

Now that the car was packed, looking around the room as we were about to leave, I realized she was right, it was a nice room. And I already knew the memories I'd be taking away with me of the night we shared, would last me a lifetime.

The snow was lighter as we started out again. Thankfully, the roads had been plowed and salted so the drive felt more relaxed.

Looking across the car at her, I had this urge to touch her, wanted to hold her hand, and feel her skin on mine. Reaching across the car I wrapped my hand around hers. The way she smiled into my eyes as I lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss into her palm, I was so glad now that we'd gotten stranded and finally had a chance to connect.

I know I've never been in love. It's kind of hard to know what love feels like, if you've never felt loved. But I knew what I was feeling for her, was pretty profound. And the saying L word for the first time ever, didn't feel that scary.

Just then my phone rang. I could see on the screen it was my buddy Jack probably wondering where I was. Force of habit, I answered on my blue tooth.

"Hey, Noah, it's Jack. Hope you're not stranded out there."

"Hey, Jack. Yeah, sorry. I should have called. It was snowing so hard they closed the highway, so I had to pull off for the night."

"Yeah, I figured that. It came down pretty hard up here, too. Probably got at least a foot of white powder. Great for skiing, but not so much for driving."

"Well, I'm back on the road now, heading north."

"That's good, because you'll never guess who's staying in the room next door. Remember those twin blonde bombshells you hooked up with the Cayman Islands a couple of years ago? Well, they've been asking for you, and I promised them you'd be here soon. So, you all you gotta do is get here, and let the good times roll."

Oh shit. I looked over at Kendra, and wanted to explain that I wasn't interested in hooking up with anyone else. But before I could say a word, her phone rang.

I said goodbye to Jack, and told him I'd talk to him later.

Then I listened as Kendra was saying, "Hi, Mom. Yeah, were back on the road, so I shouldn't be too long." It sounded like she had called her mother to let her know we were stranded.

She nodded her head at whatever her mother was saying, till finally she said, "Okay. See you soon. Love you, too."

Not sure what to say, before I could think of how to explain about the little episode with the twins being long before I knew her, Kendra pointed off to the right and curtly said, "Take the next exit, and then turn left at the lights."

She was staring straight ahead, and I could see she was upset, like she could hardly wait to get away from me.

After turning off the road, we drove down a long, tree-lined driveway and pulled up outside a white two-story house, with a big wrap-around porch, that even had a swing chair, giving it the feel of a Norman Rockwell painting. Her mother, smiling from ear to ear, came out to meet us, and Kendra sank into her arms as she wrapped her in a big, warm hug.

It was nice to see they were close, and that her family obviously loved her.

Once they finally pulled apart, I went to shake her mother's hand, but she smirked and batted it away and pulled me into her arms and surprised me when she gave me a big, bear hug, too, along with an affectionate pat on the back. "Thank you for getting our girl home safe and sound, Mr. Mason," she said as she pulled away, smiling into my eyes.

"No worries. I'm just glad we got here safe."

I could see where Kendra got her looks, her mother was still a fine-looking woman, even at somewhere around sixty. Same red hair, though dusted with a bit of gray, and same teasing brown eyes. She was so warm and welcoming, I almost wished I was staying with them instead of heading north to go skiing.

While they stood for a moment and caught up, I got Kendra's things out of the trunk and started carrying it up to the porch. Her father opened the door, and relieved me of the suitcases while I carried in the gift bags.

"You must me Mr. Mason," he said, extending his hand for a hearty shake. "I'm Kendra's dad, Russ."

"Nice to meet to you, Russ. And you can call me Noah."

He nodded at the window. "We were watching the weather yesterday, and it was so bad out there, we were glad to hear you pulled off and didn't try and drive through the storm."

"Yeah. When they closed the highway, we knew we'd better wait it out."

"Well, come on in, I've got a cold one waiting for you."

Behind me I heard Kendra. "Dad, Noah's got to get going. He's got friends waiting for him at a ski lodge."

"Well, you're staying for Christmas dinner," her mother said, like it was already decided. "I've got a place set for you at the table, right beside Kendra."

I could tell Kendra wanted me to turn her down and tell her that I had to get going. So, I smiled and said, "Thanks, Mrs. Dawson, I'd love to say."

While Kendra stared at me like I was crazy, her father handed me a longneck, and told me, "You know you're welcome to stay as long as you want, Noah. We've already made up the bed in the guest room for you."

I could actually feel Kendra's eyes boring into the back of my head, when I tapped bottles with him and said, "Thanks, Russ. I might stay at least for a night or two. if that's okay. It'll be nice to enjoy the holiday with the family, since I'm normally on my own."

I'd just turned around to face her, staring at me like I'd grown a second head, now that I said I was staying, when the front door opened and the rest of her family started pouring in. One poor young woman had a casserole in her hand and a wailing baby squirming on her hip.

Kendra rushed over, took the baby from her and shocked me when she handed the little squirmer off to me. She gave me a wicked grin as she eyed me and said, "Noah, loves kids. Don't you, Noah? He's just so good with them."

Quickly setting down my beer, I looked at the baby in my arms, with its face all squished up, crying its heart out, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do with it. Knowing full well Kendra was trying to get me back for offering to stay, especially once she'd heard about the twins.

Going by instinct, I took its little white knit hat off its head and said as calmly and soothingly as I could, "You're okay, sweetie. Nothing to cry about." Her grandfather Russ helped me out and pulled off its boots, and unzipped its snow suit. And slowly the little thing stopped crying and started to smile. A really adorable one-toothed smile. And as I smiled back into those big brown eyes, I decided it had to be the cutest kid I'd ever seen.

"You've got a gift, Noah. She really seems to like you," he said, as the little cutie started to giggle when I pulled a funny face to try and make her laugh. She had me laughing too, the sound of her surprisingly deep little belly laugh was just so infectious.

"Here, I can take her now," the baby's mother said, now that she had her coat and boots off and had handed the casserole to her mother.

"She's okay where she is, aren't you?" I said to the little charmer as she cooed and smiled up at me, looking pretty content now with me holding her.

I looked over and saw Kendra across the room, standing with her sisters, looking at me like she'd never seen me before.

I was little surprised myself. Who knew I had a way with babies? I sure as hell didn't.

As her daughter smiled and kept cooing, the baby's mother introduced herself, "You must be Noah, Kendra's boss. I'm her oldest her sister, Tess. And thanks for calming her down. Poor little thing was nice and warm, asleep in her car seat. And I don't think she appreciated me waking her up to face the cold. Did you, Cassie?" The baby just giggled, and we both laughed.

One of her brother's came over and shook my hand, said, "Hi, I'm Kendra's oldest brother Rob." And then one after the other I met them all. Everyone seemed pretty friendly, and I could see why Kendra had turned out the way she had, coming from such a nice, warm family.

Tess kissed the top of Cassie's head, took a sniff of her while she was at it and pulled a face. "I think I'd better check her diaper." I was glad Kendra hadn't overheard that, or she'd have probably piped up and said, "Oh, Noah would be happy to change her."

I was okay with getting her to calm down, but no way was I going to get involved in cleaning up a baby, after the first time I'd ever held one.

Just as Tess walked away with Cassie, Kendra's brother Rob came over and nodded at the door. "A few of us guys like to do a little target practice whenever we get together, if you want to join us."

Though I'd never handled a gun, I decided a little fresh air might be nice, especially before Kendra came over and told me to be on my way.

All bundled up in snow gear, with knit caps tugged down on our heads, a bunch of us trudged our way down a snowy pine-scented path to a clearing behind the house. I laughed at the way her brother Rob cocked an eyebrow smirking, when I saw there were no guns involved, only razor-sharp axes that he was hefting with one hand. One of her brothers was sharpening the edge of one as the guys all waited for the all clear, so they could get started.

Rob went first. He held his left arm out for balance as he lifted his right arm and held the axe over his head, and aimed it at the target to show me how it worked. Of course, everyone cheered, including me. When on his first try, he let it fly, and got a bullseye.

When I tried, I was just happy to get it on the big wooden board they had nailed to the trunk of a tall maple tree, rather than losing it in the bush.

We barely felt the cold, and after a while I was getting warm, and had to unzip my jacket the more I got into it. Never taking much time to kick back and have fun, I was really enjoying myself.

Looking around, I decided I really liked these guys. They made me feel like I belonged, though they'd never met me before today.

This time, when Rob said, "Your turn, Noah," I carefully eyed the red painted target, before I took aim and heaved the axe, and finally got a bulls-eye, dead center. And it felt pretty good when everyone cheered for me.

It was starting to snow pretty hard, and someone had put on the outside lights, so we could see what we were doing. Just as Russ, Kendra's father came out and said, "Okay guys, let's see what the old man can do."

When he got it in one shot, we all laughed and cheered. Though gray on top, he was still in good shape and obviously took care of himself.

"Well, I think it's time went inside, because the turkey's on the table, and we'd better eat it while it's hot. Especially, after your mother's been cooking up a feast for us all day."

The rest of the little ones were in front of the TV playing with a basket full of Legos and luckily Frosty the Snow Man was just ending. They seemed like a nice bunch of kids, and didn't mind leaving the blocks behind to go and sit down at the smaller kids' table for dinner.

They had me sitting beside Kendra in the middle of a really long oak dining table. As I sat down, I watched her brother put a few more logs on the roaring fire in the big stone fireplace, making the place feel warm with the glow of the embers.

Looking around the table, I couldn't believe how good it felt to be able to enjoy this with her family. The big Christmas tree in the corner was all lit up, with lots of brightly wrapped presents sitting beneath it, making me wish I'd brought something, if only for Kendra and her parents.

Then I felt my heart sink when Kendra leaned in and whispered, "If you leave as soon as we've finished dinner, you'll still be able to see your friends for Christmas."

"But what if I want to stay?"

Before she could answer, we heard her father starting to say, "Bless this food, and all of us gathered around this table." As he began to say grace, we both bowed our heads and gave thanks before all the amazing smelling dishes started getting passed around the table.

Seeing that she still hadn't looked at me, I leaned in and whispered against her ear. "I want to stay, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

When she nodded, I finally looked down at my plate, and realized her family really knew how to cook. Everything looked really good. Hot roast turkey, tons of veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy, a couple kinds of stuffing, cranberry sauce, the whole nine yards. I don't remember ever having Christmas dinner as a kid. It was never a big deal at my grandmother's house. And lately, since I was usually away somewhere soaking up the sun, I never thought about celebrating with a nice meal.

But with all her family around the table, even cute little Cassie on her mother's lap, trying a little taste of mashed potato. For the first time in my life, I felt right at home.

I realized then that this was what it was supposed to be like, being with family, sharing some fun, enjoying some good food. This was what Christmas was really all about.

Once dinner was over, after we'd all got up and cleared the table, the table cloth came off and the cards came out. I'd only ever played poker, but when we broke into groups of four, it was fun to learn how to play 500, a version of euchre, as we got into the game, with everyone laughing and teasing as they played. As I laughed along, I felt like I fit right in.

After we'd had a few games, it was time for the presents to be opened. The kids were all excited as they tore off the paper to see what Santa got them.

I noticed Cassie got a little soft bunny with a red elf hat on its head, that she squealed over and hugged as soon it was unwrapped for her.

When Kendra handed me a shiny green gift bag, I felt awful not having anything for her. Even after she said, "It's just a can of cookies, Noah." I knew I'd have to get her something later.

"Sorry, I didn't you get anything," I said, after I'd thanked her.

She smirked. "Well, you did give me a pretty nice Christmas bonus."

Everyone in the office got a bonus, because we'd had a good year. But I wanted to give her something a lot more personal than a check. Though I thought it might be a little early to be giving her an engagement ring. But then again, maybe not.

KENDRA

I'd felt like I was going to be sick when I heard Noah's friend Jack phone and tell him that he had two hot blondes waiting for him at the lodge.

I don't know how I could have been so stupid to think that after spending a few hours alone together stranded at the motel, that I mean anything to him.

I knew leopards never changed their spots, and also knew that Noah would never be anything but a player hopping from bed to bed.

It was my own fault. I'd let myself fall for him, and been foolish enough to think that he might have feelings for me, when I knew darn well that he didn't feel anything for anyone.

Well, he could go and enjoy himself with his blonde bombshells, but once the New Year came, I'd be handing in my resignation. No way I could work with him anymore, not after what we'd share together. To know that he could roll out of bed with me, and be ready to hop into bed with his twins as soon as he got to the lodge, told me he wasn't the kind of man that I wanted anything to do with.

Trying to keep it together, I was stalking my way into the kitchen, ready to help with coffee and dessert, when my sister older sister Tess stepped in front of me and said, "Kendra, you won't believe who just phoned mom." Before I could ask, she grinned and told me, "Cal's in town for the holiday. And mom invited him over for dessert. He should be here any minute."

Great, just what I needed now, to have him show up. Cal and I had been high school sweethearts. Till I found out he'd been two timing me with the head cheerleader, the last few weeks of school. Though he told me it didn't mean anything and he still loved me, I just couldn't be with him anymore. Knowing how casually he thought about cheating, I knew I couldn't trust him. Still determined, he'd showed up with an engagement ring just before we both went off to college. But I told him I couldn't marry him, and hoped one day he'd find someone that he loved enough to be faithful to.

I don't know why he was coming back to see me, when he had to know it was never going to happen and we were done with each other years ago.

I was carrying in a tray of cookies I'd baked, as my father was ushering Cal into the house, shaking his hand and wishing him a Merry Christmas. Cal smiled the moment he saw me, but I didn't feel a thing. I was totally over him, and wished he could accept it.

Though I had to admit, he did look good. Tall, dark and handsome. It felt odd to think that if he hadn't cheated, we might have been married by now.

Cal walked over to me and shocked me when he pulled me into his arms for a kiss. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Noah wasn't looking too happy, and I heard him nudge my brother Rob and ask, "Who the hell's this guy?"

I know I should have pushed Cal away, and asked him what he thought he was doing. But as they say, payback's a bitch, so I let him kiss me for a second, knowing that Noah was watching. Giving him a smile, I said, "Good to see you again, Cal," as I felt Noah glaring at the two of us together.

"Good to see you, too," he said, smiling back as he looked me over, and told me, "You're looking good, Kendra. Really good, actually. I think you're even prettier than I remember."

Now it was getting uncomfortable. I didn't want to encourage him. So, I nodded at the table. "Sorry, I'm just helping with the dessert. Why don't take a seat at the table Cal, and you and my brothers can catch up."

I'd just made it through the doors of the kitchen and I felt someone slip their arm around me, spinning me around. Finding myself face to face with Noah, I said, "Hey, no need to rush me, I'll have the coffee out there in a minute."

"I don't want coffee," he nearly growled, his eyes darker than I'd ever seen them.

"Well, I could make tea, or decaf if you wanted. Or would you prefer a glass of milk with your dessert?"

He nodded at the door. "I think we need to talk."

"I don't think so," I said, and squeezed my way around him.

My sister Tess, who'd been watching us, laughed at how determined he was, when Noah took me by the hand, grabbed two coats off the coat rack by the door, and hustled me outside.

"Don't you have some twins waiting for you at the lodge?" I asked him as soon as we stepped out onto the porch as he'd draped his coat over my shoulders.

"I'm not interested in hooking up with anyone else. I already phoned Jack and told him I wouldn't be joining them because I'd rather to be here with you."

I gave him a bat of my eyelashes. "But I heard they were twin bombshells, just itching to be with you. How could you possibly say no to that?"

Shaking his head at me, his eyes bright with amusement, he stroked my cheek, touched his lips to mine and whispered, "Maybe because I've got what I want right here."

Then he kissed me. Oh, wow, did he kiss me. He wrapped me in his arms and I pushed up on my toes, and smiled against his lips as he nearly kissed me silly.

When he finally pulled back, he nodded at the house. "When we go back inside, you can tell that old boyfriend of yours that you're taken, now that you're with me."

"What do you mean, I'm with you? All you did was kiss me, and you think that's enough?"

He nodded. "Okay. I've never uttered these words before in my life. So, you've got to know I mean it. I love you, Kendra. Even though you drive me crazy at work, and I know I'll never get anything done anymore, now that we're together. I realize I might be a little old for you, but I want to be with you. And I just hope you want to be with me."

When I didn't answer him, he tugged me a little closer and said, "Well..."