The Mistletoe Phenomenon Read online

  Chapter One

  Lance Rivera could have done without the jolly Christmas music oozing from the store’s loudspeakers. For the first time ever he couldn’t get into the holiday spirit. Unfortunately, working at Holiday World required a happy smile. He snorted as he shelved mistletoe this and mistletoe that into the appropriate spaces in the backroom. Maybe Katie should rename her store Mistletoe World, as much as his sister loved the stuff.

  When the little bell above the front door tinkled he pasted a friendly smile onto his face and made his way back to the main room. He did this job because he needed the money. Not that his family wouldn’t have supported him; his parents had even offered his old room back, but he had his pride. It was about the only thing left after Brice had taken their savings and vanished once he no longer needed Lance as a source of a regular income.

  “Good morning. How may I help you?” The words had left his mouth before he’d had a chance to look. He might not have been able to utter a single syllable if he had.

  The man who stood before him was a true vision of male beauty, all six feet four inches of him. Silver-blue eyes were set in a broad face with a square jaw and a wide nose, topped off by blond wavy hair that was cut too short for his taste. Wide shoulders and what looked like a well-developed chest under a thick sweatshirt tapered into narrow hips. Strong thighs and long legs completed the picture. While the man’s coat was open, there were still too many layers of winter clothes to see any more details.

  “Hello.” The man’s deep baritone rumbled its way straight into Lance’s heart. “We’re here to buy some Christmas ornaments and decorations.”

  We? Oh, there was a little boy next to the vision. Maybe eight or nine years old with the same blond hair and wide nose but sky-blue eyes. He looked even more serious than his father. Why were the nice ones always straight?

  “You’ve definitely come to the right place.” More like the only place in Mistletoe, Wyoming, with a worthwhile choice. “There’s a great selection over there.”

  The man looked where Lance pointed and nodded.

  “Thank you.” The man turned toward the little boy but didn’t move from his spot next to the door. “Go on, have a look, Jakob. You can get anything you want.”

  Well, that was generous. But how was the little guy going to see or reach the top shelves? Not that it was any of Lance’s business but the boy looked so lost when he trudged over to the display, he just couldn’t ignore him.

  “Here, Jakob.” He grabbed a shopping basket and followed the boy. “I’ll hold this for you and you can put the things you want inside. If there’s anything you can’t reach, just tell me and I’ll show it to you.”

  “Thanks.” The boy smiled hesitantly. “There’s a lot of stuff here. Can you please help me find some red and white candy ornaments? And we need something for the tree. I don’t really know what to get.”

  “Sure, I can help you. But maybe your dad knows better what you need?” Why wasn’t the man over here helping his son anyway? He still stood by the door like a big log.

  “My- my dad?” A tear rolled down the little boy’s face. “My parents are dead. My dad can’t help me anymore.”

  Oh, shit. He’d really put his foot in it now. The little guy was trying so hard not to cry, his lips quivering with the effort.

  “I’m so sorry.” That was true but totally inadequate. “Come here.”

  Lance dropped onto his knees and opened his arms. The little boy hesitated for a moment, looked over at the now very uncomfortable looking man near the door and hurled himself into Lance’s arms. Lance held the back of his head and stroked his hair until the sobs and sniffles stopped. His shirt was wet but the boy had calmed down.

  “My brother and his wife died in a plane crash in Africa eight months ago.” The deep voice came from right next to them and a handkerchief appeared in his line of sight. “I’m his guardian and we’re moving here so I can combine my work with his needs for schooling.”

  “I’m very sorry to hear about their deaths.” Lance dried Jakob’s tears and made him blow his nose. He tried to let go of the boy so he could get up, but Jakob clung to him like a limpet. He shrugged and kept him in his arms as he rose to return the now very wet piece of cloth. “What sort of work do you do that you’d move to Mistletoe?”

  “It’s not the center of the universe, is it?” The man smiled for the first time, making him look even more attractive. “I’m a glaciologist. I used to go on expeditions to the Arctic and Greenland, but that’s no longer practical. So I retrained as a Park Ranger. I’ll start working for the Grand Teton National Park in January, focusing on their glacier research and educational programs.”

  “A glaciologist, huh?” He never even knew such a profession existed.

  “Yes. Uncle Magnus is a very good glaciologist. He studies ice shelves to see if they grow or shrink and how that will affect the weather and sea levels.” Jakob was clearly proud of his uncle. “And he promised to teach me how to be one too.”

  “Did he, now?” Lance suppressed a grin.

  “Yes. And he says it’s very important to keep your promises.” Jakob grinned.

  “I did.” Magnus nodded. “And right now I need to keep my promise of getting you some Christmas stuff, don’t I?”

  “Yeah.” Jakob looked sad as he looked up at his uncle. “But I don’t know what we need. And you can’t really help, can you?”

  Magnus shook his head.

  “What?” Lance almost left his mouth open.

  “Uncle Magnus doesn’t believe in superstitions.” Jakob frowned.

  “So you’ve never kissed under the mistletoe? You don’t know what you’re missing.” What had made him say that? He felt himself blush in embarrassment.

  Magnus looked at him, silver-blue eyes twinkling and both eyebrows closer to his hairline than could be comfortable.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Lance wished a convenient hole would appear in the ground and swallow him up.

  “Why not? It’s true.” Jakob tilted his head. “My mom told him that too.”

  “Jakob!” Magnus shook his head. “Kissing under the mistletoe is just an old tradition. Some people like the excuse to kiss strangers, and that’s total nonsense.”

  “And why would that be nonsense?” Katie’s voice from the end of the aisle almost made Lance jump out of his skin. She must have snuck in through the back door when she returned from her lunch break.

  “Katie! Don’t.” He turned around, Jakob still in his arms. “You may be my sister but that doesn’t mean you can come in here and- and say stuff like that.”

  “What? I just want to know how someone who’s never kissed anyone under the mistletoe can be so sure it’s nonsense.” Katie’s impish smile made her look even more like a pixie than her small upturned nose and her slim figure.

  “It- just makes no sense.” Magnus looked totally flustered.

  “I think you can’t know that until you’ve tried it.” She grinned. “Have you never been tempted to kiss someone you found attractive and wished for an excuse?”

  “Well, not really.” Magnus’s eyes flitted to Lance, then back to Katie.

  “Aha!” Katie clapped her hands. “I knew it.”

  “Really?” Jakob stared at Katie, and then looked at his uncle and back at Lance. A smile made his cheeks dimple. “Could you put me down, please? I think my uncle needs to conduct an experiment. And I don’t want to see any of that mushy stuff.”

  “An experiment?” Lance put Jakob down and watched him take Katie’s hand. He was too embarrassed to think straight. Just the thought of those strong arms around him and those full lips on his had him almost shaking. What was it about this man that made him wan
t to trust again, despite all the disasters which were his love life so far?

  “Yeah. Uncle Magnus says that if you’re not sure about something you conduct an experiment to see if it’s true or not.” Jakob pointed at the ceiling in the corner and looked up at his uncle. “There’s enough mistletoe up there for you to try and see if it works.”

  “Good thinking, Jakob.” Katie picked up the shopping basket and turned Jakob toward the shelves. “Come on, I’ll help you pick out some stuff while Lance and your uncle conduct their experiment.”

  Chapter Two

  MAGNUS CARSTENS was stunned. He’d been out of his depth regularly in the last eight months, trying to cope with the changes in his life. Numbers and logic had always been his forte; glaciers were as close to a passion as he was comfortable with. The sudden responsibility for raising an eight-year old boy who’d so recently lost his parents had added emotions to his life and he wasn’t sure how to cope with them.

  But this current situation was ludicrous. Yes, he was attracted to the lean but strong store employee—Lance—who looked up at him with deep brown eyes. He was maybe five feet ten, had olive skin, and straight dark brown hair. His face was almost pretty, with high cheekbones, a narrow nose, and a strong chin. His lips looked very tempting. Magnus really wanted to kiss him.

  Lance was not only the complete opposite of Magnus’s usual tall and muscular physical type, he had a very different emotional disposition too. He’d had no issue relating to Jakob and seemed to have intuitively known what the boy needed. Jakob had responded to that like he’d never responded to Magnus in all the time they’d spent together.

  “We don’t have to do this.” Lance looked down and Magnus missed the warmth of his brown eyes. Huh? What was that all about?

  “You don’t want to run the experiment?” Of course Lance wouldn’t. Magnus hadn’t even sent any signals that he was interested.

  “I’m not a science project.” Lance looked up, pain in his eyes. “I’m a human being.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I don’t know how to do this.” Magnus ducked his head.

  “Do what? Kiss? Treat me like I have feelings?” Lance shrugged.

  “I do want to kiss you. I don’t know why.” Magnus sighed. “As for the feelings, I know you have them. I do as well. I just don’t know what to do with them.”

  “What to do with them?” Lance suddenly grinned. “That’s easy. You follow them.”

  “Follow them?” Magnus shook his head. “I’ve never done that before. My father taught me to put facts and logic first. My mother lived to regret sacrificing her career for love. So it looks to me like emotions are likely to mess up everything.”

  “You are not your parents. It might be totally different for you.” Lance took his hand and a jolt went through him as if he’d touched a live wire. “Come on, let’s find out.”

  Before he knew what was happening he was standing in the corner Jakob had pointed at, the bunch of mistletoe overhead looking like a small forest. Lance slid his arms up around Magnus’s neck and leaned in, lips temptingly parted. Oh, what the hell. He put his arms around the other man and bent down.

  Brushing Lance’s lips with his, he moved them back and forth until Lance sighed and opened up. He slid his tongue along the full red lips as heat pooled low in his belly. Giving in to the need to explore, he slipped his tongue all the way inside. Soft, warm, and sweet, the kiss quickly deepened when Lance’s tongue moved hesitantly to play with his. Back and forth they chased each other until the need for air made him stop.

  “Wow.” Lance stepped back, eyes shining.

  “Uhm.” He was glad for the distance or Lance would have noticed how hard he was. From a kiss! Was there something to this mistletoe legend after all? If so, it was a phenomenon worth closer study.

  “Yeah.” Lance smiled. “So, what did you think?”

  “Think?” When exactly would he have had time to think?

  “Yes, think. You’ve never kissed anyone under mistletoe, right?” Lance grinned. “So, was it different?”

  “I- I think so.” Could he sound any more stupid? “But it’s really too early to tell.”

  “It is?” Lance’s eyebrows went up.

  “Yeah, I need more data—I mean experience—to be able to judge.” Magnus knew he wanted this man around, irrational though that was. “So I have a proposition for you. How about helping Jakob and me pick out everything we need for a perfect Christmas and then helping us set up the house when we move in on Monday?”

  * * *

  TWO days later Magnus still didn’t know what had made him ask, or why Lance had accepted. The whole situation was a complete mystery to him. Jakob had squealed with joy when he’d told him that Lance was going to help them decorate the house. The two of them had raided the store’s shelves while Katie had stood by with a smile on her face. He’d just stood there, contemplating the change that had made Jakob so happy.

  They’d ended up leaving the two large boxes at the store because they wouldn’t fit into their small room at the bed-and-breakfast next door. On Saturday, they got a first look at the National Park—with Lance in tow because Jakob had asked. Magnus’s new place of work had made him feel at home. Magnificent views of the Grant Teton range and some of the glaciers he was going to study had reassured him that all was not lost for his career.

  Now it was Sunday, and he’d taken Jakob to the National Elk Refuge a few miles out of town. The tour in a horse-drawn sleigh had allowed them to admire the magnificent animals from a safe distance. They’d both enjoyed the cold weather, and he’d shared his observations about the ice and snow around them with a very interested Jakob. It was now time for lunch and they were headed back into town in his new snow-safe SUV.

  “Why didn’t Lance come with us today?” Jakob sounded sad.

  “We didn’t ask him.” Magnus had wanted to, though. There was just something so easygoing about the other man.

  “Why not?” Jakob frowned.

  “I don’t know.” Magnus shook his head. Was it fear of the emotional entanglement?

  “That’s a stupid reason.” Jakob pouted.

  Magnus grinned. The boy was right; not knowing wasn’t a reason at all.

  “He’s nice, isn’t he?” Jakob wasn’t giving up.

  “Yes, he is.” Magnus blushed remembering the kiss. More than nice.

  “Can we have lunch with him? Please?” Jakob sounded hopeful.

  “He might be busy.” Magnus hoped not. “But we can go by the store and check.”

  An hour later they’d dragged Lance out of the shop, a laughing Katie assuring them that she and her fiancé Adam were more than capable of handling everything. Lance had recommended a small family-owned restaurant with a tiny dining room.

  “So, what did you guys do this morning?” Lance leaned back in his chair after they’d given the waitress their food orders.

  “We went to the elk refuge.” Jakob’s eyes lit up. “There was a sleigh ride outside and a great exhibit at the visitor center. But the best part was Uncle Magnus telling me about all the different types of ice and snow around us.”

  “Sounds like you had a great time.” Lance smiled.

  “Yeah, we did. But we missed you.” Jakob used his big blue eyes on Lance and Magnus could see the man melt.

  “I’m sorry you missed me.” Lance shrugged. “But I had to work.”

  “Why?” Jakob tilted his head. “Katie said she was okay on her own.”

  “She did. But only because Adam is there this afternoon.” Lance took a sip of his soda. “And I do have to work, you know? I already took yesterday off to be with you.”

  “I hate that.” Jakob huffed.

  “What?” Lance looked puzzled.

  “Adults always have to work. And then they can’t be with me.” Jakob closed his eyes, his voice all soft. “And sometimes they don’t come back.”

  Shit. There it was again. Jakob’s fear of being abandoned after his parents had died on a work-relate
d flight was to be expected, but how to deal with it?

  “Yeah, sometimes they don’t.” Lance took one of Jakob’s hands in his, elegant fingers caressing the boy’s. “But they still have to make money, right?”

  “I guess.” Jakob nodded.

  “And some adults, like doctors, have important jobs because they help others.” Lance watched the little boy carefully. “They can’t just stay at home, right?”

  “My mom was a nurse.” Jacob looked at Lance, eyes widening. “Does that count?”

  “Yes, Jakob, that definitely counts.” Lance smiled as Jakob perked up.

  “So sometimes the job’s so important that it’s worth taking a risk?” Jakob’s eyes were luminous.

  “That’s right. It still hurts that your mom isn’t coming back. But that’s okay because she was your mom.” Lance gripped Jakob’s hand tightly as the boy nodded, a relieved smile on his face caused by new understanding.

  How had Lance done that? How had he known what to say? And how would Magnus keep Lance around to help him deal with the next problem?

  Chapter Three

  Lance arrived at Magnus’s house with two large dishes of homemade casserole and another with pre-baked rice pudding in the trunk of his beat-up car. It had been Jakob’s idea to have him bring lunch, which had embarrassed Magnus to no end. Apparently the man was no good in the kitchen. Not that he’d have needed that skill to become one of the best glaciologists around, at least according to the articles about him available on the internet.

  Parking on the driveway next to Magnus’s SUV, Lance admired the ranch-style house with its covered porch that wrapped around the house from the double-car garage, to what looked like a sizeable garden in the back. Bright yellow window and door frames contrasted with the darker wood of the house.

  The moving van parked on the curb was almost empty. Two large and burly men dressed in blue coveralls opened the front door.

  “Hi.” Lance got out of the car and opened the trunk. “Ready for lunch?”

  “If you’re offering, sure.” One of the men grinned and helped him with the food, while the other returned to the van, took two boxes, and vanished back into the house.