“If you ever need someone to talk to,” Maggie said, “you know where I live. I feel as if there’s a lot inside of you that wants to be free.”

Sometimes the pain of always being alone was overwhelming, and now she had this woman before her who was asking for nothing but offering her the most precious gift of all—love.

Before Natalie could respond, Maggie wrapped her arms around her and gave her a hug. Natalie was grateful when Bethel and Eileen joined them, breaking up the moment. She had to get out of there. If she gave in to her emotions, she wouldn’t be able to stop crying—not for a long, long time. Too much had been buried deep inside for too long, and she knew that it would be disastrous to let it out.

“Oh, almost forgot,” Eileen said. “Here’s your candle.” She handed Natalie a long candle with a shield surrounding the bottom. “We’ll wait to light it until we reach the next block over.”

Natalie had no idea what Eileen was talking about until they turned the corner and saw a line of her neighbors walking down the street, all of them holding candles as they sang Christmas carols. Bethel pulled out a lighter and lit all their candles, and they merged with the crowd as more people appeared from their houses and joined them.

A light snow began falling as they marched toward the town center, sweet voices all around them singing “Silent Night.” So much nostalgia filled the air. It was more touching than anything Natalie had ever experienced before.

As she walked with her candle in her shaking hand, she was barely able to sing. She was surprised that the small flakes of snow didn’t extinguish the light, but it seemed that nothing, not even a winter storm, could stop the magic of this evening.

They reached the little park in the center of town, where a huge tree stood proudly with a stage to the left of it. The newcomers saw a small crowd of town residents already waiting for more people to arrive, and for the next twenty minutes, the festive caroling continued as more and more people joined in the celebration.

When the songs stopped, the mayor stepped up to a microphone and gave a short speech about the magic of the season and the blessings of living in a small community. Then another man stepped forward and the crowd clapped noisily.

“This year we’ve been blessed more than ever before. Our town continues to stay strong while other places struggle. And why? Because we genuinely care about each other, and because we know how to treat our neighbors. I expect each and every one of you to come and give me a kiss beneath the mistletoe.” He finished his remarks with a saucy wink at the crowd. Natalie found herself laughing along with everyone else.

“I’m sure Eileen will be the first person in that line,” Bethel said, making Eileen blush.

Eileen bristled. “That’s just not polite, Bethel.”

But Natalie noticed that Eileen was still gazing at the man who’d just left the lectern and microphone.

“Who is he?” Natalie asked.

“That’s Martin Whitman,” Maggie said. “He employs most of the people in this town at his oil plant. Has four very sexy sons, and they’re each just waiting for a woman to tame them.”

“Oh.” Natalie didn’t know what else to say to that.

“You’ll pretty much meet the entire town tonight,” Bethel told her, and for some reason Natalie found her own cheeks taking on major color. Just because she was meeting people, it didn’t mean that these nice women were trying to match her up with anyone. It wouldn’t do them any good anyway, as it seemed she couldn’t think of anyone other than the town’s sexy fire chief.

The talking stopped when Martin stepped over to a large box and pushed a button. The tree lit up instantly, and the crowd gave out a collective sigh.

“Come on, darling. Time to find that mistletoe,” Maggie said, and she took Natalie’s arm in hers as everyone began moving toward the fire station.

Natalie’s stomach dropped. Yes, because she could so easily picture kissing a certain person beneath the bunch of leaves and berries. And she’d be mortified if his mother knew the less than strictly religious thoughts that were running through her head. When they walked through the doors, there was barely room to move, let alone seek anyone out.

Yet somehow Natalie found herself beneath the mistletoe. And even more amazingly, she was standing right in front of the man she couldn’t stop thinking about.

“I’ve never been able to resist a beautiful woman beneath the mistletoe.”

That was all the warning she received before Hawk bent down and captured her lips. As festive partyers merged around them, Natalie saw no one, heard no one, and thought of nothing but Hawk and the way she felt with his lips caressing hers.

Why again did she try so desperately to avoid this man? Because when she was actually in his arms, all her insecurities faded and all she could think about was that this was perfect, it was right.

When he finally released her lips, he looked down into her eyes, and she knew she was his for the taking. It was too late for her to turn around this thing between them, because she wanted to get lost in his arms, and whether he wanted her for a day, or a maximum of three as the ladies at school were so fond of saying, then that’s what she’d give him.

Walking away at this point just wasn’t an option. “Wow,” she finally whispered and his lips turned up in a sexy grin.

“I was about to say the same thing. Want to go find all the places mistletoe is hung?”

“I was thinking that you could at least offer me a glass of eggnog first,” she replied, trying to rein in her passion. After all, they were surrounded by most of the town of Sterling.

“I think I can arrange that,” he said, freeing her from his arms but quickly capturing her hand and maybe capturing a little bit of her soul . . .

chapter

11

Way too much eggnog!

The party was over and her head was beyond fuzzy, but Natalie walked about the nearly empty firehouse with the other volunteers who’d offered to stay for cleanup. She wasn’t capable of doing much to help them, but she could at least say she was trying to help.

After a couple of dances with Hawk, the two of them had been separated, so here she was, trying to decide whether to go home alone or to wait him out. She knew she would rather wait, but on the other hand, she didn’t want to seem desperate. The alcohol was messing with her rational mind.

Music was playing softly over the speakers, smooth country tunes, mellow, relaxing. She felt her eyes grow heavy, and she spread herself out on the front of the nearest fire engine. The step was wide enough for her to get just a little rest.

No one would notice if she lay down for just a moment . . .

Before she knew it, she was asleep.

“See ya later, chief!”

Hawk watched as the last people trickled from the fire station. They’d done such a great job of cleaning, it didn’t even look like there’d been a party. Good. He liked it when things were all in order. He valued a job well done. Only one problem remained.

He’d been separated from Natalie too soon. He hadn’t been ready for their night to end, and he still wasn’t. And now as he turned out the lights and did his final walk-through of the station, he felt an odd emptiness settle inside him.

It was ludicrous. Hawk didn’t need to be around a woman to find fulfillment. He didn’t have to have companionship. But in the space of a couple of weeks, he’d found himself counting down the hours until he got to see Natalie again. The highlight of his day was when he walked into that gym and found her there, speaking with the children, smiling, gifting them with her laughter.

This was so far beyond anything he’d ever experienced before that he couldn’t even identify what exactly he was feeling. One thing he knew for sure, though—he wasn’t going to wait until Monday to see her again.