Read Getting In the Spirit: a Sapphire Falls novella for Free Online

comfortable,” he agreed.
    He tucked her arm in his, which should have been all of those things but was much more.
    Stupid, stupid, stupid.
    The simple mantra did nothing to change how she was feeling though.
    They crossed the bar parking lot and followed a sidewalk that led between the city hall and another building and put them on one of the main streets around the square. She was glad he had a hold of her. Heels were not ideal for gravel parking lots or sidewalks with random patches of snow. After this, she was buying some thick fuzzy socks somewhere and not taking them off until she was back in California.
    Still, walking through the crisp winter air toward the bright town square with this guy felt…not completely nice. It felt a little naughty, which was completely ridiculous. The most he’d said that was flirtatious was that he could think of better ways to warm up. That was pretty mild as far as sexual innuendos went. But pressing up against him, her body filled with a strange combination of awareness, desire and anticipation.
    It was the Christmas trees. It had to be.
    This side of the square, the corner south of the reindeer petting area, there was a narrow white wooden building with an open window at the front. They approached and she could see they were selling cocoa, coffee and, sure enough, cider. The non-spiked variety though, she assumed. Of course, it wouldn’t surprise her if a few people had a flask in their coat pocket and doctored their cup after it was served.
    They got in line behind a few other people and Kate took her hand from Tucker’s arm and put both hands in her coat pocket. That was safer.
    “This is the kissing booth in the summer,” he said.
    She looked up at him. “What?” All she knew for sure was he’d said the word kissing.
    He pointed toward the little wooden structure. Propped against the back wall was a wooden sign that said Kissing Booth in big red letters. The wooden sign that hung over the window now read Hot Drinks .
    “I guess it’s good they’re getting year-round use out of the building,” she said with a chuckle. “Though it seems kissing should be a year-round event too.”
    And why had she said that ?
    He chuckled and the sound was warm and rich and made her sigh. Like a big swallow of hot cocoa.
    She mentally rolled her eyes. Phoebe had said there was something in the air and water in Sapphire Falls, but Kate didn’t know that it was Christmas spirit so much as it was horniness.
    “But the drinks are for a good cause,” he said.
    There was also a sign propped up against the front of the wooden booth that said the proceeds from the drinks were going toward Christmas gifts at the nursing home.
    Kate found herself incredibly touched by that. It wasn’t that people where she was from weren’t charitable, but here it had to be a lot more personal. Likely every single person who lived at the nursing home had family and life-long friends and neighbors here in Sapphire Falls.
    “I want an extra-large then,” she said with a smile.
    He grinned. “Marshmallows too, I hope?”
    “Of course.”
    “How about caramel or peppermint syrup?” he asked, reading the menu board.
    She shook her head. “I think straight up and simple is the way to go.”
    She really wanted peppermint syrup. A lot. That sounded perfect. Peppermint hot cocoa would be very Christmassy. Perfectly Christmassy even. But maybe that was a bad idea. Maybe she was putting too much pressure on all of this being perfect. Maybe she had her expectations too high. She shouldn’t have scripted it all out in her head. She shouldn’t have imagined holding hands and walking through a light flurry under the stars.
    She should keep things simple. Straight forward. She should look at Tucker as nothing more than a nice guy who was willing to take a total stranger to the formal.
    They moved up in the line.
    “Oh yeah, I love this damned town.” Tucker turned to look at her.
    Kate felt her eyes widen at the