Father Christmas (Kringle & Co #4)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

W hile she'd been stretched lazily in bed, the sheets tangled around her bare legs, a satisfied smile playing on her lips and the memories of last night with Noel still lingering, Mindy had thought she'd heard another voice. She immediately brushed it off as a nightmare trying to intrude into her perfect dreamworld.

Except it wasn't a dream; she was thinking about it. It was a real live memory that she had experienced just hours ago. Noel, his strong hands caressing her body, his beard tickling her neck as he trailed kisses down to her breasts, their passion cresting again and again. She sighed contentedly, snuggling into her pillow. He was everything she had been looking for: kind, attentive, and so very skilled in the art of pleasure.

She knew there was an age difference between them. Knew she should probably care about it. But not enough care that she was going to give the man up.

Because Noel was a man. One thousand percent man. With his own home and business and plan. He wasn't going to rely on Mindy for any of that. She wasn't going to have to make decisions for him, or clean up after him, or cross her fingers so that she could eek out a tiny tremble of an orgasm before he got off.

Noel Kringle was perfection. Perfection that she had fallen for within twenty-four hours. It had been lust at first sight. But after spending a day and a night with him, love was on the horizon.

Mindy saw it clearly. She saw a future with him. She saw a life with him. And she wasn't giving it up. Not the reality and not the dream, no matter how much she kept hearing the nightmarish voice of her ex-boyfriend.

A faint sound from outside the bedroom snapped Mindy from her reverie. She tensed, straining to listen. Was that... Elvin?

No, it couldn't be. Her ex always slept late, stumbling bleary-eyed from his room near noon. Besides, she was in another man's condo. An older man. A man old enough to be…

Mindy sat bolt up. She had thought there was something familiar about Noel. That proud chin where Elvin's had been haughty. Those penetrating eyes, where Elvin's had always been calculating. That devilish smile where Elvin's was impish.

It couldn't be.

Could it?

There it was again. A deep voice that was ruined by a note of whining. She must be hearing things.

But no, she just heard Noel's voice. And he'd said Elvin . Not elf.

Before she could talk herself out of it, Mindy slipped from the bed and grabbed her robe. She had to know.

She crept down the hallway, tying a robe tightly around her waist. The voice grew louder, though she still couldn't make out any words. As she reached the end of the hall, she paused outside the living room and just stared.

There he was—Elvin, pacing back and forth across the living room floor. His head snapped up at the sound of the door, eyes going wide when they met Mindy's.

And then everything went blank. Her eyes. Her ears. Her mind. Until she heard the door slam behind him.

"He's your son?" was the first thing she managed to say after Elvin was gone.

"He's your ex?"

"His name's not Kringle."

"After the divorce, his mother had his last name changed to hers out of spite. It was a nasty divorce."

Mindy would bet it was. She would have fought to keep Noel, too. Though she got the sense that it wasn't the man that his ex-wife had wanted to keep, but Noel's money.

"Elvin is your son," Mindy breathed, the truth of it hitting her squarely in the chest. Her mind reeled with the implications, even as her heart constricted painfully. The man she'd just passionately made love to was the father of her ex.

"Do you still have feelings for him?"

The question resulted in a physical reaction in Mindy. Her entire body jerked away from Noel, who had been slowly coming towards her. He'd done that earlier when Elvin was throwing his tantrum. Noel had come to stand by her.

"No, I don't have feelings for Elvin. It ended badly."

Noel struggled, the conflict clear on his face. His mouth worked like he wanted to ask more, but he didn't truly want to know.

"I think he was cheating on me."

Noel pursed his lips together and avoided her gaze. Even though they'd only known each other for twenty-four hours, Mindy saw that Noel knew the truth behind that statement. But did he not want to hurt Mindy with the truth, or did he not want to rat out his son?

"I don't care about the infidelity. I mean, I did. But what hurt more was that he didn't take responsibility for his actions. He always expected me to clean up behind him, solve his problems even as he was creating new ones. It got exhausting."

Now Noel's jaw was a hard line. Mindy had to remember it was his son she was ragging on.

"And here we were worried about HR." Mindy hugged the robe around herself. It smelled of Noel. She wondered if she could walk out of here with it under her jacket so she'd have something to remember him by. "I'll just get dressed and get out of your hair."

"What?" His jaw went slack, but his body puffed up.

"I can't make you choose between me and your son."

"You are not leaving me." Noel grew impossibly bigger. He was now a presence that she wasn't sure she could get around.

"Noel, please don't put me in this situation of sleeping with both my boss and my ex's dad. It's a bit too much for one girl to handle."

She should've known he was too perfect. The perfect job. The perfect man. There had to have been some kind of flaw.

"I'm gonna get dressed and go home."

"Not in this weather," he growled. "I'll leave. You stay."