Mistletoe Mischief (Falling in Mistletoe #2)

Chapter Nine

P ike walked ahead of Ryler, trying to rein in his temper. Whether she was deliberately messing with him about lusting after her boss or seriously believing he was trying to get into both their pants, he was tired of explaining his position. He just wanted to take them around Mistletoe and show them why the area was so special and worth exploring. Was that too much to ask?

The fact that Alia hadn’t wanted to accompany them to find a tree was a bit disheartening, especially since at the top of the hill past the trees there was a great view of Mistletoe Peak.

“So, what type of tree do you want?” he asked, motioning with his saw at the rows of Douglas firs and noble firs. “Tall and skinny? Full?”

Ryler took a few big, rapid steps to catch up, and Pike tried not to notice how the purple of her hat made her brown eyes pop.

“The house we’re staying in has a vaulted ceiling, so tall and full would be good. Maybe twelve feet.”

“Okay, we’ll have to go farther out then. There’s a great view of the mountain just over the hill if you want to see it.”

“Sure, lead the way.”

Pike could feel the heat of her gaze following him; whether she was glaring at him or checking him out, he wasn’t sure.

They walked in silence for several minutes before he asked, “I can’t believe you knew who I was the whole time at Brews and didn’t say anything.”

When she didn’t respond, Pike turned, and saw the telltale red in her cheeks. “You knew who I was, suspected I thought Ryler was a guy’s name, and you came on to me anyway. Were you just messing with me? ”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why did you kiss me?”

“I guess I didn’t want the mistletoe to go to waste,” she said sharply.

“So it wasn’t my sparkling blue eyes or sunny smile you couldn’t resist?”

“Actually,” she said flippantly, finally meeting his eyes, “it was a pent-up libido and the fact that I wouldn’t break you in bed.”

Pike reeled back, slightly impressed. “Well, that was brutally honest.”

“Is that not what you wanted?” Ryler shrugged, marching ahead of him. “I have no other excuse except that you are an insanely attractive man, and when I saw you sitting there, drinking whiskey like you were trying to drown out the world, I thought we could …” She trailed off, her voice so soft he almost didn’t catch it when she finished, “help each other.”

Pike caught up to her, taking her arm in his hand to stop her. “You wanted to make me feel better?” Her admission touched him. That Ryler would feel bad for a buzzed guy alone in a bar was sweet.

“And myself. I’m not a saint.”

“Obviously not.” He laughed.

“Anyway, it’s a moot point now because you ran scared; plus, now my boss knows, so absolutely nothing could happen between us even if I wanted something to.”

Pike resented her presentation of the events, but he let it go for the sake of keeping the peace. “Then I guess we can stop all this snarktastic fun we’re having and be professional?”

“Nah, I like snarky,” she said, shaking off his hand. “I think I’ll stay here awhile.”

She took off again and Pike watched her as she pulled up her coat collar, hiding the cute pigtails peeking out from below her cap. While she might be a major brat, Ryler carried herself with an abundance of confidence he found incredibly sexy.

Damn it, was it the fact that she was off-limits making him want to cross the line? Or just that her demeanor fascinated him? Pike kept thinking of the guy from Instagram carrying her into the water.

Pike knew he wasn’t Chris Evans irresistible, so why had she picked him to kiss?

“Where is this mountain view?” Ryler called over her shoulder .

“At the top of this trail.” He jogged to catch up to her, taking the lead. When they reached the top and the break in the trees, Pike waved his arm with flourish. “There it is. Mistletoe Peak.”

Pike watched Ryler stare at the craggy mountain, her face splitting into a soft smile. “Breathtaking. Like a Greek Titan bursting from the earth, reaching for the sky.”

Pike chuckled. “You sound like Alia.”

Ryler spun toward him, frowning. “What?”

“On Excursions . The way she describes things.”

“Ah, well, we do spend a lot of time together.” Ryler pulled out her phone, holding it up. After several shots of the mountain, she put her phone away and released a heavy breath. “Let’s get a tree.”

Pike followed her down the hill and through the trees, wondering if being compared to Alia bothered her. She’d made several comments about him wanting to hook up with her boss, but while Alia was gorgeous, he hadn’t been struck with a bolt of electricity shaking her hand. Not the way touching Ryler’s palm to his had singed, leaving a warmth on his skin that lingered.

“What about this one?” Ryler said, stopping next to a tree that was twice as tall as her, with thick poofy branches that tapered all the way to the top.

“If that’s the one, sure.”

Pike squatted down at the base and had his saw against the trunk before she cried out, “Wait!”

He looked up and spotted her a few rows down, standing next to another tree. “I think this one is better.”

Pike climbed to his feet and crossed the dirt trail, eyeballing the tree that was at least a foot taller than the other. “You sure?”

“I think so.”

Pike went down once more, the muscles of his thighs protesting the motion after his post-Thanksgiving workout this morning.

The rapid sound of her footfalls preceded her exclamation of “Hold on!”

Pike shuffled his feet to turn, still crouched down. By the pinch of her lips, Ryler appeared to be holding back laughter, and he scowled.

“You know, this whole up and down motion is bad for my knees.”

“Womp womp,” she mocked. “What are you, thirty-two? I think you’re fine. ”

“Whoa, who you calling thirty-two?” he asked, climbing to his feet. “I’m thirty-one.”

“Good for you. Now, if you please,” she said, waving her hand like a benevolent queen.

“You know what?” he said, reaching for her hand and placing the handle of the saw in her palm. “I think you’ve got this.”

Ryler’s eyes widened. “You’re really going to make me cut down the tree?”

“Why not? You look like you can handle it.”

To his surprise, she grinned. “You’re right.” She squatted down on her haunches, calling from the ground, “Hold the trunk steady, will you? I don’t want it to fall on me.”

Pike did what she asked, smiling at a man and woman walking by. The man gave him a once-over and muttered something to his companion, who stared at him in a judgy way that made him squirm. They probably thought chivalry was dead, but Ryler had this little lesson coming.

“She’s got this,” he called out lamely.

They ignored him and kept walking. Pike felt the vibration of Ryler’s saw easing back and forth against the trunk, and not long after, the tree shifted, cut free from its base. She climbed to her feet, standing just a foot away from him with a wicked smirk. She held out the saw to him, and he took the handle silently.

“There,” she said brightly. “That wasn’t so hard.”

Pike grunted.

“Since it’s so tall, I’ll grab one end and you take the other. That way we don’t lose pine needles dragging it.”

“Look at you taking charge,” he grumbled.

Ryler shrugged. “I’m used to making sure everything is perfect.”

Pike got a better grip on the trunk and tilted it so she could grab the other end. Her arm disappeared between the branches.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Yep.”

As they carried the tree, Pike asked, “So, you ever cut down trees before?”

“A couple of times. Last year, Excursions traveled to Oregon, and we visited a lumber mill. They had me try scaling a tree, which was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. ”

“I remember that podcast.” He laughed. “Alia found a squirrel family living in one of the trees she scaled and refused to let them cut it down. It turned into a huge fight, and finally, they compromised by hiring a wildlife rescue crew to come out and relocate the squirrels.”

Ryler smiled at him over her shoulder. “It may have only been one family saved, but the owner got good publicity from working with the rescue. I hope he kept his promise to check trees before felling them, but people have to make money, right?”

The way Ryler talked about it had a familiar ring, and he was pretty sure Alia had said the money thing during the podcast. Could Excursions be partially scripted and Ryler helped write it? Pike wasn’t sure why the thought disappointed him, but he’d always thought Alia sounded so genuine, like she spoke from the heart.

“Right,” he murmured.

When they hefted the tree through the tent opening, Pike saw Alia sitting with Merry, having an animated conversation in the corner. Pike got a real good look at those ridiculous heeled boots on Alia’s feet with her leg crossed over one knee, and he frowned. Why would an experienced hiker like Alia wear something like that to a tree farm?

Maybe she didn’t realize it was cut-your-own-tree.

“Looks like Alia and your friend are hitting it off,” Ryler said.

“Yeah, Merry’s good people. Her family owns the farm.”

“Awesome. I’ll have to schedule a tour with her. It would be good for the podcast.”

“Alia doesn’t plan her own interviews?” Pike asked, confused.

Ryler shrugged. “She’s only one woman, which is why she has me.”

Pike couldn’t imagine giving up that kind of control at Adventures in Mistletoe. It was hard enough compromising with Anthony on all of the holiday events, but if he didn’t trust Pike to handle the clients alone? He’d lose his mind being micromanaged.

“Oh, good, you two are back,” Alia said, climbing to her feet. Her shiny blond hair fell around her shoulders in waves, held off her face by a thick headband that covered her ears. Her smile created delicate lines by her eyes that did nothing to detract from her beauty.

It was funny that Pike had spent years looking at her photos and thought when he met her, he’d be tongue-tied around her, but it was almost like seeing a work of art in a museum. He could admire it without wanting to covet it .

“Hello, my arm is going to fall off,” Ryler barked. Pike realized she was glaring at him and probably thought he was staring at Alia for all the wrong reasons.

It still didn’t give her the right to snap at him.

“Go to that table, and we’ll get a net around it,” Pike shot back darkly.

“Whoa, everything okay over here?” Nick asked, coming up alongside Ryler. “I can take that for you, miss. I’m old hat at this job.”

Ryler smiled up at Nick sweetly. “And here I thought chivalry was dead in Mistletoe.”

“Only for some of us,” Nick said, giving Pike a quizzical look.

“Please, she cut down the tree all on her own. She’s not dainty and delicate.”

Ryler gasped. “Wait, are you fat-shaming me now?”

Every female within hearing distance swung their way, and Pike shrank under the full weight of their disapproval. “What the hell? No!”

“Pike,” Merry whispered, frowning at him. “What has gotten into you?”

Before he could articulate a response, Nick motioned with his head toward the netting table. “I think I’m going to take Pike over here before he shoves his foot farther down his gullet.”

Pike followed Nick with the tree but caught Ryler’s wicked grin as they passed. The little minx had set him up again.

“I’ll get you for that later, Kitten,” he whispered.

“Meow,” she said, making a clawing gesture before hissing, her nose scrunching up.

Pike turned away before she saw him laugh. The damn woman caught him off guard, and a part of him loved that she kept him on his toes.

“What was that about?” Nick asked, setting his end of the tree on the silver rollers.

“Nothing, she’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Who is she?”

“Alia Cole’s assistant. She likes to get under my skin.”

Nick chuckled. “Is that all she likes to get under?”

“Slide the tree, idiot.”

His friend did so without another word, but Pike noticed he didn’t lose his shit-eating grin .

Once they finished sliding the tree across the table and through the net, they returned to the group of women, who were discussing the upcoming Christmas activities.

“Do you ladies have a vehicle to haul this home?” Nick asked Alia.

Alia turned to Ryler, who answered, “We’re in a rental. It’s a Nissan Rogue.”

Pike couldn’t believe Alia didn’t even know what kind of car they had rented. “You got tie-down straps?”

“No,” Ryler said.

Nick slapped Pike on the back. “Lucky for you, we deliver. Pike will follow you home with your tree.”

“That would be wonderful, right, Ryler?” Alia smiled at her assistant, and Pike got the feeling Alia was enjoying teasing Ryler.

“Swell.”

Pike covered his surprised laugh with a cough when he saw Ryler flash a double bird at her boss. It was strange how the two of them behaved more like sisters than employee and employer.

Ryler made a face at him when she caught him staring, and he grunted. “If you’ve paid, the two of you should go warm up in the car. I’ll be right behind you.”

As Alia and Ryler headed toward the tent exit, Pike could have sworn he heard Ryler mutter, “Bossy motherfucker.”

He smirked. Baby, you have no idea.