Winter Falls (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Chapter 12

twelve

When Amos heard the screech and saw it was Holly flailing around with the volunteer trying to grab her, he'd extracted himself from the pile of warm puppy bodies and leapt over the enclosure fence.

Everyone in the shelter stood like statues, mouths open, eyes wide, and watched while Holly had a meltdown. It took only a few seconds for him to figure out why.

Taking hold of her shoulders, he spun her to face him. Their gazes met and he swallowed. This was the closest, physically, he'd been to her. Ever. Looking down into her terrified face, all he wanted to do was protect her, calm her, and fold her into his arms.

Instead he had to find the too friendly lizard.

If he'd put money on what he'd be doing today, his hands pushed into Holly's hair seeking out a wayward lizard wasn't on the board. What were the odds? Too long to even consider.

Yet, here he was. Doing everything in his power to not let his fevered emotions get the best of him. Damn, she was a thorn in his side. A lovely thorn, but a thorn none the less.

"It's on my boobs." He couldn't keep from smiling.

"Smart lizard." The words fell out of his mouth with no thought, and he expected to get a firm scolding from her, but instead she simply stared up at him with those large luminous, green eyes. Her hands on his waist scorched his skin through his shirt.

He was poleaxed.

"P-please. Help." She didn't look away from him.

The urge to save and protect her from this man-eating lizard surged through him. He nodded and ran his hands over the back of her neck, the warmth and softness of her skin and hair doing a number on him. He wanted to swoop her up and carry her away, but instead he found the zipper of her jacket and pulled it down.

He realized he was holding his breath and slowly let it out. Gently he pushed the placket of her coat aside, not wanting to startle the lizard, or her.

"Don't move. I'm going to lift it off you," he told her and saw her chest rise with her quickened breathing. The lizard was nestled on the crest of her breasts above the scoop of her top. Where he could imagine resting his head.

"Hurry, hurry," Her voice was breathy and low.

He glanced at her and her eyes were still pinned on him. He gave her a reassuring smile then slowly reached for the creature, his fingers brushing her warm flesh when he slid them under the lizard to scoop it up. He heard her gasp and looked at her when he had the lizard in his hands and froze.

He'd done his best not to react to the feel of her skin, but the smoldering look in her eyes was almost his undoing.

"I got it," he said and turned around to hand the lizard to the kid that was supposed to be in charge of it. "Here."

"Thanks, man," the kid said and gently put it back in its cage.

Amos turned back to Holly. She was still standing there looking charmingly flustered.

"You okay? It didn't bite you?" He rested his hand on her shoulder.

She nodded. "Y-yes, thank you. I should have known better."

"I don't suppose you're going to adopt the lizard now." He smiled and was pleased when she returned it. The grown-up Holly, not the bratty little kid that had gotten up to all sorts of shenanigans with Alana, looked up at him and he was thrown off kilter.

"Not a chance in this world."

"Come on, let's get you into the office and sit you down so you can regroup." He put his hand on her elbow and led her to the office. "Take a seat and I'll get you a glass of water."

He felt her watching him and came back with a glass of water.

"Thank you." She got the water down and held the mug. Shaking her head, she asked, "Did that all just happened?"

She looked up at him. He felt as if he was towering over her so he pulled a chair from the desk so they were eye level.

"Sure did."

"It all seems like such a blur now." She put the cup on the table. "I think I overreacted, though."

Amos chuckled and took the cup to refill it. "All I can say is you got everybody's attention"

She looked at him. "Right? Now that's gonna be the talk of the town."

"Maybe, until something better comes along. Why are you surprised though? You know how small towns are. It's not every day a lizard creates chaos." He sat and leaned back, resting his ankle on his knee and doing his best to hold back a grin.

"It's not funny." She shifted on her chair and looked annoyed. "It scared the crap out of me, I feel like an idiot, and it will be hard to live down. Not funny at all"

He held up his palms. "OK, I don't find it funny, I didn't mean to smile. I'm just trying to lighten the mood a little bit." He stood, feeling as if whatever moment they’d had just vanished. "I don't think my shift has ended yet, and you seem fine so I think I’ll head back in there and complete my volunteer hour."

"Fine." Her tone was brusque.

Amos left the room, contemplating everything that had just happened in the last 15 minutes.