Free That Mistletoe Moment by Cat Johnson

That was never right. I guess I just wanted it to be, so I couldn’t see that it actually wasn’t.”
    He watched her face for a moment, evaluating whether she was being completely honest with herself. When it came to love and life, people would sometimes lie to themselves, maybe even more often than they lied to others.
    Finally, he asked, “And this, between us. Does this feel right?”
    â€œYes.” She hesitated before going on.
    Compelled to get her to elaborate, he prompted, “But?”
    â€œI’m afraid to trust my feelings after the last time. How could I be so colossally wrong about me and George for so long, but still rely on my instincts now?”
    â€œI’m not afraid of instincts. In fact, I live by mine. They’ve saved my life more than a few times. I’ve learned to trust them. To depend on them.”
    â€œAnd what are your instincts telling you now?” She watched him, waiting.
    He didn’t make her wait long for his answer. He knew exactly how he felt about the two of them. The only question was, did she feel the same?
    Nathan leaned in a couple of inches. “They’re telling me I should risk getting slapped and kiss you.”
    She drew in a breath and met his gaze. “Your instincts are wrong.”
    He lifted a brow. “They are?”
    â€œYes, because I’m not going to slap you if you kiss me.”
    Nathan smiled. “Good to know.”
    He abandoned holding her hands in favor of cradling her face in his palms.
    As he closed the small distance between them, he had to think that fate worked in strange ways, but who was he to question it?
    Little did he know all those weeks ago that doing his mother the favor of running out for cranberries when he’d always hated homemade cranberry sauce would lead to this moment.
    He made contact with her soft, yielding lips and there was no way in hell he was going to complain about whatever force larger than himself had brought them together.
    Moving one hand to her back, he brought her in tighter against him while he tangled the fingers of his other hand in her hair.
    Tilting his head, he kissed her deeper. Harder. He’d been working a lot, which meant he’d also denied himself pleasures such as kissing a woman.
    That was as good an excuse as any for why he took their first kiss from casual to explosive in thirty seconds or less.
    Before he knew what had happened, he had the fabric of her sweater in a death grip in his fist and his tongue was engaged in an erotic tango with hers that had him breathless.
    Noelle made a small sound and he realized he’d fisted her hair, as well, and was tugging her head back as her body bowed beneath the force of his kiss.
    Nathan pulled back and, smothering a curse at his own behavior, dropped his hold on her.
    For over a decade he’d given his all to the military at the expense of himself. Normally that wasn’t a problem. Tonight, it had him ready to devour Noelle like a starving man did a juicy steak.
    He drew in a breath and let it out. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me.”
    That wasn’t exactly true. He knew. Very bad, but oh, so beautiful thoughts about him and her together were what had gotten into him, invading his brain until the fantasy had melded with reality.
    He’d spun a bit out of control for a moment, but he was back on an even keel now. Both feet were on the ground and his hands were safely planted on his thighs as he sat with a safe distance between them.
    â€œDon’t be sorry.”
    Before he could respond to her, she was on the move. The next thing he knew, Noelle was sitting astride his lap facing him.
    While she straddled him and he tried to absorb what had just happened, he realized he had his hands braced on each of her hips. He wasn’t sure whether he’d put them there to keep her away or close. Either way, it was obvious she had plans of her own, regardless of