The Christmas Piano Tree: What's Christmas without a tree? (A Kissing Creek novel Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

on her face making her smile when she bit into one. She had to do something to help her. Even as the two women argued back and forth, a crazy idea formed in her mind.
    The homeless vet.
    Santa.
    Why not?
    Kristen felt the heat rise in her cheeks and a fluttering in her belly thinking about her bold plan. Would it work? The soldier possessed a streak of arrogance she hadn’t seen in other homeless vets. The look he shot her was unnerving and intense, but lost somehow. How was she going to convince him to play Santa?
    Flirt with him.
    Her? She wasn’t accustomed to flirting with a man. Scott had been her first love, but drastic times called for drastic measures. They needed a Santa Claus and he was perfect.
    Kristen grabbed a cupcake and took off for the stable. If ever her baking skills were needed to get the mission done, it was now.
    * * * * *
    “Are you trying to bribe me to play Santa?” asked Jared, not believing the lady’s proposition. And it was a doozy. He’d trekked over a hundred miles to get here in the bitter cold, changed buses several times, lived on peanut butter sandwiches and coffee out of vending machines, and now this ?
    A gorgeous woman was wiggling a yummy cupcake under his nose, trying to seduce him to play the jolly man himself.
    God, she was a picture. Tilting her head and looking up at him, swinging her long blond ponytail over her shoulder. A man would be insane to say no to her.
    Scott’s wife.
    Kristen.
    Pretty as a hot summer day in her blue-and-white checkered apron pulled tight around her waist. A fluffy ruffle added a feminine touch. Her jeans hugged her slim hips and the top button on her blouse had come undone, giving him a peek at her cleavage.
    That nearly had him hightailing it out of here, but Jared wasn’t just any homeless soldier looking for a hot meal. He was on a mission. Which meant that he keep the burning itch crawling up his spine at bay. No way was he going to let his mind go there . Danger lurked in those pale green eyes, the curve of her breast, the sway of her hips.
    No, sir . This was business. Important business for a buddy who couldn’t speak for himself.
    All morning, Jared had been hanging around the school, waiting for her to show up. Once he explained himself, he’d tell her what Scott had told him with his dying breath, and then take off. A simple plan. Should have been easy. It wasn’t. After their encounter earlier in the snow, he didn’t trust his emotions around her.
    First, she almost ran him over. Twice . Now this.
    A cupcake. Tempting as sin. Like her. Sweet and creamy. Melt in your mouth delicious. It was more than he could stand.
    “Yes, it’s a bribe,” Kristen said, looking him square in the eye. As if she knew he was suffering. Man, was he. “With real buttercream frosting.”
    “No.”
    He couldn’t say yes. That would take him off his game. A soldier didn’t question his orders. Get in, do the mission, and get out . That was what he was used to, what he knew. Not feeling what he was feeling now. Want, need, a strong desire to make things right for her. His gut told him it wouldn’t work. The longer he stayed, the harder it would be to leave.
    She sighed deeply. “You’ll make the girls here at the school very happy if you put on that Santa suit.”
    “No.”
    Didn’t she ever give up ?
    “ Please, ” Kristen begged. “My Rachel will be so disappointed if Santa doesn’t show up.” She said the words with so much emotion she made him feel guilty. Okay, he did feel guilty, but what could he do about it? He didn’t know the first thing about playing St. Nick.
    “I’d like to, ma’am, but I don’t have the right equipment,” he joked, pointing to his flat stomach. She wasn’t buying it. If anything, that made her more determined.
    “Rachel has had a hard time this year and needs cheering up. Please say you’ll do it.” She sounded tired, a deep loss darkening her eyes. That made him take a step back. The love she had for