It seems a little nuts to think about mistletoe before we've opened our Halloween candy. I've barely finished decorating for the princesses, ghosts and super heroes coming to visit, but I have promises to keep. I vowed to share the first chapter of Kissing Mr. Mistletoe before it's released. November 15th is rapidly approaching, so it's time to unveil the first chapter.
A successful country singer, home just long enough to sell an inherited Christmas tree farm. His old flame, now a single mom struggling to make a life for herself and her little girl. When they're thrown together for a wine country Christmas, a sprig of mistletoe may just rekindle love.
I hope you enjoy getting to know Trace, Monique and Adele as much as I loved writing their story.
CHAPTER ONE
(PART ONE)
Monique Jacobson climbed
another step above the rows
of Santino cabernet vineyards.
She
reached out as far as she could without losing grip
of the ladder.
Stretching another half inch,
her
fingertips almost
touched Bunny Fru Fru’s
gleaming metal
nose.
Frustrated,
she loudly exhaled a breath of air.
After allowing only thirty-five minutes
of her packed schedule to
turn the massive bunny sculpture into
Rudolf for the party, Monique
spent fifteen minutes she
didn’t have finding a ladder.
Then,
she’d used another twenty finding someone to help her drag the
clunky sixteen-footer to the
vineyard and
situate it under the landmark.
Panic started to set
in. The annual Santino Winery holiday party that Monique was in charge of for the first time
started in six hours.
“Is he ever going to turn into Rudolf, Mommy?” Adele’s voice chirped from
below. With her pink cheeks glowing and surrounded
by
grapevines shimmering in the sun,
her daughter looked
like a wine country cherub.
“Of course he will. Bunny Fru Fru always turns
into Rudolf at Christmas. We can do anything we set
our minds to, baby. Just you
watch.”
Spotting the red
plastic nose parked in a pile of brown
grape leaves at
the base of a vine behind
Adele, Monique turned away,
cursing herself under her breath. Why didn’t she take the schnozzle with
her up the ladder?
“See it
honey?” Hanging
on to the ladder tight enough
to lose circulation in her left hand,
she cautiously lifted
her right, and
pointed to the shiny red object. It looked like a deflated
soccer ball.
“It's
behind you.”
Adele scrunched her nose and
circled.
Perusing around
her
feet, she then lifted her head. Her eyes
became huge and she took
off
running. “I see it.”
“Good job.” Monique
encouraged her without
daring to change her grip.
“Now hold on to it, and come closer.”
Adele sucked a big breath of air, appearing to gather enough
steam
to make a beeline to the
ladder. Monique yelled,
“No running. Don’t come too close sweetheart.”
Standing still
and clutching her prize,
Adele craned her neck all the
way back and squinted. “How many giant
steps should I take?”
“Five honey.” Monique
held on to the ladder and took
a breath. “I think five big-girl steps
will do it.”
Adele lifted her right leg
and dramatically plunked it
down on the dirt two feet
in front of her and then brought her left
leg
up. “One,” she announced,
touching down and
repeating the process. “Two!”
Monique hadn’t
intended to take Adele to
work with her, but had forgotten all
about
the preschool teacher holiday she’d
circled
on her calendar months
ago.
With her favorite sitter
booked, she wasn’t
about to leave Adele with
anyone she hadn’t thoroughly investigated. Thankfully her idea of turning a day of decorating the
winery into a holiday outing with Adele
seemed to be working.
“Three!” Adele shrieked.
A loud sputtering engine and blaring music caused Monique to turn
in time to see the Napa Pines
and Wines jalopy come down
the driveway.
From
the elevated
vantage point, she saw the tree she needed
for
the tasting room
in the bed of the truck. Heaving a sigh of relief, she rotated
back
to Adele.
“Four, Mommy! I’m getting close.
. .”
Adele took another step.
“Five!”
“Perfect
honey.
Now stay right where you are and
remember to
never, ever, climb
a ladder like this without my help.”
“And Daddy's?” Adele asked, cradling the red nose.
Her heart sank,
knowing her former husband
Jarod would never help
his daughter with
a ladder or anything else. Why must Adele always ask
about that deadbeat? Time
after time Monique covered for Jarod’s negligence, hating to see Adele’s
hopes smashed. They always were.
Jarod
never showed
up, kept any of his
promises, or
followed through with anything except
getting her pregnant. The privilege and joy of being Adele’s
mother made up for all
of her disappointment, but it didn’t ease any of her daughter’s
pain.
“Yes, and Daddy’s help too.”
Monique’s stomach roiled
looking at Adele’s innocent
expression.
Maybe this year,
he’d
finally see her for Christmas.
“Do you
think you can throw Rudolf’s nose
up to me so we can turn
this bunny into a reindeer?” Monique
carefully let go
of the ladder with her right hand
and leaned, stretching it
out to Adele. “Throw
it now, honey.” She held
her
breath.
Adele didn’t
wait for further instruction and
hurled the plastic nose cover into the
air. Spinning, the snout missed Monique’s outstretched hand
and continued its path
of projection several
feet
over
her head
and to the right.
Rudolf’s schnozzle caught
the light and sparkling
in the sun, made its descent.
Monique shifted her weight
to grab
it. Almost there. She reached
up and
over feeling the ladder sway and rock beneath
her.
“Mommy!”
Quickly seizing her perch with both hands, the sole of her boot
slipped sideways
on the metal step. Instead of regaining her balance,
Monique skidded down one rung, and
then
another with her left
foot and then another and another,
until she found herself rappelling backward
down the ladder, desperately grappling to hang on
to whatever she could and
praying for a soft
landing.
“Mommy!”
She missed
the last step and hit the ground, landing flat on her back.
“Oh no!” Adele scampered to her and laid
her soft chubby hands
on Monique’s cheeks. Snuggling close, her sweet
breath touched her skin.
Adele inspected her eyes from
an inch away. “Are you hurt bad?”
“I’m
okay,
baby.” Reaching behind
her
back, Monique found
the rock digging into her
spine. She plucked
it out of the dirt and flung it.
“You shouldn’t be
climbing on top of something you can’t handle.”
Every cell
of Monique’s body froze.
Her
heart paused
mid-thump. The familiar drawl
of the deep, sexy,
voice coming from
above propelled her back in time at warp speed
to six years
ago. But
it couldn’t be him. Not in a million years.
She
wrapped one arm tightly around Adele, and
shielding her eyes from the glare with
the other, looked up. Shit.
Trace Montgomery towered
over her. He folded
his arms
over his chest making his smooth, muscled biceps bulge under his navy T-shirt. Wearing jeans that
fit him as precisely as a fireman carries
a hose, and with his swagger apparently still
intact, he leaned
back on the heel of his boot and tilted his face, rubbing
his jaw. His unmistakable green eyes
sparkled down at
her.
“W-what are you doing
here?”
“You’re hardly in
a position to be asking questions.” He reached with a
powerful hand and lifted her up off the ground, along with
Adele.
After removing
a twig wedged between
her
legs and butt cheek,
Monique attempted to get her bearings.
Her
brain stuttered, stopped and
skipped over the right
words to say. Her libido, however, operated
flawlessly. Tingles
charged from
her
neck to her toes and she broke into
a sweat. Steadying her gaze on
his preposterously handsome
face, a result of
mixed genetic magic,
her
heart beat out of her skin. Trace opened
his arms for a hug.
Before she could
think, he wrapped them around
her
and squeezed,
smelling like—well, smelling like Trace, a combination of
clean, fresh and
help me now, Jesus.
Pulling out of
the embrace, he took
hold of her hands,
and gently swung them. “My God,
it’s good to see you again, Monique.”
“W-what—I thought you were on
the road—with your band?” Suddenly remembering Adele, Monique pulled her close
to her hip.
A dimple flashed
next
to his devilish grin
and Trace reached for her face.
The
world skidded into slow-motion. Monique held
her
breath, watching his
bicep flex and
his hand move closer and closer to her ear.
“So you’ve been checking up
on me? Brushing her skin with his fingers,
he pulled a crispy grape leaf out of
her hair and then
stepped back. “I’m flattered.”
“I-I asked Joe Rozzi at the Christmas
tree farm how you were doing when I ordered the
tree. I’m not one of your stalkers—if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She could find
him anywhere and had
DVR’ed his Kimmel appearance three days
ago.
Even
though they’d only dated for six months, a
man like Trace Montgomery would leave an indelible
impression on any woman.
Only three feet
away from
his twinkling green
eyes, she
averted her gaze, trying not to remember the private songs
he used to sing to her, how
safe she felt wrapped
in his arms, or the way he tasted…
No.
Let’s not go there. What would her life be like now if
she had joined him on tour when he asked? It’s all in
the past. Adele came into
her
world and nothing else mattered.
“Tour’s over,” he grinned, checking her out, not seeming to mind when she caught him. “Maybe we’ll have some time to get together? I’m only back for a week”—his
voice sank—“I’m finally settling my uncle’s
estate. Wish I had the place right
after he died.”
“Oh.” She should’ve called,
but didn’t have the strength
to not run back into his life. After the release of his number one hit, “Love me Like Crazy,” Trace should’ve been celebrating. Instead,
he’d suffered
more heartache than anyone she knew. Both
of his parents had died in a head-on, less
than a mile from here. And last year, he lost
his uncle Glenn.
“I’m very sorry for your loss
Trace. I should’ve reached out.”
He ran his boot
over
some loose dirt.
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Rubbing
his bottom lip, he brought
his focus back to her. “You
look good enough to. . .” His mouth curved up and
he laid
a devilish
smirk on her boots. From her ankles,
he eyed
her legs, then
his gaze traveled slowly up her thighs and paused at
her
hips.
Putting a stop
to his strip search by stare,
Monique crossed her arms
before his
eyes got to her chest.
Unfortunately, the move had
the opposite effect
and pushed her boobs
out over her arms.
His eyebrows shot to his forehead,
with a question. “You look fantastic by the way.” Monique caught her mouth
hanging open and clamped
it shut, but couldn't stop beaming.
Forgetting mommy duties
for
a second, she flipped
back in time to her former flirtatious
self. Caught
in his snare, she blurted,
“You’re looking pretty hot there yourself—cowboy.” Saying it
out loud brought her back
to earth. Trace wrangled women,
not steers, and wondering what
on earth possessed her to call him
of all people hot, she wanted to take the words back.
She
didn’t have time for flirting. She rarely had time
for a bath. Monique brushed
the dirt off her butt. “I’m
sorry if I’m
so—I’m—Joe mentioned you were coming out to visit the farm, I just didn’t
expect to see you”—she waved a hand
over
the vineyards—“here.” (To be continued...)
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this excerpt, check back soon. I'll post the remainder of the chapter before Kissing Mr. Mistletoe's release date: November 15th!
*Kissing Mr. Mistletoe is available on Amazon for pre-order on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/2dD5Enm and will be available at other online retail stores after November 15th.
Until next time,
-Kate
Reach out to me on my website: www.katekisset.com
I'd love to hear from you.
