He kissed that tiny mark the way he’d wanted to and heard her tiny gasp at the same time he felt her pulse flutter. That was just the start of what he wanted to feel from her, but he forced himself to pull away.

Her eyes were hazy as she stared up at him, and Tater let out a plaintive whine from where he’d come to stand next to her. What did it say about the situation that the dog seemed to have more sense than either of the humans involved?

“Merry Christmas, Bella,” he said, and cupped her face between his hands.

She gave him a shy smile that turned his insides to goo in a way Sam would have sworn he was impervious to. “I got you a present,” she told him, eyes twinkling.

“I think you just gave me a present.”

He could almost feel the heat of her blush and wondered for just the briefest moment, if that color would extend all the way down her body.

It felt like a question he had to have answered.

As if she was answering his unspoken prayer, Bella stepped back and held out a hand to him. “You should probably come in and see what else I have for you.”

It was a damn miracle Sam remained standing, based on the fact that his heart stammered and his knees nearly buckled.

He might not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Sam was no fool. He’d stopped believing in Kris Kringle or Christmas miracles a long time ago. Still, he took Bella’s hand and followed her into the cabin, Tater trotting along, the cast not slowing him down in the least.

When Bella shut the dog in his crate, turned out the lights and led Sam to the small bedroom at the back of the structure, it was like every Christmas wish he’d ever had coming true all at once.

BELLA WALKED TOWARD the main cabin the following morning, her mind and heart a tangle of nerves and hope. Sam had left her bed in the wee hours after lavishing so much attention on her body, she thought she might die from the pleasure of it.

Merry Christmas, indeed. No wonder he was so popular with women, both in his hometown and in Magnolia.

A man with skills like that was quite a rarity, at least in Bella’s experience, measly though it might be.

She’d been the one to suggest he return to his room before anyone in his family noticed his absence. As amazing as their night together had been, Bella didn’t relish being a topic of conversation for his family on Christmas morning.

Another secret part of her didn’t trust that their night together—as special as it was—meant the same thing to him as it did to her. What if she’d been a convenience, an easy, friends-with-benefits way to pass the time.

The front door to the resort’s main cabin opened as she approached up the flagstone walk. But it was Kyle who greeted her, not Sam.