Their First Noelle Read online

  Evernight Publishing

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2012 Cara Michaels

  ISBN: 978-1-77130-220-3

  Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

  Editor: JS Cook

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  DEDICATION

  To Siobhan and Chess, my sisters of the pen and the heart

  THEIR FIRST NOELLE

  Romance on the Go

  Cara Michaels

  Copyright © 2012

  Chapter One

  “It’s beginning to look a lot like—”

  Noelle Duncan pushed the channel seek button on her car radio with more force than necessary as she pulled into an available parking space a block from Heavenly Brew, the local coffee shop. Her windshield wipers chugged slowly up and down, shoving sleet aside in messy streaks.

  “I’m dreaming of a white—”

  “No, no, no.” With a peeved grunt, she silenced the radio altogether and shut the car off. “It doesn’t look, feel, or even smell like Christmas. And it’s definitely not white.”

  Icy slush coated everything.

  “Gray, maybe.”

  A shaggy dog on a leash dragged its owner to a hydrant and hiked a leg.

  “Or yellow.”

  The dog wagged its entire back end, sending a fine spray of ice in every direction.

  “I definitely need coffee to face this day.” Preferably before she turned into the green Grinch monster she saw on television. She didn’t get the human fixation with television, but she definitely understood coffee.

  Nine months she’d lived among humans, as retired elves occasionally chose to do. For the two centuries prior, Noelle had been one of Santa’s top helpers, working tirelessly year round to make one night of pure magic possible. A growing restlessness had signaled the need for a new adventure, and so after the last Christmas season, she’d resigned.

  Santa had wished her the very best, and she knew the proverbial door would always be open if she chose to go home and live out the remainder of her long life. She had a few years at least before she needed to move on or else use her elfin magic to hide her slow aging.

  With a wistful glance north and fond memories of powdery snow, Noelle got out of her car, shivering against the damp cold. Christmas had never been like this for her. It should be perfect—snowy brilliance, a dance of lights, and laughter all around—not dreary and lonely. Shouldering her laptop case, she locked the car door and hurried into the coffee shop. Warm air embraced her, the scents of coffees and teas tempting her nose.

  Shaking melting ice from her hair, she made certain the long white locks covered the tips of her pointed ears, and stepped into line with those willing to brave awful weather for the best cup of coffee in town. Heavenly Brew had become her hangout of choice for more reasons than fantastic coffee, though.

  Two more reasons, actually.

  The owners of the shop occupied a table in the back away from the counter, and her heart gave an all-too familiar leap at the sight of them. Heat spread in slow tendrils through her body, touching places neglected for far too long. She couldn’t hear what they said over the crowd, but she knew the rumble of Kris’ smooth, cool voice and Nick’s earthier, playful tones.

  Kristian and Nicholas.

  Wonderful names. They reminded her of home, even if the men themselves seemed far removed from slender elven males. Reserved, dark Kris had a hint of South America in his coloring and features. Lively, all-American Nick wowed legions with his easy smile and humor.

  She’d heard the gossip, of course. Two gorgeous men, who happened to be business partners, and happened to share the same living space above the coffee shop? Not by any overt displays did they give away the deeper levels of their relationship, but they didn’t do a lot to hide it either. The rumor she’d lost sleep over though…her stomach fluttered just thinking about it.

  They like to share a woman.

  The remembered words zinged through her. She’d had lovers, of course, but never two at the same time. It could be…hot, sexy, demanding, amazing…

  She should stop by, wish them a Merry Christmas. Maybe they wanted a sad, retired elf for company. Oh yeah, who wouldn’t?

  Nick jumped up to help at the counter, a flash of unguarded shock and interest flashing in his mossy eyes as he spotted her. Those eyes crinkled at the corners as he pointed to his hair, then her. He gave her a thumbs-up and she smiled, her cheeks heating.

  The edge of loneliness softened as the idea took hold. Why shouldn’t she approach them? They all liked each other well enough. Maybe they really wanted a woman in bed with them and wouldn’t mind waking up with her on Christmas morning. With her centuries-long elfin lifespan, she couldn’t hope for a relationship. But one night?

  Nick made a point of handing her the coffee with a smile and a card.

  “Decaf, extra cream and sugar, with a sprinkle of cinnamon,” he said. “Merry Christmas, beautiful.”

  He gave cards to all the regulars, but he only called her beautiful. She smiled, setting the unopened card and her coffee on the table and dug out her laptop, her gaze finding first Nick, then Kris.

  “All I want for Christmas,” she said wistfully.

  ****

  Kristian Winters could barely see straight. Noelle Duncan sat a respectable twenty feet away, her mulled spice scent gently teasing the air. With just one breath, his mouth started to water and his mind to wander.

  Best friends since high school, he and Nicholas Haversham had roomed together in college, gotten their first apartment together, and easily fallen into a business partnership. Somewhere along the way, they’d shared everything, including sex. Becoming lovers had caught them both by surprise. They’d both played their bisexual interests close to the vest. Once they’d come out to each other, their partnership had grown infinitely deeper. Barring a catastrophe, they’d be a part of each other’s lives until the very end.

  But they wanted more.

  Nick dropped down next to him, a welcome distraction. His tall cup of extra strong, nothing fancy coffee sloshed over the edge. He hissed as the hot brew splashed his hand.

  “Damn, it’s busy today. Didn’t think I’d ever get away from the counter. We ran through the Christmas Blend an hour ago. Customers are fiends for the stuff. Mrs. Forrest promised to rename her kids after us if we stock more next year.”

  Nick rapped his knuckles against Kris’ computer.

  “Noelle dyed her hair again, did you see it?”

  “She changed it last week,” Kris said. “Winter solstice.”

  “Okay, Mr. Stoic. Just pretend she and her seasonal fetish are not the hottest act in town. I wonder how she got it so white. It’s fucking gorgeous.”

  “How much coffee have you had?”

  “Enough to keep up with the ravenous hordes while you bury your nose in spreadsheets.”

  “Might have to tie you up and leave you in the back room until you calm down.”

  “I like the part where you tie me up.” Nick laughed. He propped his chin on his hand and watched Noelle. “Damn, she’s so pretty.”

  “I’m not looking,” Kris said. “I’m working. You have a one track mind, I swear.”

  “Not that you blame me.”

  Kris sighed.

  Noelle had been a regular for
most of the past year. They talked to her all the time, never letting on that she featured regularly in their fantasies. The quixotic, changeable, sweet woman they’d come to know drove them almost to the point of obsessing. Another woman hadn’t made a blip on their radar since meeting her.

  Kris relented and finally looked over at Noelle.

  “I liked the autumn red color, but the white—and the matching eyes. She’s stunning.”

  He thought she looked like some kind of ice faerie, but kept the fancy to himself.

  “The new contacts should be creepy, but she makes ‘em sexy. Never seen a white-blue color outside of the movies.”

  Noelle and her laptop spent most days in the coffee shop he and Nick owned. She always left a hefty tip for the extended use of the table. Paying for the real estate, she said. The staff didn’t even pretend not to favor her. He’d seen them go out of their way to keep her favorite table free for her. Speaking of—he ignored a twinge of disappointment. She would be gone by noon, as soon as they closed shop for Christmas Eve.

  “Earth to Kris.” Nick tapped the laptop, making the screen shake. “Get your head back in the game. Let’s ask her to spend Christmas with us.”

  “We have reports to file for the end of the year,” Kris said, shaking his head.

  “It’s the perfect time. She’ll take pity on us poor lonely men,” he said, making an exaggerated sad face. “Maybe we could have breakfast in bed.”

  Kris struggled to concentrate. His brain tended to short out over thoughts of a naked Noelle in bed with them.

  “Maybe she’d be breakfast.” Nick licked his lips.

  “She’d say no,” he said, trying to ignore Nick’s enthusiasm and the slim hope she might surprise him and say yes. Better to play it safe. “She might be a bit on the wild side, but I’ve yet to see her with just one man, never mind two.”

  “She hasn’t said no yet.”

  “We haven’t asked.” Kris rolled his eyes.

  “Exactly.” Nick practically pounced. “So you’re assuming.”

  “Let me rephrase. We’re not asking.”

  Nick waggled his eyebrows, coaxing a laugh from Kris. “She’d be our first Noelle.”

  Kris sputtered. “Fuck, she’ll definitely say no if you use that line on her.”

  “She could be our third,” Nick said. “We’re both attracted, and she sure as hell doesn’t look at us like she’s not. Maybe it’s mutual.”

  Chapter Two

  Nick remembered the first time they’d shared a woman and lust coiled in his gut. He’d give a hell of a lot to share Noelle with Kris. He acknowledged the ache to have her with them and let it go. Right now he needed all his focus on convincing Kris to take a chance.

  Although…as soon as Noelle opened the card, they’d have their answer. It felt like the grownup version of the check-yes-or-no game. Would she stay? Would she go?

  Maybe he shouldn’t say anything—just in case she ran away.

  “Careful with the staring, partner,” Kris said. “Or you’ll be getting a restraining order for Christmas.”

  Jackass. Sure they’d been burned before, but like life, love involved risk.

  “She wants us,” Nick said. “I’m sure of it.”

  “Easy, big guy,” Kris said. “She might be willing to humor one of us—and I stress might—but no way would she take us both.”

  Nick shot him a grin. “There you go assuming again.”

  “We’ve been looking for a third for how long now?”

  “We’re not looking if we’re not asking.” Nick frowned. “Damn, Kris. I want her to be the one.”

  Kris scrubbed a hand over his short hair. Nick watched every nuance of his expression as his eyes sought and found Noelle, her snowfall hair shielding her face as she typed. He smiled at Kris’ visible shock the moment he realized the store had emptied except for her. His reserved partner had interest to spare for Noelle.

  She paid them no mind, lost in her laptop, her fingers clicking across the keys with furious speed. If Nick got his way, she wouldn’t be going anytime soon.

  “We don’t really know anything about her,” Kris said, his voice noticeably huskier than a moment before.

  “Oh, now you’re grasping,” Nick said. “We talk to her like every day. She’s some kind of charity Jedi.” He wagged his fingers at Kris. “‘You want to donate to the widows and orphans fund’ and such. She practices some kind of solstice fetish. She’s sexy and nice. Always a good combo.”

  Nick studied the hair flowing like a river of ice down to her elbows. He usually saw the wild hair colors on girls with equally wild lifestyles. But Noelle mixed conservative styles with random pops of color and noise. Simple blue jeans slouched over honest-to-God combat boots. Toned arms left bare by her sleeveless green sweater drove him crazy wondering if the rest of her body matched.

  He’d heard enough from regulars to know they regarded her as an angel in disguise. Donations of food, clothes, toys for children. Organizing volunteers for a town square banquet visited by a Santa so authentic, the kids would be talking about him for years. Her unusual exterior shielded an obviously caring heart. She always had a smile ready and she smelled like Christmas. Sugar and spice.

  She rested her chin on her left hand, seemingly lost in thought, her right hand fingers drumming over the sealed envelope. Her eyes darting back and forth between the card and her laptop. So he’d definitely given her something to think about. Her index finger found a loose corner and began to scoot along the glued edge.

  Oh, fine. He read the movement of her lips and smothered a laugh.

  Not two seconds later, she spied both of them watching her and blushed. Kris caught his breath and Nick understood completely. Her face, exquisite and just a bit different never failed to bring faeries and magic to mind.

  “She’s practically inviting us to breakfast,” Nick said softly. “The kind that follows the best night of sex.”

  Her unpainted lips quirked into a daring smile.

  “Ever.”

  His mind conjured the image of waking in the apartment above the shop, cuddled in a bed intended for three, with a warm and sated Noelle between them.

  “We should definitely ask her to stay,” Nick blurted. He cleared his throat, eying Kris nervously. “I mean—I asked her to stay.”

  Kris gave him a perfect deer-in-headlights look.

  “What?”

  ****

  She’d used the morning to arrange some last minute deliveries to the local charities and hospitals. Elfin magic combined with the power of internet technology proved a formidable force. She might not make it around the world in a single night, but she still did good works.

  Her concentration, however, had flown the moment she’d realized everyone had left. Alone with Kris and Nick. Her heart kept up a pounding she could feel to her toes.

  Their Christmas card beckoned. What did it say?

  “Oh, fine,” she muttered.

  She slid her finger along the edge of the envelope and pushed it open to draw out the card.

  The back of her neck prickled and she looked up to catch Nick and Kris watching her. Heat flooded her cheeks.

  This Christmas she wanted something for herself. But choosing one of the men before her? Who was she fooling anyway? She’d brazen her way through the next few minutes and then go home. She slid a glance to her wool coat and the sleigh bell tucked safely within the inside pocket. Worst case scenario, as the humans said. One ring and one wish, and she would be North Pole bound.

  She smiled and looked down. The card. Yes, read the card. She opened it, surprised to find it free of any verse. Humans loved to pay greeting card poets to express their sentiments, but she found only one word, written in a bluntly masculine hand.

  Stay.

  An invitation to discover whether or not the human world had anything to offer her?

  Listening to the low rumble of their voices, she just barely heard Nick, her ears practically twitching to catch his wor
ds. Which reminded her—she whispered a glamour under her breath to cover the pointed tips. No sense derailing the day with questions only answered with, ‘I’m one of Santa’s elves.’

  She’d heard plenty of horror stories about admitting the truth to humans. They didn’t believe. Period.

  Safely disguised, she closed her laptop and crossed the coffee shop.

  “We should definitely ask her to stay,” Nick said quickly. He cleared his throat, a nervous gesture she found adorable. “I mean—I asked her to stay.”

  “You did what?”

  Kris sounded a bit horrified and Noelle almost ran the other way. You’re older, wiser, and—and—wow, he really fills out that shirt nicely. Desperate for a distraction, her eyes found Nick, arms crossed defensively over his chest. Muscles bunched and bulged everywhere she looked.

  Not helping.Just say something before they catch you standing here like an idiot.

  “I got the invitation.” She waved the card and smiled, half charm, half frontal assault. “This is for me, right?”

  “Um—” They both started and stopped, nearly in unison.

  “Merry Christmas, by the way.”

  “Same goes, beautiful,” Nick said with a grin of pure pleasure. “And yes, it’s for you.”

  “No way.” Kris scowled, seeming almost embarrassed. By her intrusion? Nick’s invitation? Either way, definitely not the reaction she’d hoped for. He grabbed Nick by the arm. “We did not agree to this.”

  His brusque tone set her back. He’d never been less than polite to her, though Nick’s message clearly caught him off guard. Maybe Nick just wanted a woman on the side?

  Unsettled and on the verge of a permanent state of mortification, she adopted a cool attitude.

  “Is this the part where we’re not friends anymore?”

  Neither man answered.

  “Clearly you two need to work some things out.”