Happily Ever Christmas

~Six~

The man was tall, and dark, and handsome.

I'm not even kidding; he was like something straight out of a romance novel!

He was the most handsome man I had ever seen in real life, but this was also a man I had seen before. Twice, to be exact.

He wasn't dressed as Santa Claus today, he was wearing a charcoal gray business suit, in fact, and his hair was neatly groomed, and he was clean-shaven, but it was undeniably him!

I would know those bright, almost inhuman blue eyes anywhere.

He was carrying a tray with a little old-fashioned silver tea set balanced carefully upon it, and he smiled politely when he saw us standing there. "Alright, tea is ready, my dear Mildred. Oh, hello ladies."

He had to be the only person in existence who had ever referred to Mrs. Hamilton as "my dear Mildred".

"Santa Claus!" I couldn't even help myself, I just blurted it out as I stared at him.

I felt like I was losing my mind, but I was good with faces and I knew that I had seen this man before. Coming out of my fireplace, to be exact.

Susan and Mrs. Hamilton looked at me like they certainly thought I was losing it.

The man smiled at me, that polite mask never wavering. "Well, I have certainly been called worse. But I'm afraid, in this case, I'm just Steve." He set the tea tray down and came over to shake our hands. "Steven Coleman." He said, shaking Susan's hand first before slowly approaching me to extend his hand, as if afraid I was rabid and might attack.

I continued to stare at him, stunned and frozen in place. I didn't even shake his hand, which was so rude, and I had NEVER done that before.

Susan frowned at me and cleared her throat.

The man arced an eyebrow at me. His crystalline blue eyes glimmered with, if I wasn't mistaken, amusement.

He slowly began to lower his hand when I reached out swiftly and clamped my hand on his wrist. I had to feel him myself, to know he was real.

Now both eyebrows shot upwards and Susan's frown grew more alarmed.

"Emberly, are you...feeling okay, sweetie?" She asked me in that same sweet voice our mother used when she was trying to hide how angry she was.

"It's okay. Lawyers always make people nervous." He smiled down at me and his smile held a warmth now; the polite mask had melted away.

God, he was handsome.

I was so distracted by his enchanting eyes that I relaxed my grip and let him take hold of my hand at last.

His grip was warm and firm. His big hand gently enveloped mine, his long fingers curving slowly around my hand with a touch that was intimate somehow.

"Emberly, is it? That's an interesting name."

Susan rolled her eyes, I could see her out of the corner of mine. "Yes, well, sorry to bother you guys, we didn't mean to interrupt your tea! We were just wondering if we could borrow a few of Mrs. Hamilton's dining table chairs for the evening."

"Oh, I see!" Steve, who was Santa Claus, finally released my hand and I felt like I had just been released from a spell of some kind. "Is this alright with you, Mildred?"

"Yes, yes!" Mrs. Hamilton waved her hand dismissively. "Take them, just please do see that no one chews on them this year!"

"Let me give you ladies a hand." Steve Coleman suggested to Susan, and my sister beamed with delight.