Jaz smiled to herself as she took her place back behind the front desk.  Her shift would end in the early afternoon and then she could head home to spend Christmas with the rest of her family.  Thoughts about Justin were swirling around in her head, but she chided herself for being so giddy.  Her mind snapped back to attention as the phone rang. 

“Thank you for calling the White Rose Inn, how may I assist you?”

“Hello there.  I’d like to speak to someone about extending my stay.”

“Absolutely, Sir.  What name is your reservation under?”

 “I suppose it’s under the name Randall,” the voice on the other end of the line said.

“Justin?  Is that you?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. 

He ignored her question, “I’d like to see if it would be possible to extend my stay through January 2nd.”

“January 2nd?” she repeated, with surprise.  She looked up to see Justin walking towards her on his cell-phone. 

“Yes, January 2nd.  As it turns out, there’s something keeping me here through the holidays.”  He grinned at her as he stopped in the middle of the lobby. 

“Oh, really?  What’s that?” she said, a smile tugging at her lips. 

“That girl at the front desk just has just had some sort of an effect on me,” he said with a chuckle as he hung up the phone.

Her eyes widened with excitement as she hung up the desk phone and slowly slid her desk chair out.  She slowly approached him as he stood expectantly, waiting for her. 

“So, what do you say?  Extend my reservations?” he said, opening his arms towards her.

She smiled, “I think that can be arranged.”

“Only on the condition that you take New Year’s Eve off so that you can spend it with me,” he grinned. 

“I think that can also be arranged,” she said, as she stood in front of him.

“So, now there’s only one thing left to do,” he said, his face growing serious.

“What?” she asked, worry in her tone.

He pointed upwards, “Well, we need to obey the bylaws of the mistletoe tradition.”  Her eyes wandered up to the large bundle of mistletoe that hung above them. 

“Well, yes, we wouldn’t want to break a tradition,” she said softly, as she felt one of his arms slowly wrap around her waist.

“Definitely wouldn’t,” he said in a low whisper.

Her heart beat rapidly as she looked into his eyes, the two of them inching closer together.  He leaned in, gently nudging her nose with his as he lowered his lips to hers, his hand cupping her chin.  She closed her eyes and felt his lips meet hers.  As they kissed, she felt the hint of passion flow through her and her cheeks reddened. 

“I guess I could spend New Year’s Eve with you…” she said, with a wink.

He grinned as he slid his arms back around her shoulders.  “Good, because nothing else will do.”