Caroline point of view
The next three weeks sped by. Easton was a constant presence in our condo when he wasn’t on a road trip. Somehow, we’d managed to keep our clothes on thanks to one long road trip and two kids who constantly demanded his attention. Regardless, he sent sizzling looks my way often, and I lobbed them right back, and we did manage to steal a few hot kisses in the hallway between condos.
Moving here just before the holidays hadn’t been one of my smarter plans. I was running on empty. Not only had I spent the last few weeks unpacking and putting away everything, but I’d spent the better part of the day decorating for Christmas. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and I was ill-prepared for the holiday. I hadn’t made my usual lists, but Hailey had done me proud. She had a list a mile long. Heath only wanted one thing, the very thing his father had promised him but would never be able to give him. I’d found the next best thing, and I prayed he’d see it as an acceptable replacement.
Thank God for Junie. She’d taken the kids to see Santa this morning so I’d be able to work without interruption.
Sadly, Christmas had been an afterthought this year with everything else going on. The kids vacillated between excitement and sadness. This was their first Christmas without Mark and their grandparents, and their absence would be hard on them. It was hard on me. I’d invited Fran and Howard to visit for Christmas, but they’d just settled into their Arizona home. They promised we’d spend the next Christmas together.
Mark and I had our family Christmas traditions, such as decorating the tree together. I’d order pizza, and Fran would bring chocolate cheesecake and eggnog. Mark and his father put the lights on the tree. The kids added the ornaments where they could reach. Mark placed the tree topper on the tree. We turned off all the lamps, and Mark made a big production of turning on the tree lights. We called it the Mills’ tree-lighting ceremony. Later, Mark and I would shoo the kids off to bed, put presents under the tree, and fill their stockings amid sips of eggnog and laughter.
I lived in my own personal snow globe, where everything was perfect and nothing from the outside could get in. All the signs had been there—Mark’s late nights, disinterest in sex, and bored responses with me. We’d stopped discussing our future and having date nights. We’d fallen into a rut. We were comfortable, and all my attempts to spice up our marriage and elicit a response from him had failed miserably.
I’d depended on a man for my happiness, my financial stability, and my self-esteem. I’d stand on my own two feet and be strong for myself and my children.
Right now, that strength required I lift my weary body off this couch and continue with the Christmas decorations. I still hadn’t purchased a tree. I’d been miserly with the money I’d received from Easton, but I hadn’t considered the hundreds of dollars I spent on decorations. Christmas decorations were expensive when you were starting at ground zero. Even my careful list making hadn’t been foolproof, and I’d forgotten several essential items.
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Someone rang the doorbell, and I dragged my weary body to the door. I checked the peephole and saw Easton’s beaming face. With a sigh, I opened the door and jumped backward. The huge evergreen tree dwarfed the rather large hallway.
“Hey, where would you like this?” Easton asked.
“I…uh…I…” Unable to respond, I merely stood back and allowed Steele and Easton to wrestle the large tree past me. I followed them into the living room, where Easton positioned the tree next to the corner by the large wall of windows.
“What do you think?” he said.
“I’m overwhelmed. It’s beautiful, but I don’t have a tree stand.”
“We have all that.” As if on cue, another knock sounded on the door. I opened it find to a stack of boxes, behind which was Kaden. He carefully entered the apartment with the boxes tottering precariously. I held on to the top one to balance them until he put them down.
The three guys grinned at each other, pleased with themselves.
“Merry Christmas.” Kaden swept low in a bow, gracing me with one of his charming grins.
Steele cast a rare grin in my direction.
“From our condo to yours,” Easton added. His eyes lit up like the lights on a Christmas tree. He was getting a kick out of this. “Where are the twins?”
“Junie took them with her for some last-minute shopping.”
“Let’s get this set up before they arrive home.” Easton rummaged through the stack of boxes until he found the Christmas tree stand. I’d never had a real tree. Mark and I had a pre-lit artificial tree. It’d looked like the real deal but didn’t spread needles all over or need to be watered. I glanced downward in disdain at the trail of needles across my clean carpet.
Easton could’ve asked first. I didn’t like being surprised. I’d had a plan, and now he’d messed up my plan. He was becoming quite talented at that.
Regardless, I was being ungrateful, and I didn’t like being that person.
Easton point of view
If I’d been decorating the tree, I’d string the lights wherever, not really caring how they looked, just getting the job done quickly. Not Caro. Every light had to be perfectly placed the same distance apart and uniform rather than concentrated in one place and sparse in another.
It was just a fucking Christmas tree.
My buddies retreated to our condo, not interested in anal Christmas tree decorating.
“Easton, the top left side, right there, the lights are in a big glob.” Caro pointed upward, and I sighed.
I squinted to see what she was seeing. Looked fine to me. I stood on the stepstool and moved the lights around.
“You made it worse.”
I glanced at Caro over my shoulder. She stood several feet away, hands on hips, chewing on her lower lip as she cocked her head to view the tree at a different angle. Fuck, she was hot in her red sweater and worn jeans. My annoyance gave way to desire. I lost my concentration. Arms flailing, I fought to keep my balance on top of the short ladder.
Caro giggled. “Are you okay?” she said between bouts of laughter.
“I’m fine.”
“It’s a good thing you skate better than you stand on a ladder.” She covered her mouth with her hand, still snickering.
The uncontrollable urge to wipe that smile off her face overcame me. I scrambled down the ladder and stalked toward her, my intent clear in every determined step I took. She backed up, laughing harder. I gave chase, and she sprinted around the kitchen island. I lunged for her. She eluded me, keeping the counter between us.
For a long moment, we froze, regarding each other, the hunter and the prey. Her chest was heaving, drawing my eyes to her delectable set of tits. I didn’t know of one other woman who made me feel so many things, so intently, and so deeply.
“Fuck,” I whispered. Her nostrils flared and those beautiful eyes lit up. She lifted her chin slightly in a silent challenge, and I didn’t wait one second longer. She wasn’t getting away from me. I was a professional hockey player, a finely tuned athlete at the top of my game, a man with one thing on his mind. And that happened to be Caro.
I bolted around the counter; she raced to the other side. I faked a lunge in one direction. She dashed the other way, and I reversed direction, catching her off guard.
She squealed, attempted to spin, but she wasn’t going anywhere. I wrapped my arms around her, pinned her against the counter, and brought my mouth down on hers before she had time to react. She pushed against my chest but abandoned her struggle a heartbeat later. She melted into me. Her mouth, her tongue, her lips claimed me, as I was claiming her.
Caro’s fingers curled into fists in the shirt fabric at my shoulders, and she leaned harder into me, kissing me like a woman who’d been sexually starved for too long. That made two of us.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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