Page 3 of Unruly Kris

“Romantic.” He got a devilish look on his face and in an instant, she knew what he planned to do.

“No,” she said raising a finger in warning, starting to back away. “No, no, no. Don’t you dare.”

She darted back, but not fast enough as he playfully made a grab for her, capturing her around the waist with his good arm and pulling them both under the cold water as she gasped and sputtered curses at him amid peals of laughter.

“Now I have the perfect excuse to warm you up all over again.” Kris sealed his lips to hers in a messy kiss.

“Well, I do have a reputation as an ice queen.” She gently looped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips in a trail of kisses along his jaw.

“That’s utter bullshit.” Kris scoffed. “Whoever called you that is an asshole, and a fool.”

“If I remember correctly you called me that when we first met,” she reminded him archly with a smirk.

“So, then believe me when I say I didn’t know my ass from a hole in the ground.” Kris tipped her chin towards him so he could look her in the eyes. “You’re strong. You’re smart. You’re fierce when you are protecting the people you love. You’re absolutely radiant in bed and sexy as hell. You are the farthest thing from an ice queen I’ve ever met.”

“Let’s keep just revelation that between the two of us, okay?’” Cath reached for the knob to turn the shower off, a smile pushing at the corners of her mouth, even as she tried to sound serious. Her heart was hammering so loud in her chest, she was sure he would hear it and know she was secretly euphoric at his words. Words that didn’t normally have a place in her personal vocabulary for so many reasons. “There are some parts of my job where being an icy bitch is actually an asset.”

“Don’t worry babe, your secret is safe with me.” Kris chuckled and peppered her forehead with kisses as they stepped out to towel off. “Call me selfish but I’d rather keep you to myself anyways.”

3

Later that evening, seated at an upscale sushi restaurant in Hollywood, with Kris across the table and the remnants of a small sushi feast spread out in front of them, Cath realized that she was, without a doubt, the happiest she had been in a very long time. She was fully down the rabbit hole in terms of being out of her element, and at times there was still a solid core of anxiety in the pit of her stomach that she doubted would go away any time soon but just looking at Kris across the table was enough to bring a smile to her lips that seemed to have a life of its own.

The drive down from base had been slow and leisurely, and Kris had acted as GPS of sorts, guiding her as she drove through some of LA’s best decorated neighborhoods. There she had finally seen something akin to what she had grown up with in terms of holiday zeal and over the top décor. Everything had been awash in shades of green, blue, and white. The houses had been light to twinkling and with enough voltage you could probably have seen half the Christmas lights clearly from space.

Now, well into enjoying their meal together, Cath glanced out from under her lashes, using the excuse of casually checking her phone for work emails, as she watched Kris lean back in his chair. The dark green dress shirt he had thrown on pulled taut over the toned frame of his chest. Despite the fact they lingered getting dressed, lounging on the bed and just generally goofing off with each other until they decided to get ready and go, Cath could feel the same level of desire for him flooding through her. She ducked her head, pretending to be scrolling through a document on her phone, and for once, let herself just enjoy the moment.

A chuckle from across the table caused her to look up into Kris’s smiling blue eyes. He reached over, intertwining his fingers with hers and bringing them to his lips in a feather light kiss.

“Care to share what’s so funny?” Cath traced circles on the back of his hand idly while waiting for him to answer her.

“Nothing really, you just keep smiling at me, it’s making my night.” He gave her a high watt grin, like a kid finding exactly what he wanted under the tree on Christmas morning.

Before Cath could respond with anything more than a heartfelt squeeze of his hand, their waitress appeared at the table to refill their water glasses and take their dessert orders. She gave Kris an appraising glance and a flirty smile, ignoring Cath pointedly before disappearing back towards the kitchen.

“Wow.” Cath shook her head with a small snort of laughter at Kris’s bemused expression of apology. “I guess we know who she’d like under the tree on Christmas morning.”

“I do look good wrapped in a big red bow and nothing else,” Kris joked. “And I really wish I was making that up, but I think there may be photos somewhere from a Christmas party years ago to prove it.”

“I have no doubt about it.” Cath chuckled and reached out to tweak the dog tags laying on top of his shirt. “But honestly I’d just as soon see you in these and these alone.”

“Anytime, anywhere.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “We could skip getting the tree and just go back home, I’ll gladly model them for you.”

“Fat chance.” Cath informed him, giving him a bemused glance of her own over her wine glass. “But this actually brings up a good point. We haven’t really talked about holiday plans yet. What have you got on deck, family plans? Fancy Hollywood Christmas parties? Charity events?”

“There have been a few invitations.” He toyed with his napkin and gestured to the sling. “But I haven’t really felt up to doing anything, not this year. I’ve been turning things down.”

Cath couldn’t stop her eyes from widening. Kris was a social butterfly; in the almost five months they had been dating, she only just begun to understand how many events he put in appearances at. The reason didn’t matter to him, he genuinely enjoyed the glitz and glamor of a good Hollywood party. While turning things down social engagements while he was recovering was practical, it was also concerning. She suspected he had just enough ego that he didn’t want his Hollywood crowd to see him at anything less than his absolute best shape. She could also hear the defeated tone returning to his voice, a sign of the frustration he was feeling at not being able to do the things he enjoyed doing normally.

“What about your family?” Cath took a sip of her wine, trying not to let the worry creep into her voice.

“My mother is in New Orleans with my aunt this year and my Christmas gift to Sandrine and my sister-in-law is a Mediterranean cruise.” Kris poked listlessly at his sashimi with a chopstick and spoke dismissively. “It’s not that big of a deal, Christmas was never really important in my family. What about you?”

“Are you kidding me? Do I have to remind you where I come from again? We have traditions for our traditions in Texas. Christmas was huge when I was growing up.” Cath sighed. “The key word was though, not so much anymore.”

“Why not?” Kris cocked his head, giving her an appraising glance of his own at the slightly downcast tone of her voice.

“The last few years it’s just been Danny and I, a case of beer and whatever car or motorcycle we were trying to stick back together. Maybe pizza and The Terminator movies.” Cath shrugged. “This year he’s going to meet Vera’s folks in Chicago. They won’t be back until after New Year’s Eve.”

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