Page 16 of His to Unwrap

“My father split after my mother was arrested for selling drugs.”

“That’s awful!”

He shrugs. “It’s life. My grandmother died three weeks before I went into the service. I packed up all of her belongings, stored them, and never looked back.”

Sounds like a lonely existence. I reach for his hand, and he laces our fingers together.

“I’m sorry, Madison. For pushing you away. I was trying to protect you, and myself, I guess. I know you’re not planning to stay, and the more time I spend with you, the more I like you.”

“I like you too, Ezra.”

He leans down and brushes a kiss over my lips. It’s tender and sweet.

“Drink your tea. I need to go get my tools put away and check the generator.”

My stomach chooses that time to grumble loudly.

He chuckles. “Help yourself to anything you want.” With one last, light kiss, he strides out the door.

“Well, Coop. Looks like it’s you and me for a few minutes. I’m going to call Amanda, then I’ll see what I can make.”

My best friend is almost giddy knowing that I’m staying with Ezra for the duration of the storm. She promises to call my hotel for me and let them know I will be in to get my things as soon as I can. I’m supposed to fly home at the end of the week, and I don’t look forward to it.

After I hang up with her, I scout out the kitchen. Ezra’s brand new refrigerator is full of food, but he doesn’t have much in the way of spices. It reminds me of a class I had in culinary school where we were instructed to make a full meal, including dessert, with limited ingredients. It was a tough challenge, but I loved it.

On a whim, I decide to give myself the same challenge and film it for my social media fans. Some of them love to know what I’m cooking, and this will be a fun way to show them that you don’t have to have a lot of ingredients to make an amazing meal. Setting my phone up to record, I get started.

Chapter Nine

Ezra

I can’t stop kissingher.

Madison’s lips are so soft beneath mine. I love the way she hums in pleasure when I pull her toward me and tip her chin up, moments from another kiss. The way she fits against me, every soft curve pressing perfectly.

She’s been in my house for four hours, and as I predicted at the gala, I never want her to leave. From the moment I met her, this was what I was afraid of. Getting attached. Needing more than she’s able to give. Maybe more than I’m able to receive.

By the time I finished stacking the wood I chopped earlier and checking the generator, she’d managed to make an incredible meal of chicken in some sort of white wine sauce with vegetables. I can see why she was chosen to be on that show. Shetold me a little about it, and the reasons she quit. As she spoke, I could see lines of tension settle into her shoulders. She seems to be at a crossroad in her life, and as much as I want her to stay, I couldn’t even offer the suggestion. There’s a lot she doesn’t know about me. I haven’t figured out a way to approach the subject.

“Want to decorate the tree?” Madison asks as she comes back into the kitchen while I put the last plate in the dishwasher.

When I look up, my mouth goes dry. She’s wearing one of my flannels and some fuzzy socks, the smooth lines of her legs on display. Her hair is piled up on her head in a messy bun, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. While cooking, she splashed a little of the wine sauce on herself, and since she’s limited to the clothes she wore over here for now, I offered her something of mine. Best decision I’ve ever made.

Seeing her in my shirtdoes somethingto me. I’m instantly hard as a rock and feeling feral. I need her mouth on mine. Right now. Striding forward, I catch her around the waist and pull her to me, slanting my lips over hers in a deep kiss. My hands roam her back, feeling the soft flannel slide over her body as I trail down to cup her ass, fitting her hips flush to mine. I want her to feel what she does to me. To know how much I want her.

“Is that a yes?” she pants against my lips.

“Yes.”To everything, anything. Even if I don’t remember what she asked.

Madison giggles and tugs at a lock of my hair. “Yes you want to decorate the tree or yes you want to kiss more?” Her eyes are sparkling and there’s a flush to her cheeks she didn’t have a few minutes ago.

I groan and resist the urge to lift her up, fit her legs around my hips, and fuck her against the wall. “Both.” And so much more.

She grabs my hand and pulls me into the living room where I moved the boxes of decorations earlier. Cooper is laying in front of the fire with a full belly from his own dinner. He stretches, oneear twitching, and rubs his back on the rug before settling back down for a nap.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked for decorations, so I went traditional.” She pulls boxes of glass ball ornaments out, along with garland, and lights. “Do you like colored or white lights on the tree? I bought both because people are oddly opinionated about the choices.”

“My grandmother always had colored lights. She had this little artificial tree that seemed like it was two feet taller than she was.” It wasn’t much, but that didn’t matter. Not when you’d never had a Christmas before going to live with her and Grandpa.

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