Page 28 of Icing on Top
“Carpe Diem, boys,” I said as we stopped before them.
Linc’s lips twitched before returning to their scowl as he glared at the twigs in Nova’s hair. “Cocky bastard,” he replied as he pushed off the buggy and moved behind her to pick the debris from her hair.
Grant laughed bitterly as he scrubbed a hand down his face. “I really hate you two, you know that?”
I ground my teeth together as I saw Nova pale and shrink into herself at his words.
“I was ready to carpe diem in my office,” Grant continued, not noticing Nova’s reaction, “and you two cock-blocking fuck wadsinterrupted us. It’s rather unfair. I have half a mind to run away with Nova and not return until I’ve had my fill, which could take a while.”
I knew his statement of hate hadn’t been about her, but Nova hadn’t. I was pleased to see her shoulders relax when she did. Even so, it needed to be addressed. “Nova? Did you think Grant meant you when he said he hated us?”
She looked at me guiltily and nodded. Lincoln stepped around her to see her face as Grant’s eyes widened in horror.
“I could never hate you,” he assured her.
“Why would you think that, Sugar?” Linc asked softly as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Nova cleared her throat as she stared down at her hands. “I thought he was mad that Ben and I had sex while he was cutting down the Christmas tree for me.”
Grant stepped in front of her, causing Lincoln to step back. He lifted a finger under her chin until she made eye contact. “Understand something Little Star. I will never be mad at you for being with one of my dipshit brothers. Ever. However, I reserve the right to get pissy with them for it after they interrupt my time with you. Ok?”
Nova nodded and graced us with a smile. “This is all new to me. I’ve never considered this type of... situationship before.”
I bent down to kiss the side of her head. “This is new for us too. We’ve never shared a woman before.”
“We’ve never wanted to share a woman before,” Linc elaborated. “You’re special, Nova. Some wrinkles might still need ironing, but we’ll figure it out together.”
“That sounds good,” she agreed.
“Ok. What do you say we get this show on the road and decorate a Christmas tree?” I asked, ushering them toward the cart. Linc drove us back to the lot, where they wrapped the tree and secured it to the roof of my Jeep for us. I ensured that Novasat in the front with me for the drive back to her house to prevent any fooling around while I drove. I was ok with the hypocrisy, which Grant spent half the drive lecturing me about.
When we got to her house, we carried the tree inside, and Grant and I got it set up in the corner Nova directed us to while she and Linc went to the basement to bring up the decorations. When they brought up the last boxes, I saw that Nova looked flushed and Lincoln looked too pleased with himself. That meant they had been naughty downstairs, and I honestly loved it. I loved how happy Nova looked and how relaxed my brothers were around her. How relaxed I was. When the four of us are together, we forget that we have a billion-dollar company to run and a million balls in the air. All of that fell away as we focused on living in the present. Lincoln figured it out first, but she is good for us. Walking away from her was a dwindling option.
I met Linc’s eyes as I took the box from Nova, and a grin split across his face. We set the boxes down, and he clapped me on the back.
“Good to have you on board, brother,” he said quietly.
“We have our work cut out to get Grant on board,” I replied.
“Oh, I don’t think it will be as difficult as you think,” Linc replied, nodding his head for me to turn around.
I did and couldn’t help but smile at the scene before me. Grant smiled at Nova, genuine happiness shining from within him that I wasn’t sure I had ever seen. Nova laughed as she tried to untangle herself from the Christmas lights he kept looping around her.
“Grant! They’re supposed to go on the tree,” Nova chastised playfully.
“They look better on you,” he replied.
“See what I mean,” Linc said low enough so they couldn’t hear him.
“Yeah, but he’s still hung up on that damn contract.”
“He’s more hung up on her. I can tell. The challenge is to get him to admit it to himself, stubborn ass.” Linc said the last two words loud enough for Grant to hear. His eyes flicked to us and narrowed.
The distraction allowed Nova to escape from her festive coils, and she whooped triumphantly as she scampered out of his reach. “Ha! Now we can put them where they belong and get this show on the road.”
He glared at us for ruining his game, then smiled at Nova as he handed her the lights, took the end, and draped them across the tree branches. Once Nova and Grant finished hanging the lights, I stepped forward with the garland and helped her hang the fluffy silver rope on the tree. Once we finished, we moved on to the ornaments, and Nova chatted excitedly as each one was pulled out. She shared the stories attached to them as they were hung, sharing a piece of her heart with us. I could see the sadness in her eyes at times, but she kept smiling as she brought her father’s memory to life for us.
“These must have a good story,” I said as I pulled a few plastic reindeer ornaments out of the box. The old ornaments had seen better days. The velvet “fur” had mostly been rubbed off of them. One was missing a leg; another one was missing an ear. Grant and Lincoln’s expressions matched my feelings towards the ratty ornaments: time for the trash.
