Page 117 of One Night Only
“Come on, Goldie.” Dallas pulls me in, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “If anyone worked up an appetite this morning, it’s you,” he whispers against my ear.
I slap his stomach, glowering up at him, but he just throws his head back on a laugh, his hold on me tightening like he knows I’m on the verge of fleeing back up to his bedroom and locking myself in there until it’s time to leave for the airport tomorrow.
After breakfast, we all file back into the living room where a fire roars and the tree is lit up like a beacon, all while Bing Crosby croons from somewhere in the house.
Dallas sits on one end of the couch, pulling me to sit in between his legs. Millie sits on the other end, sipping a mimosa out of a Santa Claus mug. Austin stands in the corner, face set in an unreadable expression, arms folded over his broad chest, hiding the knitted sweater with a snowman on it which, when I initially saw him walk in with Phil for breakfast, made me choke on my first sip of coffee. Phil and Joy sit on the love seat next to the tree, Phil picking up each gift and having to adjust his reading glasses each time to read the tags.
“To Momma, from Dallas and Emmy,” Phil reads, handing a big wrapped box to Joy.
I stiffen, glancing over my shoulder at Dallas, unaware thathe’d put my name on the gift tags. He offers me a slow wink, his hand gently squeezing my thigh.
Joy unwraps an orange Hermès box, looking at it curiously. “Ohhh, what’s a hermies?” She waggles her eyebrows, and I can’t help but hide my laughter, imaging Tess’s reaction if she were here right now.
“Oh, my God,” Millie mutters, snorting under her breath, and I flash her a knowing wink.
Opening the box, Joy pulls out a delicate silk scarf, unfurling it and gasping out loud at the beautiful watercolor of wild horses printed on it. “Oh, my heavens, it’s gorgeous! I love it. Thank you.” She jumps up and crosses the room, planting a kiss on both my and Dallas’s cheeks.
“To Millie, from Dallas and Emmy,” Phil powers on, handing a wrapped box to Millie.
She accepts it, flashing a glance at me and says, “I hope I got ahermiestoo…”
I giggle quietly.
Millie unwraps the gift, revealing a Burberry box, and she spears Dallas with a disbelieving look. “Dude.”
“Dude…” he mocks.
Impatiently opening the box, she pulls out a small pouch bag made in the iconic Burberry check, shrieking in delight. “Oh, my God, this is adorable! I love it.” Lunging across the couch, she pulls both Dallas and me into a hug.
“To Emmy from Dallas.”
My eyes widen as Phil holds up a huge box, and I gawk back at Dallas. “You already?—”
He silences me with a finger to my lips, dimples popping, and I stop myself, hopping up to collect the box from Phil with a smile.
“I wonder what it is?” Millie asks, but when I look at her, I already know she knows.
I narrow my eyes at her as I unwrap the paper to see a logoon the box that doesn’t particularly mean anything to me. Then, lifting the lid, I suck in a breath, both shocked and touched.
“My very own cowboy boots!” I squeal, pulling out the tan, square toe boots with intricate embroidery.
“That’s why he made you wear a pair of mine last night,” Millie says. “So he knew they’d fit.”
“Aw, this is so sweet.” I turn back to Dallas. “Thank you.”
“Read the card,” he urges with a wink.
I look in the box to see a small card inside. Pulling it out, I smile, reading his handwriting.
I want to fuck you while you wear these.
I snap the card to my chest, hiding the words from anyone who might see, spearing him with a wide-eyed glance, and he chuckles lowly, squeezing my side. I tuck the card into one of the boots and shove them back in the box, feeling my traitorous cheeks heat yet again.
“And this one’s from us, sweetie,” Joy says, standing and walking over to me with another huge box.
“Oh, my goodness, you didn’t have to get me anything,” I chide, sheepishly accepting the box from her.
“As soon as Dallas told us you were coming for Christmas, I justhadto!” Joy beams, sitting back next to Phil and watching with obvious excitement.
