Page 45 of Santa Daddies
“It’s a tragedy, Little Red. As was Titanic. And she could have shared that door, you know. Or at least rowed it to find him a piece of wood.”
“She was the one that sacrificed everything for him! She wasn’t going to die at all until she jumped back onto to the boat to be with him.”
“Later, we’re putting that on the TV and I’m going to spank your ass through the entire sinking scene, and we’ll see if you still think it’s romantic.”
“Oh my!” She bit her lip and grinned around it. “That sounds very hot. Not the everyone dying part, but the spanking part.”
My right brow arched at her comment. “Even if I use the bath brush?”
“No comment.” She hooked her arm around mine and started tugging me toward the stairs as if I might suddenly drag her back in her room and do it right away.
“I think everyone is still relaxing in the hot tubs. I stopped at Madeline and Blake’s, and they weren’t back, neither were David and Charlotte.” She looked at her watch. “They shouldn’t be much longer though; we can snag them on their way to their rooms.”
“Listen,” I stopped her before she took a step down the stairs, “I think you should wait to tell them until after the wedding. Maybe until they’re back from their honeymoon. At least to tell David.”
She turned to me. “Why? Are you having second thoughts?” She worried her lip.
“I’m most definitely not, Little Red,” I said, bending my knees so we were eye to eye, and cupping her face with both of my hands. “But honey, what if he’s upset? What if he’s so pissed off that I’m defiling his baby sister, that he wants to murder me and then has to spend his wedding day behind bars? Or he kicks me out of the wedding and there’s no one who’s prepared an epic enough speech for the big night and it’s a flop? What if he decides he doesn’t want to have his wedding at his ex-best friend’s hotel, and they cancel it?” I was teasing of course, but she understood I was concerned about taking away from why we were all here.
She chewed her lip. “You’re right. Having a wedding and a funeral so close together is so gauche.” She laughed, and I looked around quickly before smacking her ass.
“I want to be able to have you on my arm, to do everything with you, trust me. This is a huge sacrifice.”
She rolled her eyes at my dramatics.
“Oh, so suddenly my sacrificing for us isn’t romantic, huh?” I teased again, this time squeezing her behind and giving it a pinch.
“Ow!” She grabbed her bottom, but the smile never left her face. “Wait.” Narrowing her eyes, she asked, “Does this mean I have to pretend to be Lucas’s date still?” Her cute little nose scrunched.
“Probably. For the sake of keeping things drama free.”
A pout erupted on her mouth. “Fine, but this counts as my sacrifice. And my grand romantic gesture.”
“Noted,” I said and kissed her head.
“So, are you going to tell me why you look at him like you’re plotting his death?” She narrowed her eyes as she looked up at me. “If it isn’t indeed jealousy.”
Another quick look around and I push her back against her room door, pinning her hands above her head and kissing her. Fishing the key out of my pocket—which was a master, I unlocked the door, and we both stumbled through it. Kicking the door shut, I spun her back against it. Taking a handful of her breast, I rubbed her nipple with my thumb, and then dipping down, I nipped at it through the fabric of her dress. “I’ll tell you after the wedding. I’m also going to tell your brother he needs to choose better friends.” I smirk. “Present company excluded.” Pulling the fabric bodice of her dress, and her bra with it, down, I fondled her bare nipple. I twirled it between my thumb and forefinger making her hiss and squirm against the door.
“Okay, I’ll hold off telling my sister then, too.” She gasped as my lips went to her neck and I placed several long open-mouthed kisses there before dipping low again to take her nipple into my mouth.
“She’ll…mm… never let me… pretend to date… Lucas… if she knows… I’m in love with you.”
I stopped abruptly and straightened to look at her. I was about to tell her I never wanted to hear that man’s name on her lips again, when her declaration hit me. She’d covered her mouth with both hands, and her eyes were wide. Mine went wide too, but it was nothing compared the openness of my heart.
At one time those words would have scared me almost as much as the wordsmarket crashorI’m late.But to hear them out of Little Red’s mouth, all I felt was fucking joy. It was as if I was a starving man who’d not only won a buffet dinner, but the whole damn restaurant chain.
“In love with me, are you?” I teased, giving her a crooked smile, about to return the words, and then kiss her senseless when a knock on the door interrupted me.
“Open up, Memmy!”
“Madeline!” Emily mouthed.
“I’ll go to the bathroom.” I mouthed back, using hand gestures in case she couldn’t read my lips. “Leave with her. I’ll follow in five.”
I nodded, turning to face the en suite, and then, just as she was reaching behind her for the doorknob, I spun around, cupped the back of her neck and pulled her to me. Kissing her mouth deeply, I moaned quietly against her lips. I wanted to convey how much her words meant to me in the kiss since I couldn’t say them back with her sister on the other side of the door. And I didn’t want to whisper or mime them.
She gasped when I ended the kiss, and I left her standing there.
