A Very Grey Christmas (10 page)

“Your family is fun.” He rinsed the plates and started stacking them in the dishwasher.

“Even Grandpa Brady with his questions?”

He laughed. “Yes, even Grandpa Brady.”

I wrapped foil around the leftovers and tried to make room in the fridge for all of the containers. Having a second refrigerator wasn’t enough. Mom had cooked enough food for an army.

Grey threw a kitchen towel over his shoulder and turned off the water. “Since we spent Christmas Eve over here last night, do you think it would be ok if I stole you away for some alone time?”

I closed the fridge behind me. “Depends on what kind of alone time,” I teased.

“You’re just going to have to wait and see. Can we go back to the guesthouse when the grandparents leave?”

I didn’t know what had brought on the sudden urge to separate us from everyone, but it had been a busy week. A few hours on our own wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings.

“Sure.” I smiled.

“Good, because I have a Christmas surprise for you.”

Before I could grill him about what he was talking about, my grandmothers walked into the kitchen in search of more wine. I guess I was going to have to wait a couple more hours.

After the second car backed out of the driveway, Grey whispered in my mother’s ear and then scooted me out of the house and toward the guesthouse. I pulled the sweater tightly against my ribs.

We hadn’t made it to the door when I felt the first flurries on my nose.

“It’s snowing!” I stuck my tongue out to catch a few flakes.

“Could this Christmas be any more like a movie?” Grey opened the door for me, and we shed our coats and the light snow that had fallen on us.

“So, now that you’ve got me here, what’s the big Christmas surprise?” I toyed with his shirt, hoping it had something to do with what we started in the shower this morning.

Grey took my hand and led me to the tree. His eyes locked on mine and I could see him swallow hard. He looked nervous, and for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what had suddenly upset him so much. I clutched his hand in mine, trying to give him the strength to tell me whatever had upset him. He had to know I was here for him no matter what it was. We could get through anything together.

Slowly, he settled in front of me on one knee, his eyes never leaving mine, his hand trembling as it reached forward.

In that instant, I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t speak. I wasn’t sure if I was standing or lying on the floor. My thoughts blurred and my heart raced. Somewhere in the fuzziness between my ears, I heard Grey’s voice.

“Eden, will you marry me?” Grey steadied himself on one knee.

“Marry you?” My stomach flipped and somersaults swirled through my veins. Proposing. He was on one knee proposing. To me.

“Yes, darlin’. Marry me. Say we can spend the rest of our lives together. All of our nights. All of our sunsets. All our Christmases. I love you and I want to marry you.”

My heart pounded and my fingers started to tingle. This is the part where I was supposed to give him an answer and tell him everything I had been thinking and feeling. That he was the only man I could ever love. I took a deep breath. There was only one thing to say.

“Yes, oh my God, yes.” I jumped in his arms, tackling him to the floor until we rolled under the Christmas tree.

His lips pressed my mouth and I felt his tongue fire against mine. He broke free for a second. “I was worried you weren’t going to say yes.”

“Of course I was going to say yes.” I laughed, then kissed him again, hoping this was all real and not part of the Christmas dream I had fought not to leave this morning.

“Wait. Wait. The ring. Don’t you want to try on the ring?” Grey sat forward, urging me upright.

I nodded eagerly. I had forgotten all about the ring as soon as I heard the word ‘marry.’

I held my left hand forward and watched in bewilderment as Grey slipped a platinum ring on my finger with a sparkling diamond center stone. I held it up in the Christmas tree lights, watching it shimmer on my hand.

“You like it?” Grey searched my eyes for affirmation.

“It’s gorgeous.” I couldn’t believe a piece of jewelry like this was on my hand and that Grey had given it to me.

“Marin helped me pick it out.” He smiled slyly. “I wanted to make sure it was exactly what you wanted.”

“Marin? She’s good at keeping secrets, isn’t she?” My eyes met his. “Did anyone else know?”

“Your parents.”

“What? They know?” I turned to the main house even though I couldn’t see it. No wonder my parents had done so much to include Grey. I knew they would be welcoming, but all week they had been treating him like a son-in-law, not a boyfriend. And today, they had both been happy, but unusually jittery. I guess they had been waiting for the proposal all Christmas.

Grey chuckled. “Yeah, I asked your dad as soon as I got here. It wasn’t an easy conversation, but he gave me his blessing right away.”

“Oh, Grey. I don’t know what to say.” I stared into his eyes. This man who I had wanted to be with more than anything in my life had accepted my family.

“I don’t need to hear anything else.” He smiled, reaching for my waist. “You said yes.”

I climbed into his lap, kissing him tenderly. My lips brushing against his, drinking in his lips with every breath.

“I said yes.”

I raised my arms as he shimmied my sweater over my head and unclasped my bra. I worked the buttons on his shirt until his chest was bare. I ran my fingertips over his skin. Silently, we stood, unbuckled our jeans, and stepped out of them, leaving nothing between us. I kneeled in front of him, kissing every inch of his body I could touch. Grey crawled to the floor, taking me under him. His tongue lashing at my breasts, my neck, and my throat. My head rolled to the side, letting go, giving in.
He asked and
I said yes.

The ring felt heavy and foreign on my finger. I couldn’t help but look at it again, even with fiery kisses shooting sparks across my nerves.

“You want to take it off?” He wiggled it back and forth below my knuckle. “It’s ok if you do.”

“No. This is what I want. Nothing but you, me, and this ring on my body. Nothing else.” I smiled again. “I said yes.” I couldn’t believe this was happening.

He growled against my neck. “I think that’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever said.” He nipped against my throat.

I moaned as his tongue swirled against my nipple. I leaned back on my palms, giving him my breasts.

“Tell me, Eden.”

My eyes flashed open. “Tell you what?” I smiled. “I already said yes,” I teased. I saw the look in his eyes. I knew what he wanted to hear.

“I want to give you everything you want. What do you want right now?” His lips burned into mine, and I gasped when I felt his fingers between my legs, spreading me wider. I whimpered as he slowed the pace, leaving me empty and desperate for more.

“I want you, Grey. I’ve always wanted you.” My hands slid along his sides, taking in the ridges of his muscles.

He chuckled. “Tell me, pretty girl. Right now, what do you want?”

I knew exactly what I wanted. I knew how I wanted to feel with him. I knew how my body craved him like oxygen. I knew how we could be connected emotionally and physically like no other way, as if we were actually melting our bodies together. That was what I wanted.

I slid from his lap and turned away from him, then pressed my back into his chest, my head rocking back on his shoulder. His hands wrapped around my hips and slid between my legs, urging my knees to spread. My breath quickened as the need coiling in my core started to tighten. I rocked into his hands, sending them deeper, until I was almost in a white oblivion.

“Feel good?” He moaned, pressing into my thighs until I had almost forgotten my mission. “Tell me, baby. You want me like this?”

“No.” I shook my head against his shoulder, barely able to form the words. “Like this.” My hands walked forward on the floor, and I lowered myself under the tree, my stomach against the carpet. “Like this, Grey.” I sighed as his chest pressed against my back, following my wishes.

I heard him groan and I knew he was as turned on as I was. I was afraid the second he touched me I would burst into rocketing fireworks, my body spiraling beyond my control. I had never wanted him or loved him so much. His kisses started at my neck and moved along my ear. His fingers danced over my arms until our hands were interlocked, the ring peeking through our hands. The promise that we would spend forever together, sharing our lives, our bodies, and our hearts.

My hips danced under his, grinding against him, rising higher each time our skin blazed with contact.

“I want you, baby.” Grey spoke the words, and I shifted upward meeting his deep thrust that finally joined us in heated bliss. He bit into my neck before thrusting again.

“I love you, Eden,” he whispered in my ear, and I knew forever with Grey would be filled with passion and love, epic sex, and nights hotter than I could imagine. He was going to be my husband, and nothing was sexier than that.

I stared up at the branches overhead dotted with white lights. The Texas ornament swung against the needles.

Grey was propped on his elbow, drawing slow circles on my stomach. “God, I love you.” He smiled. I hadn’t seen him this happy.

“I love you too.”

“So do you have the whole thing planned out?” he asked.

“Planned out, what do you mean?”

“The wedding. I figured after Marin’s you would know exactly what you wanted.”

“Wait, were you thinking about us getting married then too?” I sat up.

He kissed my shoulder and shifted to give me more room next to the Christmas tree. “How could I see you walk down the aisle looking like you did, and not think about it?”

I couldn’t believe it. All that time I was worried he wasn’t thinking about it, and he was. We had been on the same page for months.

I blushed. “When I saw you in the church.” I stopped. This felt like a confession, but I needed him to know. “When I saw you…I knew then that it was you. That I wanted to marry you, but I was scared and nervous and I thought I was too young.” I lowered my eyes.

Grey’s fingers tipped my chin upward. “Darlin’, I know we had a rocky start and it wasn’t easy when you moved. Now that I’ve been here and met your family and your friends, I see that it was even a bigger deal than I realized. I guess somewhere in the back of my head I thought your life was more like mine. That you had nothing to lose, but that’s not true. Your parents are awesome. You’ve got friends here. You gave up a lot to be with me and I love you for that.”

I moved forward to kiss him. His lips felt firm and tender, just like the first time we kissed on the beach.

“I’m so happy you came here for Christmas.” I paused. “I’m sorry every single day about what happened with your parents and Pops. I hate that you don’t have them to spend Christmas with or do all those other family things with, but you have my parents now. I hope you know that. They really do love you.”

His eyes sparkled a little more than usual, and he wiped the corners with his thumb. “Thank you. I love them too. They’ve been great.”

“My grandparents were ready to take you home with them.” I laughed. “Wait, were you going to propose when I got back?”

“Yeah, I was going to do it after the big New Year’s Eve party at Marin’s, but I brought the ring to show your dad so he would know I was serious. I couldn’t ask him without showing him that I was going to take care of you.”

“He knows I can take care of myself.”

Grey sighed. “You know what I mean. It’s a guy thing, ok? We all know you can take care of yourself. It’s one of the things that drives me absolutely crazy about you.” He kissed my neck until I was gasping for air from laughter.

Finally, he released me, and I held up the ring again. There was actually an engagement ring on my finger. A big Texas-sized platinum and diamond ring on my finger. I giggled, feeling like the most girly girl in the world.

“Want to go show your parents the ring?” He nodded in the direction of the house. “I bet your mom wants to see it. She’s been bugging me about it all week.”