Mistletoe & Hollywood (18 page)

His hand rose to cup my cheek and I felt the intensity in his stare. “Thank you,” he whispered.

My breath stuck in my throat and my heart swelled. As he kissed me, his hands held on to my hips and pushed me back against the stainless steel door of the refrigerator. I whimpered at the feeling of his tongue slipping past my lips, the sweetness of his breath mingling with mine. Evan left my mouth and looked at me just as seriously as before, but didn’t breathe a word. He took my hand and led me upstairs to our bedroom.

Just inside the door, he pushed my hair over my shoulders and lifted my sweater over my head before he nuzzled close to my breasts. His fingers worked quickly to release me from my bra and as the warm air hit my exposed skin, his tongue skimmed across one of my nipples, making my knees buckle. I felt every nerve in my body light up, loving the way his touch was so slow and soft. He was taking his time. Worshiping me.

Evan picked me up and carried me to the bed we’d left a mess that morning. He stared down at me lovingly, still quiet as he pulled my jeans and panties away from my body. I watched eagerly from the mattress as he took his clothes off, showing me the body I’d loved so many times. When he climbed over me, I felt my stomach tighten and my mouth quiver in anticipation.

“I love you, Danielle.”

“I love you, Evan.”

Every time the words fell from this mouth, I rejoiced internally. He loved me. He had been loving me for months and it felt like a lifetime. Evan’s hand skimmed the length of my naked body, causing goosebumps to scatter along my flesh. He pressed his hot mouth to all his favorite places. My throat. My ears. My nipples. My navel. My clit.

Each ragged breath I drew in brought a different whisper of devotion from him. He reminded me of how beautiful he thought I was. He told me how he loved my body. He expressed his gratification when I opened my legs to him, shuddering as his fingers strummed languidly along the sensitive flesh of my pussy.

He pushed two fingers inside of me and I gripped his biceps as I sank down harder onto his hand. The light chuckle he breathed at my greed made the ball of fire in my belly pulse a little hotter. Evan didn’t stop whispering to me. His enchanting, haunting melody of love and passion and completely unrestricted feelings filled me with more pleasure than I’d ever known. His touches were slow but firm. Gentle but intense. My hips were moving, my body aching for him to take me, but he kept his pace steady.

When he finally hovered above me and locked eyes with me, I felt every touch echo across my flesh again. His lips crushed mine and his cock slid into me deeply, making me groan into his mouth. He refused to break the kiss as he dragged himself out of me achingly slowly before pushing in again with power. A joyful cry pulled from his lips and I felt myself drift into nirvana as he pumped a little faster and a little harder each time. Evan’s gaze was firmly on mine; every time my eyelids fluttered open, I saw the heady mixture of love and lust that brewed behind those hazel irises. With every motion of his cock, I panted, feeling energy expanding inside of me, ready to burst.

Suddenly, he slowed his tempo and I gazed up to see him, devastatingly beautiful and smiling at me faintly. I reached up and touched his face just as he moved deep inside of me again, making me moan. His grin expanded and I gripped strands of his hair as he abandoned restraint and fucked me wildly. I felt the familiar tingle in my gut and the heat that rushed through my body as his cock pummeled me deliciously. I started to croak out grunts and groans and curse words, telling him I was close and he was so fucking good.

Evan cursed and a deep breath came out of him as I let go, my walls clenching around him, my body trembling. He succumbed to the ecstasy we’d been building together and collapsed on top of me. The weight of him was one I craved every day. His frame pushing down on me, encasing me in the armor of his strength, made me feel safe and…home. Evan was my home.

“You’re right,” he breathed. “The second I walked into this house I saw our future. I could just feel it.”

He pushed himself up again and gazed down at me, his hair damp with sweat and flopping over his forehead. The sincerity in his eyes held me captive and it was as if my orgasm ricocheted through me once more as the love in his stare rippled through my senses.

“I saw it all, Dani. You and me, the dog, a couple of kids,” he breathed. He rolled next to me and pulled me against him as I caught my breath. My fingers reached out and traced his bottom lip for a slow second. I wanted it all. He was my forever. He was the only plan I’d ever been sure of. The only man I’d ever trusted with my heart and the only person to ever know exactly how I needed to be treated. Evan was made for me and I was made for him. Sentimentality always gave me that fleeting thought that we we’re always supposed to find each other—that Annie made it happen. Either way, whatever in the universe had brought us together, he was mine. I was his. Ward and Weston.

“This is our home,” I said. “I don’t know when we’ll end up here, but I can see it too. This is where we belong.”

His arms wrapped around me and pulled me tightly to his chest. I fell asleep against him, knowing that our life together was only beginning and it would be wonderful.

I NEVER THOUGHT
of myself as the grand gesture type, but that’s what Danielle did to me. She made me want to give her the moon and the stars. Spoiling her was one of my greatest pleasures. She was the kind of girl that made me want to do stupid shit. I wanted to shower her with gifts and love and surprises for the rest of our lives.

“Shh, hang on…I think I heard something,” I whispered into the phone.

“Dude, are you freaking out?” Harrison chuckled on the other end.

I held the phone away and listened for her footfalls above the kitchen. I must’ve been imagining it. I shook my head and took a deep breath. I needed to get a handle on myself. This was the ultimate grand gesture. There was no way I’d have a quivering voice when I asked her the most important question of our lives.

“I don’t think she’s up yet,” I said, putting the muffins in the oven. The smell would wake her soon enough. My girl loved her breakfast.

“You’re gonna be fine, man. She loves you. She loves the house. It’s all good, Ev. She’s going to say yes.”

My best friend—the man who I’d claimed as a brother years ago—had a way of putting my mind at ease. He’d always been the one to calm me down or set me straight. He was my life fixer. For years he’d been my first call when anything happened, good or bad. The first time something happened and my first instinct was to call Danielle, I’d almost felt guilty. But then I just ended up calling to tell him how that gut reaction had made my feelings for Danielle crystal clear. He was happy for me and said he was glad she’d knocked me on my ass in love. He was nervous when I first told him about Danielle back when we were still at the resort, but the second I came home and he saw how lovesick I was, he told me to get my ass on a plane. He’d been with me when I bought the ring and he’d been on the phone with me when I got up in the middle of the night to start preparing my proposal because other than the woman of my dreams, he was the most important person in my life.

At first I wasn’t going to do it here, not after the way she reacted about the house. But the way she loved me last night—the way she looked at me and told me I was a good man…I didn’t want to spend another day with her as my girlfriend. I needed her to be my fiancée. My wife. My everything.

“You think she’ll like it? I hope she’s not mad I already decorated a little,” I said, moving from the kitchen to the expansive living room, scrutinizing my handiwork.

Harrison laughed and I knew if he’d been in the same room as me, he would’ve slapped me on the back. “She won’t be mad. You’re about to make all her fucking dreams come true.”

I grinned and took another deep breath. Nope, hopefully she was about to make all my fucking dreams come true. It would only take one word.

Harrison mumbled something I couldn’t make out. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing, sorry,” he said.

I barked a laugh, suddenly completely relaxed about the way I was about to change my life and utterly humored by the tone my best friend had taken with me.

“Is there a chick in your apartment!?” I asked in disbelief.

Harrison’s voice shot up an octave, “What? No!”

“Oh shit, man. It’s Christmas Eve! Is she a clinger?” I joked.

He was silent for a moment and I felt a little twinge in my chest. He was so good at reading me and helping me with all of my shit. I hated that I didn’t know how to take his silence.

“I was kidding, Harry. Everything okay?”

He chuckled a little, but still seemed to be holding back. I relaxed a little when he laughed again. “Yeah, man. Don’t worry about me. I’m sure you did a good job decorating. She’s going to love it. If she doesn’t say yes, I’ll buy a case of Johnny Walker Blue and help you drink her away,” he ribbed.

“Fuck off.” I laughed.

“Seriously, good luck. She’s going to love it. You’ve got this.”

I let go of a shaky breath and tried to steady my hands. She was the only thing that had ever made me this nervous. I thanked Harrison again and hung up just as I heard another shift in the floorboards overhead.

She was headed downstairs. This was it.

THE SMELL OF
pumpkin muffins lured me from my bed. Evan had ravished me once more and left me completely spent—sleeping like a baby all through the night—but my stomach was too interested in those muffins to let me sleep any longer. I slipped into my robe and tied it at the waist, sad that Evan wasn’t at my side. He was an early riser and I was not…at all. I’d started to become accustomed to it on our weekends together, but I still didn’t like waking up to empty sheets. I wanted him near me all the time. I wanted his arms around me every morning when I woke up.

The second I walked out of the bedroom, I stopped. All along the stairway railing was the green the artificial pre-lit garland we’d bought. The newel posts where capped with red bows and the sight of them made me smile. The moment I registered what Evan had done, I heard the sounds of Christmas music softly piping through the house. I made my way down the staircase and saw more garlands hung around the front door and as I set foot in the living room, a sigh fell from my lips. I wrapped my arms around myself at the beautiful sight of our tree strung with twinkling, brightly colored lights. It was blank canvas for us to decorate. Snow was falling beautifully on the lake and the sky was bright. My heart surged. It was Christmas Eve and I was with my favorite person in our new home.

“Good morning,” Evan said at my back, his hand on my shoulder.

I spun and pressed a kiss to his lips without a hello and felt him chuckle faintly against my mouth. “How early did you wake up?” I asked.

Evan smiled and caressed my cheek sweetly. “You’re not mad?”

I gaped at him. I wasn’t mad in the slightest. The living room was sparkling, the whole first floor smelled like sweet pumpkin and pine, Bing Crosby was singing—this was like a damn movie. He must’ve spent hours decorating so I could wake up to a beautiful display and then he made me a breakfast on top of that. “Of course not, Evan,” I replied. “It looks amazing in here. And the garland in the foyer and on the stairwell. It’s perfect.”

He dragged a hand through his hair and I noticed the slight waver to his breathing as he took a quick glance at his feet. He almost looked nervous. The only time I’d ever seen a similar look in his eyes was when he’d shown up at my door ready to fight to win me back after I left him in Mexico. He didn’t need to fight. I was his. I’d always been his. From the first time he put a hand on my hip and his mouth to mine. I’d always be Evan Weston’s girl.

“And you made breakfast? You know you don’t have to bribe me for sex,” I teased.

He laughed but his nerves didn’t seem to subside. My stomach suddenly pitched with worry. What was going on? He took my hand and I followed him with ease to where the tree stood by the window. The sun was lighting up the gray sky, the LED lights on the tree lit up the room brightly, and the scent of fresh pine flooded my senses. Evan’s arms encircled my waist as we stared at the tree.