Winter Kisses (A 3:AM Kisses Novella Book 2) (13 page)

“Don’t apologize.” Roxy stands beside me, defiant.

“Roseanna, keep your thoughts to yourself.” Rue scowls at her openly. “This doesn’t concern you.” The fine lines around her eyes and mouth multiply, making her look a thousand years old and scary as hell.

Wow. It looks like someone’s Botox just said fuck you.

“She’s right,” Ryder grunts. “This doesn’t concern you, Roxy. It concerns
me
.”

My adrenaline ticks up a notch, and suddenly I want nothing but for this to end.

I glance at Meg with her lipstick smeared—a sorrowful look on her face because she’ll never have Ryder.

“I’m sorry I pushed you.” There. “I mean it.”

Meg makes a face and only ends up looking that much more demented.

I turn to Rue, Satan’s own spawn. Okay, so that’s probably a little harsh, but I defer to that whole adrenaline thing. I might have something nicer to call her in the morning, but somehow I doubt it.

“But
you
”—I start—“were very disrespectful to my mother. I am not apologizing.” Accurate as hell, but nonetheless.

“I only call it like I see it.” Rue sweeps over me as if she were dismissing the help.

“Well then, I’m going to call it like
I
see it.”

Ryder sags a little because he knows this isn’t going to end well.

“Go ahead,” he whispers. “I want you to.”

A new sense of resolve fills me. With Ryder on my side, I’ve already won. I’ll have to reward the Big N.P. later with a treat of vaginal proportions, but I was already planning to do that anyway. Maybe we could involve chocolate somehow? But his bedroom is so damn nice it’d be a pity. Hey, we should totally go to one of those twenty-four hour convenience stores and invest in a tarp. Nothing says bring on the chocolate syrup like a ten-by-fourteen piece of waterproof poly.

“Well?” Rue barks, and I snap out of my chocolate-inspired stupor.

Here it goes. “I
did
hit you, but you were very inconsiderate.” Honest to God, I swear that qualifies as an apology somewhere in this twisted world. “I can only take so much before I snap, and apparently tonight that line was my mother. She may not be perfect but she’s not here to defend herself either, and I’m a big believer in saying things to people’s faces. So the next time you decide to call me a whore, make sure I’m in the room to hear it. Or maybe you prefer your lackey to do your dirty work for you, which brings me to my next point—
Meg
. If you had a boyfriend, I could guarantee you I wouldn’t throw myself at him at a Christmas party even if I were shitfaced off century old eggnog and desperate to get laid. You have no right to lock lips with anyone without their permission, and I doubt very much Ryder was a willing participant. Hands off,
bitch
. He’s mine.” That ought to get the point across. And, if it doesn’t, I happen to be wearing my roach killing FMs courtesy of the Whitney Briggs drama department, and they look like they could slide nicely right up her ass.

“Is this what you want?” Rue tosses her hand in my direction while challenging Ryder with a guilt-riddled stare. “Someone who curses in the presence of the elderly—people of noble character?” She pans the grey-haired mafia, all of which happen to be scowling at me. “Someone who accosts your mother over words? The
truth
no less?” She shakes her head with a frown dripping down her lips. “This isn’t the kind of wife your father and I envision for you. When you come to your senses, I’m sure someone with grace and good character will be waiting for you.” She wraps her arm around Meg. “Sow your oats quickly, Ryder. This is disheartening for everyone involved.”

A loud clatter comes from the entry as an entire swarm of Hollow Brook’s finest pour into the overgrown house.

“Wait,” Ryder roars it out and garners the attention of the entire room. “I’m not marrying Meg—not now or ever. And Laney is right.” He jabs a finger in Meg’s direction. “You can’t dry hump me in public or in private”—he points over to his mother—“and you can’t talk to the woman I love that way. I don’t care how many five-star meals I miss, you won’t see me coming around here anymore.”

Five-star meals? He really is sacrificing big time.

Rue flicks her wrist. “She’s left you once, she’ll do it again.”

“You should watch your back, Ryder.” Meg pipes up and stuns just about everyone. Who knew she had hormones
and
a voice? And to think she’s wielding them both like a weapon on the very same night. “Since we’re on the topic of her mother, didn’t she poison one of her many husbands for his money?”

Boy the rich really know how to take that whole “your mama” thing to an entirely new level.

I choke trying to get the words out. “My mother is
not
a murderer.” And why the hell are we stuck on my poor mom anyway?

“No.” Meg sharpens her eyes on me. “But maybe
you’re
a gold digger.”

I suck in a breath. Good God if the Hollow Brook P.D. weren’t out in force tonight, I would have gladly clocked her.

Oh, what the hell.

I lunge in her direction, and a tall, navy suited officer catches me in the air like a pop fly. He kindly escorts me off the premises backward, with my heels dragging, my hands swinging into thin air. But it still feels pretty damn good because all the while Ryder is by my side.

Ryder

The officer dumps us off at the foot of the lawn before heading back into the house.

“Well, there’s that.” Roxy slaps her hands together as if she’s wiping them clean in a symbolic, we’ve just taken our mother out with the trash, kind of way. “I’ll get my things and take off. I think I’ll make up a plate to go. Baya, Bryson, you in?”

“We’ll pass.” Baya shoots a dirty look into the party before reverting her attention to me. “Take care of Laney for me, and if I don’t see you guys, merry Christmas.” She pulls us both into a quick embrace, and I knuckle bump Bryson.

“Will do,” I say. “Roxy,” I call my sister over and give her a hug. “Do what you want. It’s Christmas, and I know Dad is dying to get home to see you.” I press a quick kiss over her cheek. “We’ll get together and exchange gifts some other time.”

“All right, but I’ll be moving on the twenty-sixth, so maybe sometime later in the week.”

“Where you going?” I’m mildly alarmed. I can’t stand the thought of my entire family blowing apart and moving to the four corners of the globe, especially not Rox—we’re close and I want to keep it that way.

“I’m moving in with a friend.” She cuts a quick look to Baya and Bryson. “He’s got an oven, and there’s this big baking competition coming up with ten thousand dollars on the line and an internship at the Sticky Quicky—”

“
He
?” I’m stuck on go. Never mind the fact she just said the words
Sticky
Quicky
in the same sentence
.
“No way.”

“Relax.” Bryson holds up a hand. “It’s my old roommate. And Baya and I will be right next door. If Roxy so much as whimpers, I’ll be on it.”

Baya leans in. “Cole is her new roommate. He’s my overprotective big brother. I promise you, she’ll be safe.” Baya wraps her arms around Bryson, and they both grin like a couple of loons.

That’s all I want is for Laney and me to end this night happy as a couple of loons, so I opt not to fight my sister over the fact she’s using some guy for confectionary purposes. Roxy is plenty beautiful. There’s no doubt in my mind this moron is going to try something. I’m the one who will have to be on it. She can expect more than her fair share of visits from her own overprotective big bro.

“All right.” I hug Roxy once again and so does Laney. “Good night.”

Everyone says goodnight, and the girls scream merry Christmas until we’re safely tucked in my car, and I speed us the hell out of there.

Laney and I finally get to the penthouse, and I make a fire while she sits by the colorful, albeit seizure-inducing tree and admires it.

I land beside her and pull her beautiful body right into my lap. “It’s midnight. Merry Christmas, baby.” I plant a lingering kiss on her cheek. Technically it’s Christmas Eve, but every day with Laney feels like Christmas.

“You know what I’m hoping to find in my stocking this year?” She twists into me until we’re facing one another. “The Big N.P. and your face with a smile.” There’s a twinge of sadness in her eyes, and her lips quiver despite her attempt to make me laugh.

“Done and done.” I land a wet kiss over her trembling lips.

“My mom invited us to spend Christmas Eve with her and my sister. You think you’ll be up for that?”

“You kidding? Your mother loves me. I’ll be there with bells on, literally if you want. She still loves me, right?”

Laney winces while measuring a slim distance between her thumb and forefinger. “But the best part is, she still likes you better than me.” She pushes into me playfully as the smile melts off her face. “I feel selfish doing anything with my mother now.”

“Don’t.” I try to stop her from going to any dark places. “Everything that happened tonight—it’s over, and so is that part of our lives.”

She closes her eyes and sighs. “I hate that I ruined your family.”

“You didn’t ruin anything.”

“I overreacted.”

“Not true. If some idiot were trying to manhandle you, I would have done a lot worse. Let’s just say the stroganoff would have went flying. I would have involved dinner, dessert, dishes,
and
furniture. The entire swat team would have showed. If anything, I think you were a lady about the whole thing.”

“Please don’t let this kill the relationship with your mother. I feel terrible.”

“She killed it. You didn’t.” I press a kiss over the top of her head. “I don’t want you to feel bad. Maybe in the future, when she comes to her senses, we’ll work things out, but, for now, I’m through with her. You’re not some wild oat, Laney. You’re the love of my life. You’re the woman I want to spend every last breath with and there’s not another soul on the planet who’s going to get in the way. This is it, you and me. This is real. This is what I want.” I take in a breath because I know where we need to go next, and I don’t want to.

“Ryder.” She moves her hands over my back and warms me. “You know I love you more than the universe and everything in it. I’d die to be with you. I
do
owe someone an apology tonight, and it’s you.” She glances down and picks up my hand. “Last year I was driven to the brink of insanity with all that Meg drama. And that night”—her back trembles as she fights the tears—“I couldn’t take it anymore. I felt like you were choosing her. That I would never fully have you—that maybe I wasn’t enough.”

“You are
more
than enough.” I pull her in close and bring her lips to mine for a moment. “I swear to you, I wasn’t choosing her. I would never choose anyone over you, and, if I could go back in time, I’d do everything different.” I rock her in my arms. “I’m the one who owes you an apology. Weeks before that night my mother tried everything to undermine our relationship, but I kept making excuses for her. Deep down I didn’t want to believe she was capable, that she would be heartless enough not to care what I wanted—that she’d push off her own desires on me. That night, I held you in my arms until you fell asleep. I got a text from my mother. She said I needed to get to the house right away, that it was an emergency.” My voice cracks because it was the last time I would hold Laney until just a few days ago. “I thought it had something to do with my dad. I just took off without thinking. When I got to the house she said Meg fell down the stairs—that she was fine but asked if I could take her home.”

“That’s what she wanted—you out of my bed and with Meg.”

“And that’s when you came.” I drove Meg to her place. “She asked me to help her to bed, and I fell for it. Meg pulled off her dress. I swear I didn’t do it.” That’s when Laney burst through the doors with a fire in her eyes.

“You had spent so much time rescuing her like some poor, feeble kitten stuck in a tree, I was sick and tired of it. Seeing her like that—naked. Seeing you with her in the same bedroom.” She shakes her head. “That was the last straw. It was all I could take.”

“I’m sorry. You were right about everything. I swear I’ll never doubt you again.” I press my lips to her hair. “I’ve always wondered, how did you know to come?”

“I got a text.” Her pale eyes glitter with tears. “Meg said you were taking her to bed.” She presses her lips tight and swallows back the pain. “I could see that your mom was the puppet master, but Meg wanted you, she still does. I know you used to be close. That you went to school together but—”

“She doesn’t know how to quit and neither does my mother, that’s why I’m quitting them.” I trace out her lips with my finger. “I choose you, Laney. If Meg gets stuck in a tree, she’s going to have to call the fire department like everybody else. I’ll be too busy burying myself in a slice of Heaven.”

She gives a soft laugh. “I see what you did there.”

“Yeah?” I land a kiss on her lips and moan. “You know who didn’t see what I did?”