Chapter Two
Compared to the wealth and opulence of the rest of the penthouse, Josh’s bedroom was little more than a cell. A quiet, almost humble abode with only the most plain and functional of furnishings. A simple double bed flanked by side-tables, a wardrobe against one wall, and a chest of draws on the other. Simple, practical and minimalist, just like its owner.
A Black Country boy born and bred, Josh had never been entirely comfortable with the trappings of wealth. It was just too big and too much. He liked things small and poky, like his parent's place on the council estate where they'd grown up. So when they’d stumbled across a place with what the estate agent had described as a glorified coat closet round the back, he’d made an offer there and then. While Sonja had busied herself turning the rest of their home into a palace fit to house any denizen of high society, he’d been erecting his man cave. It was a quiet little piece of Birmingham, the only place he could really call his own. His Sanctuary.
And someone had violated it.
Lying in the middle of the room was perhaps the biggest sack he had ever seen. A cavernous cloth bag with a red and white fur trim worthy of old Saint Nick himself, and all his reindeer pulling that damn sleigh too.
What was it doing there, in his bedroom?
“What the?” Josh mused slowly, arching a brow, before treading in and circling the sack, giving it a slow walk around. What on earth could it be, and how could it have gotten in. His secretary, Reina, might have dropped it round if something had arrived at the office while he was away, but she always let him know when she did. But it was well past office hours, and she never trespassed into his private rooms. Noticing a card attached to the silk ribbon that tied it, he reached out to read it, but the contact caused whatever was inside to move.
“Christ!” Cursing, Josh lurched backward, as if expecting a cobra to rear up before him. However, when nothing happened, the bag stilled as whatever was inside settled. He took a breath. Waited for a moment. Then, when still nothing happened, he slowly reached out and poked the sack again.
It wriggled, and then there was a noise, soft and excited, like… giggling.
Curiosity getting the better of him, he undid the ribbon and opened the sack-
“Surprise!” An excited voice cheered and Josh felt the air being punched from his lungs as a red and black blur burst from the sac and hit him in the chest, sending him tumbling back to the floor. Grunting as his back hit the ground, he found his head suddenly buried in a mass of wavy black hair rich with the scent of forest fruits and a pair of sapphire blue eyes staring back at him, bright with mischief.
“Erica?”
“Merry Christmas Daddy.” His stepdaughter beamed before swooping down and crushing her lips to his in a lush, hungry kiss.