Chapter 17
seventeen
. . .
Georgia
I was coming off an epic backgammon win and was completely stunned to see Maddox Lancaster standing in our kitchen.
How did he even know where my parents lived?
He hadn’t texted me today, so I’d assumed he’d already left for the city, but now the sexiest man on the planet was standing in our kitchen, with gifts for my family.
“Hey. This is a nice surprise. What are you doing here?” I asked, moving closer to him.
“I had something to drop off to you, and I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas.” He bent down and picked up the large basket and handed it to my father, just as my mother wrapped her arms around him.
“That was so kind of you, Maddox. Thank you.”
“Yeah, no problem.” He cleared his throat, and I thought my chest was going to explode as I watched him fumble as he handed out all the bags. He’d gotten something for everyone. And then he bent down to meet Gracie’s eyes after Cage set her on the floor. “And this one is for you.”
She looked at the bag, and when she saw The Tipsy Tea logo, her entire face lit up.
“Bossman,” she whispered, and the entire room erupted in laughter. Gracie was crazy for that store. It was where I took her whenever we had a little date day, and we’d go pick out some stickers or a little treat.
“It’s her favorite store,” I said.
She pulled out what looked like a gift certificate, which made me laugh, because I couldn’t even imagine Maddox inside that cute little store. She studied it for a minute before throwing her little body into his arms and wrapping her chubby little hands around his neck again.
“What is it?” Cage asked.
Gracie pulled back and looked at it again. “I don’t know, but it’s from my Bossman.”
My sister, Brinkley, glanced over at me and waggled her brows. Everyone was smitten with the tall drink of water who’d just walked in unexpectedly, including my niece.
“Let me see, baby girl,” Cage said, leaning down and taking it from her hand. “Oh, wow. A tea party for eight.”
Gracie started jumping up and down and cheering.
“That was really kind of you,” Cage said as he clapped Maddox on the back when he pushed to stand again.
“Glad you like it. Merry Christmas. I need to head out before my grandmother calls again to make sure I’m on my way.” He looked over at me, the only one not holding a package, as everyone else tore into their bags and thanked him.
In typical Reynolds fashion, there were endless hugs and gushing, and it took everything in me not to laugh because he looked so uncomfortable as he wasn’t a big hugger. But I could tell he liked it because the corners of his lips turned up each time someone approached him.
I grabbed my car keys from my purse. “I’ll walk you out.”
We made our way through the house and paused in the entryway so I could grab my coat and put it on.
“You don’t need to walk me outside,” he said, reaching into his coat pocket for a small blue box.
Tiffany blue.
“I have a gift for you in my car, but with everything that happened yesterday, I never got to give it to you.”
“I was an asshole, and I’m sorry. I had something for you, as well, and I didn’t want to leave town without giving it to you.” He held out the box, and my heart raced so fast I was certain it would explode from my chest.
I took off the white satin bow and lifted the lid, staring down with absolute surprise at the stunning diamond star on a gold chain.
He cleared his throat. “I’m not much of a shopper, as you know from doing all my holiday shopping for me. But you said gifts should be something the other person would like. I saw this, and it reminded me of you. Thanks for showing me that I can sit under the stars again.”
My vision blurred as my eyes were wet with emotion, and I pulled the necklace out and studied it. “It’s stunning.”
“Yeah? So are you, Tink. I’m sorry for the things that I said to you last night. They were inappropriate.”
“I didn’t mind it.” I waggled my brows. “I think about it, too, you know?”
He moved closer. “What do you think about?”
“Us.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face as if he didn’t know how to respond. I handed him the necklace and turned around, lifting my hair for him to help me put it on.
His fingers grazed the sensitive skin behind my neck, and I wished we could freeze this moment right here.
“There you go,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
I turned around and walked to the mirror hanging above the entry table by the front door and admired it.
“I love it. Thank you. Come on, I want to give you your gift.”
He moved closer to me, tracing his fingers over the pendant resting between my collarbones, before finding my zipper and pulling it up just below my chin.
I rolled my eyes. “You know I can zip my own coat, right?”
“Maybe I like doing things for you.”
I was good with that response, so I pulled open the front door, and he followed me outside to my car, which was a few feet from his.
I popped the trunk and pulled out the large box covered in cute snowman wrapping paper with a white and red tulle bow.
He undid the bow and tore off the paper, which I tossed in my trunk before slamming it so we could lean against the car.
He looked down at the box with a picture of a telescope on the outside.
“I love this. Thank you. My mom always had one on our deck.”
“Now when you sit under the stars, you’ll have a better view,” I said, biting down on my bottom lip.
“What if I like this view best?” he said, his hand cupping one side of my face, and I couldn’t move.
“Maybe you should stop being afraid of taking what you want.”
“What do you want, Tink?”
“I want you to kiss me. No strings attached. Just a kiss so I can have that to hold me over for another week.”
He chuckled and moved closer. My butt rested against my car, and his mouth covered mine.
His hands tangled in my hair, and he kissed me with a desperation that I felt.
Before I realized what was happening, he lifted me off the ground, and my legs came around his waist. My hands wrapped around his neck before running my nails through his hair, and he groaned.
His tongue tangled with mine. I could kiss this man forever, and it still wouldn’t be long enough.
His phone startled us both when the alarm went off, and he pulled back. His eyes searched mine as he turned the alarm off on his phone.
“I’ve got to go.” His forehead fell against mine. “I’ve postponed Benjamin twice already, and he needs to get to the city so he can celebrate with his family, as well.”
His head pulled away from mine, but he continued holding me there. My hands found each side of his face as I smiled at him. “Thanks for today. I can’t believe you did all this. And you even went to The Tipsy Tea.”
“Never again. That place is dangerous. I got attacked there.” He raised a brow, but I could hear the humor in his voice, even if he was trying to hide it.
“What happened?”
“Some fucking little devil with red hair and freckles chucked a doll at my back. That was after she and her doppelg?nger destroyed the store, and one of them bit their mother in the leg. And then the little hellion squared her shoulders in challenge. Like I was just some pussy that she could intimidate.”
My head fell back in hysterical laughter, but I groaned when I felt his erection poke me in the bottom. This man had me so turned on, yet so entertained, my body didn’t know what to do with that.
“Those are the Warren twins. Kressa and Katelyn. They’re pretty famous in town for being hellions. The mom has long, blonde hair and is always on her phone?”
“Yep. She didn’t do anything to intervene, so I pulled out the Santa card and told the kid I was going to report back to him about her behavior. The little shit didn’t like that, but I’m sure she’s still over there torturing Matilda, who was far too nice to put up with that.”
“I love Matilda. I worked at that store one summer when I was in high school. She’s the best.” I sighed when he slid me down onto my feet. “Look at you, Maddox Lancaster. You’re practically a local now.”
“Yeah? Well, I got sexually harassed by the old lady at Cottonwood Café. And then I was assaulted at the fucking drunk tea party store. So, the locals have not been all that welcoming.”
I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle my laughter. “I promise, it’s a very friendly town.”
“There’s only one resident I really give a shit about.” His hand found the side of my neck. “But you know I’m no good at this, Tink. I don’t date. And obviously, you work for me, so we’ve got that issue, too.”
“How about we don’t get ahead of ourselves right now? You wanted to kiss me, and I wanted to kiss you. I think we’d both like for it to happen again, and it’s no one’s business but ours.” I rested my hands on his chest.
“I like the sound of that,” he said as he nipped at my bottom lip and growled. “I’ll call you later. Merry Christmas.”
He picked up the telescope and walked backward toward his car.
“Merry Christmas, Bossman.”
He placed the package in his trunk before climbing into his car, turning it on, and rolling the window down. “I’m not leaving until you’re inside. Go.”
I laughed. “So bossy. This is Cottonwood Cove. You don’t need to worry.”
“Well, I got attacked by a five-year-old today. I’m fairly certain it’s not safe anywhere.”
I laughed as I walked up the walkway and waved before pushing inside.
When the door opened, I heard a loud crash, followed by muffled laughter, and turned to see Hugh, Lila, Brinkley, Finn, and Cage all running from the big window in the living room as the lamp on the side table lay on the floor with the shade half off of it.
“Seriously? You’re spying on me?” I threw my hands in the air.
“That was some kiss. Somebody call the fire department because this bitch is about to go up in flames.” Brinkley put an arm around my waist and bellowed out in laughter.
“I was trying to stop them and insist they give you some privacy, but then when he pulled you up, I couldn’t look away.” Lila was on my other side now, smiling at me.
“I feel like someone poured acid in my eyes. You can’t be making out in the driveway on Christmas Eve, Georgie,” Cage hissed. “It’s just… wrong.”
“Wrong? You spying on me is wrong, you big hypocrite.”
“If it’s any consolation… Finn, Cage, and I all covered our eyes when he kissed you. We don’t want to see that. We were just curious if there was more going on than you were saying because it sure seemed like there was,” Hugh said as he righted the lamp on the side table.
“And clearly, we were correct. And Cage is traumatized because he didn’t realize what was happening and covered his face a little too late.” Finn barked out a laugh.
“Serves you right. It’s none of your business.” I tugged off my coat and hung it on the coat rack before walking into the dining room with everyone following, just as my mother and father started putting platters down on the table.
There were white and gold plates, and white flowers ran down the length of the large table with green branches in between. My mother loved a theme, and she enjoyed decorating. She was a therapist by day, but she could give Martha Stewart a run for her money when it came to entertaining.
“I agree with Georgie,” my mother said, looking up and smiling at me.
“I told you to leave her alone. She’s a grown woman who can handle herself just fine.
” My chest squeezed. There were times that being the youngest of five siblings was exhausting because everyone treated me like a baby.
And my parents were guilty of it more than anyone.
But hearing my mom support me meant the world to me.
I was working hard to find my way as I had landed my first real job, and I was looking for my own place to live now that I had income coming in.
“Auntie Georgie is a big girl,” Gracie said as she sat at the table watching my parents set the food down. She had a little piece of paper and some crayons, and she was drawing something colorful.
“It doesn’t matter how old she is. We just wanted to make sure she was okay,” Cage said, leaning down and kissing me on the cheek.
“Well, I like him. Show us what he gave you, seeing as he didn’t gift you in front of us, even though we all got to see that kiss, which was smoking hot.” Brinkley smirked.
My brothers laughed, my father scowled, and my mother rolled her eyes. Lila tried to hide her smile, and Gracie looked at everyone with confusion.
“He gave me this beautiful necklace,” I said, twirling the star between my fingers.
Mom walked over with her mouth hanging open as she looked at it. “Wow. That’s stunning. It seems like you two have a very special… friendship.”
“Uh, I don’t kiss my friends or give them diamond necklaces for Christmas,” Cage said.
“You don’t have any female friends.” Finn raised a brow, and everyone laughed.
“Is Bossman your boyfriend, Auntie Georgie?” Gracie asked.
“No. He doesn’t really date, so that’s not going to happen. But he’s a good friend.”
Who I’d like to have endless sex with.
“Sure, he is.” Brinkley laughed as she took her seat.
Everyone moved around the table, and the conversation and laughter flowed. But my hand kept moving to my neck, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss.
About him.