Chapter Five Goldie
Chapter Five
Goldie
Imade us some hot cocoa in the kitchen and brought a cup to Ace, who’d placed the angel on top of the tree for me. I took my own cup and moved to sit on the couch beside him to admire the tree.
“You’ve even pulled out the whipped cream and sprinkles?” He dipped his finger into the cream and popped it in his mouth, and holy hot chocolate, this man was too much.
I squeezed my thighs together in response, because damn he was sexy.
That kiss.
I’d nearly combusted.
I had to stop things before they went too far. I couldn’t be trusted around him.
“Of course I did,” I said, doing my best to act unfazed.
“Man, I remember so many Christmases at your house growing up. Your mom always made the cocoa just like this.”
I glanced over at him staring at me, and my heart pounded hard in my chest. “What?”
“You’re just—perfectly you.” He shrugged as he pulled the first ornament out of the box, and it was one of the quirky ornaments my mom would get us every year.
“Braces off. I remember your parents got me one of these too. There was this one for the braces coming off, and I’ve got a football ornament from them, and an ornament that’s a driver’s license for the year I started driving. ”
“Yes. My mom loves a milestone moment.” I snorted as I started hanging the ornaments.
We had a story for almost every single one. We laughed and talked and reminisced.
And I tried hard not to think about that damn kiss.
But it was all-consuming.
“What do we have here?” he said as he pulled out the snow globe at the bottom of the box.
The snow globe that he’d gotten for me the Christmas before I left for my freshman year in college.
It was a gift that I cherished to this day. Probably the most thoughtful gift anyone had ever given me.
“I love that snow globe,” I said, walking over and sitting beside him as he stared down at it.
He reached underneath for the little toggle and wound it up.
It started playing “Sunny,” an old 1960s song he used to sing to me.
Inside the glass ball was a Christmas tree with a reindeer, a bunny, and a dog.
I’d always been fascinated by it. “You never would tell me how you found a snow globe that just so happened to have my three favorite animals in it, that also happened to play the song you used to sing to me. I mean, what are the chances? How did that even happen?”
He sipped his hot chocolate and set down the mug.
“I got it my first year in college at a fundraiser for the football team. Coach had us all volunteer at the event. They had one of those auctions at the event, and I was serving drinks and clearing tables, but we all tossed in ten dollars to buy raffle tickets to win this gift basket at the end of the night. And I won the basket.” He shrugged, like it was no big deal.
“Of course you won the basket.” I broke out in a fit of giggles. “And the basket had a snow globe with the song ‘Sunny’ and my three favorite animals in it? How is that possible?” I gaped at him.
“Of course not.” He laughed. “It had a $250 gift card in it, though. I’d seen this place online a few weeks earlier when I was shopping for holiday gifts.
The store made custom snow globes, and you could choose your song and what you wanted inside the glass.
I thought it would be a cool gift for you, but they were 250 bucks, and I was a broke college kid.
So when I won the gift card, it seemed like a sign. I ordered it the next day.”
My breath hitched in my throat as I processed his words. “You spent the whole thing on me?”
He stared down at the snow globe and didn’t look up at me. “Of course I did.”
“Ace,” I whispered, placing a hand over his. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“I’m glad you’ve saved it all these years.”
“I pull it out every Christmas, but now that I know the backstory, I think I’m going to keep it out year-round.”
He chuckled.
“Why didn’t you tell me you had it specially made for me? I nagged you relentlessly about it back then.”
“For starters, you were my best friend’s little sister who I happened to be crazy about. We were close friends, and you had a boyfriend. Seemed a little over the top for a gift for a friend. So I just said I found it that way.” He shrugged.
A blur of white caught my eye through the window, and I gasped when I saw how hard the snow was falling now. “It really is a blizzard out there.”
He pushed to his feet and peered out the window. “Holy shit. You’re not kidding.”
“You can’t walk to the hotel in this weather. It’s not safe,” I insisted.
“What if I just crash on your couch.” This sexy-as-sin grin spread across his face.
“You won’t fit on my couch, you’re far too tall.” I crossed my arms over my chest, meeting his gaze. “You can take my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“Absolutely not.” His voice was unwavering.
“Why?”
“It’s your brother’s wedding tomorrow, and you’re the maid of honor. Not to mention it’s also Christmas. I’m not letting you get a bad night’s sleep because it’s snowing too hard for me to walk to my hotel.”
“You’re the best man in the wedding too,” I said, throwing my hands in the air. “That’s a ridiculous argument.”
“It’s not up for negotiation, Sunny.” He kicked off his shoes and stretched out on the couch to make a point. His long legs hung off the end of the couch in the most awkward way.
I walked over to him and offered my hand. “Come on. We can share the bed, can’t we? I mean, we shared a kiss, and it wasn’t even weird after. It’s not like we’ve never slept in the same bed before when we were younger.” I tugged him up and led him down the hallway to my bedroom.
He wasn’t arguing with this solution, but he also didn’t say anything either.
I’d ended the kiss abruptly, and we hadn’t talked about it.
And now I was asking him to sleep in my bed.
“I sleep naked. Is that going to be a problem?” he asked with a laugh. “I’m fucking with you, Sunny. We’ll be fine.”
I shook my head as a nervous laugh escaped, knowing my face was probably flaming red.
I made my way to the bathroom and closed the door before sliding into my little tank top and sleep shorts.
I tied my hair up in a bun on top of my head, washed my face, and leaned over the sink and stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Ace Bonetti is in your bed.
It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine.
I came out of the bathroom, flipped off the lights, and climbed into bed.
“Are you fake sleeping?” I whispered.
“No,” he snorted. “Just waiting for you to stop hiding in the bathroom.”
“I wasn’t hiding. I was washing my face and brushing my teeth.”
“Sunny,” he said, his tone serious.
“Ace,” I mimicked.
“Did that kiss freak you out?” he asked. The room was dark, aside from the bit of streetlight peeking through the opening in the curtains.
“No,” I whispered. “I liked it. I liked it too much.”
“Why’d you pull away then?” he asked as my bare legs grazed his.
“Oh my gosh,” I groaned over my laughter. “Are you actually naked in my bed?”
“Nope. I’ve got my briefs on. Would you prefer I slept in my Grinch costume?” He oozed sarcasm, but his voice was gruff and sexy.
“No.”
“Answer the question. Why did you pull away after the kiss if you liked it?”
“Because I like you, like you. It’s not as casual as you probably think.” I cleared my throat. “And you don’t live here, so I don’t want to let things go too far, only to say goodbye,” I admitted.
His hand moved under my chin, tipping it forward, as we lay on our sides facing one another. “I bought a place here, Sunny. Right up the street, actually.”
“What? You’re moving here?” My voice sounded more like a squeak.
“Yes. I wrote a movie script, and it got picked up by a studio. I’m tired of acting, and I wanted to try the other side of the business. So I can work from wherever I want. I was tired of LA, and I wanted to come back home.”
“Jack didn’t mention it,” I said, my heart racing in my chest.
“I didn’t tell him. It just happened over the last few weeks, and I wanted this weekend to be about their wedding. And to be honest, I wanted to tell you first.” He stroked my hair away from my face, and I scooched closer.
“Why?”
“Because when you told me that you broke up with the asshole and were moving back home, I knew it’s where I wanted to be,” he said.
“You’re really moving back here?”
“Yep. It feels like home. And there’s a girl I’m crazy about who happens to live in White Cap Mountain. And I hear she’s finally single.”
My fingers moved to the scruff on his peppered jaw. “Kiss me, Ace.”
And his lips crashed into mine.