Chapter Six Ace
Chapter Six
Ace
Irubbed my hands over my eyes when a little sunlight came through the opening in the curtains. Goldie was just starting to stir, her hot little body pressed against mine.
“Hey,” she whispered as she peeked one eye open to look at me.
“Hey, beautiful. How did you sleep?”
“Really well.” She rolled on her stomach and pressed up to look at me. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” I kissed the top of her head.
We’d made out like teenagers until our lips ached and talked for hours in between, until we finally gave in to sleep.
Her phone rang on the nightstand.
“Oh, ohhhh,” she said when her hand grazed my morning wood as she reached for her phone. “Is this a morning thing?”
I laughed. “It’s a Goldie thing.”
She smiled at me as she answered the call.
“Hey, Mom. Merry Christmas.” She tucked some hair that had broken free from her bun behind her ear, her gaze never leaving mine.
She was so fucking beautiful, it was hard not to stare.
The girl took my breath away, and we’d only been awake for all of five minutes.
“Yes. Yes. Okay. Yes,” she said to her mother, pausing between what was obviously a slew of questions. “Ace actually spent the night here on my couch because the snow was coming down too hard to walk to his hotel last night.”
Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she smiled at me.
“Mom, stop.” She paused and chuckled. “Sure. We’ll head your way.”
She ended the call and shrugged. “I don’t know if she bought that. She seemed suspicious.”
“About me sleeping on the world’s smallest couch?” I chuckled. “I don’t blame her for thinking that wouldn’t work.”
“Yes. But I didn’t know what to say, and they want us to come over for a holiday breakfast. Apparently, they’ve been cooking all morning.”
I jumped out of bed and scooped her up, then carried her to the bathroom as her head fell back in a fit of laughter. I set her down on the counter and splashed some water on my face. “Great. I love breakfast at the Jacobses’. And we can say whatever you want to tell them.”
“What do you want to tell them?” she asked as she fidgeted with the hem of her tank top.
I placed one hand on each side of her on the counter, caging her in. “If it were up to me?”
“Yes. What would you say?”
“I would say, ‘Merry Christmas, Suzie and Joe. It’s a long time coming, and I’m crazy about your daughter, so we’re actually dating now.’”
“You want to date me, Ace?”
“I sure as hell do. And we’ll practically be neighbors once I close on the house, so it’ll be very convenient. Maybe I’ll even get a dog, so I have a reason to bug you at work.”
Loud laughter bellowed from her sweet mouth as she tugged me closer. “I’d like to date you too.”
“Then we’re on the same page.” I winked.
“We’re definitely on the same page.” She hopped off the counter, and we both quickly brushed our teeth and got dressed.
We stopped by the hotel first so I could change clothes, and we made our way to the Jacobses’.
And we walked in the front door hand in hand, with big smiles on our faces.
Suzie greeted us, clapping her hands together the minute she noticed. “Joe! Come quick. It’s a Christmas miracle!”
Goldie groaned and I laughed as her father came hurrying around the corner.
“Hey, Merry Christmas. The kids are here. Weren’t we expecting them?” he asked.
“Look at their hands, Joe,” she grunted under her breath, but we easily heard her. “Did I not tell you something was up last night and then again this morning, when Goldie sounded like she was hiding something?”
“I wasn’t hiding anything. I told you that he spent the night.” Goldie chuckled.
“Well, well, well.” Jack then came around the corner with Holly, both with big smiles on their faces. “It’s about damn time.”
Apparently, everyone thought this was a good idea.
Goldie pushed up and kissed my cheek before dropping my hand and heading to the kitchen. “Come on. Let’s eat.”
“What are your intentions with my daughter?” Joe moved beside me and then roared out a laugh as he clapped me on the shoulder.
“Oh, I’ve been pining for your daughter for quite some time, Joe.”
He smiled. “Well, I’d welcome you to the family, but you’re already a longtime member.”
We gathered around the table, ate our own body weights in pancakes and bacon, and talked about the wedding.
And my eyes kept finding Goldie’s across the table.
I’d catch her watching me, and she’d catch me watching her, and the best thing about it was that we didn’t have to hide it anymore.
We cleaned up breakfast and opened presents, and soon it was time to get ready for the wedding. I was taking Jack back to his place to get ready, and Goldie and her mom were heading to the venue with Holly to get ready with the other bridesmaids.
When we walked outside, Goldie pulled out a little mistletoe from her pocket and held it over my head.
“Did you steal that from Harry?” I teased.
“Maybe I stole the idea from him.” She smiled up at me. “I thought you might want to kiss me one more time before we go our separate ways.”
“You thought right, Sunny.” And I leaned down and kissed her.
Right there in the middle of her parents’ driveway, with the snow falling all around us.
Best Christmas yet.
The wedding went off without a hitch. The bride and groom walked down the aisle to Mariah Carey belting out “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
Very unconventional, but very Jack and Holly.
My eyes were on the maid of honor the entire time. She wore a gorgeous green velvet dress that hugged her curves in all the right places. We followed Jack and Holly out of the ceremony and into the reception.
The night went by in a blur as we ate and drank and danced to holiday music.
Everyone laughed as Jack removed the garter from Holly’s leg in the most dramatic fashion, and Goldie and I interacted with a lot of intoxicated guests.
It was one of the most enjoyable weddings I’d ever been to, and the best part was that I had her right beside me the whole night.
The evening ended with a visit from Santa, who handed out small boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts on our way out the door.
“They thought of every detail, didn’t they?” Goldie asked after we’d slipped into our waiting car. She took a bite of the glazed doughnut, and I leaned down and used my tongue to swipe away the icing on her bottom lip.
“They did.”
“So, now that we’ve agreed that we’re actually doing this, I’m assuming that means you’re coming home with me tonight?” she asked, a playful smile on her face. “I mean, no sense paying for a hotel room when you can stay with me.”
“Damn straight, woman. I like the sound of that.” When Goldie stepped out of the car, I scooped her up, holding her like a baby when she erupted with a full-bodied laugh.
“What are you doing?” she squealed.
“I’m not risking you slipping on the ice. It’s taken us too long to get here,” I said with a chuckle as I made my way up to her doorstep and held out my hand for her key.
I pushed inside, only to have a giant Bernedoodle come out of nowhere and pounce on me as I set Goldie down on her feet.
“Sarah, you need to settle it down, girl,” Goldie said as she slipped off her coat, and her pup moved to greet her. “She gets this way when I leave her for even an hour at a time.”
I pulled my coat off and hung it on the hook by the door, then moved to the couch and sat down. “I get it. You’re easy to love, Sunny.”
Her breath hitched, and she smiled when George came waddling around the corner, making a beeline for her. She dropped to sit on the couch beside me as her dogs both settled on the floor at our feet.
My fingers traced the inside of her palm, and she leaned her head against my shoulder.
“I’m so happy you’re here with me,” she whispered. “I always felt guilty about my feelings for you when I was with Joshua. I know nothing ever happened between you and me, but I felt it, even back then, you know?”
“I felt it too. And he’s an asshole, so you have no need to feel guilty. But I’m glad to hear you were thinking about me, because I was always thinking about you too. So I’m hoping this means you don’t have any lingering feelings for him?” I asked, because I needed to know.
“None. I know everyone was angry at him for the way things ended, and trust me, I was too. But I feel bad about how it all went down, if I’m being honest,” she said on a sigh.
“You feel bad about him being a cocksucking cheating bastard?” I hissed.
She chuckled, and then her tone turned serious. “Yes. Because though there was an element of betrayal, and it’s not the way I would have wanted it to end, there was something bigger that I never told anyone.”
“What?” I asked, my fingers intertwining with hers.
“I felt relieved when it all happened. I wasn’t in love with him. Hadn’t been for a while. I don’t miss him. We weren’t happy. And I made myself a promise when I moved back home.” She shrugged.
“What’s that?”
“That I wouldn’t ever settle again.”
“Nor should you, Sunny. You deserve to have everything you want.”
A wide grin settled on her face, and she nodded. “I know what I want, Ace, and I’m looking at him.”
I pulled her onto my lap as I tangled my fingers in her hair. “That’s all I needed to hear. It’s always been you, Sunny.”
She leaned down and kissed me.
Have I ever wanted anyone more?
She pulled back, eyes wild with need, cheeks flushed.
She was stunning.
“I’ve told you what I want. Tell me what you want,” she whispered.
“I want you. All of you,” I said, my voice gruff.
“Well then, what are you waiting for?” Her lips turned up at the corners.
I scooped her into my arms and carried her down the hallway to her bedroom.
It would definitely go down as the best Christmas I’d ever had.
But the truth was, it felt like so much more than that.
It felt like we’d just found our forever.
And I was never letting go.