Chapter Eleven
Parker
“Merry Christmas, Parker,” she whispers against my shoulder. This new way of waking up is now my favorite and I don’t want it to ever go away. Soon I’ll be making it permanent, assuming I get Caroline to agree.
“Merry Christmas, Carrie.” I pull her into my arms and kiss her, startling her with the smile on my face.
“You look so happy,” she says with an accusatory brow.
“I am. Because I love you.” The words are out before I can stop myself from saying them, but there’s nothing I can do to take them back and truthfully I don’t want to take them back.
“You love me?” I know she thinks it’s too soon for those words, but I’ve never said them to anyone that isn’t family, and it feels so damn good.
I slowly move my chin and down. “Yes. I knew the moment I saw you.”
She scoffs and shoves playfully on my chest. “Now that’s a lie because you were ready to bite my head off.”
“Yes, and that disappeared instantly, and that would never have happened with anybody else. Every thought went straight to how you looked like an angel, and I just wanted to keep you forever.” I huff and scowl.
“And then you ran away from me, and I had to know more. I went digging, and my sister called, trying to drive me insane. I know you probably think I am insane, but it’s the truth. ”
She shakes her head and laughs. “I don’t think you’re crazy. I’ll be honest with you as well. You know the pillows and blankets on my couch? They’re there because of you.”
“Oh, yeah? Did you expect me to come and spend the night?”
“No, I slept on the sofa and watched my little ornaments on the tree every night, hoping you’d come by and tell me you didn’t hate Christmas or me.” I almost cry for the first time since my mother died.
“Come here, baby. I need to taste those lips of yours.” I groan and then growl against her mouth. “Damn, hot cocoa never tasted so good.” I can’t agree more. We move to the sofa, and I slowly slide her onto my lap so we can get more comfortable.
Suddenly I hear the front door open. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What’s going on here?”
“Oh, hi, Adrian. I can’t believe you’re here. I jump off Parker and throw my arms around him completely dressed in his military fatigues.
“No offense, Sis, but you didn’t mention any dude in any of our calls or in the emails.”
She blushes. “That’s because it’s pretty new, and we weren’t really a couple. Still, I’d like you to meet Parker Ames.”
“Parker Ames? The Parker Ames. You’re the son of a bitch who pulled some strings and got me out for the week.”
“Yeah. Your sister seems to miss you, although I don’t think that works in my benefit very much.” Caroline gasps, and I see the tears in her eyes. “You did that?”
“That was your surprise gift. Although, I didn’t know you’d get here so soon,” I grumble.
He chuckled. “Yeah they had a deployment team meeting at the station outside Chicago, and they gave me a ride here.”
“How did you get inside?”
“You hide the key in the same spot you did when we lived at home.”
My mouth falls open at how insanely dangerous that is. This isn’t fucking Mayberry. This is the Chicago Suburbs where anything can happen easily. “Damn, baby. You need to be a little more careful.”
“He’s right. Thank you for giving me a chance to see my sister.”
“No problem. Now that you guys are together, I’ll give you some time alone. I’m going to go pop by my sister’s house across the street. I’m sure she’s awake now and probably wondering where I’m at. Have fun.”
“Do you want to invite her over and have some breakfast?”
“I’m sure she’d love that. I’ll have her bring some stuff over, okay?”
“That sounds great.”
“Say an hour.”
“That’s good.” I put on my coat and scarf and walk across the street to my sister’s and ring the bell.
She opens the door with a giddy smile on her face. “Merry Christmas,” I shout, and her eyes widen.
“Whoa—who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”
“Shut up and give me a hug.”
“I’ll take it.” She throws her arms around me and hugs me.
“Come on, I got some coffee brewing. So what’s going on? Do you want to invite her over for breakfast or what?”
“She just asked the same thing. Her brother is here from the military and is visiting, so I said that we would go over there.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Should I bring some of this?”
“Wow that smells incredible,” I say, taking in a massive whiff of the air. She holds out a tray of freshly baked muffins.
“I don’t know why I do that stuff. You know I have nobody to cook for.”
“Well, you know I’m going to eat it. I’m starving.” My phone buzzes with a text.
Caroline: Hey, I know I said an hour, but my brother is kind of really hungry.
I call her back right away. “I was just about to message you. My sister already has muffins ready.”
“We can pop over there if you want,” she says.
“Sounds good, beautiful. Come on over.”
No more than two minutes later, I see them come out of the house bundled up.
Oh my God, does she look gorgeous. Her brother hustles over in his fatigues with a jacket on.
They didn’t give him a proper coat, so I rush to open the door and my sister’s mouth falls open.
Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks those damn Cole’s kids are gorgeous. “So, Adrian, this is my sister, Chloe.”
“Wow, I feel like I’m watching a staring contest,” Caroline says. Neither of them blink for what feels like a minute.
“Okay, if you guys are not going to eat these, I will.” I try to snatch the first muffin, but my sister slaps my hand.
“Don’t you dare.” She says with such sweetness while keeping her eyes focused on Adrian. “Let our company have some first. Here you go, soldier.”
“Actually I’m a Marine.”
“Forgive me for that, Marine.”
“It’s okay, beautiful. For you, I’ll make any exception, and I mean any.” He licks his lips, refusing to take his eyes from hers.
“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick,” I groan as I watch him lay it on thicker than a deep-dish pizza.
Adrian whips his head at me with lightning speed and scowls. “I walked in on you kissing my sister while she rode your lap in her robe.”
“Yeah, well, mind your fucking business, okay? This is not payback.”
“There’s no payback here.” He continues to focus on my sister like we’re invisible. “So are you a baker, beautiful?”
“No, I just thought it would be comforting. It’s nice to have someone to bake for.”
“Do you normally have someone to bake for?” he questions, raising his brow.
“Just Parker.”
“These are fantastic. You should bake a lot more,” I say.
“So… as much as I love sweets, I could really use some food.” Caroline sighs. We worked up an appetite last night.
“I could too,” I respond, while the other two ignore us. “Do you want to help me, Caroline, while these two make googly eyes at each other?”
“Sure,” she giggles, taking my hand and shaking her head. “Do we look that goofy?”
“Maybe at first, but no one else saw that.”
“Oh, I did,” my sister adds, turning her head toward us. “You looked like a fool, staring at her house like she was magically going to reappear.”
“Shut up,” I growl.
“Be nice, it’s Christmas,” Caroline says before taking my hand and pulling me in for a hug.
We get to cooking while those two seem to have a private conversation.
She’s laughing, something I’ve never seen my sister do with another guy.
Even if it doesn’t go anywhere, it’s nice to see it happen.
It sucks that he’s leaving in a few days.
And I can see the sadness in my sister’s eyes because she knows it’s true too.
Our Christmas breakfast goes wonderfully, and we all have a great time.
New company makes everything better. I had no idea how much I’d actually like Adrian, but I do.
He’s a Bears fan too, which makes him a hell of a lot better to deal with.
It’s going to be great when we’re related so we have something to bond over because I’m sure he still wants to beat my ass over seeing his sister in my lap.
I’m glad he didn’t see us earlier where she was riding my dick like she was the angel mounted on the tree.