Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
NICHOLAS
“ F or fuck’s sake,” I grumbled, breaking into Noelle’s house so easily.
I barely maneuvered the lock and walked right in. I placed my tools on the table and made my way to the kitchen. She was being difficult, saying she didn’t want to have breakfast with me. She claimed she had a meeting with a family for a hundred-person Christmas party coming up.
I didn’t expect her to welcome me with open arms after what happened last night, but I figured I’d at least get to bring her some coffee. Once I saw her jump into her SUV at nine in the morning, I got right down to business, knowing I had my work cut out for me. If she thought she could get rid of me that easily, she was in for one hell of a rude awakening.
I wasn’t going anywhere but back into her life where I belonged.
For the rest of the morning and by midafternoon, I was finishing up with why I was there in the first place. Grabbing a cold beer from her fridge, I made myself at home since she had no problem breaking into my house the day before. I was simply returning the favor.
I heard the front door open, but that wasn’t what surprised me. What shocked the shit out of me was that she walked in holding pepper spray in her hands.
“What the hell, Elle?”
She jumped, turning in the direction of my voice, her Mace now pointing at me. “Oh my God! I could have maced you, you idiot! What the hell are you doing here?”
“Put the Mace down,” I ordered.
“Not until you tell me what you’re doing in my house uninvited.”
I was over to her in three strides, grabbing the Mace out of her hands before she even saw it coming.
“What are you doing with this?” I asked, placing it on her coffee table and turning to face her.
“Why does one carry Mace, Nicholas?” she sarcastically stated, pissed off that I was able to take it away from her without any effort. “I thought you were a robber. My door was unlocked.”
“And what is a hundred and fifteen pounds of you going to do?”
“Mace him!” she exclaimed with her hands out in front of her. “Hence, the Mace!”
I gripped the back of her neck and pulled her toward my mouth as her pupils dilated and her breathing hitched, not giving her a chance to think about it.
Not.
One.
Second.
My lips were on hers before she had a chance to blink. My hands clutched the sides of her face as my tongue devoured her perfect pouty lips, biting her bottom lip.
Her soft tongue .
Her peppermint scent.
The taste of vanilla in her mouth.
It had me groaning involuntarily.
She moaned into my mouth, making my cock twitch.
When I knew I had her where I wanted her, I pulled away, but not before demanding, “Let’s role-play, and you play nice and stop acting so naughty unless you want the Grinch to steal your Christmas.”
With that, I let her go and made my way back into her living room to grab my tools.
NOELLE
Damn him.
My body felt like it was on fire. There wasn’t an inch of me that didn’t ache for him, that didn’t want him. I craved his touch now as much as I did last night, and my cocky ex-best friend knew it too. I licked my lips, needing the moisture to soothe the burn he left behind.
His eyes followed the simple gesture of my tongue.
His desire overwhelmed me, but him being in my home with his tools intrigued me too much not to ask, “What are you doing here?”
He replied, “I came over to tackle your honey-do list. My brother doesn’t need to be your bitch now that I’m back.”
“You’re back?” I snapped. “What does that mean?”
He ignored my question, walking toward my front door instead. Only then did it register what he did all day for free without me having to ask him. I didn’t actually have a list. He must have literally examined my house to search for what needed fixing.
After he left without saying another word to me, I ended up making my way through my own home to see what he’d been up to. I couldn’t believe he tackled a list that was probably a mile long in just a couple of hours. Including the shed that had to be built.
It was done.
Everything was fixed or built, and he even laid a couple of carved stone rocks that were too heavy for me to lift into my garden for me.
Thankfully, I could leave the puppy with Felix for a few hours while I rushed home to prepare for the annual Christmas parade that began the holiday festivities. I didn’t have time to contemplate anything else as I stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around my body as I walked toward the kitchen.
There in all his clean glory was Nicholas again, leaning against the wall with one leg over the other. Once again, he was devouring me with his eyes.
Bastard.
He looked sexy as sin, and that was exactly what he was…
My own personal hell.
“You need to go,” I ordered, my resolve breaking as I took in every sexy inch of him.
He grinned, a mischievous gaze quickly replacing the heated one as if he could read my thoughts. I swallowed the saliva that had suddenly pooled in my mouth. My skin felt flush all over, and he wasn’t even touching me. He pushed off the wall, and for a second, I thought he was coming toward me. Instead, he made his way into my kitchen, opened the fridge, and grabbed a cold beer.
Unbelievable.
He twisted the cap off and placed it on my counter, not even bothering to throw it away. After taking a few sips from the bottle, he made this low, exaggerated groan from deep within his chest. Normally, this scenario would have turned me on. He looked good in my kitchen.
The intensity that radiated off his demeanor had me weak in the knees, and I found it hard to breathe. He slowly licked his lips with his predatory stare as he eyed me up and down, and I knew what ran through his mind.
I should have moved.
I should have run.
But my feet were glued to the floor.
I couldn’t move them, even if I wanted to.
And the sad part was…
I didn’t want to.
I wanted to believe his reasoning on why he stopped keeping in touch with me. I swear I did, but I couldn’t yet because it didn’t take away the hurt I held on to for all these years.
Before I knew it, he stood in front of me. Pulling my hair away from my face, he grazed his knuckles against my cheek. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to lean into his embrace.
Into his comfort.
Into his touch.
Into his words.
“I’m here to take you to the Christmas parade.”
I hated hurting him.
I wasn’t that kind of person.
My eyes shot open. “What?”
“You heard me.”
“And then when it’s over and we’re walking back to our houses, I want you to bring over the rude cockapoo for a sleepover.”
“Nicholas…”
“Come on,” he countered. “You used to love our sleepovers.”
“Yeah, because we slept. I have a feeling that won’t be the case this time around.”
He grinned. “I can keep my hands to myself… now, my mouth? That wants to taste you again. I woke up wanting to eat you for breakfast, and since you decided to deny me, I fixed your house instead,” he explained in a low tone, dripping with seduction .
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “My pleasure. Now try to deny you don’t like me in your home. I dare you.”
“You’re not playing fair.”
“I’m not playing at all.”
“I’m putting my foot down.”
He laughed, a husky and throaty sound escaping from his mouth. “Your foot doesn’t even make noise when you stomp it.”
“I can’t?—”
“Can’t or won’t?” He interrupted.
“I… I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
“I wish it were that easy. I wish I could close my eyes and pretend I can forgive you, but I’m not entirely sure I can yet. I need you to understand that.”
He sighed deeply, the frustration evident.
“At the end of the day, nothing has changed. I still live in Mistletoe Town. This is my home. I don’t even know where you live. I don’t even know how long you’ll be here. I don’t know anything, and quite frankly, neither do you because, at the end of the day, you’re only here because you have to be. We both know you wouldn't be here if you hadn’t inherited this holiday.”
I had no idea how we had come full circle. He had an effect on me like no other man ever had or came close to. He was definitely pulling out all the stops, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t working.
I didn’t give him a chance to reply. “Are you trying to buy my affection by pretending you want to go to this Christmas parade with me?”
“Depends.” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “Is it working?”
It was pointless to argue with him, and I was beyond over it at that point. So I played the only card I had left …
“Fine. You want me to go with you, then you’re going to have to do something for me.”
“I like the sound of that.”
Little did he know, he wouldn’t like anything about the grenade I was about to throw.
Except this time…
I pulled out the pin before throwing it.