Chapter 12
Jack
Rolling onto my back, I sighed and peered at Kennedy’s sleeping form. A grin tipped the corners of my lips at her naked curves. Her hair was a mess, covering half of her face, one arm flailed in the opposite direction of us and one tantalizing breast peeking out from under the sheet.
Between the nap we’d enjoyed before the party and my brain alerting me to a plot twist I needed to include in a story I hadn’t even written, I was wide awake. There was no way I’d be able to fall back asleep, and I didn’t want to wake my princess.
My princess.
Carefully so as to not wake her, I sat up and shook my head.
Kennedy wasn’t my anything. It didn’t matter that no woman had ever made me want them in and out of the bed like she did.
This thing between us was new and fresh, and we lived in two different states.
Making big plans could spell heartbreak for both of us.
What if she wants to give it a go? I wondered and scrubbed my face with the heels of my hands.
Standing, I found my pants and stepped into them before grabbing my shirt and slipping out of the room. The door shut behind me with a soft click, which I hoped didn’t wake her. Lord knew she needed her sleep.
I slid on my T-shirt and quietly padded down the hall and stairs. As I came around the corner, I froze at the sight before me. Gran was precariously leaning on a two-step stool toward the Christmas tree. Her hands were hoisted above her, doing God only knew what.
Hurrying into the room, I outstretched my hands, ready to catch her. “What on earth are you doing?”
She squealed and turned faster than I’d expected. “What the fuck?”
My brows rose to my hairline in surprise.
“Jack!” she hissed and peered behind me. “Please tell me you’re alone.”
I nodded. Words lodged in my throat at this side of Gran I hadn’t seen.
“Oh, good! Now swear on my life you won’t speak of this.”
I cleared my throat. “Speak of what? You on a step stool, redecorating the tree?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. “God bless you...”
I pursed my lips. “Isn’t that an insult for people in the South?”
She covered her mouth with two fingers. “Depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you use the lovely brain the good Lord blessed you with. Now, swear on my life, dammit.”
Chuckling, I said, “I swear on your life I won’t speak of...” I trailed off, still unsure about whatever the hell I’d missed.
“You won’t speak of Puck!” she said, slamming her aged hands on her hips.
I rubbed my forehead in frustration as I regretted leaving the warmth and sanity of Kennedy’s bed. “Gran... Who is Puck?”
“You. Won’t. Speak. Of. Puck. Swear it, Jack!” Any possibility that I’d thought she was drunk left at her stern, clear voice.
Raising both hands in a sign of defeat, I said, “I swear I won’t speak of Puck.” Whoever the hell he was.
Gran released a heavy sigh. “Good, because I need your help getting him out of the tree.” She pointed her thumb backward.
Walking forward, I noted a visible hole within the fake branches I remembered fluffing to look like a real tree. “I never saw a cat around here.”
She laughed. “Puck’s not a cat. I must have moved a few too many branches, and he fell backward.”
I froze, my fingers at the entrance of the hole. “Am I going to be bitten?”
She patted my cheek and stepped down from her perch. “No, darling, Puck won’t bite you, but by the sight of that hickey on your neck, Kennedy sure does.”
A blush warmed my cheeks. Sliding my hand into the hole, I felt around until I touched something cool and hard. My brows pinched together as I tried to understand what I was touching. Peering down at Gran, I spotted her mischievous grin.
Grasping into the darkness, my fingers wrapped around something familiar. With one brow quirked, I pulled out... Puck?
For a long minute, I stared. Finally, I cleared my throat and met Gran’s laughing eyes. “Is Puck the dildo or the gnome?”
In my hand was a twelve-inch gnome wearing a gnome-sized strap-on. Upon further inspection, I was pretty sure the makeshift strap-on was an anal plug.
Gran cackled like a damn witch in a movie. “The gnome, but now I think the dildo needs a name too.”
“Okay,” I said, drawing out the two syllables.
“Here, give him to me,” she said, her hands outstretched. “Now, if you’ll be a dear, please fluff the branches to cover that massive crater I created. I didn’t think he’d be that heavy, but clearly, I was wrong.”
She peered around the room as I stared at the woman holding the absurd gnome in her hands. He’d been painted a tan color, his bare ass on display. I shook my head and reached above, making quick work of fixing the hole.
“Much better. Now where should I put Puck?” Gran asked.
I covered my mouth and sighed before dropping my hand to my side. “What is your goal? He’s not exactly a Christmas decoration like that.”
Gran laughed. “Harrison never mentioned anything to you?”
“About his gran displaying a naked gnome with a strap-on? Nope, I think I’d have remembered that.”
“No, no one knows—including you—that I’m one of the handlers of the gnomes. Although I have my suspicions, I don’t actually know who controls Robin.”
“And Robin is...?”
“The female gnome in town. Now, where should I put Puck?” she asked, doing a slow turn in the living room.
“If you don’t want them to figure out you’re doing this, I think in here is a bad idea. They aren’t exactly children who believe he’d magically appear in the living room of their vacation home.”
Gran deflated before my eyes. “Shoot, I didn’t even consider that.”
I put up a finger. “Let me think.” Moving to the kitchen, I peered around, and out the window, I spotted the log Harrison and I had rested on in between cuts.
“There’s a hole on the side of that log I can widen so it looks like he’s.
.. having sex with it.” Forcing my eyes toward hers, I did my best not to feel embarrassed in front of the woman who’d become like a grandmother to me during the short trip.
Hers widened with excitement. “That’s a fantastic idea!” She hurried to a drawer and pulled out a serrated knife. “This should work!”
Sometime later, Gran set a steaming mug of tea on the coffee table as I finished adding a log to the fire.
“Here, this will warm you up. I can’t thank you enough for your help.
” She sat with her own cup between her hands.
“I know better, but I guess I was working under the excitement of the alcohol at the lodge.”
I sat and opened my laptop. “I’m just glad you didn’t break your neck on that step stool.”
She waved my concern away. “I’ve climbed taller things than that.”
My laugh caught in my throat as I recognized an email from my agent.
“What’s the matter?” Gran asked, lowering her tea to her lap.
I shook my head. “I-I’m not sure. Maybe nothing. It’s an email,” I muttered. Nervous energy infused my muscles.
She scoffed and brought her cup to her lips. “Emails don’t bite, dear. Just open it. I’m sure it’s nothing.”
After clicking and scrolling to the body of text, I tensed before rereading it. “Oh my God! It’s an offer!” I said, excitement chasing away my nerves as I met her waiting gaze.
“An offer for what? Drugs? Sex? Murder for hire? I mean, it could be anything.”
I cocked my head as I processed her words. The woman was something else for sure. “Murder for hire?”
She shrugged. “You never know.”
A moment passed, and I realized she was pulling my leg. “A few months ago, I pitched a series to a publisher. I got the idea from all the stories Harrison had told me about Norina. It sounded like this magical place to grow up in, versus the city experience I had.”
Gran scooted forward, giddy with happiness. “That’s wonderful! You’re going to accept it, right?”
Grinning, I nodded. “Absolutely!”
“Then it’s settled,” she said, as if I’d been privy to whatever had been going on in her head. “You’re going to come stay with me while you write the series.”
I opened and shut my mouth a few times. Being in the town would do wonders for my writing, especially if I got to experience the charm myself. “I wouldn’t want to impose. I’ll have my PA set me up in a long-term rental.”
“Nonsense! You’ll stay with me, and when you’re not writing, I’ll show you around town, and maybe you can help me with some of my bigger Puck ideas.”
Torn between not wanting to be a burden and genuinely enjoying my time around Gran, I read the rest of the email.
It gave me no better clarity on my situation.
Thinking about my own grandparents and how they’d both since passed and the little memories I had with them, I found myself nodding. “If you’re sure?”
Gran grinned. “You’d make this lady the talk of the town, and how I do miss riling up the town gossips.”
“Let’s make those tongues wag.”
She pushed to her feet and waved her arms in the air above her head. “I cannot wait! And on that happy note, I’m going to take these old bones to bed. Thank you for your help tonight.”
With her cup in hand, Gran kissed the top of my head. I took the cup from her before she could take a step toward the kitchen. “I’ve got this. Good night, Gran.”
She patted my cheek. “You’re such a good man, Jack Halliday.”
I took her cup to the sink and chuckled at the gnome fucking the wood in the distance. Gran was filled with spice and everything nice. If I had a camera I could hide to capture the look on Kennedy’s and Harrison’s faces, I would.
After I set the cup on the drying rack, I returned to my now-cool mug.
The heat from the fire had chased away the cold from my bones.
Staring into the flames, I drank as the past hour washed over me.
Not only was Gran an epic prankster, but my series proposal had been accepted, and it seemed I was now moving to Norina.
I placed the empty mug on the table, grabbed my notes, and flipped to the section I’d reserved for the series. As I read through them, I jotted more details to what I had. Excitement bubbled up within me, and I knew as soon as I was done with the current book, the series would take all my energy.
Sometime later, I reread my notes and shook my head. Kennedy had become an inspiration for my heroine without conscious thought. I didn’t hate it at all. The woman was fascinating, and no matter how inconvenient a long-distance relationship could be, I was seriously considering it, if she agreed.
I grabbed my laptop and shot my personal assistant an email about the series acceptance and to let her know I’d need my apartment packed up. I’d be moving to Norina with the grandmother to both my best friend and the woman I was falling in love with.
Normally, a big change like moving would have given me great anxiety. It was the reason I’d stayed in Connecticut even though I could live anywhere in the world with my job. This time, all I felt was excitement.
After I shut the laptop, I returned it to my bag and cleaned up. Once I’d made sure nothing was amiss, including the hole Gran had created, I padded up the stairs. There was a beautiful woman I couldn’t wait to hold in my arms.
Carefully, I slipped back into her room. She hadn’t moved much since when I’d left hours ago. I removed my clothes and joined her under the sheets. Wrapping myself around her warm, soft body, something in my chest clicked into place.
Kennedy Baker was no ordinary woman. She was the one made especially for me. Now I just needed to convince her of the truth.