Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Brooke
I opened my eyes and softly stroked the muscular arm that had held me all night.
The Christmas party was great, and we both had a lot of fun and a little too much to drink.
My head was fuzzy, but not as bad as I thought it would be, considering the number of glasses of wine I drank.
His teammates were fun to party with, and it felt like they were a big family.
I could tell Logan was sad about Tommy, but he kept his memory alive by talking about the crazy and wild things they used to do at the previous Christmas parties.
As I shifted my weight, his arm tightened around me.
“Good morning,” I spoke as I turned and faced him.
“Morning.” He opened his eyes and ran his finger across my forehead.
“Merry Christmas Eve.” I smiled.
“Merry Christmas Eve.” His lips brushed gently against mine.
I was lost in him, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find my way back to the reality that would hit us once we landed in California.
But for now, I would enjoy these next couple of days where it was just us, snuggled against each other, celebrating the holiday with his family before the harshness of rehabilitation took over our lives.
My phone rang as I was enjoying the warmth and comfort of his body pressed against mine.
“You better answer that. It could be important.” He smiled.
Rolling over, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and saw it was my father calling. Shit. I forgot to tell him that I was coming home.
“Hi, Dad,” I answered.
“Merry Christmas, baby. How’s everything going in New York?”
I looked at Logan and smiled. “Everything is great here. Couldn’t be better. Listen, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I’m coming home tomorrow night and bringing Logan with me.”
“Why? What happened?”
“We need to try and get Logan back on the ice in April. I talked to Woo, and he’s going to help.”
“Don’t you think that’s pushing it, Brooke?”
“Yes, Dad, I do. But we really don’t have too much of a choice right now, and we need to at least try.”
“I see. Well, I won’t be back until after New Year’s, and then I have to fly out to Washington for a week.”
“I figured as much. But at least we’ll see each other for a couple of days.”
“Have you told Naomi you’re coming home so she can prepare?”
“Not yet. I’m going to call her now. I’ve been busy, and I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.”
“It’s fine, sweetheart. I know how hard you’re working with Logan.”
If he only knew.
“I have to go now. I’ll Facetime you tomorrow morning. I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
After ending the call, I dialed Naomi and told her that Logan and I were flying in tomorrow night.
“We need to get out of bed,” Logan spoke as he ran his finger down my arm. “I made plans for us today.”
“You did? What kind of plans?”
“You’ll see.” He smiled as he kissed me on the lips.
“Why are you being so secretive?” I narrowed my eye at him.
“It’s a surprise. Don’t worry about it.”
“Fine. But first, I need to work on your leg.”
“That’s not the only thing you need to work on.” He smiled as he pulled me on top of him and his erection pressed into me.
“You’re going to need this.” Logan smiled as he pulled my pink knit hat on my head. “Make sure you have your gloves too.”
“Where are we going?” The anticipation was killing me.
“You’ll see.” He winked as we walked out the door.
Slowly making our way to the lobby, we stepped out of the building and Logan led me to the black limousine that was parked at the curb.
“Good day, Mr. Jackson.”
“Hello, Cecil. I would like you to meet Brooke Alexander, my physical therapist. Brooke, this is Cecil, and he’s our driver for today.”
Lightly shaking his hand, I climbed into the limo, and Logan slid in next to me.
“You’re still not going to tell me what’s going on, are you?”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “You’ll see when we get there. But I will tell you that it’s a long ride. So sit back and relax.”
“How long?” I asked.
“A couple of hours.”
Now he really had my curiosity piqued. We talked more about his family, my family, hockey, and ice-skating competitions on the ride to wherever it was we were going.
The one thing I did notice was we seemed to be in the country, far away from the noisy and busy streets of New York City.
Snow-topped trees lined the snow-covered roads and houses that resembled cottages sat way back.
It looked like a scene on a Christmas card.
As I admired the beauty and peacefulness of my surroundings, the limo pulled into a long winding driveway that took us straight to an inn.
“I’m confused. Why are we at an inn?”
The corners of Logan’s mouth curved up. “We’re having lunch here.”
“We drove over two hours to have lunch?” I asked as I bit down on my bottom lip.
“Lunch and something else. You’ll see. Just trust me.” He smirked.
As we stepped inside the inn, we were immediately escorted to the dining room where small square tables draped with a white tablecloth and dark cherry wood chairs sat and were seated at a table in front of a stone fireplace where a beautiful fire was burning.
“This place is incredible.” I smiled as I looked over the menu.
“It is, isn’t it?”
“You’ve never been here before?”
“No. This is my first time.” He smiled.
Now he really had me confused.
“How did you know about it?”
“I looked it up online.”
“So, what are we doing after lunch?” I asked, hoping he’d just come out and tell me.
“I’m not telling you. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
“I hate surprises. That’s one thing you should know about me.”
“I don’t care.” He smiled. “I’m not telling you, so drop it.”
I sighed as our waitress approached us to take our order.
“I bet you reserved a room, and we’re going to spend the rest of the afternoon having sex and cuddling in bed while we stare out the window at the beautiful snowy trails.”
Logan laughed. “As amazing as that sounds, no. When I booked this little adventure, we weren’t having sex. So that would have been really awkward. Now drop it and eat your lunch.”
After we finished eating, an older woman walked over to the table.
“Are you ready, Mr. Jackson?” she asked with a smile.
“Yes, we’re ready.”
Carefully getting up from the table, Logan grabbed his cane and held out his arm to me. The woman led us to a beautifully carved wooden door off to the side of the inn. As we stepped out, I stopped.
“No way. No fucking way!” I shrieked.
Logan chuckled. “Your sleigh awaits you, Madame.”
My heart was racing a mile a minute as I stepped into and sat down in the beautiful black wooden sleigh with two white horses attached to it.
“Good afternoon, I’m Colby, and I’ll be taking you on a sleigh ride. Here is a blanket to keep you warm and about twenty minutes into our ride, I’ll have some hot cocoa for both of you.”
“Thank you.” I smiled.
Logan and I cuddled under the blanket as the sleigh began to travel down the tree-lined trail. The snow was lightly falling, and it was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen.
“Why did you do this?” I asked Logan as I laid my head on his shoulder.
“Well, you told me you love snow, and I thought a sleigh ride would be perfect. You left your home in California to come here and help me. I know that mustn’t have been easy with the holidays right around the corner.
I appreciate that you have temporarily rearranged your life to help me play hockey again.
I just wanted to do something special to say thank you. ”
“It’s my job, Logan.”
“You didn’t have to take it, but you did. You had other jobs lined up. Jobs with stability, but you chose to help me, and I appreciate it. This is my way of making sure you had a Christmas you’d always remember.”
My heart completely melted, and he swept me away.
No matter how bad things could get, I would always have this memory to hold on to.
After our sleigh ride was over, we returned to the inn and ate a special Christmas Eve dinner served to everyone in the restaurant.
After our long ride home, I thanked Logan with mind-blowing sex before we snuggled against each other and fell fast asleep.