“Me, too. You’re so good for my brother, and I love you, too.”
“Will you be a bridesmaid?”
“Of course.” I hug her tightly and then do a happy shimmy. “I’m so excited. We’ll have to have a party with Grace, and maybe we can FaceTime Abby to go over plans.”
“Actually, Abby should be in town before too long,” she says, her blue eyes shining with excitement. “It sounds like she’s going to be here for a while as a traveling nurse, so we can all get together in person.”
“That would be so fun. Thanks for asking me.”
“Thanks for saying yes.”
At that moment, more friends file into the tree house, and I’m awash in happiness. I have wonderful people in my life.
Cara and Jillian King, best friends who married brothers, arrive carrying more wine.
“You are my people,” I say as I hug them both and accept the wine.
“There’s never enough wine,” Cara says with a laugh. She’s a pretty, petite blonde with the most gorgeous curves. I’ve always been jealous of her boobs.
I’m sorely lacking in that area.
“I can’t have wine,” Jillian says with a pout. “Zack knocked me up again.”
“Congratulations!”
“All the pregnant girls are over here,” Grace says, waving Jillian over. “Penny swears these leggings will fit us forever.”
“Right on.”
There’s a knock at the door, and Lauren Sullivan pokes her head in. “Is this where the party is?”
“You found us,” I reply and run over to hug her close. “And I’ve missed you.”
“I know, I’ve missed you, too,” she says and then pulls a book out of her bag. “I’ve been under some crazy deadlines. But I brought you a book so you can’t be that mad at me.”
“Thank you so much. You’re forgiven.”
Lauren writes amazing erotic romance novels, some of which have been made into movies. She’s also sweet and quiet, and I adore her.
“Oh, good, you’re here,” Cara says, hugging Lauren.
I seriously love being part of a group of women who lift each other up rather than tear each other down.
“If anybody goes into labor, Hannah can handle it,” Penny says with a laugh. Hannah is an OB/GYN in Cunningham Falls.
“We have months to go before that’s an issue,” Hannah assures us all and takes a sip of her Coke while admiring a pretty blue top. “How much is this, Penny?”
“I’ll give it to you for twenty bucks,” Penny replies with a shrug.
“Why are you closing all of this out?” I ask her.
“Well, I’ve decided to move,” she says, and we all go quiet, looking at her in surprise. “I’m going to move in with a cousin in Seaside, Oregon.”
“Why?” Cara asks.
“You guys, there’s nothing for me here.” She leans on the end of the couch. “The dating pool is a joke. I love my job, but even that feels…stale.”
“I get it,” Cara says with a nod. Cara is also a teacher at the elementary school. “It’s not easy.”
“I think I need a change of scenery for a while,” Penny continues. “I love the ocean, and I don’t really have anything keeping me here.”
“But you can always come home if you need to,” Jillian assures her. “Believe me, I know.”
Jillian was gone for about a decade, living in California. She moved back to Cunningham Falls a few years ago and married her husband, Zack King.
“I know,” Penny says with a nod. “I’m excited, you guys. But I need to sell all of this stuff.”
“Well, we will help with that.”
“Is anyone home?”
I turn to the doorway to find Willa smiling at me.
“Hey, girl! Come on in.”
Willa Monroe is the owner of Dress It Up, a fabulous clothing boutique downtown. She’s also someone I’ve known most of my life.
Max should have married her. My brother is an idiot.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I say and loop my arm through hers. “There’s food, booze, and clothes.”
“All of my favorite things,” she says with a laugh. “Alex is with my mom until tomorrow morning, so hook a tired mama up.”
“You got it.”
***
“Just so you know, I’m putting a Christmas tree in the Tamarack,” I inform Christian the following day as he helps me unload Christmas decorations from my SUV.
“I don’t need one,” he says.
“I need one,” I reply with a laugh. “I’m making the units beautiful for the holidays, so I’ll be in there later, decorating.”
“You can come in whenever you want.”
I smile at him and pass him the last box. “Thanks. But I’ll always give you a heads-up.”
“So, what’s in all of these boxes?”
“Lights. Ornaments. Garland.” I set the box in front of the door of the middle unit, the Spruce. “I’m starting here because I have guests coming tomorrow, so I want to get it done first.”
“Let’s do it.”
“Oh, you don’t have to help me.”
A slow smile slides over Christian’s impossibly handsome face. “Jenna, I’m trying to find excuses to hang out with you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
I swallow hard. “Why?”
“Because you’re fun. Beautiful. You make me laugh.” He tilts his head to the side and narrows his blue eyes. “Would you rather I didn’t?”
“Nope, I just don’t want you to feel obligated.”
“There isn’t much in this life that I feel obligated to do. Trust me when I say, I offer because I want to be with you.”
And doesn’t that just make a girl’s stomach erupt with butterflies?
I move the boxes to where I want the coordinating décor in the rooms, and then fetch a ladder and get to work.
“What are you doing?” Christian asks.
“Hanging stuff.” I frown down at him as I climb. “Can you please pass me the end of the garland?”
“Please come off the ladder.”
His face is pale as he watches me.
“If I come down, who’s going to hang this?”
“I don’t give a fuck, I just don’t want you up that high.”
I slowly make my way back down and cup his face. “Are you afraid of heights?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“But I’m not, and I’m the one on the ladder.”
“It freaks me out,” he says and tips his forehead against mine. “And that’s not easy for me to admit.”
“What about the ski lifts? Those are high.”
“They’re not ladders,” he insists.
“I have to decorate. But I could probably hire someone to come and hang the high stuff.”
“I’ll hire someone if it keeps you off that ladder.”
I want to delve into this particular conversation further, but there’s a knock on the door.
“Jenna? Are you here?”
“That’s Brad. In here!” I smile at Christian. “Come meet my brother.”
“Lead the way.”
We walk to the doorway, and I smile when I see that Brad brought Hannah with him. “Brad and Hannah, I’d like you to meet Christian Wolfe.”
“Nice to meet you,” Hannah says, shaking Christian’s hand and then she winks at me.
“Are you staying here?” Brad asks, and I roll my eyes. Here we go with the big-brother thing.
“I am,” Christian replies with a nod. “I was just giving Jenna a hand with the Christmas stuff.”
“We brought the trees,” Hannah says helpfully. “But I still say you should buy the trees I was telling you about on QVC. They’re already decorated and everything. You just take them out of the box, plug them in, and voilà! Christmas tree.”
“I need them to be fancier than that.”
“Hey, I have one,” Hannah says and then busts out laughing.
“I had ornaments handmade for these
trees,” I say and then glance up at Christian, who’s smiling down at me with sparkling, blue eyes.
What’s he thinking?
“I don’t need anything fancy,” he says.
“Well, you’re getting fancy because the other two are as well, and I need them all to match. Skiers see this, plus, I’m going to be featured in some travel magazines, and they have to look a certain way.”
“She’s very particular,” Brad says with a wink. “But they’re awesome, and she knows what she’s talking about, so fancy they’ll be.”
“That’s right.” I nod once and then smile at the trees lying in the back of his big truck. “There’s no way you’re going to be able to haul those into these tree houses by yourself.”
“He’s not by himself,” Christian says. “Do you have an extra pair of gloves?”
“I do,” Brad says with a nod, and the men fall into step side by side, working on the trees.
“He’s hotter in person,” Hannah whispers beside me. I see Christian’s lips twitch.
He totally heard her.
“You know,” Brad says casually, as if he’s talking about the weather, “I’m going to run a background check on you.”
“Yeah? Why is that?” Christian asks.
“Because I see the way you look at her,” Brad replies and holds up his hand to me, knowing that I’ll interrupt. “And she’s my sister. I don’t give a shit who you are.”
“Cool.” Christian nods and helps Brad unload a second tree. “I can tell you in advance that I had a DUI about a year ago. It was stupid, and the press had a field day with it.”
“I don’t give a shit about the press either,” Brad says.
“There’s nothing else to find.”
Brad nods, and when they’ve unloaded the final tree, he turns to Christian. “Do you plan to keep looking at her like that?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Well, I guess that’s good to know.
I look helplessly at Hannah, but she just shrugs and watches the two men with keen, blue eyes.
“Is this really happening?” I ask, but there’s no response from either Christian or Brad.
“Don’t be a dick,” Brad says.
“Good advice,” Christian replies, holds his hand out to shake Brad’s, then rubs his palms together. “Now, where do these trees go?”
“Why are men like this?”
“Because we are,” Brad replies and helps Christian lift a tree. “Now, show us where these damn things go. They’re heavy.”
“We’re just friends, you know,” I say as I lead the men into the unit and point to the corner of the living room. “We’re not dating or anything.”
“He’s here,” Brad says with a shrug that says he doesn’t care.
“We’ve been on a date,” Christian says with a scowl, and I make a cutting motion against my throat as if to say, stop talking.
“See?” Brad says.
“We’re not a couple.”
“I mean, we went to the movies, I shared my popcorn with you—” Christian begins.
“You did not share your popcorn.”
“And then we danced and everything. That constitutes a date.”
“Oh my God, stop talking.”
“Just saying,” Christian says with a grin. “Brad, did you need my social security number for that background check?”
“That would help.”
“I’m out of here.” I roll my eyes and march past both of them, who are slapping each other on the back and laughing. “You’re hilarious.”
“I think so,” Brad says with a nod.
“He barely kissed me,” I continue, on a mini-rant now. “And we definitely haven’t slept together.”
“Yet,” Christian says, his eyes full of lust.
“Okay, not funny anymore,” Brad says. Hannah’s hand is over her mouth, covering her laughter.
“Everyone out,” I say, ushering them all to the door. “Let me work in peace.”
Hannah and Brad both leave, but Christian stays behind, and I point my finger at him. “You, too.”
“Me? Why me?”
“Because you’re a troublemaker.”
He smiles, shuts the door, and crowds me against the wall.
“I like your family.”
I swallow hard and watch as he licks his lips.
“Well, that’s nice.”
“I’m going to kiss you, Jenna.”
“Thank God.”
Chapter Five
~Christian~
GOD, SHE’S BEAUTIFUL. Her chin is tipped up defiantly, but her blue eyes are screaming kiss me right now!
I rushed that first kiss. It took me by surprise, standing in her kitchen, how badly I had to get my hands—and my lips—on her.
I feel the same tug now, but there’s no way in hell that I’m rushing it.
I step closer and cup her jawline in my hands, brushing the apples of her cheeks with my thumbs. Her skin is smooth, soft. She’s pulled her hair into a knot at the top of her head, and wispy tendrils have fallen around her face, tickling the backs of my hands.
“You have little freckles across your nose,” I murmur before leaning in to kiss her there.
“Too much sun,” she whispers. I pull back to look down at her, and her cheeks have flushed, her breathing is more ragged, and she’s watching my lips as her tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip.
Fuck me.
I can’t wait another moment. I tip her chin up with my finger and lay my lips over hers, breathing her in. She hitches one leg around my thigh in invitation, so I reach down, cup her ass, and boost her against the wall.
She wraps those legs around my waist, plunges her fingers into my hair, and holds on tightly as I plunder her mouth, tasting and nibbling, enjoying the hell out of her.
Jesus, I want her. More than I can remember ever wanting anyone in my life.
She makes a tiny mewling noise, turns her head, and gives me back as good as she gets. She’s strong and sweet, and so fucking amazing.
“Jenna!”
I’m thrown out of the moment and pull back to stare into her confused, blue eyes.
“Who is that?” I ask.
“No idea,” she mutters as I lower her to the ground. She opens the door of the tree house and walks onto the porch.
“There you are,” a man says. “How are you, Jenna?”
“Good, thanks. What’s up?”
I walk out with her. A man in a brown uniform is hauling a box on a dolly.
“You usually receive deliveries at your house in town, so I was just making sure this is right before I drop it off. It’s damn heavy.”
“My weights,” I say. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you that I had some dumbbells sent.”
“No problem,” Jenna says and then smiles at the deliveryman. “Looks like this is the correct place.”
“Where do you want it?” he asks.
“I’ll show you,” I reply and lead him to my unit. “You can leave it here in the doorway.”
“Sounds good,” he says, then turns and whistles on his way back to his truck. Jenna is still on the porch. She waves him off then turns to me.
“I’m just going to unbox these real quick. I’ll be back over in a few,” I say, my voice rough with lust.
“I’ll get some stuff decorated,” she says with a nod, then waves me off and steps back inside.
I have to pause, take a deep breath, and will my libido to calm the hell down.
If we hadn’t been interrupted, I would have fucked her against the wall, and that’s not where I intend to take her for the first time.
It’s going to happen, and soon. Keeping my hands off of her has been a form of torture I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. And if the way she climbed me is any indication, the feeling is mutual.
But it’s not going to be against the wall the first time.
Maybe the second time.
And this is not helping the hard-on I’ve got going on at all.
&
nbsp; I pull my pocketknife out of my pocket and open the box, then pull the weights out and give them a once-over. It’s a system from a popular exercise equipment company that makes it easy to lift anywhere from five pounds to seventy pounds, all in one dumbbell.
These are going to be perfect.
I set them up in the corner of the living room, then flatten the box they came in. When it’s time for me to go back to L.A., I’ll leave these behind for Jenna to keep here. Another guest might want to use them at some point.
I gather the box to throw away, then walk back over to the unit that Jenna’s in, leave the box outside, and walk in without knocking.
She’s just coming down off the ladder, and the garland is all hung.
“What are you doing?”
“Making it pretty,” she says with a wink, then laughs when I just stare at her. “You were gone long enough that I could get this done so you didn’t have to endure me being on the ladder.”
“What happened to hiring someone?” I ask, slowly walking toward her.
“I didn’t need to,” she says with a shrug. Her eyes light up as I get closer. “You look…intense.”
“Oh, I am.” She backs away, and I can’t help but smile. “I’m intent on spanking your sweet ass.”
“What?” She giggles and hurries away, putting the kitchen island between us. “You’re not going to spank my ass.”
“You were a bad girl.” She laughs again, and my cock stirs. “Maybe I need to teach you a lesson.”
She snorts. “Right, because I’m just supposed to fall in line with what the big, strong man said? In your dreams, pal.”
She makes a run for the staircase, and I beat her there, pull her into my lap on the steps, and proceed to kiss her again, just as passionately as earlier. But now she’s in my lap, practically sitting on my dick, and there’s no one here to interrupt us.
“Does the idea of spanking me turn you on?” she asks and wiggles in my lap until she’s straddling me, her pussy lined up perfectly with me.
“You turn me on, baby,” I reply and return to kissing her silly.
“We’re still strangers,” she says but doesn’t stop kissing me back.
“No, we’re not.” I rub a strand of her hair between my thumb and forefinger. “We’re not strangers at all.”