I rope Theo into helping as well, because I haven’t forgiven him for not trying to discourage her from drinking so much. I demand that he acts as my driver for the day. He gives me a strange look, probably thinking I’ve lost my mind and so I have to explain that I hurt myself.
The shit that he is, he finds the story funny.
First, we go to the florist and pick up a bouquet of flowers that I ordered several weeks ago. Then I direct him to the house. Pulling up outside, he lets out a low whistle.
“Nice,” he says. “So, I guess this means I’ll be living on my lonesome.”
I don’t bother to tell him that my room won’t be empty for long. Everyone in our friendship group has lived in that apartment at some point. People come and go but we always stay friends afterwards. And no doubt whoever ends up replacing me and Grace, will end up becoming our friends.
Letting us into the house, I go and put the kettle on. We’ve got nothing else to do now but wait.
GRACE’S POV:
I don’t know what is going on. Caitlyn completely ignored me when I told her I didn’t want a makeover. She’s forced me into one of her dresses and is now doing my make-up while Ayesha does my hair. It might not be a bad idea, I suppose, if I’m going to go and apologise to Cameron.
I should at least make an effort to look pretty.
“I can’t believe I said that to him,” I mutter.
They ignore me. They’ve already told me that they think I’m a moron. Glancing at my phone, my stomach feels unsettled. He’s not tried calling me. Not even once.
I really messed up last night. I’m more mature than this. I should have just discussed it with him sensibly instead of throwing a fit. Cameron has never lied to me. At least, I didn’t think he did. Not until yesterday. He’d usually rather tell me the truth and hurt me than tell me a lie. Early in our relationship, there were things he didn’t want to tell me about, details of his family life that he wanted to avoid, but even then, he didn’t lie.
He just told me that he didn’t want to talk about it.
So, why didn’t he do that this time? He could have just told me he needed to go out. That would have been okay. But instead he lied. I just can’t wrap my head around it. As much as I’m going to apologise for what I said last night, I’m still going to have to ask for an explanation.
The girls force me into a pair of heels and then they’re dragging me out of their apartment. Caitlyn pushes me into the passenger seat of her car and then the three of us are on our way. I have no idea where she’s going. She’s going the wrong way if she’s going to take me back to my apartment.
“Caitlyn, we’re going the wrong way,” I say sternly.
“Just wait and see.” I hate the aloof tone of her voice. I want to argue with her. I need to go to Cameron, not go on a random drive through the city. She doesn’t stop driving for what feels like forever, although a quick look at my phone tells me we’ve barely been in the car for twenty minutes.
When she finally pulls up in front of a white detached house, I’m completely lost. I don’t know where we are at all. I have to admit that the house is beautiful but that’s not what catches my attention.
My eyes are drawn to the car in the driveway. Cameron’s car.
He’s here. Wherever here is.
Taking a deep breath, I tell myself to suck it up. It’s time to confront him. I need to tell him the truth about everything and not just his little lie. I need to tell him what I want. It’s only now that I’m looking up at the house that I realise that I want more.
It’s not just that my mum is constantly asking when we’re getting married or telling me that she wants grandkids. No. I want it too. I want to get married. I want a house of my own. And I want a family.
I want all those things but only if I can have them with him.
Strings
CAMERON’S POV:
I can barely breathe when I hear the knock at the door that announces her arrival. Theo has made himself at home in the kitchen, so I leave him there to go answer the door. Grace is on the doorstep, flanked by her best friends.
They barge past us both, making their way through to the kitchen. I’m too grateful that they actually managed to get her here to care that they’re being a little bit rude.
“Hi,” Grace whispers, not moving.
“Come in,” I say gently, my heart racing.
She looks hesitant but she does as I say and I close the door behind her. I’m not sure where to start, what to say. The flowers are in the kitchen but I don’t want to do this in front of everyone else. The ring is in my pocket, and so is the piece of string.
Ignoring the ring, I pull out the string.
I’m surprised by how nervous I feel. It isn’t like me.
“You told me…” I begin but she cuts me off.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean what I said last night.”
I nod my head. I know that. She doesn’t need to say it. She wouldn’t be here if she had meant those words. She wouldn’t have been with me for the last year if that was how she truly felt. Grace would never have stayed with someone she didn’t love for this long.
“I know, Gracie,” I whisper, stepping towards us. “Yesterday… Yesterday was just a shit day.”
She laughs at that and I’m relieved to have broken the tension even if just a little bit.
“You’re telling me,” she mutters.
“Should I tell you about my day?” I offer, taking her hand and leading her into the living room.
“Where are we?” she asks, looking around.
“Our home,” I answer without hesitation.
She blinks up at me and I give her my biggest smile before trying to explain. “Yesterday was supposed to be special. This whole weekend was… I had a plan.”
She’s quiet, not interrupting me, and for that, I’m grateful.
“But I got a call and that plan sort of blew up. There was a leak upstairs.”
“Here?”
“Yeah, the en suite had a leak and it was pretty awful. I’m surprised you can’t smell it.” I’m convinced I can, even if Alison, my interior designer, says I’m imagining it. “I came here to deal with the leak and ended up twisting my ankle. Had to go to A and E and everything.”
“Are you okay?” Her eyes widen with concern and she looks down at my feet before glancing around the room. I know exactly what she’s about to say but I have no intentions of sitting down right now. Not until I’ve put my ring on her finger.
“It’s not broken,” I tell her. “Anyway, that’s where I was. I’m so sorry I lied. I just didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“The surprise? You mean the house?”
With a sigh, I struggle to hide my irritation. It’s not directed at her but at myself. It’s frustrating that I’m having to tell her about my plans rather than actually going through with them.
“Originally, I planned to spend most of yesterday with you in bed.”
She smiles at that. I know how much she loves staying in bed, eating takeout and watching old movies on the weekend.
“Then this morning I was planning to drive you out here, so I could show you the house. I was planning on giving you this.” I hold up the string that I’ve been keeping in my pocket for weeks. “You once told me that you want strings. You didn’t just want sex. You wanted all the trappings of a relationship.”
She murmurs her agreement, “Yeah, I remember that.”
“I don’t feel trapped enough,” I tell her teasingly. “I want more strings.”
She looks confused and I can’t help but smirk at her.
“I want marriage. I want a house. I want a couple of kids. Hell, I’ll buy us a dog if you want one. Or a cat. I want… I want everything. I want to tie myself to you in every way possible.”
“You want to get married?” She doesn’t seem to believe my words.
“I want to marry you,” I clarify.
Taking her left hand, I tie the string around her ring
finger before tying the other end around my own.
“I’m yours, Gracie,” I whisper. “Will you marry me?”
Looking down at our entwined hands and the rope that is tying us together, she smiles softly before looking back up to meet my eye.
“Yes! Of course, I’ll marry you!”
Flinging herself at me, her mouth meets mine and we both almost topple over. Holding her against my chest, I lose myself in the kiss for a moment before I have to pull back and remind her that our friends are in the next room waiting to hear our news.
Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the ring, replacing the string with the ring.
“I love you, Gracie,” I whisper in her ear.
GRACE’S POV:
Cameron leads me into the kitchen to tell the others our news. I’m relieved that he’s able to say it because I can’t say a word. I’m speechless. All I can do is stare at the ring on my finger.
I’d long since accepted that Cameron and I would probably never get married. I just didn’t think that Cameron was interested in marriage. I knew that his childhood had been an unhappy one because of his parents’ marriage.
And so I had decided that being together was enough for me.
I had never even considered the idea that it might not be enough for him. It seems crazy to think that he wanted more just as much as I did.
“We’re getting married!” Cameron tells them, his voice booming around the kitchen and then our friends are hugging us and offering us their congratulations. I’m completely dumbfounded, my eyes wandering around the room. I wonder how much time Cameron has put into making this house the perfect home for us. Everything about it, from the countertops to the colour of the floor tiles, is exactly the way I would have done it myself.
“Can I see the rest of the house?” I ask, breaking into their conversation.
As much as I love my friends, right now, I just want to know more about the life that Cameron has envisioned for us. With a smile, he nods his head and leads me back out into the hallway. He leads me up the stairs, explaining the rooms as we go. He describes the two children he pictures us having and the breed of dog he thinks we should have.
The life he’s describing is perfect and there’s nothing I want to change.
“Is this my Christmas present?” I ask with a cheeky grin.
“Not likely,” he replies. “You won’t get your Christmas present until Christmas Day.”
“That’s only a few days away.”
“Exactly… Not long to wait.”
Laughing, I follow him into the master bedroom. I can easily imagine us living here.
“When can we move in?” I ask eagerly.
“As soon as they’ve fixed the water damage downstairs.”
“Not today?”
“Unfortunately not.”
“I love it,” I tell him gently. “It’s…” I struggle to find the perfect word to describe exactly how I feel about the house. So, instead, I tell him how I feel about him. “I really love you, Cameron. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course, I do, you muppet,” he answers.
Epilogue
CAMERON’S POV:
Getting married on Christmas Day might not have been my best idea. Especially seeing as how it meant we had hardly any time at all to plan our wedding. I didn’t mind though. I’ve never really been into the whole idea of having a big wedding. That said, I had offered to postpone for Grace.
She should have the wedding of her dreams, that’s what I told her.
Grace had just grinned at me like I was the centre of her universe before telling me that she just needed me and her at the registrar office. I promised to give her more than that. I managed to convince our closest friends to spend their Christmas Day watching us get married. I’m pretty proud of myself for that one.
There’s a fire roaring in the fireplace behind me. Our friends laughed when I told them I wanted to marry Grace in the living room of our new home. They didn’t understand that this house is more than just mortar and bricks. It represents the future I want to give her and all the many ways in which I’m tying myself to her.
The door opens and Grace steps into the room.
Her hair is pinned back and she’s smiling so widely that I swear she’ll complain tonight that her face hurts. Her eyes meet mine and that blinding smile seems to grow even larger.
She closes the small distance between us with only a few strides and then her hands are in mine. She’s shaking slightly and so I squeeze her fingers in my own, a gentle reminder that she’s not alone. I’m here, tied to her in every way possible.
A Surprise For Christmas - Brie Paisley
Dax
Why did I agree to this?
As I pull into the driveway at my boss’s cabin, I ask myself once more, why in the world did I decide to accept this invite? I should’ve politely declined, when Harry invited me to spend Christmas with his family.
It’s not a good idea for me to be around my boss, knowing I’ll be thinking about the night I spent, fucking his only daughter.
The one-night stand with Blair was mind blowing, and more than once, I’ve wanted to take her back to my place, and then have my way with her again and again. However, I haven’t seen her, since our one-night stand six months ago.
Getting out of my car, I realize it’s a good thing our paths haven’t crossed again. It’s one thing to have a night with my boss’s daughter, but it’s a whole new game to have a relationship with her. Not only that, but I’m also ten years older than her.
Harry would probably kill me, if he ever found out.
Walking up to the front door, I suck in a deep breath, knowing Blair won’t be here. Things will be easier to handle without her being around, since she’s so tempting. I’ll just have to be fine with just thinking about her.
Like I always do.
Once I ring the doorbell, it’s not long, before Harry greets me. “I’m glad you could make it, Dax,” he states, as he shakes my hand.
“Thank you for having me.” I reply, as I walk inside the cabin.
It’s a sight to see for myself, and I get a quick look around, before Carol, Harry’s wife, greets me. “Welcome, Dax. We’re so glad that you could come.”
Nodding my head, I don’t bother telling her that I don’t have anywhere else to go for Christmas. My parents passed away a few years back, and since I’m an only child, I usually spend the holidays alone. It’s not so bad, but it’s nice to be welcomed into another home, and experience their traditions.
Right as I’m about to complement their cabin, I hear a voice that I thought I’d never hear again. “Mom, please tell me you brought the pickles.”
I can’t seem to form a single thought, as Blair walks into the kitchen, facing the front door. All I can do is stare at her, and admire the beautiful woman before me. Thankfully, she hasn’t noticed me yet, or this situation might’ve gone completely different.
Carol turns, and then walks into the kitchen with Blair, but I don’t dare move. There’s something different about her, but I haven’t put my finger on what it is just yet.
“Here they are, sweetie,” Carol says, as she hands a jar of pickles to her.
“Thank you, Mom. The baby is kicking so much, and I have such a craving for pickles.”
My eyes widen, hearing that she’s pregnant, and I quickly look down at my feet, hiding my surprise. Harry hasn’t said a word about the pregnancy, so I wonder who the father is, or if he’s in the picture. I won’t even try to lie to myself about how angry that makes me either.
I don’t even question how insane that may seem, because in some way, I think of her as mine. Yes, we only had one night together, but I want more than just one night. I want everything with her. Sometimes, you just know, when your soulmate is right in front of you.
And I know that Blair is the woman I’m meant to be with.
Looking back up, I clench my jaw, hoping whoever the father is, knows how special Blair is. She�
�s smart, funny, caring, and she always lights up the room the second she walks in it. The moment her and I met, I just knew she was the one I wanted to be with.
Her father being my boss complicates things on a level I never thought possible.
When she turns around, my heart races, as our gaze connects. Her eyes widen, and I wonder, if her parents told her I was coming. I’m guessing they didn’t, since the surprise isn’t hard to miss, and then something changes in her blue eyes.
I frown, as she touches her stomach, and then she drops her head. Her actions make me think she’s feeling guilty, but I don’t understand why. Unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to think about it more than I want, because Harry lays a hand on my shoulder, and then says, “Blair, darling, do you remember Dax from the fundraiser?”
If he only knew that was the very night her and I slept together.
“I remember. It’s nice to see you again, Dax,” she says in a soft voice, but she still refuses to meet my gaze again.
“Dax,” Harry starts. “Why don’t you and I go into the office? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you, while you’re here.”
Tearing my eyes away from Blair, I nod, and then follow behind him. I’m grateful for the distraction, because I have to remember to be careful around my boss. All it would take is one simple thing to destroy my entire career.
I also have an idea what he wants to talk about, and a part of me is excited to know for sure. I’ve only been with the company for nine months, but he’s seen how dedicated I am.
I’m hoping this is the chance that I can prove how much of an asset I can be, if he offers for me to become a partner.
Blair
Why didn’t anyone tell me he was going to be here?
Guilt rushes through me, as I stand in the kitchen, wondering how to handle this situation. Mom doesn’t utter a word, but I would really appreciate her advice. God, this is so complicated, and I don’t know what I should do.
Christmas Wishes: A Christmas Romance Anthology Page 29
