“Okay.” I sigh heavily. “Let’s tell her tonight. Does that sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.” He pecks my lips.
“I’m sorry. I really wasn’t trying to cause any problems.”
He strokes my hair. “Nora, I don’t think you’re capable of purposely hurting anyone.”
I wrap my small arms around his big frame. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I really want to keep you.” There it is. I just put it all out there for him.
“Good. Because I plan on letting you keep me.”
Chapter 7
“One peppermint hot cocoa for the lovely lady.” Gray hands me the steaming mug of deliciousness, and I inhale the aroma. “Although I don’t know how you drink that. It tastes like shit.”
I gasp in mock offense as I snuggle deeper under the blanket he brought me before making my cocoa. “What? This is heaven in a cup.” I grip the warm cup, trying to thaw out after our walk.
He sits on the couch next to me and pulls me into his side. “Well, if it makes you that happy, I’ll buy stock in it.” He kisses the top of my head. “Do you really have to leave me in a few days?”
I look up at him and see the sadness in my big guy’s eyes. He likes to act like he’s macho, but deep down, he’s just a softie.
“It’ll only be until February. It won’t be that long,” I lie to both of us. Maybe if I keep saying it, I’ll start to believe it myself.
“Two fucking months too long,” he mumbles under his breath and has me giggling.
I tickle his side. “We were apart for ten years. I think you can handle two more months.”
He grabs my hand to stop me. “It was a long ten years, believe me. I also didn’t realize I was so in love with you until you walked through that door.” He nods to the front door behind me. Wait. What? Did he just say what I think he said?
“What?” I choke out. “You… you love me?”
“Yeah, Nor. I do.” He lifts my chin with his finger so he can kiss me on the mouth. “You don’t have to say it back, but I didn’t want to be away from you for so long without you knowing.”
When I don’t respond, he looks down at me with worry on his face. “Shit. I didn’t mean to upset you. I know it’s too soon to be saying the L word yet.” He tugs me roughly against his chest into a hug, and the freaking tears start to come. Why am I so emotional?
Once he finally lets me out of his grip, I shake my head. “No, it’s not too soon. You just took me by surprise.” I look away from him embarrassed.
“Okay, then what’s the matter?” He grabs my hand and kisses the top of it.
“Nobody has ever told me that before. Well, unless you count my family and your sister, but never a man.”
When I look at him, I can tell he’s shocked.
“Well, those other guys were fucking idiots. I love you so damn much, Nora Watson, and it scares the ever-living hell out of me, but I don’t care. Once I’m in Wimberley, I’m never letting you go again.”
He gathers me into his arms once more.
“I love you too. So much that I know that you would break my heart if you ever left me.” I hate being so vulnerable, but he needs to know how serious I am. “Are you going to break my heart?”
He pushes a stray hair behind my ear and looks at me with nothing but love on his face.
“I can’t make any promises because I’m probably going to fuck up, a lot, but I can tell you that I’m going to try every day to put a damn smile on your face.”
“That’s all I ask.” I yank him down to my mouth, never wanting to let him go. I don’t want to think about flying home. I just want to enjoy every minute I can with this guy.
Our kiss is interrupted when I hear my phone go off on the coffee table.
“Leave it,” he mumbles into my mouth.
“Let me just see if it’s Mare. She said she might be off early tonight. I hope she is. It sucks she has to work on Christmas Eve.” I also hope we don’t ruin her holiday when she finds out we’re together. We were planning on telling her the other day after our visit to his office, but she ended up staying busy with work. Apparently, the week before Christmas is the worst at the hospital. I’m just glad I have Gray to keep me company.
Mare: Sorry babe. I have to work until ten. Go ahead and start movies and baking without me.
“Was that her?” I hand him my phone so he can see the text. “Well,” he tucks me into his side, “I hate to sound like a dick, but I didn’t want to share you anyway.”
I wiggle my eyebrows at him. “Oh, yeah, and why not?”
He stands from the couch and holds his hand out to me before hauling me to my feet. And for the next hour, he shows me just how much he doesn’t want to share me.
“Let’s watch Home Alone. It’s my favorite Christmas movie,” I say as I walk out of Gray’s room, buttoning my shirt.
“Well, well, well.” I look up and see Maren on the couch with a mischievous look on her face, and I suddenly have the urge to run back to his room and hide under the bed. She wasn’t supposed to be off for another hour. “I fucking knew it!” she yells as she jumps to her feet. Why does she look happy?
“Mare? What are you doing here?” I ask her like a scared cat. I look to Gray for help, but he just shrugs his shoulders. The bastard.
“If you remember correctly, this is my apartment.” She looks between the two of us. “I’m going to pretend that you two didn’t just shag in the other room, but it’s about damn time you both pulled your heads out of your asses.”
“What are you talking about?” Gray asks the exact thing I’m wondering.
She shakes her head. “You’re both morons. You liked each other in school, but you were too stubborn to admit it to yourselves, and then Nora ended up with the asshat.” She looks at me. “Thank God, you didn’t marry him.”
“No shit.” I hear Gray say beside me.
“Hold the phone.” I put my hand up in the air. “You wanted us together?” I’m so damn confused. Here I was for the last week, freaking out that she was going to be mad about me being with her brother, but she actually wanted this for us?
She looks at me like I have two heads. “Do you actually think I’ve been working that much? I love my job, but no.”
“Okay, so where have you been?”
“Matteo’s…” she starts, but then Gray interrupts her.
“Enough said. I do not need to hear anymore.”
We both laugh at his expense.
“Mare, I need to talk to you about something else, too,” he says as he pats the couch cushion next to him.
She eyes him suspiciously. “Oh, shit. What now?”
“I got a job in Wimberley, and I’m moving home in February.” The poor guy is a nervous wreck about telling his sister this, but her loss is my gain. Although, at this point, I’d move to Venice if I had to, to be with him.
“That’s what this is about?” She punches him in the arm. “You had me scared for that?”
He looks at her confused. “You’re not mad? I mean, you moved here because of me.”
“I didn’t move here just because of you, you big loon. We live in freaking Venice.” She wraps her arms around him. “I know you miss home, and I’m really proud of you, big bro.” She looks up at him. “But if you break my best friend’s heart, I’ll kill you.”
He chuckles and so do I from across the room. “Yes, ma’am.” He kisses the top of her head.
Their little moment is interrupted when there’s a knock on the door.
“Who the hell is coming here this late on Christmas Eve?” he asks as he gets up to answer it.
“Uh…” Maren says with a guilty look on her face. “You two lied to me. Just remember that!” she hollers at his back.
I join her on the couch and pull her into a hug. “You’re not mad at me for lying to you?” That’s the absolute last thing I would ever want. She’s like the sister I never had, but I love her brother so damn much, too.
“Nah. If I was boning your brother, I wouldn’t tell you either.”
“I don’t have a brother.” I roll my eyes as I nudge her.
She snorts out a laugh. “No, but seriously. I had a feeling there was something going on between the two of you, but I knew you’d tell me when you were ready. I’m sorry you thought I’d be upset about it.”
“No. I’m sorry for thinking that of you. I know you want me to be happy. And, Mare, he makes me so damn happy.”
“Then that’s all that matters. You two deserve each other.” She claps her hands. “We’ll really be sisters one day soon!” Oh, lord. I should have known she’d react this way.
“Mare!” I hiss out at her. “Do not, I repeat, do not, under any circumstance, start planning our wedding. Got it?”
“Ugh. You’re no fun.” She huffs. “Okay, fine. But I better be your maid of honor.”
“Well, duh.”
Her doctor “friend” finally comes into the living room after what was probably an interrogation from Gray. Poor guy.
He helps me from the couch and then kisses me, not caring that his sister is watching us.
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you, too, Gray.”
I don’t think truer words have ever been spoken.
Chapter 8
“I’m so glad you got to come, Nor,” Maren says as she hugs me, her grip about to kill me. She backs away and wipes at her tears. She usually acts like a badass, so when I see her like this, it makes me want to cry too. Not that I haven’t been doing enough of that already.
I’ve been dreading this day. I kept telling Gray that two months would go by fast, but sixty days feels like forever. And who knows when I’ll see my best friend again. I wish she were going back to Texas with me, but I can’t see that happening anytime soon. Her and Matteo seemed a little more than friends with benefits the other night. I’m happy for her, but I have a feeling she’ll be staying in Venice for a while.
“Me too.” I sniff, my own freaking tears blurring my vision. “I’ll FaceTime you in a few days once I’m caught up on sleep.”
“I do not want to know why you haven’t gotten sleep while you were here.” She feigns disgust. I find it a bit disturbing that she can joke about me and her brother sleeping together, although I’m glad she isn’t mad at us about it.
I smirk at her. “Maybe the seven-hour time difference.” I reach for my suitcase, but Gray grabs it from me. Always such a gentleman.
“Text us when you land,” she says as she gives me one last hug before I open the door to step out into the hallway.
“I don’t think I’ll be forgetting. Gray has reminded me at least twelve times since we got up this morning.”
He scoffs. “Hush, woman,” he says as he leans down and kisses me. My chest hurts with the thought of leaving him. I’m so tempted to say screw it and stay, but I have to be back to work in four days.
“Get a freaking room!” Maren shrieks, as if we’re not mere feet away from her.
“I like the way she thinks.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me and then looks down at his watch. “We have a few minutes.”
I swat at his chest. “Grayson Pierce! Have you no shame?”
He kisses me on the cheek. “Not with you, baby.”
“Gross! You two are disgusting.” She sticks her finger in her mouth, fake gagging. “Excuse me while I go bleach that image out of my mind.” She backs away from the door. “Love you, Nor.”
“Love you, too, Mare.” I run up to her, and this time I’m the one nearly squeezing the life out of her.
Gray clears his throat behind us. “Sorry to break up your chick fest, but if we don’t get going, you’re going to miss your flight. Not that I would care.”
“Yeah, we better leave.” I grab his hand. “Bye, Mare.”
“Bye, Nor.”
We don’t talk for the first half of the boat ride to the airport until he interrupts my thoughts.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks as he turns to me.
“I don’t want to go home.” I give him a weak smile. “Not without you.”
He strokes my cheek with his glove-covered hand. It’s freezing outside, but that’s the last thing on my mind.
“Do you believe me when I say that nothing will stop me from getting to you in just a couple short months?”
“What? Of course, I believe you.” And I do. I’ve never doubted for one second that he wanted to be with me.
“Good. Because nothing could ever stop me from being with you. Not even an ocean. Nora Watson, you’re mine, and I plan on keeping it that way for as long as you’ll have me.”
His words cause my throat to clog, and I’m unable to get words out.
“I- I…” I turn toward the window so he can’t see how much of a mess I am, but he grabs my face so I’m forced to look at him.
“You don’t ever have to be embarrassed around me. Showing me your emotions doesn’t make you weak. It shows me that you’re in this just as much as I am.”
“I’m so in.”
“Thank fuck.” He rubs my bottom lip with his thumb. “I know we’ve only been together for a couple weeks, but I’m going to marry you.”
“You are?” is all I can say in response. After my breakup last year, I assumed that I was destined to spend the rest of my life alone. That was until I found Gray again. Now? Now, I can’t imagine spending a single day without him. I don’t know how two weeks changed my entire perspective, but they did.
“Damn right.” He kisses the corner of my mouth, and I wish we weren’t on a boat full of tourists because I’d really love to do more than kiss him. “I have something for you.”
We agreed to not get Christmas gifts for each other. Okay, it was my idea, but it shouldn’t surprise me that he didn’t listen.
“I thought we decided not to get each other gifts?” I rub my hands together, trying to warm up.
“No, you decided that.” He winks at me as he pulls a black jewelry box out of his coat pocket. “Don’t worry, I’m not proposing. Yet.”
“What did you do?” I ask as I eye the box.
“Here. Open it.”
Despite my hands feeling like ice, I remove my gloves before lifting the lid on the box.
“It’s beautiful.” I cover my mouth in surprise. Inside is the most beautiful white-gold charm bracelet I’ve ever seen. Around the dainty band are several charms, all representing our time together, but my favorite is the hot cocoa mug. He seems to remember the little things about me, but that always means the most.
“You like it?” He places his arm on the back of the seat, and I snuggle into his side.
“Like it? I love it! Thank you so much, Gray.” I kiss his cheek. “This is the best gift I’ve ever been given.” If I’m being honest, I’ve never gotten jewelry from a man before. He gets to experience a lot of my firsts with me, and I can’t say that I mind one bit.
“I wanted you to have something to remember me by while we’re apart.” He grabs my hand and brings it to his mouth.
I slip the bracelet onto my wrist, and it fits perfectly.
“Do you actually think I could ever forget you?”
“Well, maybe not, but it could at least show the other douchebags that you’re taken.” He gives me his signature sexy smile, and I nearly melt. How am I going to go so long without having this guy again? I better just clean out a drawer for him in my apartment, because I’m not going to want him sleeping away from me at all once he’s in Wimberley.
We get to our destination and reluctantly get off the boat after he grabs my suitcase. Once we’re on the dock, he latches onto my hand with his free one and pulls me toward the building.
It’s starting to snow again, but he drags me to a bench right outside the entrance, so I take the seat next to him.
He grips my face with both his hands. “I’m so glad you came.” He leans into me and consumes my mouth like a man eating his last meal. The kiss ends too soon, but then he leans
his forehead against mine. “I love you so much, and I can’t wait to get home to you.” Home. The word coming from his mouth warms me inside.
“I love you too, Gray. So much.” I peck him on the mouth. “I’ll see you soon.”
I stand from the bench, needing to walk away before I decide against it. If I didn’t have a classroom of kindergartners relying on me being at school on Monday, I’d forget about going home, at least until he does.
“Bye,” he says as he looks up at me. “Love you.”
I grab my suitcase and run into the building, trying not to lose it in front of a bunch of strangers. I’m almost to security when I hear “Nora!” from behind me. I turn to see him sprinting toward me. When he reaches me, he pulls me into his arms.
“Is everything okay?” I look up at him as I rub his day-old scruff.
“No. The woman I love is leaving me, and it fucking sucks, but I needed to give her one more kiss before she goes.”
In the next second, his mouth crashes down on mine. I can taste the coffee he was sipping on during the boat ride, mixed with his toothpaste. This man.
“Have a safe flight and call me as soon as you land.”
I decide against reminding him that he should be in bed once I get into Texas, because I know he won’t sleep until he’s heard from me.
“I will. Love you.” I kiss his cheek one more time before turning toward the security guard.
The poor guy looks flustered, as we’ve held his line up, but I don’t care. Once I show him my ID and boarding pass, I turn to see Gray still watching me, and I mouth “bye” before making myself walk away from him.
Two weeks ago, I had no idea that I could be so happy, but Grayson Pierce opened my eyes and my heart to so much. I don’t want to leave him, but I know that once we get through the next couple months, we can get through anything as long as we’re together.
Epilogue
Five Years Later
“Aunt Mar-Mar is here!” my ear-piercing tot screams as he runs to the window, smearing banana all over my freshly cleaned windows. I love my son, but why is he so freaking gross? I blame his dad.
A Gray Christmas Page 4
