“He’s getting the luggage.”
“Come in by the fire.” Her mother led her into the living room, where her father was already set up in his favorite recliner reading a book.
“Daddy!”
“Baby girl.” He rose to greet her with a hug and a kiss. “How was the drive up?”
“Not bad. Minimal traffic.”
“Glad to hear it.”
Giana looked toward the front door and rushed over to help Wynn with her bags. She’d overpacked for a four-day weekend and had two suitcases and a carry-on bag.
“Giana, how many clothes do you need?” her mother asked as she approached Wynn. “How are you, my dear?” She kissed his cheek.
“Well, Mrs. Lockett. Thank you so much for inviting me.”
“You’re absolutely welcome. And I’m afraid you’re going to have to take those bags up yourself. We only brought minimal staff—Gerard, and our cook to help me with the meals.”
“Not a problem at all,” Wynn replied. “Show me where.”
“Follow me.” Giana grabbed her carry-on while Wynn waddled up the stairs with two large suitcases. “Just down the hall.” She motioned for him to go ahead to the last door at the end of the corridor. Since they’d arrived early, they had first choice of bedrooms, and she wouldn’t be sandwiched between her brothers.
“This is great, Giana,” Wynn said once he opened the door and saw the four-poster bed, the rustic antiques, oriental rugs and separate living room with a fireplace.
“Mom updated it several years ago.” She pointed to the white paneled walls and wood beams. “She wanted a farmhouse feel in the middle of the forest, but she kept this original fireplace.” Giana fingered the stacked stone.
“It’s a nice place to spend Christmas,” Wynn said, placing the bags on a luggage rack near the closet.
“Take off your coat and let’s go downstairs and have a hot toddy.”
“A hot toddy?” Wynn laughed. “I’m certainly not in Kansas anymore.”
He wasn’t. Neither was she. They were both in new territory here. She’d never really brought a man to meet her family so Wynn’s being here was significant. Giana suspected by the end of the weekend, she’d know exactly where they stood and that scared her most of all.
Sixteen
Wynn was moved. Seeing the Locketts in all their glory was a sight to behold. After he and Giana went downstairs, they’d joined her parents for hot toddies in the living room. The drink consisted of his favorite bourbon, honey, lemon juice, a cinnamon stick and four cloves. He wasn’t sure if he would like it, but Giana’s mother insisted, and he’d rather enjoyed it.
A couple of toddies later, Wynn felt mellow. He supposed that was why he enjoyed the ruckus of the Lockett brood when they arrived. Giana’s brothers and their families brought a whole lot of commotion, and they made a big fuss over Roman and Shantel’s toddler with their arrival.
Mrs. Lockett went into full nana mode with her grandson. Meanwhile, Giana morphed in front of Wynn’s eyes, roughhousing with her brothers, Roman, Julian and late arrival Xavier. She gave as good as she got and didn’t mind giving them a hard time, either. Josiah’s attempts to corral the bunch were worthless.
They even included Wynn when it was time to decorate the Christmas tree, which had been freshly cut that morning. Apparently, it was a tradition for them to decorate it on the first night of their stay. And Mrs. Lockett had gone all out, bringing out bin after bin of ornaments and decorations. Two hours later, the nine-foot-tall tree was bedecked in white and gold, bearing all the Lockett family trinkets and ornaments.
While the Locketts laughed and talked, Wynn quietly slipped out of the room, drink in hand. He went to the front porch and sank into one of the half dozen Adirondack chairs set out there.
The Locketts’ joy and happiness made Wynn sad. Once upon a time, his family had been like the Locketts, but his mother had turned her back on him and his father. And they’d lost everything. Everything Wynn had cherished and taken for granted. Family. Stability. Love. In the snap of a finger, all those things were gone, and he and his father had been left to pick up the pieces.
“Wynn?”
He turned and glanced up to find Giana standing in front of him with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. “I was looking for you everywhere.”
“I’m sorry. I needed some fresh air.” He sipped his drink.
“I’m sure having all my family in one room can be overwhelming.” Giana sat beside him.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t that. It was just...”
Giana reached across to him and slid her delicate hand into his. “Just what?”
Wynn brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. “It’s nothing. You should go back inside. I don’t want to keep you from your family.”
“You’re not. Tell me, Wynn. What’s bothering you?”
“It sounds bad, but I’m jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Of your family,” he responded. “Of your closeness. Of the bond between you.” Giana looked at him, but Wynn couldn’t return her gaze. He was too caught up in his own feelings. “You don’t realize how lucky you are to have each other.”
“We are, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. My family means everything to me.”
“As they should.”
He sensed Giana rise from her chair and felt her above him. She was holding out her hand to him. “C’mon, allow me to share my crazy family with you.”
“With my melancholy mood, I should stay out here.”
“I’m not letting you sulk, Starks. Get your butt up and come join the fun.”
He grinned up at her. He kind of liked it when Giana bossed him around. “All right.”
After he got out of his own head, the rest of the evening turned out better than Wynn could have hoped for. Mrs. Lockett and her cook made a hearty vegetable soup teamed with fresh bread. Then after dinner, he joined the Locketts in a rousing game of charades, which included having Giana on the floor attempting to do the worm dance so they could guess the word bookworm.
Wynn was in stitches and couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so hard.
“What’s so funny?” Giana asked when they finally retired to bed and began to undress.
“Seeing you on the floor attempting the worm was the highlight of my evening.” Wynn chuckled as he shrugged out of his own clothes until he was naked.
“Hey.” She swatted his arm and unclipped her bra, causing it to fall to the floor. “Don’t laugh at me. You figured it out.”
“After your horrible dance move attempt,” Wynn replied with a smile, “we sure did.”
“Don’t be smug,” Giana scolded and slid her bikini panties down her legs. “Because tomorrow is another day, and when we play flag football, you’ll see who’s boss.”
“Oh, you can boss me anytime you want,” Wynn said, hauling Giana forward until she fell naked on top of him. He pulled her up and astride him, settling her so he could feel the molten heat of her. Then he cupped her cheeks and pulled her head toward his. “Matter of fact, why don’t you start now.”
* * *
Their mouths fused in a kiss that made the ache inside Giana’s body rise to a fever pitch. He clutched the back of her head with one hand while running his fingers through her hair. Giana had never felt as close to another man as she felt to Wynn. He was slowly starting to let her in, which meant a lot. His past with his family and ex-wife scared him, but Giana felt deep down that Wynn could overcome it if he only let himself.
And she was going to take Shantel’s advice and let herself feel her feelings, too.
She would hold nothing back tonight, and if she meant anything to Wynn, he would feel it. He would know she’d fallen in love with him from the time she’d seen him standing in that boxing ring glowering do
wn at her.
“Giana?” He glanced her way, and she realized she’d gotten lost for a moment in her thoughts. “Are you with me?”
She nodded, but he looked as if he didn’t believe her. Then he lowered his head to close his lips over one of her nipples. He tugged, licked and teased until Giana felt heat and dampness between her legs. Then his hand was there, right where she needed him to be. She placed her hands over his just as his fingers began moving inside her, filling her, stretching her. She arched against his hand as need and tension gathered in the pit of her stomach.
“Wynn...” His name was a gasp of pleasure.
“You want more?”
“Yes!” she groaned.
“Good, because I have to taste you.” And his mouth replaced his hand between her legs. His tongue dipped inside to tease her, and he lavished attention on the sensitive bundle of nerves, tasting her slowly and deeply. She rose and cried out as a powerful orgasm shot through her, rolling over her in unending waves.
The orgasm was great, but she wanted more. Wynn understood and rolled a condom that appeared out of nowhere onto his straining erection. “I thought I was boss,” Giana said, and before he could react, pushed him backward. She spread her hands over the hard muscles of his broad chest and lowered herself onto him, taking all of him in, inch by delicious inch. And it felt right, like he fit perfectly inside her.
When their bodies were finally connected, Giana began to move, and they quickly found their rhythm. When she looked down at Wynn, he was watching her. He grasped her hips and thrust in unison with her, slowly at first and then faster and faster as they both raced toward their peak.
Giana couldn’t imagine how she’d thought she could make love to this man night after night and not fall in love, because she had indeed lost her heart to Wynn Starks.
* * *
The next morning, Christmas Eve, Giana awoke to find herself alone in bed. She touched the sheets, and they were cool, which meant Wynn had been gone awhile. Had he seen something in her eyes last night that scared him away? She’d tried to mask her expression while they’d made love, but she’d never been in love before. Had he figured it out?
Giana threw back the covers and went straight to the en suite. After showering and dressing in distressed jeans and a tunic sweater, she descended the stairs to find she was the only one who’d slept in.
Most of her family were already seated at the large breakfast table that easily sat twelve. It was piled high with platters of bacon, eggs, grits and biscuits.
“There you are, darling,” her mother said while she poured her father some coffee from a carafe. “I thought we were going to have to send Wynn up to get you.”
Giana glanced around and saw Wynn coming from the kitchen carrying a large bowl. He was dressed in jeans and thick sweater. “What have you got there?” she asked.
“Gravy to go with the biscuits,” Wynn said with a smile. When he walked past her, he brushed his lips across hers before placing the bowl on the table.
She followed Wynn as he headed back into the kitchen. “How long have you been up?”
Wynn shrugged. “I don’t know. A while. I came down for coffee, and your mother was already up. When I offered to help and she found out I can cook, she recruited me to help out, because your chef was feeling under the weather.”
Giana laughed. “You shouldn’t have told her that. Now you’ll be in the kitchen all weekend.”
“I don’t mind. It’s nice to be included.”
“C’mon, let’s get something to eat,” Giana said.
As they passed through the doorway, Elyse yelled out, “Stop.”
Giana frowned. “Why?”
“Look up.” Elyse motioned above them, and Giana realized they were underneath the mistletoe. “Kiss. Kiss. Kiss,” she chanted. Shantel joined in, and the next thing Giana knew, Wynn was dipping her backward into a whirlwind kiss in front of her entire family.
When he set her upright, his eyes were glittering with passion, and Giana was slightly dazed. “Time to eat,” he whispered in her ear, tugging her into her chair.
Giana followed him to an empty seat and sank into it. Beside her, Xavier said, “You okay?”
“Yes, why?”
“You seem a little shook.”
“I’m fine.” Giana put her napkin into her lap. “Just ready for some breakfast.”
As the family passed around the breakfast platters, Giana went through the motions, but she worried that now that she’d acknowledged to herself she was in love with Wynn, she wouldn’t be able to keep the feelings bottled up inside much longer.
* * *
“What do you think about going shooting with us, Wynn?” Josiah asked once the breakfast dishes were cleared and they were all sitting around the table chatting.
“Shooting?”
“Yeah, usually we go out hunting in the early morning, but we all slept in,” Roman explained from across the table.
“The ladies are going shopping in town, so we menfolk can go have some fun,” Josiah crowed.
“Giana?” Wynn glanced at her. “What do you think?”
“You should go. It’ll be fun.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Of course she doesn’t mind,” Josiah responded sharply. “You aren’t tied at the hip.” He rose from his chair. “C’mon, let’s saddle up.”
Wynn chuckled. He would ignore her father’s brusqueness because he knew that Josiah was used to ordering his family around. Although Wynn wasn’t one of them, he wanted to stay on Josiah’s good side for Giana’s sake. He leaned down and kissed her. “I’ll see you soon.”
An hour later, after donning a heavier coat on loan from Roman, Wynn joined the Lockett men on a short drive to a sportsman’s shooting club near their mountain retreat.
Wynn didn’t know much about guns, but Giana’s brothers were good teachers. They’d brought an assortment of rifles and handguns so they could shoot at the one-hundred-and two-hundred-yard rifle ranges and do some skeet shooting.
“We’ll start you off with a small handgun,” Roman said, handing Wynn a Glock. Then he showed him how to load the magazine. “Now position yourself like this.” He advised Wynn on how to take off the safety and line up the target. “All right, you see the target in front of you, now shoot.”
Wynn pulled the trigger and hit the mark, but missed the bull’s-eye.
“So, tell us about you and my sister,” Julian said while he loaded his Sig Sauer with bullets.
Wynn put the handgun down and turned to Julian. “What would you like to know?”
“What your intentions are. Gigi is our little sister and I can tell you, me and my brothers—” he inclined his head to Roman and Xavier standing nearby “—are worried.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re the first man Giana has brought home,” Roman responded.
Wynn wasn’t surprised to hear that; Giana was career-minded and that was her main focus. “Am I being penalized because of it?”
“Of course not,” Roman said, “but it does make us protective of her. We don’t want her to get her heart broken.”
“And you think I’ll do that?”
“Honestly?” Roman quirked a brow.
Wynn folded his arms across his chest. “Please.”
Josiah placed a hand on Roman’s shoulder and pushed him aside. “You don’t have a good track record, son. I read your file. Your divorce was acrimonious, and you haven’t dated since then.”
Wynn seethed inwardly. His private life was his business and no one else’s. However, he wasn’t about to get into an argument with Giana’s father, not when he understood where the concern came from. A place of love.
Her father and brothers only wanted the best for Giana. Wynn couldn’t say for certain that was him. He’d gone into this thinking of Giana as a
dalliance and nothing more, but somewhere along the way, it had changed. This was turning into the relationship Giana had asked Wynn to be open to. And he was doing that.
“You’re right, Josiah. I have been selective about the people I spend my time with.”
“I understand you have needs, Wynn. All men do. But my daughter deserves to be something more than a bed warmer.”
“I never said otherwise,” Wynn said sharply. “Giana is an incredible woman, and I’m lucky to spend time with her.”
“Yes, you are,” Josiah stated, poking his finger in Wynn’s chest. “So you had better treat her right.”
“Of course. My intentions are honorable.”
“Meaning you would marry my daughter?” Josiah pushed.
Marriage.
After Christine, Wynn had vowed he’d never marry again. The betrayal and heartache he’d endured had been too much. Wynn wasn’t sure he was prepared to put himself out there again, because he didn’t want to end up like his father.
“Well?” Xavier said. “Are you going to answer?”
Wynn let out a sigh. “Yes. If I can speak freely?”
“Of course.” Josiah nodded.
“The answer is I don’t know,” Wynn stated. “I don’t take marriage lightly, not after a failed one. Giana and I are getting to know each other, and whether that will lead to marriage or not, no one knows. But I’m open to it. I’m not seeing anyone else. We are exclusive, and Giana is my sole focus. She makes me happy, and I hope I’ve brought her some happiness as well.”
Josiah nodded. “I appreciate your honesty, son.” He placed his large hand on Wynn’s shoulders. “Happiness is all I have ever wanted for my daughter—hell, for all my children. But aren’t you concerned with the pitfalls of mixing business with pleasure?”
“I admit it’s not an easy road to navigate, Mr. Lockett, but Giana and I are adults and we’re committed to doing what’s in the best interest for the Atlanta Cougars and Starks Inc.”
Holiday Playbook--A Christmas workplace romance Page 12
