The knock came faster than she expected.
She flung the door open. “Boy, you move…” She froze, unable to understand the scene in front of her.
“Surprise!”
Mia blinked for another second and then threw herself at her sister.
Violet hugged her tight and squealed.
“What are you doing here?” Mia asked.
Vi extracted herself from Mia, who didn’t want to let go. Vi reached back and grabbed Tristan’s hand from behind her. Vi wore a Mickey Mouse shirt and sported a tan like she’d never had before.
“Well, your boy toy here called me up two days ago and asked if I would spend Christmas Eve with you since you were totally missing family. He offered to fly my whole family out here, but there was no way those kids were leaving Disney World. I have a five a.m. flight tomorrow so I can be there Christmas morning, but you have me all day long.”
Mia blinked back tears. She let go of her sister and hugged Tristan tight.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but being with your family on Christmas means so much to you. I thought this would be better than getting you a diamond bracelet or something.”
Vi snorted. “Oh, she’d appreciate that too.”
“Good, then I won’t have to take it back.”
Mia’s face flushed. She’d never be able to give him a gift that would top this, and here he was saying he’d gotten her more. She felt completely unworthy of him.
Vi laughed. “You’re keeping him, right?”
Mia gave a weak smile and didn’t respond. It was just supposed to be a fling.
Vi dragged Mia into the room. “Don’t we have cookies to bake and a tree to decorate?”
“Yeah. I still can’t believe you’re here.”
She left the door open for Tristan to follow, and he poked his head in.
“I’m going to let you guys have some time alone.”
Mia grabbed his hand. “But I thought you were going to do this with me.”
“I don’t want to intrude on your family time. We would like you and Violet to come and hang with us this evening. Jessica got pajamas for her too.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
“Jessica makes lasagna. We’ll eat about seven.”
Mia gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you. This means so much to me.”
He shut the door, and Mia squealed again and threw herself at Vi. “I still can’t believe this.”
Violet hugged her tight. “No kidding. I was shocked when he called me. Do you know, he put me in first class?”
Of course, he did. With those hundred of millions.
“Yeah, he’s got a lot of money.”
Violet made a beeline for the fridge. “I gathered that much. You know I googled him, right?”
“You what?”
“I’m surprised you didn’t. Especially after Drew.”
“I don’t know...I just figured this was only for vacation. I don’t need to know everything about him. What did you find?”
Vi pulled out the butter and eggs. “Now you want to know? Where’s the milk?”
“On its way up. Tell me what you found.”
Vi rolled her eyes. “He’s quite the philanthropist. Almost everything I found on him has to do with money he’s given away. Charities all over the world. He seems to favor ones that have to do with battered women or sex trafficking.”
Mia sighed. “Geesh. He’s perfect, isn’t he?”
“Well… almost.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
A knocked sounded on the door.
“Oh, that’s the milk.”
Vi narrowed her eyes. “You have your milk delivered?”
Mia blushed. “Well, yeah. I forgot it. Plus, it’s just Frankie.”
“Getting expensive tastes, sister. You might have to marry that boy just to keep up this lifestyle.”
Mia stuck her tongue out. “Whatever. It’s vacation.”
“Who is Frankie? Did you turn into a two-man Sally when I wasn’t looking?”
“I’m not honoring that with a response.” Mia smirked at Vi.
She flung the door open, and Frankie stood there with a gallon of milk in one hand and a sling on the other arm.
Mia took the milk from him. “Come in. I want to introduce you to my sister.”
Frankie slipped past her. “When did she get here?”
“About fifteen minutes ago.”
Frankie creased his eyebrows. “Didn’t you tell me she was in Disney World?”
“Yep. Frankie, meet Vi. Vi, Frankie.”
“What happened to your arm?” Violet asked. She wasn’t exactly tactful, and Mia loved her for it.
Frankie’s eyes lit up. “Oh, it’s so tragic. You have no idea.”
He settled on one of the stools. Apparently, he didn’t need to answer those phones.
“Do tell,” Vi said. She grabbed the flour and sugar and consulted the recipe.
“Well, I was taking Sera down to the dog park like I always do. She never listens to me, but I’d miraculously gotten her there. Usually Mia helps me out, but no, last night she was primping for Mr. Sexy.”
“Who’s Sera, your dog?”
“No. She’s Tristan’s. I was assigned to walk her. But not anymore. They made her a private room. You know I’ve never seen Tristan angry before. I thought for sure the owner of the other dog was going to end up in the hospital as well. If Tristan wasn’t holding Sera, he would’ve knocked the guy out.”
Tristan angry was a sight Mia had seen after she hit him, and she didn’t want to see it again.
Violet pursed her lips. “So Tristan has people who walk his dog for him.”
“Just here,” Mia said quickly. “He told me at home, she has a doggy door and pretty much has free reign on the beach where he lives.”
“Oh, yeah, I saw his house. It’s gorg.”
“You saw his house?”
“I told you I googled him.”
Mia was so confused. Since when was every detail of someone’s life on the internet?
Frankie stared at Mia. “You mean you haven’t? Even I’ve seen his house.”
Frankie fumbled for his phone. “Here, let me show you.” He was pretty adept for only having one hand available. He pulled up an article with Tristan standing in front of a massive white house that looked like it’d been plucked straight from paradise.
From the way Tristan had talked, Mia had thought that his house was a small beach home, but this was at least ten thousand square feet. She scrolled through the pictures of the three-story home. It was meticulously decorated, and flowers of every color lined both sides of a cobblestone walkway up to a front porch with large pillars.
“That’s a lot of house,” she said, truly in awe.
In another picture, he had his arm around a pretty brunette. She quickly scrolled up and checked the date on the article. It’d been taken seven years ago. That was his wife.
She slid the phone back to Frankie.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, wow. Maybe you’ll be the next lady of that house.”
Mia shook her head. “This is just a vacation fling.”
“And that’s why he flew your sister out here? You know he asked me for her number. I had to be all sneaky and get that from you. I didn’t know he was going to bring her here though.”
Vi sighed. “I think Mia’s right. I don’t think he’ll stay with her after this week.”
“Why?” Mia told everyone this was a fling, but deep down she wanted it to be more. She was a little hurt that Vi thought it wasn’t going to last.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you. When I googled him, almost every picture I found had a pretty girl on his arm. But aside from the pictures of him with his wife from forever ago, not a single girl appeared with him more than once. He’s a player if there ever was one.”
Vi had only just met Tristan. All she knew was what she’d googled, and that didn’t tell
her anything about who Tristan was inside.
Frankie waved a dismissive hand. “All men eventually settle. What man flies out the sister of a woman he’s sleeping with because he knows she misses her? Especially if that means taking time away from him. None. Tristan’s in this for the long haul, trust me.”
“Don’t get her hopes up. I don’t want her to get hurt again.” Vi stared at the eggs and sugar she was creaming together. “Enjoy your fling, sweetheart, but don’t fool yourself.”
But had Tristan changed? They’d only spent a week together, and it’s not like Mia knew him all that well. Vi might be right, but Mia didn’t want to be just another fling.
Frankie cocked his head. “Whatever. Next year, they’ll be honeymooning here. Anyway, I haven’t finished my story.”
At least Frankie was on her team.
“Right, your arm.”
“So, there I was, all proud of myself for getting Sera down there without her running away. She went into the room like she always does. She did her business and then went to play with a pit bull she’d made friends with. They both had a hold of a rope toy and were tugging on it, growling a little bit like all dogs do when they’re playing. Sera was winning the tug of war and bumped into a black lab. The lab didn’t like that at all and bit her shoulder.”
Vi squeaked, and Mia covered her mouth.
Frankie raised his eyebrows. “I ran through all the little dogs and got at least six nips on my ankle.”
Mia chuckled silently, certain that was an exaggeration.
“Her buddy on the end of the rope ran away and cowered behind his dog walker. I pushed on the lab but he wouldn’t budge. I swatted his head, and he turned on me, snapping, and got my arm twice. A couple of other bell boys grabbed him and pulled him away from us both. I sent another boy up to fetch Tristan.”
“Poor Sera,” Mia said.
“Poor Sera? Do you see my arm?” he asked with indignation.
Mia gave him a kiss on the cheek. “We all know how heroic you were. Thanks for rescuing her.
“That’s better.”
Frankie left thirty minutes later, and Mia and Vi made about a thousand cookies and dressed up the Christmas tree. It was exactly like Christmas should’ve been.
“These pajamas aren’t very flattering.” Vi stared at the reindeer flannel she had on.
“Yeah, apparently they go for comfort. Besides, it’s Christmas. Also, who do you have to impress? You’re married. Happily, last I checked.”
Vi smoothed her shirt. “I know, but I feel weird meeting all these people who have more money than God.”
“They’re just people. Jessica and Liz are super sweet. It will be fine.”
“I could barely string two words together when I met Tristan. Are his friends just as good looking?” Vi checked herself out in the bathroom and ran a brush through her hair once again.
“No. Tristan is definitely the best looking of the bunch.” At least in Mia’s opinion. She wasn’t about to tell her that Adam looked like an Arab sheik and that Conner looked like he could be on the cover of GQ. David was hot too, in his broody, nerdy kind of way. Seth’s smile probably melted plenty of hearts, and Grayson somehow managed to stay fit and hot even though he was constantly stuffing his face. But yeah, Tristan was the best. She’d let her sister kill her afterwards. There was no reason to let her get all worked up unnecessarily.
They loaded up their hands with plates of cookies and traipsed over to Tristan’s. The door was slightly ajar, and so she went in, with Violet following. Everyone stood around the bar in the kitchen. Vi stumbled and almost dropped the cookies, and Mia had to repress a laugh.
Jessica and Liz wore the same pj’s that Mia and Violet had on. The boys all wore the same pants, but they were shirtless and wore Santa hats.
They had walked right into a live Chippendales show. Maybe Mia should’ve warned Violet. She turned to look at her sister, and Vi stood there with her mouth hanging open.
Mia nudged her, and Vi met her eyes, murder in them. Oh, she’d have a lot to answer for later tonight.
Mia smirked at Vi. “What? I didn’t know they’d all be shirtless.” All lies. Tristan had mentioned it, but Mia hadn’t thought much about it at the time. Being here with all of them was a completely different story.
Vi shook her head.
“Ah, they are here,” Seth exclaimed. He stood in front of a row of full shot glasses.
Mia and Vi set the cookies on the counter, and Vi cowered behind Mia. Tristan came around and gave her a kiss and put his arm around her shoulder. “You look gorgeous,” he said.
“Uh, uh. You are not getting away with that. Look at you.” Mia poked his abs.
“What? We do this every year.”
Jessica laughed. “Yeah, we like the eye candy. My mom looks forward to the Facebook picture every year. You’re welcome.” She winked.
“Um, this isn’t going on my Facebook. My husband would kill me,” Vi said, still ogling all the guys.
Seth handed shots all around. “To Christmas,” he said. Mia watched the rest of them down the shots and looked to her sister. Vi shrugged and held her glass up to Mia. They tapped them together and downed them. It tasted like a candy cane.
“Let’s eat,” Jessica said.
Food covered the bar, and she and Vi loaded up their plates. Liz had made it look like Christmas with small candles wrapped in holly, fake snow sprayed around the dishes, and little Christmas lights in a tall clear vase in the center.
“This is gorgeous, and so Christmassy,” Mia couldn’t help but squeal. “It’s perfect.”
Tristan kept one hand on her knee during dinner. She loved the touch. What if she were here next time? Christmas in a ski resort every year. In some ways it was appealing, but in others it wasn’t. She liked her Christmases at home. Maybe she’d be able to talk Tristan into doing a Christmas at home occasionally, especially after kids.
Her heart stuttered.
She wasn’t sure when her fantasy with Tristan turned from a fling to a real deal. She’d given him her heart, and there was no point in denying it now.
“So, David,” Grayson said. “Saw you chatting up Carol Ann at the bar today.” He said the name with a fake southern drawl.
David glowered at him.
“Who’s Carol Ann?” Vi asked.
“No one,” David growled.
“Aw, come on, we’re all friends here. What’s the story?” Seth handed him another shot, and David took it.
“You guys aren’t going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope, I’m going to keep feeding you alcohol until you tell us.”
“Fine. But I need a promise that this doesn’t leave this room. If Jamie ever finds out about this, he’ll kill me.”
Jessica passed around the lasagna. “Why Jamie?”
“You remember when he was fighting for custody of Garrett?”
“Yeah, and that bitch Annabelle quit on him the day before the big trial,” Seth said.
“Exactly. Anyway, we had a really short time to prep. Carol Ann was the judge.”
The entire table went silent.
“Dude, don’t tell me you ‘influenced’ her.”
David downed another shot. “Let’s just say I didn’t stay at Jamie’s house for most of the next week.”
Seth snorted. “Do you do that often?”
“Only in emergencies and only when it’s a female judge. It works surprisingly well. In Jamie’s case, it was totally worth it. He needed to win. I convinced her to look at evidence that shouldn’t have been allowed because it came from Jamie’s P.I.”
“Wow.” Mia thought David was pretty straight-laced. She wondered what else she didn’t know about the guys.
The food was phenomenal. Jessica had pretty much ruined her from ever enjoying anyone else’s lasagna again. She was stuffed, but the boys sure flew through their cookies. She watched Vi chat with Jessica and Liz. She fit in well with the group. Even better than Mia herself. After di
nner, they moved to the living room.
Seth sat on the other side of Violet and flirted shamelessly with her. Vi didn’t handle alcohol well and was hanging all over Seth. He brought out the shots once again, and after the second one, Violet climbed into his lap.
“Okay, time to go,” Mia said, extracting herself from Tristan. She wasn’t about to let Vi make a mistake. She didn’t know Seth well enough to trust him to respect that Vi was married.
“But Miiiiiiaaaaaa, it’s not even midnight yet,” Vi said.
“You’ve got to get up in three hours to catch your plane. Come on.”
Vi stood up and stumbled, nearly face planting into the coffee table. Seth stood, but Tristan got to her first. He scooped her up into his arms.
“Thank you,” Mia mouthed.
Tristan gave her a small grin and made his way to the door.
“You know, you’re a pretty boy,” Vi slurred, stroking his chest. “Mia always liked the pretty boys. You’re the first loaded one though.” She grabbed his face between both of her hands. “Promise me you’ll be good to her. I don’t want to see her cry again.”
Mia covered her face. “Vi. Stop.”
Tristan didn’t miss a beat. He was so sure of himself. “Don’t worry Violet, I have no intention of hurting her.”
Mia’s heart tightened. She wished she could trust him, but she couldn’t. Even if she wanted to. Even if she’d started seeing the future she’d imagined. After the New Year, she’d never see him again. She’d definitely be spending some serious time on her couch, crying. She’d just make sure she didn’t tell Vi.
By the time they reached Mia’s bed, Vi passed out. Tristan set her down gently. Mia walked Tristan into the living room. She stared at his silly reindeer pants hanging low on his hips. He was like a dream that would end far too soon. She ran her fingers along his abs, and he hissed. He tugged her tightly into him.
She gasped, surprised by the abrupt move, and met his eyes. Desire burned in them.
He gave Mia a long kiss.
“Merry Christmas,” he said after they broke apart.
Mia sighed and rested her check on his chest. “Thank you. This has been the best Christmas ever.”
“And it just started.” Tristan ran his hand down her back absentmindedly.
Christmas and Commitment (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 6) Page 13
