O Hell, All Ye Shoppers
Page 3
The ding of his phone nearly made him drop the gift in his hands. He shoved it into the box he was using for transport and practically dove for his mobile.
I’ll be there, then! Can I call you tonight? Might be late.
Ethan didn’t hesitate.
Yes.
ETHAN PRETENDED he wasn’t alternately watching the clock and the door, but was instead enjoying a beautiful Christmas lunch with his family.
He wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Ethan, why are you so distracted today?” his mother finally demanded, drawing his attention back to the table.
“I’m not,” he claimed, even as his cheeks got hot. He’d never been able to lie worth a damn. “I’m just waiting for Erin to get here so we can do presents,” he extemporized. Erin, the lucky bitch, was having lunch with Ty right this second. Well, she was actually there to have lunch with Mike, but she still got to spend the time in Ty’s company.
His mother raised her eyebrows but merely said, “She’ll be here soon. Have some more ham.”
Ethan did, partly to prevent her from getting suspicious, and partly because they only had baked ham at Christmas and it was one of his favorites. He also added some more prawns to his plate, just because he liked the combination. His mother was soon distracted by her two youngest grandchildren bickering, and across the table, his sister Dana smirked at him.
“So, now that Mum’s not listening, why are you so distracted?” she demanded in a low voice.
He pretended not to hear her.
It was so weird to think that he’d known Ty for less than forty-eight hours. They’d texted all through the previous day, to the point that Ethan’s phone had died midafternoon, and he’d had to plead with the staff at the restaurant to let him use a charger. His friends had teased him unmercifully, demanding to know who had him “smiling like a fool,” but he’d kept most of the details to himself, scared to jinx it.
Then, last night, Ty had called when he got home from dinner with friends, and they’d talked for hours, finally ending the call only when Ty had been yawning and Ethan had been talking with his eyes closed.
He couldn’t wait to see him again.
Lunch was soon finished, the table cleared, and the dishwasher loaded. Leftovers were wrapped and put in the fridge, and they were settled in the living room, Ethan’s eyes on the clock, when finally—finally—there was the sound of a key in the front door. He barely restrained himself from bolting upright.
“Hey!” Erin called from the front hall. “It’s me—and I brought some strays!” The door closed, and moments later she appeared in the entry to the living room. “Merry Christmas!” she announced, dropping her bag and snatching up her nearest niece.
There was a cacophony of Christmas greetings and a confused jumble of people as they all rushed to exchange hugs with Erin and Mike, but even while he joined the melee, Ethan was intensely aware of the tall blond man standing a few feet behind Erin.
Eventually the chaos settled. “Mum, I brought an extra guest. This is Mike’s brother, Tyler. Ty, my mum and dad.” Erin shot Ethan a smug look, which he ignored, his attention on Ty as he stepped forward, holding out his hand to Ethan’s mum.
“Sorry to crash your party,” he said, smiling charmingly.
She laughed. “It’s not a party without lots of people. Welcome!”
Ethan belatedly realized he was grinning like the village idiot. Erin elbowed him in the ribs on her way to the sofa, smirking.
He didn’t care.
Mike sidled over while Ty was talking to Ethan’s dad.
“Dude, are you really going to date my brother?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“That’s the plan,” Ethan said cheerily.
Mike rolled his eyes. “I guess it could be worse,” he muttered, and slunk off to join Erin.
Ethan saw his dad wander toward the tree, no doubt to start the present-giving “ceremony,” and seized the opportunity to join Ty.
“Hi,” he said, suddenly feeling… shy? What the hell?
Ty smiled at him, green eyes lighting up, and any trace of shyness fled. Ethan felt great, because this hot, amazing man was smiling at him, looked glad to see him.
“Hey,” Ty said, reaching out and brushing his hand against Ethan’s arm. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” Ethan replied, thinking it was probably stupid, considering how much touching he and Ty had done on Saturday night, for him to never wash his arm again just because Ty had touched it.
“Wish I could have woken up next to you this morning,” Ty murmured, and Ethan swallowed hard, shifting slightly to ease the sudden pressure in his shorts.
“Me too.”
“Guess what time it is?” his dad shouted, and there was an eruption of noise as all six of Dana’s kids began clamoring for presents—a nice change from their former clamor to play outside with the hose.
“Come and sit,” Ethan said. He instinctively grabbed Ty’s hand, dropped it, and then decided the hell with it and grabbed it again, leading Ty over to the bench seat in the bay window. His dad was already passing out presents by the time they got settled, but his mum was watching them with eyebrows raised and a hint of a smile playing around her mouth. Ethan knew she’d be bombarding him with questions as soon as she could get him alone.
One of his nephews dumped a present in his lap just then, and the next few minutes were occupied with unwrapping, shouting thanks, receiving them, and accepting hugs, but all the while, he was totally aware of Ty’s warmth beside him, the sound of his voice as he rhapsodized over proudly displayed toys, and the stomach-melting feeling every time he glimpsed that smile.
“Hey!” Mike shouted, pointing at the gift Dana had just unwrapped. “That’s just like the one Ty got for Nikki!”
Erin glared at him, and Ty shook his head.
“Did he get dropped on his head as a baby?” Ethan asked in a low voice, and Ty laughed.
“He probably went to the same store as me,” Erin said through gritted teeth.
Ethan and Ty grinned at each other.
LOUISA MASTERS started reading romance much earlier than her mother thought she should. While other teenagers were sneaking out of the house, Louisa was sneaking romance novels in and working out how to read them without being discovered. She’s spent most of her life feeling sorry for people who don’t read, convinced that books are the solution to every problem. As an adult, she feeds her addiction in every spare second, only occasionally tearing herself away to do things like answer the phone and pay bills. She spent years trying to build a “sensible” career, working in bookstores, recruitment, resource management, administration, and as a travel agent, before finally conceding defeat and devoting herself to the world of romance novels. Louisa has a long list of places first discovered in books that she wants to visit, and every so often she overcomes her loathing of jet lag and takes a trip that charges her imagination. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she whines about the weather for most of the year while secretly admitting she’ll probably never move.
Website: www.louisamasters.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/LouisaMastersAuthor
Email: louisa@louisamasters.com
By Louisa Masters
O Hell, All Ye Shoppers
DREAMSPUN DESIRES
#43 – The Bunny and the Billionaire
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
O Hell, All Ye Shoppers
© 2017 Louisa Masters.
Cover Art
&n
bsp; © 2017 Paul Richmond.
http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-289-6
Published December 2017
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America