“Fine, you crazy man, anal for your birthday,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Can we concentrate on Christmas now?”
“I guess.” He was getting anal. This day just kept getting better and better.
“Do you want to separate the rest of the gifts?” Nia gestured to the Charlie Brown tree that was now being held upright by the many gaily wrapped boxes underneath. It was still pathetic, but it had grown on him.
“Let’s just do these for now. Then we can unwrap those.” Eric tapped his finger on the black box. “I want to see your face when you open it.”
“I want to see yours when you open it as well,” she said eagerly.
“Then let’s do them both at the same time. Deal?”
“Deal.” She nodded.
“Then on the count of three we open them together.”
“Yes.” She was so giddy she was practically vibrating. “One. Two. Three.”
The two of them reverted to childhood for the few seconds it took to tear into the envelope and open the lid on the box, and soon as they both caught a glance at what was inside, the room became deathly silent.
Eric was stunned. Inside his envelope was a handwritten gift certificate from Nia to get his car fixed. The car he no longer owned. Well, wasn’t that a bitch? Not wanting to seem ungrateful, he pasted a smile on his face and looked up over at her to say thank you. But she was wearing a similar expression of forced happiness.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, cutting to the chase.
“Nothing. I love it.” Her tone and expression said otherwise. “It looks just like the one I broke. Better actually.”
“So why don’t you seem happy?”
“I…I am.” Nia turned the questions to him. “What about you? Do you not understand your gift?”
Eric looked down at the paper again. “You’ve arranged for someone to fix the car for me.”
“Yes,” she said with more enthusiasm than she had when she talked about the chain. “Julia’s brother is a mechanic, and he’s agreed to fix it for fifteen hundred dollars.”
The amount was staggering, especially considering he’d sold his car for less than half that. “Do we even have fifteen hundred dollars?”
“Yes, I was saving it up to get you something else, but I figured this would be better. Something you’d like more.”
“It’s great. It really is.” Especially if it was refundable. Trying not to think about it too much, Eric set the paper on the coffee table and turned his thoughts to more pleasant things. “Why don’t you get your pendant so we can put it on your new chain?”
“Yeah, about that.” Nia set the jewelry box next to his gift certificate. “There was a catch when it came to getting the car fixed.”
Eric frowned. “What sort of catch?”
“Fifteen hundred wasn’t enough. So I had to give him something else.”
“What?” Eric tried to ignore the sense of foreboding that was permeating the room around them.
“My necklace.”
The blood drained from his face as he waited and hoped she would shout out, Just kidding. After a few seconds he realized, sadly, that was not going to be the case. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
No, no, no. This wasn’t happening. Eric brought his hand up to his head and rubbed. This was bad. So very bad. “Nia.” Eric dropped his hand into his lap and looked over at his wife. “Why? Why did you do that?”
“Because you love that car, and it’s just a necklace. If selling it helps you rebuild something you care about, then it’s worth it to me.”
“Not to me.” Eric dug his cell phone out of his pants pocket. “Call him up and make him return it. Right now.”
Nia held up her hands and shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.” Nia laid her hand on his thigh. “Honey, it’s not fair.”
That had to be the most insane thing he’d ever heard. “How the fuck not?”
“Because he’s giving it to his girlfriend for Christmas,” she said with a sad smile. “I can’t ruin that for him.”
“Well I sure in hell can.”
“No, you can’t, because I won’t let you. It was my necklace to give, and I gave it for you. For your car.”
“Son of a bitch.” Eric jumped to his feet.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “I thought you would be happy, but you don’t seem pleased at all.”
“That’s because I sold the car, and I bought the necklace with part of the money he gave me for the hunk of junk.”
“No…uhhh.” Nia buried her face in her hands.
“Yes.”
She dropped her hands and looked up at him, disbelief etched into every inch of her pretty brown face. “But why?” Nia was suddenly where he was just a few moments ago, stunned by the revelation.
“Because I don’t need that car to prove I’m not him, and holding on to an old piece of metal isn’t going to stop me from turning into him. Only I can do that.” Too bad he hadn’t realized it a few days sooner.
“This is…awkward.”
He couldn’t have agreed more. “Oh yeah.”
“It’s a bit funny too though.” Nia’s lips quirked in a slight smile.
Eric stopped pacing and stared at his wife, who’d obviously lost her mind. “No, no it isn’t.” He couldn’t find anything funny about this situation at all.
“Sure it is.” She picked up the homemade gift card and the necklace and held them out for him to see. “We have a bill of sale for a car I sold my necklace to get fixed and a chain for a pendant that belongs to our mechanic whose services we don’t need anymore.”
Eric chuckled. His wife certainly had a way of seeing things. “Well, when you put it like that, it kind of is.” Shaking his head, he joined her on the couch again, this time sitting next to her so he could place his arm around her shoulders. “You know, we have to be the dumbest couple in the whole wide world.”
“Or the sweetest.” She laid her head on his chest. “We gave up what was most important for the other person, and made Kevin’s girlfriend happy, all at the same time.”
“I have to say, I could have lived quite happily with Kevin’s girlfriend having a shitty Christmas instead of us.”
“Hey.” She slapped her hand on his chest and looked up at him. “We aren’t going to have a shitty Christmas. We still have presents to unwrap. We still have dinner cooking in the crockpot and It’s a Wonderful Life will be coming on at six, then nine, then eleven, and midnight in Spanish.”
“Wow, we don’t want to miss that.”
“And, of course, the fifteen hundred dollars I was going to use on the car, we can now put toward the loan.” A light came on in her eyes. “Or we could do something else with it. Get us a Christmas present we both would like and could use.”
That sounded promising. “What do you have in mind?”
“Two words. Flat-screen TV.”
Eric wanted to dismiss it as frivolous, but then thought better of it. There was being responsible and then there was being a stick in the mud. “You know what, I’ve always wanted one of those.”
She smiled. “I know. I guess we’re going shopping tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.” The more he thought about it, the more he wanted it. “I bet we can make this happen tonight.”
“Tonight,” she scoffed. “It’s Christmas. Nothing will be open.”
True, nothing would be open, but that didn’t mean something couldn’t open for the right person. “What will you give me if I make it happen?”
She tilted her head to the side and shot him a speculative look. “What do you want?”
“You.”
She smiled as he’d hoped she would. “But if you don’t make it happen, what do I get?”
“Me.”
“Sounds like a deal where neither of us can possibly lose.” Nia smiled. “I like it.”
“Somehow, Sunshine, I knew you would.”
Epilogue
The sharp sound of pounding on the door roused Nia from her near slumber. The warm apartment was still the best Christmas present ever; with the big-screen TV coming in a close second. She didn’t think it was possible, but Eric had pulled some strings with a former patient who owned a small electronics store and convinced them to make a last-minute sale.
That was over six hours ago. Six, long enjoyable hours spent in each other’s arms watching things get blown up from only a few feet away from their couch as they munched on chips and cookies and contemplated what to do now that they were only down to one car. After a little debating, much kissing, a tiny hump or two, they struck a deal. Although it wasn’t something either of them wanted to do, they both agreed it would be best if they shared her car when they could and relied on generous friends and public transportation when one car wasn’t enough. They’d do this until they had enough funds to buy a little commuter car, which hopefully wouldn’t take more than a month or two. It would mean juggling their pay-off plan, but some things were worth going off the path for. Hands down, this was the best Christmas ever. And just as Nia had begun to slip into a sugar coma, the door pounding had begun.
She and Eric shared a look, then on cue they both formed fists and counted to three. She led with paper, and he with scissors, a tricky move that sent her to the door to greet their visitor. Before answering, she looked through the peephole, and to her surprise spotted Julia and Kevin.
“Shit,” she whispered to herself. In the midst of making love, shopping, then installing the TV, she’d forgotten to call Kevin to let him know he didn’t have to come over.
Feeling all kinds of bad, she quickly opened the door. “Merry Christmas.” She smiled brightly. “Come in. Come in.”
Side by side the family resemblance between Julia and Kevin was very obvious, as was the love between the two siblings. They were picking and poking at each other, but doing so in a good-natured manner. They scrambled to get into the apartment first, with Julia winning by a hair thanks to her brother giving up at the very last second. Watching the two of them together, Nia could see how growing up with seven brothers might not have been so bad after all.
After shutting the door, she turned and faced her guests. “Was Santa good to you this year?”
“Santa is always good to me,” Julia said with a smile. “Everyone I love woke up this morning in fine health and with peace of mind. I can’t ask for anything more.”
“What about you, Kevin?”
He shrugged. “It was loud. We had the whole crew over for breakfast and presents. I got two coats though. People should coordinate gifts.”
Nia looked down at his bare arms and shook her head. “Or maybe they’re just trying to keep you from catching pneumonia.”
“Man, it’s barely chilly out there. Anyway, we just stopped by to pick up the money and keys for the car. I have my tow truck parked out front.”
Julia elbowed Kevin in his side, earning her a scowl from her brother.
“Fine, fine, fine.” Kevin dug a hand in his pocket. “I also wanted to give you this.”
Kevin held the necklace out to Nia. “Here you go. The cash is enough. Don’t worry about anything extra.”
“But…but…” Shocked, Nia took the necklace back. “We had a deal.”
“No, you had a shakedown,” Julia said.
As much as she wanted to keep her grandmother’s necklace, a deal was a deal. “What happened with your girlfriend? She didn’t like it?”
“What girlfriend?” Kevin and Julia asked at the same time.
Confused, Nia looked back and forth between the siblings. “You know, the one you were giving it to because you forgot to go shopping.”
“Oh.” Kevin grinned, and this time he nudged Julia, a lot softer than she did him though. “I said my best girl, which, you know, she is.”
“Plus I’m not letting him get away with giving me someone else’s jewelry. As pretty as it is, I want my own gift, which he will be buying me at the mall on my very next day off. Right, you big dope?”
“Right. Right.” Kevin nodded at Eric, who was making his way over to the group in front of the door. “Does he know or are we still keeping this hush-hush?”
“He knows,” Eric answered. “But as much as I’d love to give you the business, I’m afraid I just can’t.”
“Why?” Julia asked.
Eric put his arm around Nia’s waist. “We sold the car.”
Julia’s eyes widened. “You didn’t?”
“He did.” Nia laughed, still amazed at the mix-up. “So we decided to buy a big-screen with the money.”
Julia laughed. “All’s well that ends well.”
“For everybody but me,” Kevin grumbled. “Now I don’t get paid and I still have to buy you a gift.”
“If you wouldn’t have been so cheap to begin with, this wouldn’t even be an issue,” Julia reminded him.
“Whatever. Let’s go, woman, before I start crying.”
“Right, like I haven’t seen that before.” Julia opened the door and ushered her brother out. “Merry Christmas, you two.”
“Wait,” Nia called out. “Don’t go yet. I have something for you.”
Julia turned around, a frown on her brow. “What?”
“This.” Nia opened her arms wide.
As soon as Julia caught on to what Nia was trying to do, she began to back up. “No. No. No.”
But this time Nia would not be denied. “I have to do it.”
“You really don’t,” Julia said, shaking her head from side to side.
“I really do.”
Julia bumped into her brother, who was grinning from ear to ear. “Give the girl a hug.”
“Eww. What’s with people always trying to touch me?”
“It’s because you’re so darn cute,” Kevin teased.
“Fine.” Resigned, she let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. “Make it fast.”
Nia went to her friend and took her in her arms, giving Julia the hug she’d always wanted to. “Thank you,” she whispered in Julia’s ear. “You don’t know how much it means to me getting this back.”
“It means a lot.” Julia briefly and awkwardly patted her back. “I know, now get off me.”
Laughing, Nia did as she requested. She’d gotten her hug in. That was all that mattered. “Thank you, Julia.”
Julia shivered as if she’d been forced to eat spinach instead of show affection. “Thank me by never doing that again.”
“I’m making no promises.”
“I should have kept the damn necklace,” Julia grumbled as she turned and walked away.
“Big bully,” Eric said from behind her. “Forcing poor little Julia to hug you.”
Nia shut and locked the door, before turning around. “She liked it. She’s just playing hard to get.”
“Sounds like a game I’d like.”
Nia raised an eyebrow. Her husband had definitely gotten into the Christmas spirit. “I thought the only thing you wanted to do today was veg in front of the TV.”
“You thought wrong. Besides, lookie at what I found.” Eric pulled his hand from behind his back, and in it he held some mistletoe. “I was thinking about hanging this.”
Nia looked up. “Where?”
“Around your waist,” he said with a waggle of his brows.
“It’s going to be hard for me to kiss you under that if you hang it on my waist.”
He took her into his arms. “You have two sets of lips.”
She loved the way he thought. “Oh, Kinky Klause. Whatever shall I do with you?”
“Love me forever.”
For Nia that was as easy as breathing. “You have yourself a deal.”
About the Author
Lena Matthews spends her days dreaming about handsome heroes and her nights with her own personal hero. Married to her college sweetheart, she is the proud mother of two beautiful daughters, two evil dogs and a mess of ants that she can’t seem
to get rid of.
When not writing she can be found reading, watching movies, lifting up the cushions on the couch to look for batteries for the remote control and plotting different ways to bring Buffy back on the air.
You can contact Lena through her website: www.lenamatthews.com.
Look for these titles by Lena Matthews
Now Available:
Joker’s Wild
Call Me
Three Nights
Stripped Bare
The Wedding Dress
Something Borrowed, Something Blue
Head Over Heels
You Can Leave Your Hat On
The Better to Eat You With
Good girl, bad boys. Going off-path was never this much fun.
The Better to Eat You With
© 2010 Lena Matthews
Urban Fairytales, Book 2
Yvonne Rousel is having trouble keeping up a brave face. Ezekiel Crawford and Daniel Hunter are her best friends—and she’s about to lose one of them to another woman.
Thanks to a pact between the human residents of Monroeville and the local werewolf pack—brides for protection—Ezekiel has won the right to choose a mate. Yvonne’s doing her best to be happy for him, but fear persists that his marriage could signal the beginning of the end of their charmed friendship. Because once Ezekiel’s preoccupied with his new bride, how long will it be before Daniel, too, drifts away?
Ezekiel and Daniel have no intention of letting their happy threesome come to an unhappy end. Their plan is a little unconventional, a tad kinky, and destined to be a whole lot of fun. Now all they have to do is convince their good-girl girlfriend to take a walk on the big, bad side. And stay one step ahead of a jealous lawman…
Warning: It’s not your grandmother’s fairytale…unless she likes big bad wolves, hot three ways and double penetration.
Enjoy the following excerpt for The Better to Eat You With:
A sweeter challenge had never been laid down before him. Daniel felt as if he’d been waiting for this moment for what felt like a lifetime, and he planned to enjoy every single second of it. With his gaze firmly centered on her, Daniel walked around her until he was standing behind her.
Priceless: Urban Fairytales, Book 3 Page 11
