by Burton, Jaci
He arched a brow. “What?”
“You heard me. Gray would love to see you, and so would my parents. Come and spend Christmas with us at the ranch.”
“Seriously. You do realize you just invited me to spend the holidays with you.”
“Yes. Well, with Gray and with the entire family. Not just with me.”
He smiled at the qualifier. “Okay.”
She wasn’t sure what can of worms she’d just opened, but the idea of Drew spending Christmas alone didn’t sit well with her.
And now he was going to spend the holidays with her. And her family.
That should be interesting.
FOURTEEN
DREW HADN’T BEEN TO GRAY’S FAMILY’S RANCH IN Oklahoma since over a year ago, in the summer, when Gray had invited him to come for a family barbecue. It had been the first time he’d seen Carolina in a long time.
She’d given him an icy chill and he’d known then she still harbored resentment over what had happened between them in college.
Now, though, it looked like things were beginning to thaw between them.
He hoped so. He liked spending time with her. She was smart and ambitious. And beautiful and sexy and different from any woman he’d been with before.
Now that he was going to be spending time with her—and with Gray—he was going to have to walk a fine line, because Gray didn’t know what had gone down between Drew and Carolina all those years ago in college. Gray didn’t know how much Drew had hurt Carolina.
And Gray sure as hell didn’t know what was going on between Carolina and him now.
He probably should have had a conversation with Carolina before he arrived at the ranch, discussed how much, if anything, to tell Gray about the two of them. Big brothers had a tendency to be overprotective toward their little sisters. And Gray of all people knew about Drew’s reputation with women. But he had to know Drew would never hurt Carolina.
Or, at least, wouldn’t hurt her again like he had before.
He dragged his fingers through his hair as he sat in the back of the car Carolina had arranged to bring him from the airport to the ranch.
The Preston Ranch name greeted him as they reached the gates. Drew took note of the black SUV parked there. They stopped and he had to give the Secret Service agent his ID before they were allowed to pass through.
Gray was outside waiting for him when the car pulled in front of the huge house.
He grinned when he got out. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
Drew smiled and gave his best friend a quick hug. “Yeah, well, it’s your sister’s fault. She didn’t want me to be alone for the holidays. You know how women are about that stuff.”
“If I’d known your parents were going on a cruise, I’d have invited you myself. Come on inside.”
He thanked the driver for the ride and grabbed his bags, following Gray up the stone steps and inside. The place was just as he remembered it from the last time he’d been here—high ceilings, polished wood floors, and so many rooms a person could get lost and never find their way out.
The only difference was that now Secret Service were all over the place because Gray and Carolina’s father was the vice president of the United States.
“You can leave your bags by the stairs. Someone will take them up to your room.”
“Okay, thanks. How do you like having the suits with guns and earplugs hanging around?” Drew asked as Gray led him into the kitchen.
Gray laughed. “Hey, as long as they’re not following me around, I’m fine with it. And they keep the press away, so it works for me.”
“I’m sure it does. Where’s Evelyn?”
Gray grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and held another one up for Drew. Drew nodded, and Gray handed it to him.
“Out doing some Christmas shopping with my mom and Carolina. Carolina flew in late last night and Mom dragged her out of bed this morning to hit the city for all-day shopping.”
“Bet she loved that.”
Gray shrugged and took a swallow of beer. They took seats at the table near the back door. “I don’t know. They were going to have breakfast, then start shopping as soon as the mall opened, and according to Mom, all the way through dinner, so we aren’t supposed to expect them back until later tonight.”
Drew grimaced. “Better them than me.”
“Amen to that. How was your flight?”
“It was good. How are things with you and Evelyn?”
“Great. Adjusting to our crazy schedules, but, man, it’s going well. She’s busy as hell with my dad, of course, and we weren’t sure in the beginning how it was all going to work, but we find the time to be together.”
“I guess when you’re in love, you find a way to make it work.”
Gray grinned. “I guess so.”
“Where’s your dad?”
“In his home office, on the phone, of course. He and I had breakfast this morning that lasted all of twenty minutes before he was pulled away by a phone call.”
Drew leaned back in the chair and took a long swallow of beer. “Well, he is kind of a busy guy.”
“Yeah, he is. I’m happy for him, though, and for my mom. She’s thrilled to be able to push her literacy agenda at the national level, and my dad—well, he’s changed. A lot. Surprised the hell out of me, but he’s a much better man than he used to be.”
“I’m glad the two of you have found common ground.”
“Me, too. Life is pretty damned perfect right now. And how about you? You had a few shitty games. At least you started turning it around when you got back to the Garden.”
The one thing Drew could always count on from his friends was blunt honesty. Ever since college, when he, Gray, Garrett, and Trevor had roomed together and become friends, they’d always been honest with each other about their shortcomings, especially in sports. When they rocked it, they all gave each other pats on the back. When they sucked, they were the first to tell each other.
“Yeah, we had a lousy road trip. Being home always helps. Of course you wouldn’t know about that since you don’t really have a home base in auto racing.”
“True. So I have to be good everywhere.”
Drew laughed. “And humble, too.”
“You know it, buddy.”
They got up and headed into the living room to sip their beers and watch sports on television.
Gray’s dad finally came out and Drew got up to shake his hand.
“Nice to see you, Mr. Vice President.”
Mitchell Preston laughed. “You used to call me Mitchell, or Mr. Preston.”
“That was before the election, sir.”
“I’m not any different now, and I don’t expect you to treat me any differently, Drew. You’re a guest here for the holidays, so please relax.”
“I’ll try, sir.”
Gray rolled his eyes and nudged his dad. “I’m just going to call you Dad.”
“Funny. Is anyone hungry? Aideen said she was going to make chicken and fruit salad for lunch.”
Drew’s stomach grumbled. “That sounds great.”
“I’m starving,” Gray said.
They had lunch in the kitchen rather than the dining room. Drew couldn’t get past the Secret Service hanging around, but the vice president said he was so used to them now he didn’t even notice them anymore.
Still, having some dude with a gun looking over your shoulder while you were trying to eat your chicken was a little intimidating. Drew felt like if he gave the vice president the wrong look, he might be wrestled to the ground and carted off in one of those black SUVs.
Gray kept shooting him smirks, too, as if he knew exactly what Drew was thinking.
After lunch, Gray’s dad excused himself, saying he had some calls to make and they’d catch up again later.
�
�Afraid you were going to get shot over lunch?” Gray asked as they headed outside with their iced teas.
“Hey. You might be used to it. I’m not. No wonder you and your sister declined the protection.”
Gray shrugged as they took a seat by the pool. It was uncharacteristically warm for December, though there were outdoor heaters, so it was perfect to sit out on the patio.
“We’re both adults and it’s not like we’re minor children of the president. We didn’t need the protection, and they offered us the option. I think the Secret Service has better things to do with their time than babysit us.”
“True. Though they might enjoy going to all your races.”
Gray laughed. “I kind of doubt that. You know the nomadic lifestyle I live. They’d probably hate it. Not much action, and they told us both they didn’t consider us to be under any threat of danger, so it’s all good.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“So we’ve talked a lot about me and what’s going on with my life. Tell me about yours. Are you dating?”
This is where Drew could come out and tell Gray about him and Carolina. Not that they were dating, per se. They weren’t, really. Or maybe they were. They’d had sex a couple times, a fact that Drew was sure Gray wouldn’t want to hear about.
“Not really. Kind of busy with the start of the season, so I haven’t had any time.”
“You know, you’re not getting any younger. You might want to stop going through one woman after another and find one to settle down with.”
Drew laughed. “Oh, come on. Just because you’ve found the love of your life, now you’re going to try to get the rest of us to follow you along into a lifetime of happiness?”
Gray smiled and took a long swallow of his iced tea. “Something like that.”
“I’ll get around to it one of these days.”
“You’re only saying that because you haven’t found the right woman yet.”
Or maybe he had. He hadn’t ever given much thought to what happily ever after might look like, because for the past years he’d focused only on his career.
But now, he was at a strong place in his career, and he felt settled, at least in that respect. It was his personal life that felt unsettled.
Carolina was the catalyst for that. When she’d popped back into his life, he’d started questioning everything having to do with the “personal” part of the equation. Suddenly, he was seeing how she fit into that part of his life.
Only he knew she would never see it that way. He knew she was only focused on her career, and not on having a relationship with him.
But were the two of them even compatible?
He liked having sex with her. And she was fun to be around.
They were just beginning to get to know each other.
It was too soon to start thinking about that happily ever after.
“You never know when that right woman will walk into your life,” Drew said, staring out over the water.
“Spoken by someone who thinks they might have already found her?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So far, you haven’t said much of anything. We used to talk about women all the time.”
Drew cocked a grin. “That was back when we thought of women as conquests. Something to brag about. I’d like to think we’ve grown up some.”
“True. So if you have someone you’re not talking about, she must be special.”
“Maybe.” He was treading treacherous waters here, and he should just shut the hell up before he drowned.
“Then I’ll respect that. Let’s go play some pool.”
Relieved to take that subject off the table, Drew stood. “Now you’re talking.”
They went into the game room and immersed themselves in pool and darts and watching TV. Even the vice president joined them in a game of pool until Aideen called them for dinner.
They had steak and shrimp with a really damn fine wine. They talked the state of the country with the vice president, along with just about every sport on the map. They probably sat at the table for a couple of hours. It was the most relaxing and fun dinner Drew had had in a long time. It was good to catch up with Gray, and it was great to see him connect and have fun with his dad.
Drew even forgot about the Secret Service guys hanging around.
“When do your Secret Service guys eat?” he asked the vice president.
Mitchell laughed. “I don’t know. Hey, Paul, when do you eat?”
“We swap off, sir. Gage and I will have dinner when we switch with Rogers and Bennington at eight p.m.”
“Ah. I see. Looking forward to Aideen’s steak and shrimp?” the vice president asked.
“Very much so, sir.”
Drew smiled. Very official. And the guy hadn’t so much as moved. He supposed that was a good thing, but he’d bet the guy noticed every movement around them.
The only time the Secret Service moved was when Mitchell did. When they finally got up and made their way into the game room to watch TV, the agents followed. By then, they had swapped out for another pair. Really, it was confusing. Just statues in black suits.
In fact, when Drew heard the front door, the agents still didn’t move. Though he assumed it was because they’d already been notified through their earpieces who was entering.
“We’re back!” Loretta Preston’s voice rang out from the entryway.
“We’re in here, Loretta,” Mitchell said, rising to go greet his wife.
Drew and Gray got up, too, and headed toward the living room, where an obscene number of packages were being laid down on the sofas.
“Holy shit, Evelyn. Did you buy out the mall?” Gray went over and put his arms around his fiancée.
“Seems that way, doesn’t it?” Evelyn kissed Gray. “My feet and back are killing me. Your mother is a world-class shopper.”
Drew zeroed in on Carolina, who looked sexy in tight jeans, knee-skimming black boots, and a long sweater. She turned and saw him, then smiled. “It’s much easier to shop when you have the Secret Service as an escort. It’s like the parting of the Red Sea. We had no trouble getting into any of the stores.”
Loretta laughed. “That’s because the boys always have to clear out the store in advance. Kind of embarrassing, really. It’s not like anyone knew we were coming.”
“Protocol, ma’am,” one of the men said.
Loretta waved her hand. “I know, but still, if I’d thought about it in advance, we could have shopped online. I hated inconveniencing all of those other shoppers.”
“Mom, I think all those other shoppers enjoyed getting a glimpse of Phil and Leon’s muscles. I don’t think they minded at all.” Carolina winked at her mother.
“If you say so. Either way, it was such a fun day. And now I’m utterly exhausted.” She looped her arm through Mitchell’s. “How was your day?”
“Good. Busy. Hung out with the boys for a while.”
Loretta turned to Drew. “Oh, Drew, I’m so sorry to be rude.” She came up and put her arms around him to give him a hug. “We’re so glad you’re here.”
He hugged her back. “Thank you for having me, Mrs. Preston.”
“Loretta. Stop being so formal. We want you to feel at home.” She pulled back. “Carolina tells me your parents are off on a cruise for the holidays?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How lovely for them. I’d love to take a cruise with Mitchell sometime. Please have your mother call me after she gets back. I want to hear all about it.”
“I’ll be sure to do that. She’d love to talk to you.”
“Would you like me to help you carry these packages upstairs?” Mitchell asked.
“Yes, that would be great. My feet are sore and right now I’d love nothing more than to soak in a bubble bath. It’s been a long and very taxing d
ay.”
Loretta turned to Carolina and Evelyn and hugged them both. “Thank you for spending the day with me. I enjoyed it so much.”
“I did, too, Mom,” Carolina said, kissing her mother on the cheek.
“Thanks, Mom. You helped me finish up my Christmas shopping,” Evelyn said.
“Good night, all,” Mitchell said, arms laden with bags as he followed Loretta up the stairs. The agents followed behind them.
Evelyn fell onto the sofa and propped her feet up. “Lord, what an exhausting day.”
“I could rub your feet or give you a bubble bath,” Gray said, waggling his brows.
Evelyn laughed and patted his leg. “Both are very enticing options. I’ll reserve both for later. Right now I’m just enjoying not standing.”
“I’m with you on that,” Carolina said. She took off her boots and, with a loud groan, pulled her feet up on the sofa. Drew took a spot on the same sofa, but deliberately didn’t sit too close to her.
“So shopping was fun?” he asked.
“For us, yes,” Carolina said. “For you and Gray it would have been torture. Be thankful you weren’t here.”
“Hey, I was here, and I was spared,” Gray said.
“You were. Your mother suggested I invite you. I said you wanted to spend time with your dad today. See how deeply I love you?” Evelyn batted her lashes at Gray.
“It’s obviously true love. And you have my undying gratitude.” Gray brushed his lips across Evelyn’s.
“Ugh. You two should get a room,” Carolina said.
“We have a room. Upstairs, as a matter of fact. And that hot bath your mother mentioned is sounding better and better. I can’t believe it’s ten thirty.”
Drew arched a brow. “Shopping marathon.”
“Well, to be fair, we did stop and eat breakfast. And lunch.”
“And dinner,” Evelyn added. “So we did get to sit down here and there. But still, my future mother-in-law can shop, and once she gets started, she goes and goes. And goes.”
Evelyn yawned.
Gray stood and held out his hand. “Come on. Hot bath time for you. Then we’ll cuddle up on the bed and watch movies.”
