THE BENNETTS' CHRISTMAS (The Bennett Family and the Masters Family Book 6)

by Brenda Jackson

  Walking back into the room, she pulled her phone from her jacket pocket. Bree would have heard about her change in plans and wondered why she’d made them. When she looked down, she saw that she had missed several calls from Bree. They must have come in while Monica was in flight.

  The time was two hours ahead in St. Paul. It was midnight here, which meant it was two in the morning there. Chances were Bree was at work. Monica decided to call her anyway, at least she could leave a message explaining her change of plans.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  SEBRINA SAT IN THE darkened living room, drinking wine and staring at the blinking lights on the Christmas tree that she and Parker had decorated together. She remembered that night well. It had been his first day in town and they’d spent the entire day getting to know each other.

  She then looked at the gifts under the tree which were nothing more than empty boxes wrapped in beautiful Christmas paper to make it look like there were loads of presents. Parker had helped with the wrapping a few days before Monica had come home. He had laughed about them having a real tree but fake gifts under it.

  Then afterwards, he had swept her into his arms and taken her into his room and made love to her. She had to clamp her legs together to alleviate the ache, just thinking about that day. In fact, she got a physical thrill every time she thought about being with him, in bed and out. Since she was leaving tomorrow, she wouldn’t see him again until after New Year’s. And already she missed him.

  She’d wished he would have called, if for no other reason than to say he’d made it to Maine. But there had been no contact, so she could only assume he was still upset with her for ending things between them.

  Her phone rang. She immediately recognized the ringtone and grabbed it off the table. “Monica? Are you alright? What is going on with you? Why aren’t you in Atlanta?”

  “Slow down, Bree. One question at a time.” Monica then paused before saying. “I’m fine. I just decided to fly to Vegas at the last minute because…because Landon is here.”

  “Really? So, the two of you reconnected and he invited you to join him in Vegas?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Sebrina frowned. “Then what is it, exactly?”

  “Landon has no idea I’m here.”

  Sebrina took a sip of her wine. In fact, she took two sips. She had a feeling that she would need both. “I think you’d better start from the beginning.”

  She listened attentively as Monica told her everything—that she realized she loved Landon, that she was determined to find him and let him know, as well as his friend Duan’s help, so she could do it.

  “And you think you’ll be able to find him in Vegas? That’s going to be hard even if the two of you are staying at the same hotel.”

  “I know, and since they can’t give me his hotel room number, the only thing I can do is have them call his room every so often, hoping that I will reach him.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then I’ll let him know I’m here and want to meet with him.”

  “Let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. What if he doesn’t want to see you? You said you pretty much pissed him off that last night on the cruise.”

  “Yes, but he told me he loved me, Bree. I have to believe that if he truly loved me then, he would still love me and that he’ll forgive me.”

  “And if he won’t?”

  “Then I’ll fly back to Atlanta to attend the family reunion with a broken heart. But I refuse to give up without trying. I love him and I’m ready to fight for him.”

  Sebrina didn’t say anything. She’d never heard Monica sound so fierce before. That meant she must truly love Landon Chestnut. “Well, I hope it all works out for you. I can attest that you’ve been absolutely miserable without him. And kind of grouchy.” She smiled.

  “Ha, ha. But what about you, Bree? Are you going to tell Parker how you feel?”

  “I’m not sure that’s wise. Just because I love him, that doesn’t mean he loves me back. He has his whole future mapped out, but I’m not included in it.”

  “Well, I’m going to hope and pray that Parker wakes up and realizes that you are his future. And I want you to hope and pray that I’m Landon’s. Are you at work?”

  “No. I’m off tonight. One of my patients had emergency surgery early this morning so I basically pulled a double today.”

  “What time do you fly out to New Jersey tomorrow? I hate that you’re in the house all by yourself.”

  “Around nine in the morning. And don’t worry about me, kiddo. I’ll watch Christmas movies for a while tonight, since I’m all packed. And if you don’t make it to Atlanta for Christmas, I’ll look for you the day after, for the family reunion.”

  “Okay. I refuse to believe I’ve messed things up with Landon so badly that he doesn’t want me anymore.”

  Sebrina heard the sadness in her sister’s voice. “Will you try calling him again before going to bed, Monica?”

  “No, it’s late. I’m just going to reach out to him tomorrow. I’m about to shower and go to bed. It’s been a long day.”

  Sebrina understood. It had been a long day for her as well. Usually whenever she pulled a double shift, she would sleep for hours. But even exhausted, she couldn’t sleep. Because whenever she closed her eyes, she would dream of Parker, remembering all the things they had done together. All the times he had touched her, tasted her, made love to her. And his kisses…. How could she forget them? They were so potent, she usually ended up with wet panties. Hopefully tonight, when she finally got to bed, she’d be able to sleep. If not, then she’d try to catch a few zzz’s on the plane.

  “I wish you the best of luck on working things out with Landon.”

  “Thanks. When will you be seeing Parker?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure how much time he plans to spend with his folks. Besides, when I leave Dad’s place on Christmas, I’m flying straight to Atlanta and will be there until after New Year’s. So, there’s a good chance I won’t see him at all over the holidays,” Sebrina said, wishing it was otherwise.

  After ending the call with Monica, she got up from the sofa and crossed the room to pour herself another glass of wine when the front door swung open. She drew in a sharp breath. “Parker?”

  It was as if her thoughts had conjured him up. He stood in the doorway, just oozing sexiness. He was wearing a coat, and the scarf thrown around his neck made him look like a man on a mission. Sebrina placed the wine bottle down and drew in a deep breath. He seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

  “Parker? What happened? Why are you back?” She couldn’t help wondering if he’d had a disagreement with his parents or something?

  When he didn’t say anything, but simply stood there staring at her, she asked again, “Parker, why are you here?”

  Parker drew in a deep breath. He certainly hadn’t expected to find Sebrina at home tonight. His flight out of Maine had been delayed because of snow on the runway. It was close to three in the morning, and he figured that since he had missed seeing her before she left for work, he would make sure he was in the hospital’s parking lot when she got off in the morning. He had to talk to her before she left for the airport. But instead, she was here, standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree and looking too sexy for words in a pair of jeans and a red pullover sweater.

  Instead of answering her, he removed his coat and scarf, hanging them in the closet by the door, and then placed his overnight bag on the table. It was either he did something with his hands, or he’d rush across the room and pull her into his arms.

  “I was hoping to catch you before you left for New Jersey in the morning. But I hadn’t expected you to be here tonight.”

  She nodded. “I pulled a double today. Mr. Fletcher had emergency surgery this morning. It lasted six hours. And since I had promised him that I would be in the operating room with him… Well, I wasn’t going anywhere.”

  “How is he?”

  “The las
t time I checked, his condition had stabilized. That’s a good sign.” She tilted her head and looked at him. “So why did you want to catch me before I left town tomorrow, Parker?”

  “I think we need to talk,” he said, coming within six feet of her and then stopping. Seeing her here, now, when he hadn’t expected to, was having a hell of an effect on him. He’d already known that he loved her, but until that moment, he hadn’t known just how much.

  “What do we need to talk about?”

  He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I think I made a few mistakes where you were concerned.”

  “Oh, really?”

  When he saw the way that she’d lifted her chin and stiffened her spine, he immediately knew she had taken his words out of context. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  “And just how did you mean it, Parker?” she asked curtly.

  “Can we sit down?” he asked.

  For a minute, he thought she would refuse his request, but then she eased down on the sofa. “Okay, Parker, what’s up?”

  He crossed the room to sit in the wing-back chair across from her. “I think you misunderstood my intentions, Sebrina.”

  She frowned. “If you’re trying to tell me that you think I put more stock in our affair than you did, then you’ve wasted your time. I knew all you wanted was an affair that led nowhere.”

  Parker placed his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward. “And that’s where I made my mistake, Sebrina. I never thought I was having an affair with you.”

  “Then maybe ‘affair’ isn’t the right word to use. Maybe it was just overwhelming sexual attraction, that we acted on to see if we could rid ourselves of it.”

  “That might have been our plan originally, but things changed.”

  She lifted a brow. “Really?” she asked sarcastically. “Then why wasn’t I told?”

  “That was my fault, but in my defense, I didn’t want to rush you.”

  Sebrina tilted her head and stared at him with a furrowed brow. She seemed totally confused. “What are you talking about?”

  He stared at her for a moment, before saying. “I am talking about what changed. I fell in love with you, Sebrina.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  He frowned. She didn’t believe him. But then, he couldn’t very much blame her for assuming he’d only wanted an affair. He hadn’t given her any reason to think otherwise. “I take it you don’t believe me.”

  “Of course, I don’t. You’ve been thinking with the wrong head, if you know what I mean.”

  He knew what she meant, and he didn’t like it one damn bit. But he couldn’t get mad at her, he could only get mad at himself. They hadn’t exactly talked about the future at all. “Mom was right.”

  “Excuse me?”

  He met her gaze. “I said my mother was right. When I told my parents that I had fallen in love, Mom asked if I had told you. When I told her that I hadn’t, she said I’d made a mistake, that a woman should know when a man loves her. And that it’s important for her to know that a man wants her in his life, not just in his bed.” He took a deep breath. “That’s why I came back to talk to you, Sebrina. I needed to make sure you knew I wanted you—in my life, in my bed…in my future.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  SEBRINA SAT THERE AND stared at Parker, almost in shock. Sure, she knew she loved him, but she’d never dreamed he’d felt the same way about her. He’d never told her he loved her. But then, she hadn’t said the words to him, either. Was there really a chance for them to be together? And had he actually talked to his parents about her?

  She shook her head to clear it. He was sitting across from her, staring at her as if he couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t see that his words made make perfect sense. But they didn’t. She had questions. “When did you realize that you loved me?”

  He leaned back in the chair and smiled, as if he was actually remembering the moment. “I think I fell for you the moment you opened the door to me that first time. But I only realized my feelings for you for what they were the night we made love. And I knew for certain that day we spent together at the zoo.”

  She was pretty sure she had fallen in love with him that first day as well. Although she’d spent most of her life trying to avoid being vulnerable to love again, but had to admit, that day at the zoo had been a turning point for her, too. “But you never told me.”

  “I know. I was assuming that you would know the way I felt every time we made love. Because it was love, not sexual desire, that was driving my passion for you, Sebrina.”

  “But we’ve never even gone out on a real date.”

  “We’ve gone a lot places together. It didn’t matter to me if we called them dates or outings. All I know is that the more time I spent with you, the harder I fell.”

  Outings. She’d insisted on that word, because she hadn’t wanted the scandal of a broken affair with him when he eventually packed up and left town without her. She hadn’t wanted to risk her heart getting broken a second time. “But…but I thought I was just another woman you slept with.”

  “No, Sebrina. You were never that. When we were together in bed, it wasn’t sex. It was love.”

  Shivers rushed through her, thinking of those times. “I didn’t know,” she said softly, still trying to believe this was happening.

  He stood and she watched as he crossed the room toward her, her heart kicked up a notch with every step he took. She scooted over, allowing him to sit down beside her. Then he turned to face her and took her hand in his. “I do love you, Sebrina. And if you accept my love, we can become a team. I want to be a part of your life, just like I want you to be a part of mine.”

  “And when you leave in a year?” she asked, holding his gaze.

  “I’m hoping you will go with me. But if you want to remain here, so will I.”

  She pulled back, shocked. “You will give up your dream for me? Your once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by Dr. McIntyre?”

  He smiled at her. “Loving you is the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I will cherish the most.”

  Suddenly, Sebrina couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. She wanted to swipe at them, but Parker was holding her hands. Seeing her dilemma, he leaned in and licked her tears away. And then he captured her mouth, and he began kissing her in a way that she could feel in every part of her body.

  He released her mouth and whispered against her moist lips, “I love you.”

  She stared into his blue eyes and whispered what she felt in her heart. “And I love you, too.”

  Seeing the flash of surprise on his face, she couldn’t help but grin. “I fell in love with you that first day, too.”

  “Oh, baby.” Standing, he gently pulled her up from the sofa, swept her into his arms and headed for his bedroom.

  Once there he placed her on his bed, in the perfect place to watch him strip off every stitch of his clothes. Then he stripped off hers. When he joined her on the bed, he kissed her again, and then their bodies connected in the most sensuous, most natural way. He was deep inside of her and when he began moving, thrusting in and out, stroking her desire as only he could, she finally knew what it felt like to be loved.

  When he whispered again that he loved her, something inside her snapped. At the same moment, she felt her climax peak, driving her almost over the edge. “Parker!”

  “Sebrina!”

  Nothing could be as real as this. Passion had taken over her senses as desire and need continued to push her towards the edge. Then Parker would snatch her back, they’d share another orgasm, and then they’d build back up again.

  This, this was love. And now that she knew it, she would never let him go again.

  A short while later, Parker pulled Sebrina closer and wrapped his arms around her. She was exhausted and so was he, but he had to tell her again, “I love you, sweetheart.”

  “And I love you.”

  He’d heard her response, although her voice was
weak. But that was fine. He now knew she loved him as much as he loved her, and that was all that mattered.

  “Parker?”

  “Umm?”

  “Did you actually tell your parents about me?”

  He smiled. “Yes, and they told me to tell you that they welcome you to the family.”

  She turned slowly and stared up at him. “Seriously?”

  He knew why she was asking. “Yes, seriously. I told you they’d changed. And when I saw them together this time, they were beaming. I’ve never seen them so happy.”

  “Why, do you think?”

  “They’re getting a divorce.”

  “What!”

  He laughed at the shocked look on her face. “Yes, they are getting a divorce…and they’re thrilled about it. In fact, they’re practically giddy. And I’m happy for them. After almost forty years of marriage, they finally decided to go their separate ways, and live their own lives. I believe they will always be friends, but they deserve to find that one person who’ll complete them.” He smiled. “They want me to be happy, too. And since you are the only woman who can make me that way, I guess I’m yours.”

  Smiling, she snuggled closer to him. “And I’ll keep you.”

  “What time do you have to be at the airport in the morning?” he asked.

  She grinned up at him. “Do you honestly think you’re getting rid of me now, Parker Stanhope? I’ll call both Dad and Mom to let them know something has come up.”

  “You’re going to miss spending Christmas with your family?”

  “I will be spending it with my family, here, now, with you. I’ll join the others at the family reunion the day after Christmas. Would you like to come with me?”

  He wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Baby, I wouldn’t miss it.”

  Then he leaned in and took her mouth once again.

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  MONICA SLOWLY OPENED HER eyes, then glanced at the clock on the hotel room nightstand. She’d overslept. It was already a little after nine in the morning. Before drifting off to sleep, she had intended to call the front desk for a seven o’clock wake up call. Oh well. There wasn’t much she could do about it now. She quickly eased out of bed and reached for the telephone, hoping Landon was still in his room.