by Jacki James
“What will we be doing?” he asked.
“I’m not telling. Also, don’t plan anything for the Saturday of the parade and tree lighting. We’ll be doing that, as well.
He rolled his eyes. “A deal is a deal, so I’ll go, but it sounds like a waste of a Saturday to me.”
“But it isn’t. The band will be there playing Christmas songs, and there’ll be hot chocolate and craft booths. All the art shops on the row will be open for Christmas shopping, and the floats are always fun. Then as soon as it starts to get slightly dusky, the mayor will flip the switch and that huge tree in the courthouse square will light up. It’s amazing.”
“I said I’ll go. You can stop trying to sell me on it,” he said with a laugh.
“You’ll see,” I insisted.
We finished up our breakfast and got started on the house. It did require a quick trip to the hardware store for a step-ladder since the large outside ladder was all he had, but Nico did that while I moved all the oversized ornaments to the living room. As soon as he got back, we were ready to start.
“Okay, the lights go on first. We’ll start at the top.” I handed him a strand of lights and climbed up on the step-ladder. “Hand me the end.”
He looked at it a minute and said, “There are plugs on both ends. Cool, that makes sense.” He handed it to me, and I began to wind the lights around, placing them where I wanted them.
“Okay, you move around the tree a little and let me hand you the strand,” I said once I was far enough down I couldn’t reach around the tree. “Just place them in the back like I’ve been doing.”
He took the strand and moved around the tree, taking his time to put the lights in until he made his way back around to me. His right hand held the lights in the tree, and he lifted his left to hand me the strand. I twisted at my waist and held out the opposite hand so he had to reach behind me to hand them to me. He lifted one eyebrow and I gave him a challenging smirk. He grinned at me and as he stretched to hand me the lights, he pressed his body against mine. I was at just the right height on the ladder for my butt to brush across his chest as he stretched to reach my hand. I grabbed the lights but now they were behind me.
“Now what’s your plan?” he asked, his body still pressed against mine.
“Plan?” I squeaked. He chuckled and took the lights and stepped back. My body swayed back toward him, and he placed his hand in the middle of my back to hold me in place.
“Whoa,” he said, but he left his hand there. He passed the lights back to me in the hand that I should have taken them in the first place, and I moved them in front of me. “Wouldn’t want you falling off the ladder here.”
I was facing away from him, but I grinned to myself. I wasn’t in any risk of falling off the ladder, but I didn’t see any reason to tell him that. The next time around, I moved lower on the ladder, but before he handed me the lights, he still stepped up behind me. One more time around, and I had to step down on the ground and sadly, the moment was over. We started at the bottom hanging the large decorations, and when I went back up the ladder to hang them, he didn’t step behind me but handed me the ornaments as I asked for them. When the tree was done, I stepped back and watched while he plugged in the lights.
“Oh, Nico, it’s beautiful.” And it was. It was perfect for this room. I centered a table runner on the coffee table and placed a bowl with pretty, smaller ornaments that complimented the ones in the tree. I added a large glass cylinder with some glittery snow and pinecones on the side table, and then two large silk poinsettias holding back the white curtains that were already in the room finished it off.
“Wow, other than the tree, we didn’t put much in here, but it really looks nice,” Nico said.
“This is just the beginning. Wait until you see the dining room."
“Oh, by the way,” he said. “I meant to tell you something about the dining room. I know I told you I don’t use it much, but I just found out my family is coming for the holiday, so we’ll be using that room. Will that be a problem with what you have planned?”
“Not at all. I think that’s great.”
“What about your family, will they be here?”
“No, they live in Florida. They asked me to come, but I don’t want to leave Precious Petals for that long the first year I own it.” I glanced up at him and realized he looked worried, “But it’s all good. I have plenty of people here. It isn't the first Christmas I found a reason to stay.”
“Ahh, so Precious Petals is just a good excuse, then. I see how it is.”
“Well, honestly, I wouldn’t go either way since I just took over the shop, but yeah, it was extremely convenient this year.”
We spent the rest of the morning doing the tree in the study and then we stopped to eat. “How about if we run over to the diner for lunch?” I suggested. “It would do us good to get out of the house for a bit. This is going to be a marathon, not a race, and we made good progress this morning.”
“How’s this, we can run and get lunch if we can stop by the grocery store and pick up a few things I need. Then I’ll come home and make lasagna for us for dinner, and you can go put a few hours in at the flower shop. I don’t want your work to fall behind because you’re helping me.”
I stopped and looked at him. He wanted to make lasagna for me for dinner? No one had ever cooked me dinner before. Maybe Walker or Mikah when we were roommates, of course, but not someone who was interested me. He was interested in me, wasn’t he? The flirting this morning while decorating the tree wasn’t my imagination.
“Terry,” he said to get my attention.
“Yeah?”
“Dinner?”
“Sorry, of course. I would love to have dinner with you.”
“Great. Let’s go grab lunch and then on to the grocery store.”
Chapter 9
Nicolas
Seems Avana Springs was full of surprises. Not only was I able to find the cheese I needed to make the lasagna, but they even had a decent wine selection. I was able to get us something that would pair perfectly with our dinner. I was so excited to cook for someone.
I was cutting up my garlic and onions when my phone rang, and I saw that it was Kos. I answered it, turning it so I could see the screen while I cooked. “Hey, Kos. Shouldn’t you be working?”
“Me? Nope. See, my partner is taking some bizarre vacation so he can enjoy a holiday he hates.”
“Ha ha,” I responded dryly, using my knife to push the chopped garlic into the pan where I had the sausage browning.
“What are you cooking?”
“Lasagna. Terry is coming over for dinner tonight.”
“Oh man.” He groaned. “I love your lasagna.”
“Here’s hoping Terry does, too,” I said, tipping my wine glass at the screen.
“So why are we making the decorator dinner?”
“He isn’t a decorator, he’s a florist. And we’re making him dinner because I appreciate all that he has done to help me get ready for the house tour.”
“And?”
“And, I like him.” I shrugged. “So sue me.”
“Let’s see, he’s creative, he’s a business owner, he’s obviously a nice guy because he’s helping you with the house. He loves Christmas, and you said he has good friends. Nico, I don’t want to sue, I want to throw a party. It’s about time you like someone who isn’t an asshole.”
“I don’t always choose assholes,” I insisted.
“Seriously, don’t forget that I've known you since school. Do you need me to start naming names? Jacob was the first guy in a long time you’d dated who wasn’t an asshole, and he wasn’t a good fit for you at all.”
“Well, Terry isn’t an asshole and he’s nothing like Jacob, either. He’s a sweetheart. Now my sauce has to simmer for at least an hour before I can assemble the lasagna, so do you want to get a little work done while we wait?”
“You know, if it was anyone else, I would tease you about how you can go to the supermarke
t and they have these amazing things called jars. They’re full of sauce and all kinds of stuff, but your lasagna is so delicious I think it would be blasphemous to say such a thing.”
“I do make some damn good sauce. Now let’s talk about the problems you’ve had with the beta version.”
Kos and I worked for about an hour and a half and then we said goodbye. I put some water on to boil and placed my noodles in a flat dish. As soon as the water began to bubble, I poured it over the noodles in the dish and set the timer for thirty minutes. That softened the noodles enough to layer them properly but didn’t cook them enough that they would get gummy while it baked. The timer went off and I layered the noodles, sauce, ricotta cheese, sliced fresh mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese. I slid it in the oven and set the timer. Terry should be back just as it was ready to come out of the oven. I prepared us a salad out of fresh vegetables I was able to get at the store earlier that day.
I grabbed a cup of coffee and went to sit in the great room. I let my mind wander back to this morning while we were decorating the trees. We’d definitely been flirting, and I thought we were on the same page. It was hard to tell sometimes, but I was hoping he’d agree to stay the night. I’d wanted him, from the first moment I saw him, but that didn’t mean that he felt the same. Maybe he was coming over for a home-cooked meal and to plan more decorating. I didn’t think so, though.
The oven timer went off and I went and checked the lasagna. It looked amazing. I prepared some garlic bread and had it ready to slide in just as the doorbell rang. I opened the door and Terry stood there smiling.
“Hey,” he said. “Hope I’m not late.”
“Nope, right on time. I just put the garlic bread in, so we should be ready to eat in a few minutes.”
He followed me into the kitchen where the pan of food I had just taken out sat on the stove. He walked up to it and peeked under the foil I’d covered it with. “Oh man, that smells amazing.”
I stepped right up behind him and ran my nose up the back of his neck. He shivered but didn’t move away. “Something sure smells good,” I said, leaning into him, and he leaned back against me just a little, but the timer on the oven went off. Darn! The garlic bread only had to cook for a few minutes.
He stepped back so I could open the oven and I removed the garlic bread. “Can I help with anything?” he asked.
“You can grab the salad out of the fridge if you want. I’ll get everything else to the table.” I’d already set the table, so all I had to do was take over the food.
I’d worried about what we would talk about, but once we started eating, the conversation came easy.
“Nico, this is amazing food. Where did you learn to cook?”
“Honestly, from watching cooking shows, first on television and then on videos. The internet is pretty much an endless source of information.”
“True, I’ve never used it to learn to cook, though. I can bake but don’t cook meals very often.”
“What do you eat, then?” I asked.
“I usually eat at the diner before I go home since it’s right near the shop.”
“The food there is good, but I would get hungry for home-cooked meals. It does get old cooking for one though, so I’m glad you came over.”
“Me too.” He grinned and took a bite of the food. “It’s amazing.” We finished eating and took our plates to the kitchen. “At least let me help clean up.”
“No way, you’re a guest. But I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie? If you want to, you could make some popcorn in the microwave and get us a couple of drinks.”
“Oh, I love movies. What are we going to watch?” he asked.
“I don’t know, we can see what we find. The popcorn is in that cabinet over there,” I said, pointing. “And you’ll find a big bowl in the cabinet by the fridge.”
I loaded the dishes and put the food away while he made the popcorn. We took the bowl and a couple of sodas to the couch in the great room. I sat down on one end. Terry hesitated for just a moment and I patted the couch beside me. “You only filled one bowl with popcorn, so we have to share.”
He grinned at me. “Oops, guess you’re right,” he said, taking a seat next to me.
We selected an action movie and I turned it on. I put my arm around him and pulled him close. He fit perfectly against me, like he was made to be there. We watched the movie for a while, but I noticed he kept sneaking glances at me when he thought I wasn’t looking.
Eventually, I’d had as much of his body pressed against me as I could take and shifted him to face me. I cupped his cheek with my hand and guided his mouth to mine. I started out easy to give him a chance to pull back, but the second our mouths met, all thoughts of taking it slow disappeared. He pressed his body to mine, and I deepened the kiss. “Nico. I want you.”
I slid my hand up under his shirt feeling his soft, warm skin against my palm. “I want you, too. Let’s move this to the bedroom.”
“Hmm,” he hummed, kissing me again. I pulled back and took his hand and led him through the door into my room. We stopped by the bed and I pushed his shirt up over his head. He raised his arms so I could remove it. I dropped it on the ground and then took mine off, as well.
I reached for his pants, freeing his erection and stroking him. “Please tell me you top,” I said, swiping my thumb through the precum that was already leaking from his hard cock.
“Sometimes. I’m verse, but I usually bottom,” he said with a moan. “You?”
“I’m verse too, but most of the time guys expect me to top; but Terry, I really want you to fuck me.”
He pulled my mouth to his and kissed me deeply, turning us so that the back of my knees hit the bed. With a small push, I was on the bed. He slid my pants down over my hips and I lifted up so he could pull them down. Once they were gone, he took his off and slid his naked body over mine. He brushed kisses along my jaw to my neck. “Fuck yes,” I moaned as I tilted my head to the side to give him better access.
“I suppose I could go first,” he said with a grin, pulling back.
“First,” I said. “Yeah, I like the sound of that.”
“Lube and condoms?” he asked.
I rolled to my side and got what we needed from the drawer, handing them to him. He placed them on the side of the bed beside him and slid down so that he sat between my thighs. He trailed his fingers down my abdomen, and then I watched as he spread my thighs, leaned down and took me in his mouth. He licked and sucked the head as he teased my balls. My breath whooshed out as he took my length inch by inch to the back of his throat and swallowed.
“Oh my god.” I fought the urge to thrust up, wanting desperately to fuck his mouth. He pulled off, and with a wicked smile, grabbed the lube and coated his fingers.
“It’s been awhile,” I said.
“Has it?” he asked as he brushed his fingers over my hole and teased the rim. He leaned back down licking my cock. He stroked it with one hand as he slid a finger inside my hole with the other.
“Yes.” I groaned, thrusting against his finger wanting more. It has been so long since anyone had been inside me. He continued to suck on the head of my cock while he stroked me, and the combination of that along with his fingers moving in and out of my body was almost more than I could take as I desperately moved against them. I whimpered as he pulled them out. He rolled a condom on and then moved back up my body to cover my mouth with his. I kissed him desperately. “Please, Terry, I’m so empty,” I begged.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” he said. If I’d had time to think about it, I might have been embarrassed by my desperation, but in that moment, my need was so great that nothing else mattered.
He poised himself at my entrance and then slowly slid into me, sinking deep until I was full. He paused there waiting for me to adjust. When I lifted my hips, pushing him even deeper inside of me, he groaned and began to move.
I met him thrust for thrust. It had been so long, I’d forgotten how much I loved the feel of
someone moving in and out of my body. He shifted slightly and grazed my prostate and it was like fireworks went off in my brain. “Yes, right there!” I yelled. “Just like that.” I arched my back, moaning as each thrust brought me closer to release.
“I’m going to come,” Terry said, speeding up his thrusts. I wrapped my hand around my cock and with just a few tugs, my orgasm surged through me as cum covered my hand.
His movements became erratic as he emptied himself into the condom. His movements slowed and I reached for him, pulling him to me. He let his body go slack and melted into me, and I held on tight until both our breathing returned to normal.
“Fuck, Nico,” he said into the crook of my neck. I squeezed him a little tighter.
“I know, baby,” I said, rubbing soothing circles on his back. I’d been so lost in my own need I hadn’t been aware of his reaction until now. I could still feel the tremors moving through his body.
“That was… wow.”
I chuckled and said, “Yeah, it was.” He rolled off me to the side and I ran my hand down his side. “Be right back.”
I went to the bathroom and wet a cloth with warm water. I cleaned myself up and then brought one to him. With that done and the condom disposed of, I wrapped him in my arms.
He snuggled in and released a content sigh and then said, “I know I said I would go first, but I don’t think I can move for there to be a second time.”
I laughed and pulled him closer. “I know I can’t. I’m pretty sure you short-circuited my brain.”
“Well, hopefully we’ll both survive, and you can return the favor at a later date.”
“Oh, you can count on it, but like you said, not tonight.” I grabbed the covers and pulled them up over us.
Chapter 10
Terry
We got up that morning and had a lazy breakfast. I’d worried things would be awkward. I’d had that experience before where you slept with someone and then it got all weird, but that didn’t happen with us. I really needed to work at least the morning at the flower shop. We decided I would go to work, he could try to get some of his own work done, and then this afternoon would be mine to do fun Christmas stuff. I was taking off all day the next day to finish up his house, so I didn’t feel bad at all about subjecting him to some Christmas cheer this afternoon.
