An O’Brien Family Christmas

by Sherryl Woods

  And he was more than ready to go for broke, to stake his claim for the future he wanted with her. He’d cleared the last hurdle earlier when he’d talked to Mick about having Jaime take over the on-site management for the Florida project. He had the rest of the plan all worked out in his head, kept going over it even as the carols reverberated in the old church and the priest’s words echoed. As he gazed around the candlelit interior, he couldn’t help imagining Laila walking down the center aisle toward him. Lost in the images, he hoped God would forgive him for his lack of attentiveness just this once, and asked His blessing for what he had planned for later.

  By the end of the service he should have been jittery with nerves, but he was suddenly calm and eager to take this next step in his relationship with Laila.

  As they left the church amid wishes for a happy Christmas from complete strangers, Gram, his parents, Mick and Megan left for the hotel in the car Mick had arranged for them. The rest of them chose to walk back through the now-deserted streets, past darkened shops lit only by Christmas lights twinkling in the windows. Shanna had remained at the hotel with the smallest children, but Caitlyn, Carrie, Henry and Davy were practically bouncing with excitement, and chattering about everything they hoped Santa would leave for them.

  Eventually Matthew fell into step beside Laila. A warning glance at Jess had her and Will quickly moving on, leaving the two of them to straggle along alone behind all the others. The sounds of the children’s high-pitched voices faded.

  Apparently aware of the look he’d cast at Jess and the increasing distance between themselves and the rest of the family, Laila regarded him with suspicion. “What’s up with that scowl you gave Jess and Will, Matthew? No holiday spirit?”

  “My holiday spirit is just fine,” he said, considering it a bad sign that her mood had darkened and she’d already managed to put him on the defensive. “I thought maybe we could take a walk around the park. I’m not ready for bed just yet. How about you?”

  She didn’t seem impressed by the suggestion. “It’s practically the middle of the night and you want to go for a stroll?”

  “It’s not as if we haven’t walked around Chesapeake Shores at this hour,” he reminded her. “Of course, on those occasions, you’d just scrambled out of my bed to make it safely home in the dark of night so no one would guess we were sleeping together.”

  She had the grace to wince at the reminder. “I know it seemed foolish and probably even demeaning to you, but I thought it was prudent. I’ve told you before that I’m sorry.”

  He realized this conversation was heading in the wrong direction fast. “No point in rehashing all of that,” he said quickly. “What’s done is done. It’s time to move forward.”

  She studied him curiously. “What exactly are you proposing?”

  Matthew fought a smile at her choice of words. He gestured toward a bench on the fringe of the park. “Sit here and I’ll explain.”

  “Matthew, haven’t you noticed that it’s freezing out here? The temperature must have dropped twenty degrees since we left for church.”

  “If you’ll just cooperate, this won’t take that long,” he retorted with exasperation.

  “Cooperate how?” she asked testily.

  Given how badly this seemed to be going, he wondered if he should reconsider, but he didn’t want to give up just yet on the plan he’d envisioned.

  “By not asking so many questions, for starters,” he said with a touch of impatience. “For once can’t you just take it on faith that what I have to say is important?”

  It suddenly seemed to dawn on her what was going on. Eyes wide, she dutifully sat on the edge of the bench.

  Matthew stood in front of her, his expression solemn as he prepared to get down on one knee. He’d hoped for a little moonlight to set the scene, but clouds seemed to have filled the sky and blocked it.

  And then the rain began to fall. Not just a light drizzle, but a deluge. He could talk fast or risk pneumonia for both of them. Apparently this proposal of his wasn’t meant to go smoothly or to be half as romantic as he’d intended. That was either a challenge or an omen. He preferred to think of it as the former.

  “Never mind,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Let’s make a dash for it before we’re soaked through. We’ll finish this at the hotel.”

  Though they both had long legs and a powerful motivation, there was no way to escape being soaked to the skin by the time they reached the lobby.

  “Gee, that was fun,” Laila said, laughing as they ran, dripping, past the horrified doorman and straight to the elevators.

  When the elevator reached Laila’s floor, Matthew exited with her and went straight to her room, then held out his hand for the key card.

  “Tonight, with both of us looking like drowned rats, you want to come in?” she said, regarding him incredulously.

  “We haven’t finished talking,” he said stubbornly, determined not to let a downpour steal this opportunity from him.

  “Don’t you want to dry off first?”

  “I’ll do that in your room,” he said. “This place has plenty of towels on hand. I’m sure you can spare one for me.”

  She frowned but didn’t argue. “I get the shower first,” she declared instead.

  Since those were the first promising words out of her mouth in a while, he nodded. “It’s only fair,” he said agreeably.

  Inside, she tossed him a towel, then gulped as he immediately began stripping off his wet clothes. He glanced up and saw her throat working. “Something bothering you?” he asked.

  Her cheeks flushed. “It’s not that I’m not appreciative of the show, but what do you think you’re doing?”

  “Drying off,” he said simply. “You should be, too.” He noticed then that she didn’t seem to be looking away. In fact, her gaze seemed to be pretty intense. It was yet another positive sign, and after weeks of abstinence, he was ready to seize such signs whenever they appeared.

  “Laila? Are you sure there’s not something on your mind?” He could only pray it was the same thing that was on his. The whole proposal plan had been wiped out by the sudden urgency of his desire to get her into that king-size bed across the room. All of the reasons that had been holding them back suddenly seemed unimportant.

  “This is a really bad idea,” she murmured, mostly to herself.

  “This?”

  “You and I getting naked in the same room,” she said, though there was no mistaking the desire darkening her eyes.

  His lips curved. “Seems to me as if it’s the best idea either of us has had in a long time,” he contradicted. “Let me help you with those wet clothes.”

  She shook her head, even as her gaze locked with his and she stepped forward, almost within reach.

  “I’m getting mixed signals here,” he told her, even as he began to close the distance between them.

  “Believe me, I know,” she said, shedding her coat to pool at her feet.

  He waited, breath held, to make sure he wasn’t mistaking her intentions. Her blouse and skirt followed until she was standing before him in only a lacy bra and matching panties that left most of her amazing body in full view.

  Hand shaking, he touched the tip of her breast, felt the nipple immediately harden. He closed his eyes as a powerful, familiar need ripped through him.

  “If you don’t want this, Laila, you need to say so now.”

  “You’re the one who’s been saying no repeatedly,” she reminded him with a slight curve of her lips.

  “I’ve reconsidered.”

  “I’m glad,” she said softly.

  Without so much as a second’s hesitation, she closed the remaining distance between them, linked her fingers behind his neck and lifted her mouth to his. The kiss was long, greedy and hot, an unmistakable invitation.

  Thank goodness.

  He might have to put his proposal on hold till morning, if the night went the way he was anticipating, but this was the kind of delay he could get totally be
hind.

  14

  “Happy Christmas,” Laila murmured into Matthew’s ear just after dawn on Christmas morning.

  “Happy doesn’t begin to describe it,” he said, smiling.

  “Don’t be smug. We’ve always known that this isn’t the problem between us.”

  “There are no problems between us,” he corrected. “Just way too much outside interference.”

  She chuckled. “I wonder if my parents would like being referred to as outside interference.”

  “It would probably make them nuts,” Matthew conceded. “But they’re not here right now. I say we should make the most of it.”

  Laila moaned softly. “I’m not sure I have the stamina left for that. Besides, we’re probably expected downstairs. Given how excited the kids were last night, they probably haven’t slept a wink. They’re going to want to open presents soon.”

  “This is more important,” Matthew told her. He sat up, plumped up the piles of down pillows, then pulled her up next to him. “Remember that talk I wanted to have last night?”

  “The one that almost got us drowned?” she said, amusement threading through her voice. “I remember.”

  “I planned to have it here once we’d dried off, but then someone distracted me,” he reminded her.

  “You were the one who stripped off his clothes,” she countered.

  “Can’t deny that,” he agreed. “And here I go getting distracted again.”

  “I could probably keep your attention focused on me for quite a while,” she teased.

  “Stamina,” he reminded her. “You said I’d worn you out. Believe me when I tell you that this is all about you. Now, will you please focus?”

  She made an exaggerated show of glancing at her wrist, though her watch was on the bedside table. “Two minutes, pal. Talk fast. Something tells me little O’Brien people are going to be stirring any minute, and we’ll have that command performance downstairs.”

  Matthew gave her an exasperated look. “Pour on the pressure, why don’t you? Okay, here it is in the condensed, but no less heartfelt, version. Are you ready?”

  Her pulse scrambled, and her heart thundered in her chest. Unable to speak around the sudden lump in her throat, she nodded. This was it. No more joking around. She looked into his eyes, saw the love shining there and knew without a doubt that this was the moment she’d been awaiting far longer than a few days.

  He brushed a curl from her cheek, his gaze tender. “I love you, Laila Riley. There’s no news there. You’re the most complicated, challenging, unpredictable woman I know, and I want to spend the rest of my life trying to unravel all of your mysteries. I refuse to do that in secret, so I’m asking you here and now to marry me, to tell the entire world how much we love each other.”

  She was about to speak when he touched a finger to her lips. “Hear me out,” he insisted. “I want to get married right here, right now, before we leave Ireland, while we’re surrounded by family. I can’t imagine a better way to end this trip or a more important way to make the statement to the entire world that we’re going home to start a new life together.”

  Laila couldn’t seem to wrap her head around what he was saying. In essence she’d been expecting just this for days, but now that the proposal was on the table, the magnitude of what he was asking had left her speechless. She heard the words, understood what he wanted, but on some level it still made no sense to her.

  Matthew did flings, not forever. Of course, she couldn’t recall the last time there’d been even a hint that there was another woman in his life, not even while they’d been apart. He seemed to have been faithful for a long time now, even without a commitment from her. If she loved him—and she did—she had no reason not to trust his words, not to take the leap of faith into their future.

  “You really do want to get married?” she asked, just to be sure. “Vows in front of a priest, the whole nine yards? You want to be with me forever?”

  “Yes,” he said solemnly, though there was the faintest hint that he was fighting a smile. “That can’t come as a huge surprise. You must have been expecting this ever since the family let the cat out of the bag days ago.”

  “I know, I know, but I need to be sure this isn’t just some in-your-face game you’re playing to make my father even crazier. This is just about you and me, our future?”

  “Believe me, your father has nothing to do with this. Did you miss the part when I said I love you?” He reached for his pants, then pulled a box out of the pocket. “Maybe this will convince you I’m serious.”

  He flipped open the box to reveal an impressive diamond engagement ring. Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding me! Will I even be able to lift my hand?”

  “Let’s put it on and see,” he suggested, clearly not taking offense.

  When he reached for her hand, she snatched it away. She got out of bed, tugged the sheet off the bed, wrapped herself in it and began to pace, trying to work through her emotions. She thought she’d done that ages ago when she’d first heard about this crazy scheme for them to marry in Ireland, had even believed she’d been ready to plunge in without a single second thought. Why was she hesitating now?

  Certainly her heart was shouting an emphatic yes. But the well-trained part of her that reacted calmly and rationally was telling her to take a step back, to go over that mental list of cons she always had in her head. The Laila Riley she’d always thought she was did not take a step of this magnitude without studying it from every angle. If there’d been a way to make spreadsheets for such things, she would have done it.

  The Laila Riley she’d seen through Matthew’s eyes, however, took chances, trusted her heart. Just as Nell had encouraged her to do, she remembered, with the beginnings of a smile.

  Matthew’s gaze never once faltered. He actually seemed to understand the struggle she was waging with herself. Wasn’t that one of the best things about him, that he truly understood her?

  “Laila, do you love me?” he asked quietly, reducing things to the absolute basics.

  “Yes,” she responded without reservation.

  This time he didn’t even try to stop his smile. “Okay, then. Let’s make it official. Let’s be spontaneous and unpredictable.”

  She gave him a wry look. “It’s hardly spontaneous and unpredictable with half your family making plans behind my back.”

  “Okay, I think there may be a few bridal gowns on hold, and Gram has spoken to the priest at the church we attended last night and looked into a special license. I think the path has been cleared. The real question is, do you want to marry me? And are you ready to do it now?”

  Even though she’d known about this for days, it was all happening too fast. She swallowed hard. “How soon?”

  “Tomorrow,” he suggested. “The next day.”

  “Matthew, not even your extraordinary family can pull together a wedding that quickly,” she protested.

  “They think they can. I see no reason to start doubting them now. And if you want your folks to be here, you can call and invite them. Or Trace will speak to them. He’s promised to do whatever it takes to get them over here. I’ll even do the formal thing and request your father’s permission to marry you, if you’d like me to.”

  She was surprised by his willingness to reach out. “You’d do that after the way he’s behaved toward us?”

  He held her gaze. “If it will make you happy, maybe help to mend fences, there’s nothing I won’t do.” He studied her solemnly. “What’s really holding you back? Did you want the big hoopla at home? If that’s been your dream, then we’ll go that route. Whatever you want.”

  “It’s not that,” she assured him. “Getting married here would be the most romantic thing I can imagine. And I loved that church last night. Any wedding there would be like something out of a storybook.”

  “Then what’s holding you back?”

  Before she could respond to that, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was the ver
y man who’d been such a thorn in their sides.

  “It’s my father,” she told Matthew, reaching for the phone. She drew in a deep breath and braced herself to take the call. “Dad? Merry Christmas!”

  “It’s not much of a Christmas with you and Trace all the way across the ocean,” he grumbled.

  Laila didn’t respond. She wasn’t going to start an argument, but she was prepared for one. The ball was in her father’s court.

  “You there, Laila?”

  “I’m here.”

  “I’ve had a lot of time to think lately,” he began. “And to listen to your mother and your brother, who’ve had plenty to say about my hardheadedness.”

  “I see.”

  “I think perhaps I was a little hasty in letting you quit your job without fighting to change your mind. You were doing a good job at the bank.”

  Laila felt the tightness in her chest ease at the admission. “I appreciate that, Dad.”

  “Well, since you’ve come to your senses and ended that unfortunate business with Matthew, I’d like you to come back to work as soon as you get home. We’ll find a way to get past all this nonsense and reassure people you’re a sensible woman.”

  She should have been elated by the offer. But the string attached was huge enough to choke her. He assumed she was through with Matthew, when the opposite was true. And if that made her less than sensible in his view, well, so be it.

  “Dad, who gave you the idea that Matthew and I are through?”

  “Your brother assured me before you left for Ireland that was the case.”

  “Well, he was wrong,” she said softly. “So if that’s one of the conditions, then the answer has to be no.”

  She heard him suck in his breath. “Girl, have you lost your mind?” he demanded. “I can’t have the entire town laughing at you behind your back for getting involved with a man who’ll only wind up leaving you for another woman in a few weeks or a few months. It’s what Matthew does. To say nothing of the fact that it makes you look like one of those jaguars or cougars, or whatever they call older women who go after younger men.”