by Jaci Burton
"Come on, Drew. She's my sister."
"And well over twenty-one, and more than capable of making decisions about who she shares a bed with. It's not like she's a kid anymore, Gray. You need to let this one go."
"It's a rule, man. You never mess with a friend's little sister. You broke the cardinal rule of friendship."
"That was a rule set up when we were nineteen." Though no way was Drew going to mention he had, in fact, broken that rule back in college. Gray would never forgive him.
"It's one that still holds true."
Drew took a couple long swallows of coffee. After not enough sleep last night, he wasn't ready to fight this battle with his best friend. "Come on. Are you saying I'm not good enough for her?"
Gray paced. "No. That's not what I mean at all. But I know your lifestyle. I know you go through women as often as you change socks. I don't want Carolina to be hurt."
"And I don't want to hurt her. It's not like that."
Gray let out a short laugh. "Right. I'm sure you say that about all the women you sleep with, then dump."
"You need to stay clear of this one, buddy. My relationship with Carolina is my business, and hers. Not yours."
Drew knew right away it was the wrong thing to say. The look Gray leveled at him was not one of friend to friend. It was big brother looking out for little sister.
"My sister's happiness is always going to be my business. And if I think she's seeing the wrong guy, I'm going to step in."
Immediately defensive, Drew stepped forward. "Since when am I the wrong guy?"
"Okay, enough of this."
Drew looked over at the doorway where Carolina had walked in. Instead of coming toward him, though, she went to Gray and put her arms around him for a hug.
"Merry Christmas."
Gray hugged her back. "Merry Christmas to you, too."
Then she came over to Drew, and gave him the same innocuous hug. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Lina."
Gray shot him another one of those looks that could kill. Tough.
Carolina grabbed a cup and the teapot and started to make tea. Then she turned to face her brother. "I'm an adult. This is my life, and I get to make the decisions about what--and who--is right for me. While I appreciate you being protective, Gray, you being irate about me sleeping with Drew is out-of-bounds. He's your friend, and I don't want your friendship with Drew strained over this. If this goes wrong and I get hurt, that's on me. I'm in this willingly and with my eyes open. Got that?"
Gray looked at Carolina for a long minute, then his shoulders finally relaxed. "I guess. But you know I'm always going to watch out for you."
"I understand and I appreciate it. And if Evelyn had had big brothers who would have been unhappy about you sleeping with her, what would you have said to them?"
Gray looked at her for a minute, then shrugged. "I'd have probably told them to fuck off, because my relationship with Evelyn was nobody's business but the two of us."
Carolina stared at him.
"Okay, point taken." Gray looked over at Drew. "Sorry for flying off the handle."
"It's okay," Drew said. "And Merry Christmas."
Gray laughed. "Back at you."
"And can we please not mention this to Mom and Dad? I've had enough drama this morning. I'd like to keep my relationship with Drew under wraps for the time being."
"Why?" Gray asked.
"Because it's new. And you know how Mom is about stuff like this. Just me seeing a guy will have her so excited she'll be picking out china patterns for us."
"Okay, you have a point. I won't say a word. How about Evelyn?"
"I'll . . . mention it to Evelyn," Carolina said, and then slid her glance to Drew, which gave Drew the impression that Evelyn probably already knew.
Given that women talked to each other about relationships all the time, that didn't surprise him. Or bother him.
"Now that that's settled, I'm going to make some tea and try to wake up the normal way."
It wasn't long before Gray and Carolina's parents came back from their walk, and Evelyn came downstairs. Then there was a flurry of activity and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. They had breakfast, then everyone gathered in the family room to open gifts.
Drew settled back to watch the family open their gifts, then was surprised when Mrs. Preston handed one to him.
"For me?"
She smiled at him. "Of course."
He opened it up, and there was a framed photograph of him scoring a goal in a game against New Jersey. It was a great shot, too, with his stick in forward motion right at the net.
He stood and hugged her, then shook the vice president's hand. "Thank you for this. It means a lot to me."
"I'm so glad you like it," Mrs. Preston said.
Evelyn and Gray had given him something, too. A mug with a hockey stick that said, "I have a big, hard stick and I know what to do with it." He laughed out loud.
"This is perfect."
"Evelyn picked it out," Gray said.
Evelyn grinned. "It seemed appropriate for you."
When Gray gave her a look, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "That's not at all what I meant."
And then everyone laughed.
He'd brought gifts for all of them, too, though considering what went down this morning, he wasn't sure the gift he'd gotten for Carolina was going to go over all that well with Gray. But he'd found it and he thought it suited her, so he handed it to her.
She was sitting on the floor in front of the tree, so while everyone else was busy, he sat next to her and handed her the box.
She looked up at him. "You got me a gift?"
"Yeah. It's nothing special."
She opened the box. Inside, a single silver chain. He wasn't even sure she'd like it since she typically wore no jewelry.
He leaned in closer. "I know you don't wear jewelry, but I love your neck, and when I saw this, I pictured it around your throat."
Carolina took a deep breath and fingered the chain in the box. She lifted her gaze to his. "It's lovely. It's perfect. Thank you."
She pulled the chain out, then lifted her hair. "Would you mind?"
He undid the clasp, then fastened the chain around her neck. He leaned in and whispered to her. "Now, when you wear it, you can think about me."
She turned to face him. "I really want to kiss you right now."
But her gaze drifted, and Drew looked to see Gray staring at them. "Later."
She reached under the tree and handed him a box. "This is for you."
He opened the box and inside was a pair of boxer briefs with the Carolina Designs logo.
"My first pair. And a part of me that I want touching you," she said, her voice low and soft.
He smiled at her. "Believe me, I'll definitely be thinking about you when I'm wearing them. Thank you."
"And that's what I wanted to talk to you about. A photo shoot for the underwear line. On the ice."
He cocked a brow. "What? You want to make my balls shrivel up like walnuts?"
She laughed. "I haven't even mentioned making it look like you're sweating, so we'd have to pour water over you."
He rolled his eyes. "There are ways to make me actually sweat, you know."
"Obviously we're going to have to talk about this another time."
"Obviously."
After they finished opening gifts, everyone dressed for church. Drew wasn't much of a churchgoer, though he typically went with his parents on Christmas, so it was fine going with the Preston family.
The media was in attendance again today, and the church was packed. He sat next to Carolina, trying not to hold her hand as they listened to the minister talk about new beginnings.
A lot like Carolina and him. Their relationship had started out as a disaster, and she'd harbored a grudge for a long time. But the ice between them had slowly been melting. So maybe this was a new beginning for them. He'd enjoyed spending the holiday
with her and her family, and, despite Gray's misgivings, he thought he was good for her. She worked too hard, and the one thing Drew liked to do was take some time to relax and play.
Even Gray had to see the benefit in that, and maybe before he left tonight he needed to have another conversation with Gray and talk about the good things he could bring to a relationship with Carolina.
After church and more media time, they headed back to the house, where the staff had cooked up an amazing turkey dinner.
Drew's eyes bugged out at all the food. Turkey, ham, and more side dishes than he could put on his plate.
And then there was wine.
"When's your next game, Drew?" the vice president asked.
"Monday. But I head back tomorrow for practice."
Mitchell Preston nodded. "As do I. Not for practice, of course, but there's a lot to be done and the time off is always brief."
"Unfortunately," Mrs. Preston said, laying her hand on her husband's arm.
"At least we'll have a little more time off for New Year's," Mr. Preston said.
"Will you be back here?" Drew asked.
The vice president shook his head. "No, we'll be taking in New Year's in D.C. Gray, will you and Evelyn be there?"
Gray shook his head. "We're heading to the house in Daytona for New Year's Eve. Some alone time for the two of us."
Evelyn smiled at Gray.
Mrs. Preston nodded. "Understandable. You two don't get nearly enough of that, and soon enough Gray will be gearing up for racing season to start again."
Evelyn sighed. "That's true. And it seems as if it just ended."
"But we still have time before that revs up in full, so we'll take advantage while we can."
"And speaking of those wedding plans . . ."
Evelyn looked at Mrs. Preston. "We're working on it."
"And yes, Mom, we're working on setting a date. Just haven't pinned one down yet," Gray said.
"As busy as both of you are, I want that to happen sooner rather than later. How will I ever get grandchildren?"
"We're practicing for that," Gray said.
The vice president laughed and Mrs. Preston shook her head.
"I promise, Mom. We're getting married next year."
She frowned. "That doesn't give me much time."
"Oh, please. Loretta Preston can put together a wedding in a month if she needs to. You're a woman who makes things happen."
Drew listened to all this back-and-forth with a smile on his face. He'd always liked Gray's mom, and having Gray and his dad get along so well had to be such a relief for Gray. All through college there had been such tension between them.
Now his life was settled. He had a woman he loved and his family was whole again. He was happy and in love and looking forward to a secure future.
In the meantime, Drew had spent a lot of years wandering aimlessly, dating women who definitely weren't the settling-down type.
Until . . . recently.
Though Carolina wasn't ready to settle down, not with what she had going on in her life right now.
He shifted his gaze toward her. She was smiling as she listened to Gray and Evelyn talk wedding plans. He wondered what she thought about that, about where her life was. Did she even compare them, or was she satisfied and thinking only about her fashion line?
He knew it was her priority, that her career was the number one thing in her life.
And where did he fit into all that?
Maybe he didn't fit in at all, and he was just someone she fucked to ease the tension.
He sure as hell had used women in his past to ease the tension from his job, and then thought nothing about letting them go.
Why did he even care? They were just having fun, right?
*
AFTER LUNCH, CAROLINA TOOK HER GIFTS UP TO HER room, needing a few minutes of quiet time. It had been nonstop motion after rocketing out of bed this morning.
She needed to pack. She'd head back to New York tomorrow morning, back to the frenetic pace of work and deadlines. This had been a relaxing interlude, and she was grateful to have been able to spend time with her family, because it would likely be the last bit of relaxation she'd have before Fashion Week.
She fingered the necklace Drew had given her. Such a surprise. He didn't seem the romantic type. She hadn't expected a gift from him at all, and if he had gotten her one, maybe a Travelers jersey or something. Nothing like this. She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
The necklace was simple. Nothing extravagant, and yet what she'd told him had been the truth.
It was perfect. She felt his touch burn into her skin even as she stared at the necklace.
Ridiculous. She no more belonged to him than he was hers. Drew saw a lot of women, and none of them on a long-term basis. And why would she even be interested in what he did? They were just having some fun. He was going to go back home, play hockey, and no doubt hit on other women, while she was going to head back to work and not have sex with anyone else. She'd gotten exactly what she wanted out of him--hot sex and tension relief.
But as she stared at the necklace, she wondered how Drew felt, if what was between them was more than just sex.
Right. Like it could ever be anything more than just sex.
"You're being such a girl, Carolina."
A soft knock at her bedroom door saved her from her ridiculous thoughts. She opened the door and smiled at Evelyn. "Hey, come on in."
"I thought you might be up here packing. Have you had enough of family time?"
She let Evelyn in, then shut the door behind her. "Actually, I've really enjoyed these past few days. I don't get to see Mom and Dad all that often, or you and Gray. Even less this past year since I decided to start working on creating a fashion line. So this has been nice. Really nice."
Evelyn took a seat in one of the chairs. "I'm glad. And I think so, too. Though Gray and I love to have time alone, he needed this time with his family, too."
"Until my mother brought up wedding planning?"
Evelyn drew her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around her legs. "Well, that isn't without its own set of complications."
"What's holding you two back? Unless it's none of my business."
"It's not that we don't want to get married. God, we really do. If Gray had his way he'd haul me down to the nearest courthouse and marry me tomorrow. And I'd be just fine with that."
"But my parents--and I'm sure your parents, too--want a big formal wedding."
"My parents don't really care, as long as I'm happy. But your father is the vice president now, and with that comes a certain amount of responsibility."
"Meaning there has to be the pomp and circumstance of Vice President Preston's only son having a formal wedding, as opposed to hopping a flight to Vegas and getting married at the Elvis Chapel?"
Evelyn laughed. "Something like that. But your mother is right in that we do need to speed up the timeline."
"Why?" When Evelyn didn't answer, Carolina frowned. Then it dawned on her. "Oh, my God, you're pregnant."
Evelyn nodded. "Just a little."
Carolina wanted to scream and grab Evelyn into a huge hug. Instead, she ran over and grabbed her hands. "I'm so incredibly excited for you. And honey, you can't be just a little pregnant. How far along are you?"
"I have no idea. Probably not too far. I was due to have my period before Christmas, and it didn't happen, so I ran out and bought a pregnancy test. Hard to do in nosy small towns, too, so I had to do it surreptitiously."
"Secret's going to come out in a hurry."
"I know."
"How did Gray take it?"
"Are you kidding? He's over-the-moon excited. I cried, he cried, and then we hugged. It was sloppy romantic."
"Awww." Tears pricked Carolina's eyes and she sat on the edge of the bed. "You're going to make me cry now. I'm going to be an aunt."
Evelyn sniffled. "I know. I'm so thrilled. And terrified about what hi
s parents are going to say. We're ruining everything."
"They aren't going to be angry. Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how long my mother has been waiting to be a grandmother? She'll be thrilled."
"But your father--and his stature as vice president."
Carolina waved her hand. "So you'll be a little pregnant when you walk down the aisle. I think the country can weather that small scandal. There are bigger fish to fry, like the deficit and foreign relations and the economy and the price of oil and--"
"Okay, okay, I get your point," Evelyn said.
"When are you telling Mom and Dad?"
"Today. I'm nervous."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I think this is something Gray and I have to do alone. I wanted to tell you first, though."
"Okay. If you change your mind and you need me, let me know. I'm here for you."
"Thanks."
"And speaking of things that need to be revealed . . ."
Evelyn gave her a look. "You're not pregnant, too, are you?"
Carolina laughed. "Uh, no. But did Gray tell you he walked into Drew's room this morning and found Drew and I in bed together?"
Evelyn's eyes widened. She planted her feet on the floor and leaned forward. "Oh, my God. He so did not tell me this. Was this before I got up this morning?"
"Yes. I fell asleep in Drew's room, and I guess Gray must have just opened the door to ask Drew to have coffee with him first thing this morning . . . and there I was."
Evelyn put her hands over her cheeks. "Oh, God, Carolina. Was he mad?"
"At first. You know, the whole overprotective-brother thing that we talked about. But then Drew talked to him, and I reminded him I wasn't sixteen years old anymore. I think he's all right."
Evelyn nodded. "I'll talk to him, too."
"You don't have to do that. You have enough on your plate to deal with."
"It's a long flight back to D.C. We'll have time to talk about things besides the baby." Evelyn stood. "Oh, God, I'm going to have a baby. How am I going to fit that into my life?"
Carolina came over and hugged her. "This is the life you wanted, the one you dreamed about. A husband and a family. You and Gray will make it work."
"You're right. We will make it work. As long as your father doesn't fire me."
Carolina laughed. "He's not going to fire you. He thinks of you as another daughter. He loves you."
"Wish me luck, then."
"You won't need it, but good luck."
Carolina finished packing, then went downstairs. It was quiet. No doubt Evelyn and Gray were somewhere having a conversation with her parents. She found Drew watching a basketball game on television. She fixed herself a cup of tea, then sat down beside him.
