Red Hot Christmas (Pride Series Romance Novels)

by Jill Sanders

  Chapter Seven

  Luke jumped when Amber knocked on his car window. She almost laughed, but then she got a look at his eyes and saw the weariness in his face. He ran his hands through his hair and opened his door and slowly got out. When he stood next to her, she realized he looked even more tired than she'd assumed.

  “What's wrong? You look like you could use a good night’s sleep.”

  “Yeah,” he rubbed his hands over his neck and looked up at the snow. “Any chance I could come in for a few minutes? It's kinda chilly out here.”

  “Really?” She gauged him and after a second’s hesitation, realized he wasn't trying to use this as an opportunity to hit on her. He looked too tired and beat down for that right at the moment.

  “Sure, I'll make us some hot chocolate.” He followed her quietly up the outside stairs. When they entered her apartment, she rushed over to turn up the thermostat. “This place takes less time to heat than my Jeep.” She tossed her keys down in the bowl by the door and hung her jacket up on the coat rack. She turned to look at him and saw that he stood just inside the door. He hadn't removed his coat and looked like he had no intention of doing so. “Want me to take your coat?” she hinted.

  “Huh? Oh, sure.” He removed his jacket and continued to stand in the same spot. “You finished unpacking. The place looks good.”

  She laughed. “How can you tell? I haven't turned on a light yet.” Hanging his jacket up next to hers, she walked over and flipped on the kitchen lights. The room was flooded with warm light.

  “Yeah, looks nice,” he said from his spot at the door.

  “Are you going to come all the way in or stand by the door all night?” She turned and walked into the small kitchen to start heating the water. “Make yourself at home,” she called out as she ran the water into the kettle. She listened, but couldn't hear anything from the next room.

  When she walked into the living room a few minutes later while she waited for the water to boil and saw him standing by her windows, looking out at the snow and the town.

  “It's a great town.” She stood beside him.

  “Yeah. I didn't always think so.” His hands were in his jean pockets, and he was wearing his MIT sweatshirt.

  “Oh yeah?” She turned and gave him her full attention. “Why?” she asked when he didn't say anything further.

  He turned and looked at her, then ran his hands over his face and walked over to the couch and sat down. “When I was eight I was in a bad car accident that killed both of my parents.” She gasped and walked over to sit next to him. “It took me a while to learn how to walk again. I'd broken both my legs and my collar bone. But the doctors got me back on my feet and shipped me off to some grandparents I'd never met. I was angry that first year. Angry that I'd lived while my parents had died. I guess I took it pretty hard and since my grandparents were the only people around, I ended up taking it out on them. But after a year of very hard labor helping my grandfather rebuild half the house, the anger finally settled down inside me.”

  She sat there and listened to his story, wondering what he was getting at, not knowing if she should just come right out and ask him what was wrong. But then the kettle whistled, and she went and made them hot chocolate. When she came back in, he hadn't moved a muscle.

  After taking a sip, he set it down on her coaster and continued with his story.

  “Actually, it was thanks to Iian and some of my other buddies that I finally started liking this place.” He chuckled. “I was really angry that the school didn't have a soccer team at the time. After school one day I spotted a few guys playing basketball, and got even madder. I remember walking over there thinking basketball was a wussy sport, and I'm sure I mouthed off a lot to the boys until, finally, they challenged me.” He laughed. “Naturally, I lost. I ended up walking home with a fat lip and a loose jaw thanks to how rough the other boys played.” He smiled over at her, and for the first time that night, she saw a sparkle in his eyes. “They still play that rough. Anyway, when I'd gotten home, my gran was there with a big batch of her brownies and it finally felt like home.”

  She reached over and took his hand. “She seems like a wonderful woman. Luke, is something wrong with your grandmother?”

  He looked down at their joined hands and nodded. “They didn't think it was the cancer coming back. All the blood work looked good, at first. But then they did a scan today.” He closed his eyes, and she could tell it was bad.

  “I'm so sorry.” She held his hand and wished she could take a little of his pain away.

  “They give her two months. That's it. That's all the time I have left with the most wonderful woman I've ever known.”

  She didn't realize a tear had escaped her eye until he reached up and wiped it away with his thumb.

  “I'm sorry. After dropping her back off at home, I just meant to go for a drive. Some of her friends were at the house and they were going to stay with her. Most likely some of them will live there for the next few months until...” He shook his head. “I drove up to the national park, a place I used to go that first year, when I was still mad. I thought that the anger would come back, like it did when my parents died, but instead I just felt... Anyway, instead of driving home, I ended up here.”

  “When was the last time you had a full night’s sleep?”

  He shook his head. “Aaron's been hounding me about it as well. I know I have to get my sleep. I plan on trying to get a full night of it after I leave here.”

  He picked up his cup and drank the rest of the lukewarm hot chocolate in one gulp.

  “I'm sorry to come over and dump on you like this. I guess I just needed a new ear. Most of my buddies have wives that would kill me if I showed up at their door at…” he looked at his watch and whistled. “Wow, I guess it's later than I thought. What are you doing coming home this late?”

  “I closed tonight. It's not that bad. When I lived in Portland, I usually got home when the sun was coming up.”

  He stood quickly. “Listen, I'm sure you want to get some rest yourself. Thank you for the hot chocolate and for listening to me ramble.”

  She stood and followed him to the door. When he opened it and started to walk out without his jacket, she pulled on his arm. “Luke?” He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her. The snow was falling in the background, the street light haloed around his head and for a second, she lost her train of thought. He was beautiful, and knowing that his heart was breaking for an old woman made him even more so.

  She took two steps and walked right into his arms, then stood on her toes and kissed his soft mouth.

  At that moment she didn't care that he was a man-child, or most likely going to be another big mistake in her ever growing list of mistakes. The only thing on her mind was the feel of his lips and the sexy masculine smell of him. His hands went to her hips, holding her steady. Then she pulled away and stepped back. Blinking a few times, she remembered her train of thought.

  “You don't want to leave without your coat.” Walking over, she took it off the hook and handed it to him.

  He smiled down at it. “If that's the way you remind people, I'll make sure to leave stuff here all the time.”

  She smiled. “Go home.” She pushed him playfully out the door. “Get some rest. Tell your grandmother I'll be praying for her.” His smile faded a little. “If you need anything, let me know.”

  He put on his jacket and nodded, then disappeared into the dark as the snow silently fell.

  The next few days were tough on Luke. His grandmother insisted that they continue with all their holiday arrangements, so he spent all day Saturday arranging and hanging Halloween decorations. It was almost two weeks away and every house on the block already looked ready to spook kids for that one night. The snow had come and gone in two days, leaving everything wet and muddy. He didn't mind, since his truck was built for mudding, another pastime he and Iian enjoyed together. This year, he doubted he'd take any time to head to the hills or the beach to enjoy
the fun.

  He stayed close to his gran's house, even though he'd been right and there were currently three women staying in the guest rooms. The Henderson sisters—Annie, Amber, and Andrea—looked exactly the same and were too hard for him to tell apart. The only one he could sometimes make out was Annie, since she was the shortest and thinnest of the three. He had no clue how to tell the other two apart. He did everything he could to avoid getting in their way, but he was determined to stick out the next few months with his gran. He wanted to be there for her; he needed to be there for her.

  He'd texted Iian and tried to back out of the weekly game, only to have Aaron show up on his door step an hour later. The doctor had the stern face down pat.

  “What's this all about?” Aaron stood under the deck as the rain pelted down. Luke could barely hear him, so he invited him inside, trying to usher him into the front room so his gran wouldn't hear.

  “I'm going to miss the games for the next few months. I think it's best if I stay close to home.”

  “Luke, you can't be here all the time. You need to get out, be with your friends.”

  “What I need is to be here for the one woman who gave up everything to take care of me.”

  “We both know that there is a schedule going around for the town women to sit with your grandmother. It's not like she's alone.”

  “She needs me right now. I can't just walk away from her.”

  “You need your own space, some time to blow off some steam.”

  “What I need is to be left alone.”

  He didn't mean to raise his voice, but he must have been louder than he'd thought. His grandmother walked into the room, her hands on her hips.

  “What are you two arguing about?”

  Both men turned to the frail woman, standing in the door. “Nothing.” Their heads hung and their eyes were on their shoes.

  “Luke?” She stood there quietly until he looked up and into her eyes.

  “Yes, ma’am?”

  “You'd better run along, or you'll be late for your game. Your gym bag is just inside the laundry room.” She turned to Aaron, efficiently dismissing Luke. “Aaron, how's that wife of yours. When is she due again?”

  Luke could hear them chatting as he went to retrieve his bag and basketball shoes. How had he been so lucky as to have a grandmother like that?

  Later, as he was wiping the sweat out of his eyes, he realized that Aaron had been right. Luke had needed to blow off some steam. He could feel the anxiety leave his body with every rapid heartbeat. If he played a little rougher than normal, the guys didn't complain about it. By the end of the game, he was covered in sweat and he felt more centered than before.

  He decided to shower in the lockers instead of heading home.

  Living in a house with four older women, no matter how large the place was, made him appreciate the younger of the species even more. These women were very meticulous about their daily routines. He knew his grandmother was a stickler, but seeing how the three sisters lived made him think that all women were the same.

  He wondered if Amber had a daily routine. What kind of good smelling stuff did she put all over that sexy little body each day to make her smell so good?

  After the game he stopped by the restaurant to check in on her. He knew her schedule by heart thanks to someone in the house posting a copy on his refrigerator door. He figured it was most likely his gran, since he already knew she had it in for them.

  When he entered the restaurant, the last thing he'd expected to see was Amber dressed in a large hooped fifties skirt with a pink poodle on it. Her long hair was put up tight in two pony tails that swung around when she talked and walked, and she had on the sexiest shade of red lipstick he'd ever seen. His steps faltered as he walked in and zeroed in on her.

  She noticed him and smiled, then executed a cute bouncing walk and came towards him. “It's always fun to dress up the week of Halloween. What are you going to be this year?”

  He hadn't thought about it. To be honest, his whole mind had been consumed with his gran's health.

  “I can be anything you want.” He smiled and pulled his leather coat up like the Fonz used to. He wished he had a comb to grease his hair back. She laughed and held onto his arm, walking him to a large booth near the back wall.

  “I could always use another strong greaser.” She laughed when he made a funny face. “Well, it was worth a shot.” She sat down next to him and opened a menu.

  He looked at her, and she looked back. “What? I got off thirty minutes ago. What do you say to a dinner partner? I'm starving!” She leaned closer to him and cupped her hand near her mouth. “I have it on good authority that the lobster bisque is something to die for tonight.”

  He smiled, he couldn't help it. She looked like she was truly enjoying herself. Scooting closer to her, he put his arm around her shoulders and smiled when she settled next to him. He wished for a quiet, dark dining room instead of a loud one full of families and children, but, it would have to do...for now.

  Amber's heart skipped a beat when Luke pulled her closer. Even though they sat in a crowded room, she felt like they were the only ones there. She'd heard how his grandmother was doing from almost every person that came through the door. It seemed that everyone in Pride joined in spreading the word, especially when it was someone they all admired and cared for.

  She tried to make the mood light and fun. After all, what more could you do when you were wearing a hooped skirt and ponytails?

  She had to admit that by the time both their plates were cleared, she was wishing to be able to spend more time with Luke. He was easy to talk to and funny when the worry left his eyes. When she looked around the room and realized that it was practically empty, she knew she couldn't stall anymore. She'd seen him looking at the clock on the wall, probably worried about getting home to his grandmother.

  He held her umbrella over her as he walked her to her Jeep. Then she leaned up and kissed him quickly on the lips, before he had a chance to make a move. “Thanks for our first date, Luke.” She smiled and swung her skirt, holding her hands in front of her, and added. “Golly, I hope I didn't get you in too much trouble keeping you out so late.”

  He smiled. “Next time, baby,” He pulled her closer, still holding the umbrella. “Maybe we can take a drive to watch the submarine races out at Look Out Point.” He leaned down and slowly kissed her and she felt herself start to shiver as he ran his free hand over her arm and back. She leaned closer into him and felt his warmth spread into her until her skin was on fire and she was aching for more.

  On her short drive home, she kept asking herself why she always did this to herself. She knew what she was getting into. She'd convinced herself to not get involved with him and had even laid out a very sensible plan for how she would accomplish the task. So the question was, why wasn't she following her plan?

  When she pulled into her parking spot, Patty motioned to her through the store window. She wanted to get out of the uncomfortable outfit, but found herself heading into the store instead of upstairs to shower and change into her yoga pants.

  “There you are dear. I was just telling Ruth here,” Patty motioned to an older woman who nodded and smiled at Amber, “that your parents live in Portland. She thinks she might know them.”

  Amber felt the blood leave her face as she looked towards the older woman. Was there any chance that she knew her parents? God! She hoped not!

  “Regina and Ronald Kennedy?”

  Amber took a deep breath and relaxed a little and shook her head. “No, my parent's names are Donna and Frank Kennedy. I think I had a cousin named Ronald.” She smiled apologetically and hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

  “Oh, well. I know a Donna Kennedy, but she lives in Eugene instead of Portland. It couldn't be her then.” Ruth patted her silver hair.

  Amber's ears started ringing and she felt a panic attack slamming into her. She had to get out of the store, and soon.

  “I'm sorry, Patt
y, I need to get out of this dress. It was nice meeting you, Ruth.” She turned and made it up into her apartment in record time. Her breath was coming in quick gasps, and her head felt light as she slowly sat down, her back against her front door. She folded her legs up and rested her head against her knees.

  She'd been running from her family for too long to have them brought up in some small town. How was it possible that someone in this small town knows her mother? No doubt the news would be spread all over town by the morning that her mother was crazy and her father was a terrorist.