by Ali Parker
Epilogue
Kari
"I still don't see why you guys didn't go to the store and get all of this stuff earlier." Kari looked over at Sicily, not quite sure they weren't up to something. Sicily never left things last minute. Marc and Lisa always did, but Sicily? Not so much.
"I got wrapped up in spending time with Drake and my family for the holidays. It was a lot of food, loads of snuggles and some great presents." Sicily shrugged and reached down to pick up a stalk of celery.
Lisa walked up holding a container of mushrooms. "Are these the ones you want?"
"No. I said baby portabellas." Sicily reached out and snagged the container before walking across the produce section of the grocery store.
"It's six at night on New Year’s Eve. Why the hell are we at the grocery store?" Kari reached out and grabbed Lisa's hands as her friend averted her gaze. "Lisa. What's going on?"
"What?" She looked up. "Nothing. No clue what you're talking about. The boys wanted food, and we figured chips would be enough. Obviously not." She shrugged, not looking very convincing at all.
"All right. Don't tell me then." Kari turned back to the cart and pulled out her phone to text Jake.
Kari: What are you guys up to?
Jake: Watching TV and waiting on something more than chips. You?
Kari: Watch it, mister. Something is going on. What is it?"
Jake: No clue what you're talking about, but you girls hurry up. Marc is getting on my nerves. He's bad when he's chill, but when he's hungry... Ugh.
Kari laughed and looked up to find her friends watching her. Both of them seemed to be on pins and needles.
"All right. Spill." She looked between the two of them. "Is Jake proposing tonight?"
"That would be awesome, right?" Sicily glanced over at Lisa and moved in front of Kari to push the cart away.
"No clue, but if I were him, I would." Lisa smirked and put her hands in the air. "Don't ask me any more questions. I don't want to ruin anything. Okay?"
Enough said. Kari reached out and put her arm around her best friend. "All right. I'll leave it alone."
"Cause I said too much?" Lisa looked almost sheepish, which didn't fit her persona at all.
"Nope. Because I don't want you to get in trouble when Jake finds out that you told me." Kari shrugged, playing the part.
"What? I didn't tell you that he was proposing. You guessed it all on your-" She stopped and put her hands on her hips as Kari laughed and clapped her hands.
"He is? Oh, my God, I'm so ready." She breathed in deeply and smiled so hard it hurt.
"I'm going to kill you, you tricky bitch."
"What? No." Kari turned and jogged toward Sicily, hoping for cover. She was out of luck, they were both scared of Lisa. Everyone was.
***
Kari stood in the kitchen just before midnight, a million thoughts racing through her mind. The difficulties of her childhood, and losing her dad to his affair when she was younger. Marc having a hard time finding himself in high school and her having to intervene far too many times to keep him from going off the deep end.
Frank.
Frank was such a huge part of her life, and some parts of their relationship had been really good, but he wasn't right for her. She thought being with him was living, really living.
She snorted and let out a soft sigh as Jake wrapped his arms around her from behind.
"What are you doing in here all alone?" He leaned around and brushed his nose up the side of her neck.
"Thinking about my past and my future." She snuggled against him and closed her eyes as tears blurred her vision. "I'm so grateful for you. I had no clue it could be this good."
Jake forced her to turn, and she opened her eyes as a tear dripped down her cheek. He reached up and brushed it away.
"This is just the beginning, sweet girl. We're just getting started with us." He leaned down and brushed his nose by hers, staring her in the eye. "I'm so in love with you. I keep thinking it will tamper down a little, but it's only getting worse."
"Me too," she whispered and moved up to press her lips to his.
He indulged her and kissed her over and over in the kitchen until the sound of someone clearing their throat brought them out of it.
"Hey, guys." Drake lifted his hands in surrender as they turned to face him. "We're all out on the deck. New Year’s countdown is about to start. Come join us?"
Kari nodded and wrapped her arm around the back of Jake's waist as they walked behind him. She couldn't help but hope that the new year would be filled with new opportunities for all of them, especially Sicily and Drake. The holidays had been rough on them from what Sicily told her. Both of them losing their mothers earlier that year, Drake not too long before the holidays.
"Hey." Kari reached out and rubbed his back as Jake released her and moved around them.
Drake turned and smiled. "What's up?"
"I'm sorry for being rough with you lately. I was worried about Sicily. She's the type of girl who falls deep when she falls." Kari glanced down at her hands. "I was being protective over her, but I don't need to be, do I?"
Drake reached out and touched the side of her face. "No, you don't. I'd die before I let anything happen to any of you guys. Sometimes the past creeps up and bites you in the butt, but you just kick it back down. Dead things can stay dead. I plan on making sure of that in my life." He turned and looked out the window. "I love that girl with all of me. She's more than I should ever get in my life, but I'm greedy enough just to accept her. Just how she is."
Kari smiled and patted his back. "Good. If you hurt her, I'll have Jake beat you into a pulp."
"And I'd let him." Drake opened the door and smiled, the handsome thing devilish in his good looks. "Come on. Tonight is about you and Jake."
"Oh, yeah?" She walked out onto the patio to find lights strung up everywhere. The brightness against the dark night made it hard to make out who all was there, but there were far more people than she'd expected. "Mom?"
Jake moved in front of her. "Did you think I forgot something at Christmas?"
She reached out to touch his chest, more to steady herself. "Jake. What are you doing? Why is Mom here?"
He laughed. "Sicily told me that Lisa spilled the goods. Stop messing around."
Lisa lifted her hand. "Sorry!"
Kari blinked past her tears as Jake moved down to one knee and lifted a little black box toward her. "Oh, Jake. Really?"
"Really, baby doll. I knew the night in the grocery store when you couldn't decide on the right type of wine that a pretty girl like you needed a smart guy like me."
Kari laughed and tears dripped onto her cheeks as Jake took her hand. The soft laugh from the crowd made the moment perfect.
"I never thought I would get another chance at love, real love, but you changed all of that. Marry me? Join my family and help me have a family that we can be proud of. Cook dinner with me every night and make love to me every morning."
The crowd made some whoops and hollers. Kari's cheeks burned as she continued to cry.
"I love you, Kari Martin. Be my wife." He smiled and slipped the ring on her finger, pausing as he lifted an eyebrow. "Say yes, baby."
"Oh. Yes." She moved down to her knees and plowed into him, knocking him back on the deck as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a long kiss.
The sound of everyone going back in the house was perfect. She needed a moment with just him. She pulled back from the kiss, her cheeks stained with far more emotion than she'd experienced before.
"Thank you." He pulled her down for another kiss as she lay on top of him.
"For what? I should be thanking you." She leaned in, brushing her lips by his several times before he chuckled and gripped her shoulders.
"For making me complete. I love you with all of me."
"Good. It's going to take all of you." She laughed and sat up, pulling him up with her. "I love you too."
"Good, cause you're stuck,
pretty girl."
"I like stuck. Happy New Year. This is our year."
"This year and every year after it." She leaned in and breathed him in deeply, falling in love all over again. Something told her it wasn't the first time, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. She'd be falling in love with Jake Isaac every day for the rest of her life.
Justified Christmas
A Holiday Novella
Chapter 1
Marc
"It's too cold for this. You're going to owe me. Big time." Marc wagged his eyebrows as he stood at the bottom of the ladder, looking at Lisa. The redheaded bombshell was wearing a big furry white coat that wouldn’t last a day in his world. He'd have that thing coated in everything he ate, sat on, stepped in... you name it. She looked like heaven, but that was something he'd never get used to. She was far too beautiful to belong to him, and yet, she was all his.
"Am I?" She moved closer, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her ruby red lips to his leather bomber. Her eyes were filled with sensual mischief. "And how exactly would you like me to pay you back?"
"We'll start with a strip tease." He licked at his lips and studied her face as his body hardened from far more than the freezing temperatures around them.
"And then?" She moved back a little and nibbled on her lip.
"You're a tease. You know that?" He reached up and gripped the side of her face before turning and pulling her into a long, probing kiss. She opened up and welcomed him inside of her as a growl lodged in his throat. Climbing the ladder before was dangerous. Doing it now with a raging hard-on was going to be hell.
"Lisa? Oh. Jeez. I'm so sorry." Trisha's voice pulled them from each other. The older woman was Lisa's secretary at the real estate agency and had quickly become a close friend.
"No. It's okay. You should be used to this by now." Lisa patted Marc's butt and moved back.
He turned and gave Trisha a sweet smile, trying to appear far more innocent than he was. "It's all Lisa's fault, Trisha. She just can't seem to keep her hands off of me. It's embarrassing, honestly. It doesn't matter where we are, the woman is all over me." He shrugged as Lisa yelped and popped his rear again.
"You are so full of yourself." She walked toward the house, wrapping her arm around Trisha's shoulders and leaving Marc to the duty of putting up Trisha's Christmas lights. It was only a few days before Christmas, but better late than never.
Marc gripped the sides of the ladder and climbed up to the edge of the roof, leaning against the solid structure and tugging down the Christmas lights that awaited him at the edge of the roof. He didn't mind helping out, he almost preferred it. Lisa would think he was some kind of hero, and he would feel useful. It might help his damaged sense of worth after the semester he'd just been through.
Trying to balance seeing Lisa as often as possible while keeping his head above water in New York University's Biology program was more than enough, but that was the tip of the iceberg. As the captain of the basketball team, he was at the forefront of the team’s winning season. As a senior, he felt an enormous sense of responsibility to go out with a bang.
"You doing okay up there?" A deep voice resounded from below Marc.
He glanced down and reached up to pull his beanie back. A large guy with salt and pepper hair and a military haircut stood at the bottom of the ladder.
"Sure am, but I'd trade out and you could get up here if you want?" He smirked as the guy chuckled.
"I wish. My knees wouldn't handle that for a minute."
Ah... Trisha's oldest son. The captain in the military.
"Then yes, I'm doing great. It's cold as hell, but I'll make it." Marc turned back toward the roof and tried to hurry through clipping the lights around the edge of the house, leaning both ways as far as possible. He had to meet Jake and Drake at the Christmas tree farm before too long. The girls wanted a live tree at the house, and he'd been tasked with making that happen.
"I'm thinking hell is anything but cold." The guy chuckled again, and Marc forced a laugh too. It was too damn cold to do anything but shiver and shake. "Anyway, thanks for helping my mom. It means a lot to me."
"Of course. She's a great woman." Marc moved down the ladder to find the guy gone. It was soon to start snowing again, and he was already standing in nine inches of it. A flash of red caught his attention, and he turned to see Lisa walking out with a steaming mug of something.
"Hi, hard-working man." She gave him a naughty smile and he couldn't help but wonder if she gave everyone that smile. The woman was a flirt of the worst kind. She didn't even realize it most days.
"Hi, baby." He turned and reached for the mug. "What is this?"
"Hot chocolate. Trisha makes it homemade every year." She moved closer, sliding her arms around his waist. "And I put extra whipped cream on it for you."
"Trying to sugar me up?"
"You'll need energy for tonight for sure." She lifted her eyebrow as he took a quick sip.
"Oh, hot!" He licked at his lip and moved the mug out of the way as she wrapped herself up tightly to him and leaned in to help him clean the rest of the whipped cream from his lips.
"You taste good." She smiled and nipped at his lips.
"You're not even on the sweet spots." He kissed the tip of her nose. "Now. Get out of here and let me get these lights up. Why you women decide things at the last minute is a mystery to me. I could have done this before the first big storm hit, but no..."
"Hush." She squeezed him and gave him a quick kiss before pulling back. "Trisha is important to me."
"And I'm not?" He wagged his eyebrows and took another drink of the delicious chocolate warmth.
"You know how I feel about you. You're my sex-pot." She shrugged and took a step back.
His heart almost stopped as she slipped and fell backward. "Lisa! Shit." Marc tossed the cup and waded through the snow to get to her. The laughter bubbling up out of her melted him far faster than anything else could have.
"Come down here." She reached for his jacket and pulled him down into the thick snow, wrapping her arms around him. "It's nice out here."
"It's freezing." He pressed himself to the front of her and shivered. "Get up and let’s get you in the house. You're going to be wet."
He knew the minute he said it that his wording choice was going to get them started down a path that they'd both enjoy.
"I always am around you." She took his hand and pulled herself up. "You're no fun today."
"No?" He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, squeezing tightly as she wiggled in his arms. "This better?"
"No. You're squishing my boobs!" She swatted at him.
Trisha's voice sounded behind them. "You guys get in here. The weather channel says the next hour is going to be really bad. Hurry up."
"What? I'm not close to being done." Marc released Lisa and followed her toward the house. "We're never going to get these lights up, Trisha."
"Sure you will, and if you don't, so what. It was Lisa's idea anyway." She opened the door to the little house and moved back.
"Oh, it was?" Marc lifted his eyebrow as Lisa glanced back and smirked. Her jeans fit the feminine curve of her ass almost too well. His pulse spiked, but he forced himself to chill. They'd have time later that night, or he would find time somewhere in the day. They never could keep their hands off of each other.
Trisha moved in behind them and closed the door. "Come into the kitchen. I just pulled some cinnamon rolls out of the oven."
"Freshly baked?" Marc glanced over his shoulder before breathing in deeply. Heaven.
"Of course." She moved around him and walked into the kitchen.
Lisa paused in the living room and turned to face him, working on her jacket. "Take your coat off and let's have one. When do you have to meet Jake?"
"In an hour." He worked his coat over his shoulders and winked at Lisa before walking past her toward the smell of sugary pleasure. He stopped beside the pan and smiled. "These look amazing."
; "I worked in a bakery in New York when I was a girl." Trisha moved up beside him and put a roll on a small plate before offering it to him.
"I didn't know you were from New York." He smiled and took the plate.
Lisa stole the small dish and walked to the table as Marc growled and took the next one Trisha offered.
"We're all from New York it would seem." Lisa sat down and cut the treat. "Trisha was just talking to me about moving back."
"Oh yeah?" Marc's interest perked up. "Like you moving back or Trisha?"
"Trisha." Lisa gave him a cheeky grin. The conversation about her moving back, or him moving to Bar Harbor, had been a continuous one over the last six months. He was good with either, but Lisa was torn on both ends of the deal.
She loved being with Kari and Sicily, but he knew that she wanted to be with him back in the city. It was hell being apart. He wasn't willing to push her either way.
Whatever she wanted... she usually got.
Chapter 2
Lisa
"Thank you again, baby." Lisa leaned in and pressed her lips to Marc's as he sat in Jake's old truck outside of Trisha's house.
"Anything for you." He slid his cold hand into her hair and pulled her down again, pressing his lips to hers. His tongue brushed by hers, and the taste of him lit her on fire. There was nothing like Marc Martin, which was so odd seeing that she usually went for older men.
She sucked on his tongue and reached out to run her hand down his tight stomach before cupping him. He groaned and she leaned in farther to deepen the kiss. Lust was ever-present between them, but scary enough, they were moving fast into something more serious - love. She was in love for the first time in her life, and it was terrifying.
He gripped her hand and moved back. "Stop teasing the monster or he'll come out and whip you."
"Cock-spanking?" She nipped at his lips and whimpered. "Please?"
