by Ali Parker
"Something tells me that you'd like that too much." She rolled over and let out a contented sigh.
"Something is probably right." He pulled his shirt over his head and walked to the door. "Stay where you are, baby. Your servant will grab you some coffee and be back to massage your feet."
"And eat me out," she mumbled sleepily.
He shook his head and walked out into the hall. Only Lisa. Any other girl in his past would have been embarrassed by such a crude conversation. Good thing she was the only one in his future. The woman was made for him.
The sound of someone singing Let it Snow gave Marc pause as he reached the kitchen. It was a younger guy, and his singing voice was... nice. Too nice. Marc poked his head in the kitchen to find a guy a little older than him singing and dancing around the kitchen. He looked a little bit like Maria. Odd.
"Oh. Shit." The guy stopped and laughed. "I didn't realize anyone was there."
"No big deal. I usually dance with the broom, so we're all good." Marc extended his hand. "I'm Lisa's boyfriend, Marc. Nice to meet you."
"I'm her first boyfriend." The guy smiled and extended his hand. "I'm Johnny. Nice to meet you, man. My mother is Maria. I think you got to meet her yesterday?"
"Sure did. She and I gave Lisa a little bit of hell together. I like your mom already." Marc smiled and moved into the kitchen. "The bossy butt upstairs wants coffee."
Marc chose to ignore the guy’s response about being Lisa's first boyfriend. If she was anything like him as a teenager, she had lots and lots of friends in her past. As long as they stayed there... he was fine.
"It's already ready. My mother made it before going up to help Mrs. Parks get out of bed." Johnny moved over to the stove. "I was about to start making pancakes. You hungry?"
Despite knowing that the guy probably slept with Lisa when they were kids, Marc liked him. He seemed like an old soul, like someone that would offer calm for no reason other than to offer it.
"Yeah. I'm starving. Let me run this coffee up to Lisa, and I'll come help. I'm handy in the kitchen."
Johnny glanced over his shoulder, his dark eyes filled with merriment. "Good thing too. Lisa can't cook to save her life."
Marc snorted and walked toward the stairs. Someone was fussing loudly at the far end of the hall. Her mother.
He dropped the coffee off, but found Lisa sound asleep again. He kissed the side of her head and walked back into the chilly hallway.
Maria's voice rose up, the tension in it enough to force him to see if he could help. "Carolyn. You need to get back in bed. I will bring you-"
"No. I can do this. Just help me." Lisa's mother sounded exhausted and on the edge of tears.
"You know that I cannot carry you down the stairs. Wait until Mr. Parks gets back. He'll be able to get you to the table for your coffee. For now, just let me bring you some?" They had to be old friends. The way Maria spoke to Lisa's mom was almost too casual.
"I just want to be normal again." Lisa's mother's voice cracked as she let out a soft cry. "I've been strong my whole life and now this. I don't want them to see me weak. Especially Lisa. Please. I'll try and walk some. Just support my weight."
Marc knocked on the doorframe, knowing that he was likely going to get his ass handed to him by Lisa's mom. She was a bulldog, no matter who she was dealing with from what he gathered.
"Morning, Mrs. Parks. Morning, Maria." He walked in with his head held high. "I'm Lisa's boyfriend. You need some help? I'm a young, strong guy. Or I could get Johnny?" He motioned over his shoulder as Lisa's mom wiped at her eyes.
"Marc. Good morning, son." Maria walked toward him, reaching for his face.
He moved down and smiled as she patted his face, the look on her face one of gratitude. "Thank you. Can you help Lisa's mother downstairs? She's been stubborn. It runs in the family."
"Of course." Marc moved back as Maria walked by him.
"I'm sorry about this. I thought I would have more strength, but-" She paused and pursed her lips, glancing down as if ashamed.
"But, I'm here, so what the hell, right?" He chuckled and walked toward her. "Don't tell your hubs that I carried you downstairs. I don't need him giving me the once-over, all right?"
She laughed and glanced up, looking far more like Lisa than maybe even Lisa realized. He wanted to know her story in hopes that it would help heal Lisa. Maybe over time.
He picked her up easily as she fiddled with her robe and took her downstairs, making small talk with her while he did. After sitting her down at the table, Maria brought her a cup of coffee and settled in beside her.
"Is Lisa still sleeping?" Her mother's voice was raspy, but kind.
"Yeah. She should be down any minute." Marc walked over to Johnny and patted his back. "These look good. You should be a chef."
Johnny snorted. "No thanks. Too many opinions when you cook."
"Only one matters. The one your woman likes," Marc mumbled as he reached over and snagged a piece of bacon.
He turned to find Lisa standing in the doorway, her robe fluffy and white, her hair a wild mess of brilliantly red hair.
“I’ve trained you well.” She gave him a cheeky grin.
“Agreed,” he responded and moved toward her. Every cell in his body lit on fire. And it was for far more than a lusty roll in the sheets.
It was for the promise of being hers - forever.
Chapter 14
Lisa
"Thanks for helping my mom this morning." Lisa glanced over at Marc as he drove them toward the mall. She hadn't been ice skating in ten years if not more. It would be nice to do something fun for a few hours and try not to let the situation back home consume her thoughts.
"How did you know I helped?" He reached over and cupped his hand over hers as it rested on her thigh.
"Johnny told me." She smirked.
"Oh, Johnny the ex-boyfriend who popped your cherry?" Marc intertwined his fingers with hers.
"Jealous, are we?" She turned to watch the world go by. The city was filled with people, lights and snow. It was almost majestic.
"Not in the slightest. I mean, I wish we would have known each other when we were younger, but I'm happy about how things are turning out." He shrugged. "Your mom needed help this morning and was giving Maria hell about toting her downstairs, so I thought I would offer some help."
"Well, thank you. It means a lot to me." She glanced back at him, taking time to let her eyes move across him slowly. He was beautiful, the kind of man who would always play the horny boy while making her laugh and living life fully alive. "Can I ask you something?"
He looked her way briefly and nodded. "Of course. Anything."
"Do you see your dad at all? Or did you close the door on the past and leave him stuck behind it."
Marc stiffened, and for a moment, she thought maybe she'd made a mistake bringing it up. As bad as she wanted to understand his relationship with his father, maybe-
"I closed the door for good." He squeezed her hand and pulled his back, wrapping it around the steering wheel as his jaw locked. "My mom is a good woman. She's sweet and loving, giving and beautiful. I can't imagine anyone hurting her." He snorted. "Fuck, I never thought my father would. He was the good guy on the block. The president of the men’s group at church. But... something changed in him I guess. I haven't been able to forgive him. I never will."
"I would offer advice, but I feel the same way about my mom." Lisa shifted to face him a little more. "I wish I could slam the door on her, but it's almost a cosmic joke to think that I have the strength to do that. I could have done it when she was well, but there is no way now. Not with her being sick again."
"And maybe part of the reason you stay is for your father, Lisa. I know you don't respect him, but what I've seen of him, he's a good man."
"I agree with that." She reached over and ran her hand up Marc's arm, wanting to be closer but not moving. She didn't want to interrupt the conversation. "I just wish he would have married someone else."
"What's the deal with your mom's parents dying? Your father mentioned it to me. Said it was around the time your mother found out she was pregnant with you. Just too much for her to deal with?"
Lisa dropped her hands back in her lap and sunk down in her seat. "No clue. My dad tells me that she used to be a lot like me. Loud, bold, fun and loving. I guess she really didn't want kids, so I was a bit of a disappointment. She's a career woman, and her business is her baby."
"Wow. I get her wanting to make something of herself, but at the expense of raising her daughter, that seems a little selfish."
Lisa swallowed the need to bite back in defense of her mother. Marc was somewhat right. "I understand parts of it. I wouldn't want kids right now either. I love my business and the idea of building it up."
"But if we had a baby by accident?"
"I would love it completely. There is no way I would leave it feeling like the biggest drain on my life." She swallowed the hard emotions that bubbled up with the conversation. Where she wanted to clam up completely and force the discussion to end, she owed Marc her heart, which meant opening up the ugly parts for him to explore as well.
No matter how bad it hurt.
"Right. Maybe her parents dying at the same time did her in? Was she close to them?"
"No clue." Lisa let out a sigh. "From what I can see in the pictures, they were really close. Most of them are of the three of them smiling and doing something fun together."
"She was an only child?" Marc reached over and ran his hand up Lisa's thigh, squeezing her knee softly.
"Yeah. Just like me." She reached up and turned the radio on as Marc chuckled.
"Conversation over?"
"For now." She turned to focus on the snow falling outside her window and let her thoughts move toward something more pleasant, like shopping for Christmas... for Marc.
***
"You're much better at this than I thought you would be." Lisa twirled on the ice, finding her footing quickly even though it had been awhile.
"Oh yeah? I grew up here in New York, remember? I used to go with friends all the time to any pond we could find and play ice hockey." He reached for her, grabbing her hands and pulling her toward him as they made their way around the crowded ice rink.
"Were you and Drayer friends back then? When you were kids?" She wrapped her arms around him and skated backward, trusting him to keep her from plowing into someone.
"Yeah. We've been friends most of my life." He kissed her nose and pushed her back out, spinning her around a few times.
She smiled, loving his attention. It had become so easy to feel good in his presence. Maybe that's what love is all about.
"And who's he dating? Or is he a player, like you?"
"I used to be a player. Then I got played." He pulled his phone from his pocket as Lisa turned and moved up beside him. "I'm way more happy now that I'm with you than I ever was before."
"Who's calling?" She slid her arm into his and glanced around at the crowd. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. There was just something about the holidays.
"No, Dray texted me. He's at Macy's and wants to know if we want to have lunch."
"Did you tell him we were coming down here to skate today?" She moved away, spinning again. The freedom of moving around the ice was addictive. She'd have to find time to make it a hobby after the Christmas season was over.
It'd be easier in New York for sure.
Moving back to New York was an option, but not one she was ready to fully embrace. Her life in Maine was a symbol of success, of freedom, of adulthood. That, plus she loved being close to Kari and Sicily. They were like sisters to her.
"Yeah. I told him we would be down here. You wanna have lunch with him or no?"
"I actually want a few hours to myself to get some shopping done. You go eat with him, and we can meet up later to head home. That okay?" She took his hand as he offered it and moved to the side of the rink.
"That sounds fine, baby. You know my mom goes to the Christmas Eve service at church tonight. I'd love for you to come with me. Then we have chocolate cake at Billfold’s Bakery and then go look at lights. I don't want to go without you." He reached up and touched the side of her face, his expression sweet, loving.
"Are you sure the church won't burn down around us?" Lisa chuckled and leaned in as he moved down to kiss her.
Some catcalls around the rink pulled them apart, and Lisa turned and blew a kiss to the ice rink. Anyone paying attention would get a taste of their own medicine.
Marc growled and wrapped her up tight. "Stop flirting with the world. You're just mine, now."
"So greedy." She glanced up and stifled the girly sigh that tried to leak from her lips. He was so dreamy it hurt. She almost felt silly for thinking it.
"So church, cake and lights?"
"Yes. Then sexy, snuggles and snores." She smiled as he laughed low in his chest.
"Be careful shopping and no getting me anything. I've got all I need."
"Don't tell me what to do." She kissed him and moved back to skate around the rink once more. "Have fun. Text me later."
She couldn't help but notice that he didn't leave right away, but instead leaned against the edge of the rink and watched her intently. He was in love, but so was she.
First time for everything.
Chapter 15
Marc
"All right, so I need you to help me figure out something for Lisa for Christmas." Marc walked beside Dray through the mall, the noise and the crowds starting to get on his last nerve. They had about thirty minutes before they needed to meet up with Lisa so they could get back to Marc's side of town. He couldn't help but wonder if Charles was going to join them for their Christmas Eve traditions.
"What about a ring?" Dray snorted, as if the idea of a ring was somehow funny.
"Not yet. Jake is proposing to my sister on New Year’s. I don't want to steal their thunder, and honestly, I think Lisa and I are in for a long courtship. She likes dating, and I like what she likes." He chuckled and pointed to a Hallmark store. "Let's go in there and see if we can find something sweet and sentimental."
"Lisa doesn't seem like a sweet and sentimental type. No?" Dray walked around a group of girls and glanced back.
Horn-dog. Forever looking to score. Marc smirked. He'd get it one day, but it wouldn't be that day. Dray was too much like Marc in his desire to bed a million women before he was thirty. It was all lust, but God forbid he’d run into love. His playing days would be over.
"She's a lot of things, dude. She loves the things that all girls love. Stuff with dates on it and shit." Marc walked into the store and tried to decide where to start. It had to be the busiest store in the whole damn mall.
"Get her an ornament that reminds her of her childhood." Dray started toward the ornament display.
"She had a shitty childhood." Marc shook his head and moved down the aisle toward the figurines. "Maybe one of these would be good."
"There are some bigger ones at the end." Dray moved past him. "My mom loves these fucking things."
An older woman beside them gasped.
"Oh, sorry, lady." Dray lifted his hand and shifted through the crowd.
Marc chuckled and followed after his friend. "I like those. That one of the couple is beautiful. What does the little card on it say?" Marc reached down and plucked the card from the display. "Broken Together."
"Hmmm... sounds like poetic bullshit." Dray shook his head. "She's not going to like that."
"You don't even know her." Marc knelt down and found the box for the display. "I'm getting it."
"Why? Neither of you are broken. That's dumb." Dray's look of confusion was almost comical. The idiot had a lot of growing up to do.
So did I... before Lisa.
"It's perfect, man. I promise."
***
"So you're really not going to tell me what's in the bag?" Lisa moved closer on the bench seat as they drove towards his mom's house. He'd pic
ked up a Macy's bag just to cover the little Hallmark bag for coverage. She'd know he got her something sappy the minute she saw the design on the bag.
"Nope. And nothing you can do will change my mind." He wagged his eyebrows, hoping like hell that she would try several things to get the truth out of him.
"Nothing, hmmm?" She ran her hand up his thigh and squeezed his cock before running her nails over his sack.
He shivered as his body hardened. "Nope, but please, by all means, try. You never know what might loosen my lips."
"I almost like the sound of that." She licked at her lips, leaving him aching for what she was subtly promising. "How long until we get to your mom’s?"
"With this traffic?" He glanced around at the insanity that was New York on Christmas Eve. "At least twenty minutes."
"Good. Let me see about offering up something that might change your mind on telling me what you got me."
He started to tell her that Christmas was in the morning, and then she'd have the damn gift, but that would have been stupid. She wouldn't have offered up her naughtiness in exchange for information. What a travesty.
"I'm starting to feel a little more generous." He smiled down at her as she worked on his zipper. The cars around them should have caused both of them to behave, but it wasn't their style at all.
"Mmm... me too." She tugged his jeans open and slipped her hand in, stroking him as he groaned low in his chest.
"Put your mouth on me and stop teasing, baby doll." He reached down and pulled her hair back as she hovered over his lap, pulling his cock deep into her mouth. "Fuck, Lisa. I love you so much, girl."
"Sell that to someone else." She chuckled before running her tongue up his length.
Marc glanced over to find a car full of guys watching him with eyes wide and mouths open. He started to tell Lisa that they had company, but decided against it. No need to interrupt her, and in all actuality, the guys couldn't see shit.
