Comet's Blazing Love

by Jenna Brandt

  “What do they look like?”

  “A metal rectangle. You’ve seriously never seen a baking sheet? Not even on TV? I mean, most everyone has watched reality TV cooking shows.”

  Blake shook his head. “No, I didn’t have a lot of time to watch TV chasing after gold medals. When I did have a little downtime, I might watch a movie here or there, but that was about it.”

  “Wow, I love a good reality show. I’ve been secretly watching Dancer’s Santa show at night in my room. It’s so funny.”

  “Really? I had no idea. Maybe I should check one out,” he said as he opened cabinets and looked for the baking sheets.

  “Better be careful; you might get addicted,” Peyton teased as she gathered up the last of the items they would need. “Then I’ll find you glued to your TV, a long unkempt beard, bloodshot eyes, and a pot-belly from eating and drinking in front of it all day and night.”

  “Not…gonna…happen,” Blake said very deliberately. “I will never get a pot-belly.”

  “That’s what bothered you about that statement?”

  He chuckled. “What can I say, I work hard to keep this physique. I’m not letting it go anytime soon.”

  Peyton glanced around and confirmed they had everything for the cookies. “Okay, I think we’re ready.”

  Step-by-step, Peyton explained the process of making sugar cookies. They had the dough mixed and were soon starting to roll it out. Next, she handed Blake a Santa face cookie cutter, and she took the Christmas wreath. “Now we press these into the dough and pick them up. We place them on the parchment lined baking sheets so they can bake. When they are done, we will decorate them.”

  They finished cutting out the rest of the cookies, then slipped the first four trays in the ovens. She set a timer on her phone, then leaned back against the counter.

  “What do we do now?”

  “We wait until they are done baking,” Peyton explained.

  Blake let out a heavy sigh and leaned back beside her.

  “You really hate waiting, don’t you?”

  “To be honest, I haven’t had to do it much.”

  “Perk of being a billionaire’s son, I’m guessing.”

  He nodded. “Spending so much time with you is teaching me a lot of things. At the top of the list, patience, which I guess is a good thing.”

  “It will be if you ever decide to have kids,” Peyton pointed out. As soon as she said the words, she regretted it. They’d never discussed anything about their relationship that was that serious. She wasn’t even sure if he was the marrying type, let alone looking to start a family one day.

  Blake seemed to be thinking about what she said. After a few minutes, he turned to her with a serious look on his face. “Is that an offer to be my baby mama?”

  At first, she didn’t know what to think of his question. Then he raised his eyebrows and gave her a smirk. “I had you going.”

  “What?” she squeaked out, punching him in the arm. “That wasn’t very nice. I literally thought you were asking me to be your surrogate.”

  “No way. If I ever have kids, I want to do it the traditional way. Wife, house, kids. I’ve got enough land here on the island to do whatever I want.”

  Peyton couldn’t help it. Her mind drifted to the image he painted. She could see them sitting on a porch of a big, wooden house, looking out over the Sound with their children playing in the snow.

  Suddenly, she smelled char and looked over at the ovens. Smoke was billowing out from them. She rushed over and yanked the first one open. Inside, the parchment paper was on fire. She wasn’t sure how it happened, but for some reason the cookies were engulfed. She peeked at the other three ovens and they were in the same state.

  She glanced to the side of her and noticed Blake was rushing around, looking for something.

  “What are you doing?” she shouted in panic.

  “Looking for the fire extinguisher. I know they have to have one, but I’m not seeing it. This place is like a maze,” he growled out in frustration. “I can’t let this place burn down. My dad and brothers would never let me hear the end of it.”

  The fire alarm kicked on, making a loud piercing noise that repeated over and over with a strobing light, followed by the worst part of all, the sprinkler system getting activated. A gush of water came streaming down, coating everything it could touch, including both of them. It didn’t help with the fire, however, because it couldn’t get into the ovens.

  Blake must have found the extinguisher, because he rushed up beside her carrying a red canister with a black hose. He pointed it at the first oven and pressed the pump. A thick, white foam came bursting out and sprayed the inside of the oven. He opened the next one, and did the same thing, and finished off with the final two.

  He let out a heavy sigh as he set the canister down on the floor. “What a mess.”

  “I can’t believe it. I remember this being so much easier when I was a kid,” Peyton lamented, her wet hair clinging to her face.

  “At least we’re okay and we didn’t burn the hotel down,” Blake pointed out, pulling her around to face him. “You know, you look pretty cute all wet like that.”

  “Stop it. I look awful.”

  He reached out, his hand wrapping in her wet hair. “No, I like it.” He moved closer, letting his lips move towards hers. “I like you.” His mouth pressed against hers, the water still falling down on and around them, and the repeating screech of the alarm filling her ears. Despite the crazy circumstances, Peyton couldn’t pull away—at least until she remembered that the noise was probably scaring everyone in the building, including their dog.

  She pulled back, then started to rush towards the door. “I need to go check on Comet.”

  It was a mistake to hurry, because her feet slipped all over the place. Blake reached out and tried to brace her, but instead it did the opposite. Her unsteadiness caused him to slip along with her, and before she could blink, they were tumbling to the ground. Just like when they were in the snow, Peyton landed on Blake for a second time, her wet hair flinging into his face.

  “I’m so sorry,” she rasped out between gulps of air. “I don’t know what it is when I’m around you, but I swear, I’m normally not this klutzy.”

  Blake wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight. “It’s okay. You can land on me any time.”

  “I guess I was wrong about the cookies. Maybe store bought or made by your pastry chef is better after all.”

  He shook his head no. “You were right—it was our execution that was the mishap. We’ll get it right next time.”

  There was commotion from the hallway, and to her surprise, Comet came bursting into the kitchen. He scampered right up to them, interrupting by licking their faces.

  Peyton rolled off Blake and picked up Comet. “How did you get out of your new kennel and find us all the way down here? You could have gotten lost or hurt,” Peyton chastised in a baby voice.

  “I told you, he’s Houdini,” Blake explained. “I don’t know if we will ever find the right kennel to keep him contained.”

  A few moments later, several of the workers from the hotel, including Danny, along with the island’s fire crew showed up. Chaos filled the room after that, and Peyton and Blake both fielded questions about what happened. Danny didn’t believe their story, asking if they had been down into the kitchen for a discreet rendezvous. Both of them denied it adamantly, but he didn’t seem to buy it. By the time everything had calmed down, both of them were exhausted. They agreed to take a nap and to meet later for dinner.

  Despite all the chaos Peyton had introduced into Blake’s life, he liked having her in it. She was like a breath of fresh air; one he didn’t even know he needed until he got used to having it. Today, he planned to give her the Christmas gift he made. He hoped she liked it.

  Blake arrived at Peyton’s suite and knocked on the door. When she didn’t respond, he rapped on it a second time. He started to wonder if he got his times mixed up, and was about
to text her, when the door swung open. She looked frazzled, with her hair out of place and her clothes disheveled.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she quickly stated, but from the way she said it, he could tell she was hiding something.

  “Come on, you can tell me,” he coaxed.

  “Fine, it’s Comet. He’s run off again. I can’t find him anywhere. I haven’t had time to order another kennel.”

  “I can help with that,” Blake explained, gliding into her room. He pulled out his phone and clicked a couple of buttons. “He’s hiding somewhere over in this area.” Blake walked over and pulled back the edge of one of the curtains by the dining area.

  “How did you do that?” Peyton marveled, picking up Comet.

  “Simple, I ordered him a new collar with a locator chip in it and put it on him last night. This app can tell us where he is at all times.”

  “Wow, that is amazing,” she said, looking over his shoulder at the screen. “The things they come up with.”

  “I think it was originated for cattle, but I had the company make one for Comet.”

  Peyton put the dog back in his kennel, then secured the pin in place to lock it. “Hopefully he doesn’t get out again.” She stood back up and turned to Blake. “You ready for lunch?”

  “I am, but I have something to give you first.”

  “What’s that? Another kiss?” she asked, tilting her head to the side with a smile.

  “Well, now that you mention it, I’ll collect on that later. First though, I want to give you this.” Blake pulled out a small red box with a golden bow on it and handed it over to Peyton.

  “We’re exchanging gifts?” she asked with confusion. “I didn’t get you anything—at least not yet. Christmas is still a couple of weeks away.”

  “I wasn’t expecting anything, so don’t worry about it. I wanted to make this for you.”

  “You made it for me?” she asked with astonishment. “Will wonders never cease? A Holliday man made his girl a gift.”

  “Hey now, it’s not that surprising or out of the ordinary. We have custom jewelry and cars made all the time.”

  “This better not be either of those. I’ll refuse it outright.”

  “No, there’s no car key or necklace in the box.”

  “Then what’s in here?” she said, shaking it slightly.

  “Stop, don’t do that! It’s fragile.”

  Peyton froze mid-shake, her eyes widening in shock. “Maybe you should have said that to start with.” She untied the bow and removed the lid. She pulled out the top tissue to reveal the ornament underneath. She gasped, gingerly pulling it free by the velvet ribbon handle. “This is exquisite.”

  “It should be, considering it took me five attempts to get it right.”

  “Five? Are you that much of a perfectionist?”

  “Not as much as it was Comet kept barking and jumping on me, causing my first four to fall and shatter. It took Vixen helping me to get this one right.”

  “Was this what you did the other day when you went over to his island?”

  Blake nodded. “I wanted to get you something special to commemorate the beginning of our relationship.”

  “It’s perfect,” she whispered, then turning it back and forth, she gasped a second time. “Do those gems make the shape of Andromeda?”

  “They do. I decided to add them because, as I watched you watch the stars, I knew I was falling for you.”

  “You’re falling for me?”

  He nodded. “So much, I want to do anything and everything I can to make you happy. That’s why I did this, too.” He moved over to the door and opened it to reveal Peyton’s mother standing on the other side.

  “Mom!” Peyton shouted with sheer joy. “You’re here, you’re actually here! I can’t believe it.” She rushed towards the door and threw her arms around her mother.

  The women were laughing and crying all at the same time, going on about how much they missed each other. After several minutes of this, Peyton turned to Blake with happiness written all over her face. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me, to us.”

  As the trio made plans to head out for lunch, Blake felt satisfied that he did something special for Peyton. After all, what was the point of being a billionaire if you couldn’t use your money to spoil the ones you loved.

  Chapter 9

  Peyton was excited for the employee Christmas party. She had spent all week planning it while keeping Blake out of the loop. She knew he would object to the details, so she had purposely kept him in the dark.

  Blake arrived at her room, ready to escort her and Comet upstairs to the restaurant for the party.

  “You’re wearing that?” he asked, as he stepped into the room. “What kind of party is this?”

  Peyton knew he would object to her reindeer sweater and Santa hat, which was why she decided to ambush him with the next part.

  “Of course, Blake, it’s an ugly sweater party after all. I don’t think I will win the contest, but it’s fun to try.”

  “An ugly…sweater…party?” Blake asked, his voice rising higher with each word and his face getting redder.

  “Yes, Blake, and the employees are really excited about it. They said the parties around here are usually pretty stuffy, and they were looking forward to being able to cut loose.”

  “I don’t get it,” Blake confessed. “How is wearing a bunch of ugly sweaters supposed to make you feel more relaxed.”

  “Because it’s funny and festive at the same time,” she explained. “I mean, I even got one for Comet.”

  From a bag by the side of the table, she pulled out an adorable gray sweater that had snowmen with red hats and scarves all over it, with a matching Santa hat to top off the outfit.

  “You’re seriously putting that on the dog?” Blake asked, disgust clearly written all over his face.

  “Absolutely, and that’s not all,” she said in a sing-song voice. “I got a matching one for you.”

  “You didn’t,” Blake objected, stepping back with a look of horror on his face.

  “Oh, I did,” she stated, pulling from the bag a larger version of the snowman sweater and Santa hat. “I think with both of you wearing these, you two could be real contenders for the contest.”

  “No way, it’s not going to happen,” Blake refused, shaking his head.

  “Pretty please, for me,” she pleaded, knowing that if she flashed him her smile in just the right way he would relent.

  He let out a heavy sigh, then reached out his hand. “Fine, hand it to me.” He slipped the sweater on over his white shirt. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

  “It’ll be fun, you’ll see,” Peyton encouraged. “Come on, my mom is waiting for us upstairs. She just finished getting her hair done at the salon for the party.”

  They made their way up in the elevator to the top floor and stepped out into the restaurant. Christmas music was playing, and colored lights were flashing from the spotlights Peyton had ordered. There were also strings of twinkling Christmas lights hanging on anything that wasn’t moving.

  “What do you think?”

  “It’s definitely festive,” Blake said, glancing around in an uncomfortable manner.

  She set Comet down but held onto his leash for good measure. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment, even though you look like a deer in the headlights.”

  One of the photographers Peyton hired came up to them and snapped their picture. Blake blinked his eyes several times, then looked over at Peyton with a worried look on his face. “That picture isn’t for public use, is it?”

  Peyton shook her head. “No, I promise it won’t end up splashed across the internet any time soon.”

  “You two look adorable,” Peyton’s mother praised as she came up to them and gave them both a hug. “I’m so glad you agreed to wear the sweater, Blake.”

  Her mother was wearing a sweater with a Christmas tree that had ornaments that lit up
and blinked along with a matching necklace and earrings. “Your sweater is great, Mom.”

  “I know I’m not an employee of the island, but I wanted to show my support,” her mother said with a smile. “I’ve never worn anything like this before.”

  Blake’s chin dipped down as he gave them a chagrined look. “That was really nice. I could take a cue from you and learn to be more easy-going about doing things I’m not used to that aren’t my idea.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Peyton’s mother said in a soothing voice. “Change is hard.”

  “That’s why I say, never do it. The key is to have plenty of plastic surgery to keep it from happening.” A strikingly beautiful middle-aged woman with reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes came into view, and Peyton immediately recognized her as Mara Holliday.

  “Mara, what are you doing here?” Blake asked in an exasperated tone, crossing his arms across his chest. “This is an employee party.”

  “I doubt she’s an employee,” Mara countered, shrugging towards Peyton’s mom. “Besides, don’t you have a little room for your dearest mommy?”

  “Nothing is ever little with you, Mara,” Blake corrected with obvious irritation in his voice, “which is why you should probably just leave.”

  “Blake, why don’t you let her stay?” Peyton’s mother requested. “I’d like to get to know your mother since we might be spending a lot of time together if things continue to keep progressing with you and my daughter.”

  “Who’s your daughter?” Mara questioned, but the way she asked made it clear, she already knew the answer. She looked directly at Peyton as if to prove it.

  “This pretty woman right here,” Peyton’s mother declared, wrapping her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. Her mother obviously didn’t pick up on Mara’s mind games. “She’s responsible for this party, along with all the other improvements around Comet Island.”

  “Improvements?” Mara rolled her eyes. “I’ve been all over this island, and I hardly consider that an appropriate word. Slapping together a spa filled with fads, calling a glorified yoga studio a wellness center, and changing a few items on the menus doesn’t make this place original.”