Picking up on the humorous tone in his voice and forcing herself to mimic it, Viv quirked an eyebrow at Gaylene and said, “He line dances?”
Gaylene gave a nod, meeting Viv’s eye again, their gazes holding. “He’s the full package,” she said with a sad kind of smile before returning her attention to Reuben. “You’ve arrived just in time to help Viv with the hot chocolates.”
“Did someone say, hot chocolate?” Viv watched as Stephen trooped in behind, Reuben. “I’m starving.”
“Dude, you just ate a twelve-course meal. How could you possibly be hungry?” Reuben shook his head at his cousin then poked him in his pot belly. “And you’re getting a spare tire.”
Unconcerned, Stephen patted his stomach. “I’ll have you know this is a dad bod and women find it irresistible.” Then he pulled up his shirt and pinched the fat around his belly button to make a mouth, which he pointed at Reuben and said, “Feed me. Feed me.”
Viv laughed as Reuben winced. “How did you lose your virginity at all?”
“I took pity on him,” Jess said, also appearing. “Now put that thing away, dufus.” She kissed her husband on the cheek. “Go and help your aunt with the rest of the dishes while we get these drinks poured.”
And, just like that, the awkwardness that had permeated the air prior to Reuben’s entry evaporated and the kitchen was full of noise and laughter and conversation and Viv breathed a little easier.
*
She didn’t say anything to Reuben about the conversation with his mother as they made their way home about four in the afternoon. It had been a lovely day, her belly was full and the two glasses of red wine she’d had before she’d left had set up a nice buzz. She didn’t want to talk about the issues his mother had raised at the kitchen sink. Hell, she didn’t even want to think about them.
Not least because Gaylene was wrong.
Viv didn’t blame her for looking out for Reuben and she had no doubt that, as his mother, she probably did have a fairly good handle on his thoughts and patterns of behavior but, in this instance, she’d definitely got the wrong end of the stick.
Oh, honey, of course he does. He just doesn’t know it yet.
Nope—Reuben didn’t love her. They were just…having fun. Enjoying each other’s company. In fact, there was almost a fatalistic feel to their relationship, both of them knowing they only had a certain amount of time together and determined to make the most of it without screwing it up with anything serious.
There was a lot of sex and laughing about sex and other things like chatting into the night about their jobs and Reuben telling tales about growing up in Marietta and her recounting stories about the goings-on in her family’s motel. There was eating popcorn and chocolate and drinking good red wine while watching Netflix in bed or in front of the fire and making each other watch first eps of TV shows they hadn’t seen yet and agreeing that The Lord of the Rings movie franchise was better than the Harry Potter franchise and arguing about whether Die Hard movies could be classified as Christmas movies.
So Viv wasn’t about to spoil any of that or their great Thanksgiving Day—or the rest of their time together come to think of it—with a conversation about Gaylene’s concerns. Besides, the earlier sunny weather had clouded over in the last hour and the sky was looking heavy and ominous now, especially with nightfall less than an hour away, and the roads were getting icier, which meant Reuben needed to concentrate on the road not what his mother might or might not have said to Viv in the kitchen.
They were home in twelve minutes and within twelve seconds of being inside she was flat against the wall and she was gasping as Reuben’s hands disappeared up her sweater and pulled aside her bra cups, his mouth seeking a nipple as he growled, “I’ve been wanting to do this all fucking day,” against her skin.
His lips found the peaked tip and Viv’s pulse thrummed and her belly and inner thighs exploded in a fireball as he teased it mercilessly with his tongue. She moaned and panted, “Yes,” as her hands fumbled with his belt and then his fly before finding their way into his boxers and around his rock-hard erection. The harsh suck of his quickly indrawn breath followed by the deep guttural resonance of his groan was like pouring gasoline on a lit fuse.
Then he was picking her up and striding with her through the cottage to the bedroom. Her last coherent thought as he tossed her on the bed was how chilly the air was on her exposed breasts, which was hardly surprising given the fire had been out all day, but then he was covering her body with his, all his heat and hardness dwarfing her, encompassing her and Viv felt like she was in the middle of a tropical heatwave.
And hell if she didn’t give herself up completely to the furnace.
*
The clock said quarter to seven when next Viv woke. It was dark in her room and her lower body was deliciously warm where the duvet covered her but her naked upper body was exposed to the cold. Her stiff nipples a testament to just how cold. Pulling the duvet up around her shoulders she reached out to snuggle into Reuben except he wasn’t there.
“Reuben?”
“Just starting the fire,” he called, his voice drifting in from the living room.
Viv wanted nothing more than to stay snuggled under the duvet but nature called and she slipped out of the bed, grabbed her long, polar fleece gown off the back of the chair and pulled it on. A couple of minutes later, she wandered down the dark hallway toward the scent of pine and the orange glow—both emanating from the living room.
The view of the fire was blocked by Reuben standing in front of it, his back to the entrance, his outline silhouetted in a deep ocher thanks to the dance of the flames in the hearth. He’d pulled on his boxers but that left a lot of warm, bare flesh exposed to her view.
“Hey,” she said as she came right up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist, linking her fingers together as she dropped a kiss between his shoulder blades. “It’s lovely and warm in here.”
His hand slid over top of hers. “Shouldn’t take long to warm up the cottage.”
That was the advantage of a small place—it heated quickly and Viv knew the entire cottage would be toasty warm within twenty minutes.
“Good,” she said, resting her chin on his bare shoulder. “It’s freezing in the bedroom.” She stared into the flames that were reaching high toward the chimney, fueled as they were by the neat stack of new wood and the spiny exoskeletons of several pinecones that flamed like torches.
“I was going to bring you a hot chocolate to get you through until the warmth made its way down.”
His voice was all low and rumbly, licking over her body like the fire licking in the grate and she knew exactly how those pinecones felt. Just the man’s voice turned her on. “Mmm, that sounds perfect.” She’d forgone a hot chocolate at Reuben’s parents’ house earlier because she’d been too damn full to squeeze anything else in.
And too damn uneasy, if she was being honest.
But, several hours and one round of vigorous sex later, she definitely had room.
“I’ll make it.” She kissed the side of his neck this time. “I’ve got Galliano, mint or Pop Rocks.”
“You have to ask?”
Viv smiled. “You’re just a big kid, aren’t you?”