“I think maybe it was different because she had twins, and from all accounts, Daph and I were both a handful. People say that when you have twins that one is always calmer and quieter than the other. Not us though.”
“I thought your sister was younger. You call her your baby sister all the time…”
“She is, by four minutes or whatever.”
“That’s cute. Seb is three years older than me, but he’s a pain in the ass, and he’s kind of a clown. Your typical rich Cali boy. He and his friends pretty much think they own Malibu, or they did before he moved to the Hills.”
“I thought Silicon Valley is where all the techies end up?”
She’s mentioned a few times that her brother is a big-time software developer. She’s even showed me a few apps that he’s worked on. All mostly in banking with a couple of others that are completely off the track. The dating app completely threw me along with Meet Up, an app to tell your friends where you are so “you never have to drink alone.”
“He moved there for a while, but then…” Amelia shrugs before she says, “It wasn’t for him, so he moved to the Hollywood Hills after the dating app went viral. I think you both have some very similar outlooks about relationships. Seb’s always focused on his next big project or whatever fun thing he can develop next.”
“You know how you say I talk a lot about work?” Brushing my fingers through her knotted hair, I inhale her warm, sweet scent. “You talk about your brother just as much.”
“When our parents weren’t around, he was the one that looked out for me. The boys at school weren’t scared of our super attorney dad—they wouldn’t go near me because of my jackass brother and his friends.” The smile I love is back, bringing with it a newfound respect for a guy I haven’t ever met. “I don’t know why, but he tried to make up for our parents’ absence by being there all the time. Every Saturday morning he would make me breakfast, and then we’d go to the Santa Monica Pier…”
“He makes me look like a tool. All Daphne can say about me is that I give her shit over her micro-pig obsession.”
“I recently had a client that wanted miniature horses for her daughter’s sixth birthday. It was a nightmare. They were only in London for three weeks during summer, and the mom was not letting it go. In the end, the little girl was so grossed out by all the shit that Kate and I were running around this massive yard trying to pen the damn things in. They were cute though, tiny.”
“I’ve never heard of miniature horses before,” I chuckle, and the sound of her laughing along with me makes me want to kiss her so damn hard that when I do, she yelps at the scrape of my teeth over her lip.
Turning her onto her back, I pin her to the mattress with my body. “You are so damn beautiful, Mrs. Claus.”
“You don’t have to sweet-talk me into your bed, Mr. Grinch, I’m already in it.”
Not for much longer. I sigh, kissing her with my eyes wide open so I can memorize every last detail of hers. The way her pupils dilate, darkening the bright amber and green to mossy bronze.
With a low gasp, she closes her eyes with a savoring roll as my cock finds her entrance and I push inside her leisurely.
“Look at me, baby,” I groan into her gaping mouth, holding still until she does as I ask.
When I pull out and press back in, I swallow down the airy moan that hisses out of her. I wish we could make time stop so that we had more of it. I wish that our lives weren’t complete opposites, in different continents and so set because I’ve never wanted anyone the way I crave her. Like the ocean needs the moon to keep it from stagnating, my heart needs her to beat back to life.
Amelia is a completely unexpected force of nature that’s turned everything I live by upside down. She makes me want things that I have no business wanting because I already know how things would end between us. And unlike anyone else, she has the ability to tear me apart.
“Adam…” she whispers, bringing me back to her with a needy stare boring into mine as her arms curl around my shoulders and she holds on to me tighter than ever.
That’s all she ever says while I pin her leg to my side and cup her face, thrusting in and out. I don’t know what it means, but it sounds like an unspoken promise. Something we both know can’t happen because the real world is waiting.
In and out. In and out.
“Adam…” Her cry is a muted, strangled groan as her other leg rounds my waist, her heel pressing to my ass with her body bowing into mine.
A shudder rolls through her as she touches her forehead to mine and her pussy clenches around my cock, pulling me deeper as I come inside her.
“So damn fucking pretty.” The words spill from my gaping mouth to hers. Breathless, ragged, and never ever so truly felt.
Amelia kisses me and I kiss her, still trying to catch our breaths as a tear rolls down one of her cheeks.
“That good, huh, spitfire?” I nip at the tip of her nose before pressing my lips to her forehead and dragging in a steeling breath.
Rolling onto my back, I take her with me and tuck her into my chest as I pull the duvet back over us.
“I heard those angels sing, after all,” she chuckles into my chest, but it sounds as though it’s mixed with a sob.
Although I want to make sure she’s all right, I don’t move with the exception of cocooning her in my arms and returning to the movie that’s nearing its end.
It’s a good reminder. It doesn’t matter what it is, all things have an end. Some sooner than others.
The Christmas playlist is on repeat again. I think I’m going to miss it when we leave. Although I’ve eaten my body weight in gingerbread cookies, I’m going to miss those too. In fact, all the things that I didn’t understand about her—the fascination with Christmas, the constant happiness and baking. Jesus, with the exception of Mom, I don’t think I’ve met someone who loves to bake so much—all these things are what I’m going to miss most.
“Like what you see?” Amelia comes to a stop in front of where I’m standing in the lounge doorway, wearing the sweater she bought at the Christmas market the other day.
“Do you like what you see?” I turn the question on her, gesturing down my torso.
“I might tap that.” Grinning up at me, she takes my hand, leading me to the large rug in front of the fire. “Wanna dance with me?”
“Maybe.” I shrug, pulling her hand to my chest before I spin her and dip her low with a kiss to her lips, enjoying the sound of her giggles.
Holding her to me, I sway us around the room with the occasional spin or kiss while she sighs contentedly and hums along to “Baby It’s Cold Outside.”
“It’s not as cold as it was when we got here,” I tell her, pausing in front of the tree.
“I think it’s all the festive spirit warming the cockles of your heart.”
I laugh as Amelia grabs a couple of champagne flutes and hands me one.
“It’s the last bottle,” she tells me, nodding to the Krug on the sideboard. “Best for last too!”
“So, we’ve watched your favorite Christmas movie, decorated this place…” I take a deep breath and give her my best, broadest smile.