6
Drake
As I turned onto our street, my cell phone rang. Lexi’s number came up on the screen on the dash, and I grinned while I pressed the button to accept the call. “Don’t worry, baby. The crisis has been averted, and I’ll be home in a minute.”
Once again, it was my son’s voice that came through the line instead of my wife’s. “Good, because we just got home from the homeless shelter, and that jerk from next door is bugging Mom again.”
“I’ll handle it,” I promised as my hands tightened on the steering wheel until my knuckles turned white.
“They’re outside in the garage,” he added. “I came in with Marie to help her with her boots.”
“Thanks for watching over your mom and sister for me. Stay inside while I take care of this,” I ordered before disconnecting the call.
“What the fuck?” I hissed as I pulled into my driveway, blinking a few times to confirm that what I thought I was seeing was real. The image in front of me didn’t change, though. The asshole who lived next door to us stood next to my wife while holding a sprig of mistletoe above her head.
A red haze clouded my vision as I slammed my car into park. Nobody kissed my wife under the mistletoe except me. Or anywhere fucking else, for that matter. Her lips were all mine.
I flung my door open, stepped out of my vehicle, and slammed it shut before stomping over to them. Yanking my wife against my side, I glared at my neighbor. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Mike sputtered, dropping his hand to his side.
“Don’t overreact, honey.” Lexi stroked her palm down my back in a futile attempt to soothe me. “The manager at the homeless shelter gave Marie that mistletoe from one of their decorations, and Mike was just telling me about its very long history of being used in celebrations.”
“How nice of him,” I drawled sarcastically. Then I tugged the stem out of our neighbor’s hold and handed it to my wife. “Maybe you should go inside and give this back to our daughter before she comes marching out here to demand it.”
Lexi sighed after searching my face. “I guess I could do that. Just try to remember that we live in this neighborhood and don’t do anything too drastic.”
I pasted on an innocent look and raised my hands in the air, palms facing her. “I’m just going to have a little chat with our neighbor. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Uh-huh.” Her suspicious expression turned into surprise when I yanked her against my chest and cupped her cheeks with my hands, tilting her head back so I could capture her lips with mine.
I took advantage of her gasp, plunging my tongue inside her mouth. When her body melted into mine, a groan rumbled up my chest. I would’ve enjoyed taking our kiss further, but I forced myself to set her away. Giving her a little pat on her butt, I jerked my chin in the direction of our house. “Go on. I won’t be too far behind you.”
Her eyes were a little foggy as she wandered into the garage. I waited until the door leading into the house shut behind her before turning toward Mike, who seemed frozen in place. “What the fuck did you think you were doing with my wife?”
“I didn’t—” He broke off midsentence and ran his fingers through his hair. “I would never do anything to hurt Lexi.”
“Look, Mike.” I clapped my hand on his shoulder and squeezed, enjoying his wince of discomfort a little more than I probably should have. But I didn’t like how he said my wife’s name any more than I’d enjoyed seeing him hold mistletoe over her head as though he expected her to give him a kiss. “I can understand why you’d have a crush on my Lexi. She’s beautiful, smart, and sweet.” He let out a little yelp of pain when my hold on him tightened. “So sweet that I sometimes need to take care of shit for her when people try to take advantage of her kindness. Which is fine by me because I’m not as nice as my wife. And sometimes situations like this let me brush off skills I haven’t been able to use since I retired from rugby.”
Mike’s eyes widened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat when he gulped. “Oh, shit.”
“I think you’re finally getting where I’m coming from.” I released his shoulder and crossed my arms over my chest. “I love my wife more than you can possibly understand. We’ve spent fifteen years together, and I have no plans for our relationship to end. Ever.”
His gaze darted toward my house, and his shoulders slumped. “I can’t blame you for wanting to keep her.”
“But I sure as fuck can blame you for thinking for even a minute that you have a chance in hell of luring her away from me.” He stumbled back a few steps at my growled accusation. “There are plenty of women in this neighborhood who would be thrilled if you tried to kiss them under the mistletoe. We won’t have any more problems as long as you stick close to one of them from now on. Or hell, as many of them as you’d like. Just so long as you stay the hell away from my wife.”
“You will never see me near her again.” I watched him as he ran across his lawn, almost bumping into a giant inflatable teddy bear in his rush to get to the safety of his house. A deep chuckle rumbled up my chest as I headed over to my car to pull it into the garage. Between making my daughter’s Christmas wish come true and scaring the fuck out of the dickhead who lived next door, I accomplished a lot today.
Lexi was waiting for me in the kitchen, her hip leaned against the counter and her arms crossed over her chest. Quirking a brow, she asked, “How badly did you scare Mike?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided that our neighborhood isn’t a good fit for him.” I walked over and pressed my hands against the counter on either side of her body, caging her in.
She twined her arms around my neck. “That’s going to suck for Marie since she and Emily have become good friends over the past few months.”
I hated that my daughter was going to be disappointed, but there was no way in hell that man was going to spend time around my wife after trying to trick her into kissing him—not that I thought she’d ever do anything to betray me. My wife loved me as much as I did her. “Maybe we can figure out something with Emily’s mom so the girls can still see each other if he moves.”
Her brown eyes were full of humor as they crinkled at the edges. “I guess I could reach out to her if it comes down to that.”
“Good.” I brushed my lips over hers. “And at least Marie will have her present from Santa to distract her if she doesn’t play with Emily as often.”
Lexi’s brows rose, and she whispered, “You found one?”
“It will be under the tree for her in the morning,” I promised with a grin.
“How did you manage it?” Lexi shook her head. “I didn’t think any of the stores still had them in stock.”
“I had a little help from Santa’s elves,” I admitted.
She looked toward the door leading to the garage. “Why am I getting the feeling that there isn’t a you-know-what in the trunk of your car right now?”
“Because my mom already had one, and your dad is headed to Greenwich to pick it up.” I gave her another kiss before letting her go and heading over to the fridge.