“Get that seatbelt on first, though,” Gabriela said as she drove away from the curb. “Tell me about your day.”
Holding the cupcake up high in one hand, Ana used the other to reach behind her and grab the seatbelt, pulling it across her body and snapping it in.
“We did a little bit of work in the morning, but after lunch everyone passed out their snacks and drinks and we all snuggled in our blankets and watched Finding Dori.” She tore the cupcake in half and held the bigger piece out to Gabriela. “Me, Julie, and Max all laid together on the floor. Julie had this huge pillow that we all got to share.”
Gabriela accepted the offering, her thumb landing in the dark green icing. “That sounds fun.” She glanced to the left, making sure the road was clear before exiting of the school parking lot. “Maybe we should have a movie slumber party in the living room during Christmas break.”
Ana perked, brows shooting up. “Can we? Please? Please? Please?”
“Yes. And I’ll even let you choose the movies.”
Ana pumped her fist. “Yes!”
Gabriela chuckled and popped the cupcake chunk into her mouth, making sure to lick the icing off her thumb. It was almost too sweet, but it was delicious.
“I’m so excited for Christmas break,” Ana said around the cupcake in her mouth. “Oh, I got something else for you, but you can’t open it until Christmas.”
Gabriela glanced at Ana, who unzipped her backpack and pulled something out. It was a small bundle, no bigger than her palm, wrapped in red tissue paper with a white bow on top.
“Aw, I can’t wait to open it, Ana. Thank you.”
“I made it in class. You’re going to love it!”
“I know I will because you made it.”
Somehow, Ana’s smile grew larger, and she carefully tucked the gift in her backpack.
“I have a surprise, too,” Gabriela said.
“Really? For Christmas?”
“Well, that too, but this surprise is for when we get home.”
“What is it? Tell meeeee!”
“We’re going to bake Christmas cookies.”
“Yay!” Ana bounced in her seat. “The kind that I like, with the icing?”
“Yep.”
“You are the best!”
They chatted some more as Gabriela drove home, making plans for Christmas break to go sledding and ice skating, to watch movies, and to build snowmen. By the time the car was in the driveway, Ana was so hyped that she couldn’t sit still.
Gabriela turned off the engine and handed the keys to Ana. “I need you to open the door and go to your room.”
“How come?”
“Because…I have gifts I don’t want you to see yet. And I need to hide them from prying little eyes.”
Ana laughed. “I don’t pry!”
Gabriela snorted. “That’s what they all say.”
“Okay, fiiiiiine.” Ana unbuckled, wrapped her hand around the strap of her backpack, and opened her car door. “And then we’ll make cookies?”
“And then we’ll make cookies.”
“Sweet.” She jumped out of the car.
“Ana, wait,” Gabriela said before Ana could close the door. She reached into the back seat and grabbed her coat, holding it out to her daughter. “Can you take this in for me?”
Ana took it. “Sure.”
“Thank you.”
Her daughter closed the car door and took off toward the house.
Gabriela picked up her purse and exited the car. The chilled air touching her bare arms made her skin prickle with goosebumps. “And remember, no peeking!”
“I won’t!” Ana called over her shoulder as she slipped the key into the lock.
Reaching down, Gabriela pressed the button to pop the trunk. After making sure the car was locked, she closed the door and walked to the back, lifting the trunk lid.
She listened as the house door opened and Ana’s boots thumped into the house, waiting until the girl had enough time to get to her room before scooping up the grocery bags in the trunk one by one and hanging them over her forearm. She had three of the bags on when she heard heavy footsteps on the pavement behind her.
Gabby turned, and her breath caught in her throat when she saw Mason walking toward her. He wasn’t wearing a coat, and his long-sleeved, knitted gray shirt clung to his torso, accentuating his wide shoulders and broad chest. The three buttons at the collar were undone, affording her a glimpse of the muscle beneath. His long black hair hung loose around his shoulders, wisps of it flowing in the wintry breeze. Her eyes dipped. He wore a pair of faded jeans that hugged his thick, muscular legs, tucked over a pair of black boots.
This was a man who didn’t skip leg day. He clearly didn’t skip arm day and chest day, either—or any day, really.
Something sparked in her core, something hot and thrilling that made her pussy clench in sudden need. Her nipples tightened into hard points, and it had nothing to do with the cold.
She had never felt this kind of immediate desire for any man before. Not even for James, her ex-boyfriend and Ana’s father, the last man Gabriela had been intimate with ten years ago. No, this sort of attraction seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, and she only felt it when she saw Mason.
Unfortunately, she was sure her predicament was quite noticeable through her sports bra and the snug t-shirt she’d worn to clean Paige’s house. She moved to lift her arm and cover her chest, but it caught on the three heavy bags attached to it.
Gabriela smiled regardless. “Hi, Mason.”
“Hi,” he said, pausing a few feet away with his hands in his pockets. “I was just…” Mason frowned, brow furrowing. “I was going to ask you, uh… Need help carrying those?”
“I’ve hauled much more than this, plus a car seat with a baby, many times before.” She grinned and slipped her arm free of the bags. “But the help would be wonderful. Thank you.”
He stepped forward, stopping beside her. Warmth radiated from him, and the air was suddenly laden with his scent—pine, cedar, and moss, like the very mountains in which they lived, and something entirely unique to him, something warm, spicy, and manly. She leaned toward him to take a deeper breath. That ache between her legs intensified.
I need to get laid.
Gabriela’s eyes widened, and she jerked back, pressing her lips together, afraid she might have said those words out loud. But Mason made no indication that he’d heard anything as he reached down to pluck the bags of out the trunk, catching the handles in his big hand smoothly and effortlessly. No indication but for the faintest smirk on his lips, anyway—which was so infinitesimal that she couldn’t be sure whether it was there or not.
“Those too?” he asked, gesturing to the bags she’d tucked away at the very back of the trunk.
“Oh, I’ll get those.” She bent forward, her hip brushing his thigh as she leaned in to reach for the bags, making her breath hitch. “They’re…Christmas gifts for Ana. She’s hiding in her room so I can run these to mine to wrap later.”
She straightened and placed her hand on the trunk lid, closing it. She looked back up to meet Mason’s violet gaze. Her heart thumped.
He has such beautiful eyes…