Christopher cornered me in the kitchen. “Glad to see you two getting along,” he said with a knowing look. He still wore a hint of apology in his eyes, and I would needle him about this stint for years to come. It was just what brothers did.
“What do you mean?” I looked over my shoulder at the sound of Blair’s animated voice. “We always have.”
He folded his arms as he leaned against the counter. “Maybe when we were kids, but you two have pretty much avoided each other the past few years.”
“Yeah, guess so,” I admitted. “Different lifestyles…and interests.” Though we certainly seemed to line up a lot more than I’d realized.
He arched a brow. “That all it was?”
I made a frustrated noise. I didn’t need his third degree. “Yeah, of course. What are you getting at?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “What the hell have you guys been doing around here, anyway?”
“Exactly what it looks like—just chilling. Until you all came along.”
“Get over it already, or you’ll make Mom feel bad,” he muttered.
“Yeah, okay.” He was right, but I couldn’t help letting my irritation show. “Next time you guys are on a private vacation, I’ll be sure to show up and ruin it.”
He sighed. “Sounds like you two were enjoying yourselves.”
I felt my face grow hot just as Charlotte squealed and clapped her hands. “At least it was quieter.”
“Really? Blair was quiet? Impossible.” He smirked before his features transformed to concern. “Is he doing okay?”
I thought about our conversations over the past few days and how he’d admitted some hard truths about himself to me. I didn’t want to betray his confidence, but more than likely Blair would’ve eventually shared the same with his best friend. They’d stayed close over the years, which was a feat with all of Blair’s traveling.
“Yeah, I think he wanted a break from his schedule. But ask him yourself.”
“I will,” he replied in a solemn voice as he eyed his best friend giggling with his daughter. “So listen. Mom asked if you’d pick up a few packages of ornaments. She and Dad are heading to the grocery store for whatever dinner plans she has for Christmas Day.”
I swore under my breath. No way to stop this freight train. “What about gifts? What does she have up her sleeve about—”
“Actually, we all agreed to let Charlotte open her presents Christmas morning, and the rest of us would just enjoy each other’s company.”
“Perfect,” I replied, glad this wasn’t going to turn into some circus of trying to find the right gift on such short notice. “And I’d be glad to run to the store.”
“Better check with her before you leave.” He smirked. “With your luck, she’ll have some sort of color scheme in mind.”
I helped with the lights for a few minutes while Mom instructed me to only buy reasonably priced bulbs that Tabitha could store for future visits. Then I watched Blair and Charlotte from a distance before plunking down beside him on the hardwood floor.
“You’re good with her,” I remarked as her doll pranced onto the makeshift runway. She loved anything with bling, so she and Blair were bound to get along well.
He grinned, and I forced myself not to focus on how adorable and natural he seemed. “Oh yeah, kids love me.”
“So humble.” I nudged his shoulder. “Ever think of having kids of your own?”
“Sometimes. But that would mean…” He trailed off and mock-shivered.
I snickered. “Settling down with someone? It’s not as bad as you think. And you don’t have to be in a relationship to have kids.”
“I guess,” he admitted.
“Maybe you should start with a dog,” I offered.
“I’m never home, remember?”
“Yeah, except—” I looked around the room to make sure no one was paying us any attention as I reminded him about our recent conversations. “Even you don’t know what the future holds.”
“Famous last words,” he quipped, then changed his voice to reply to Charlotte’s question about the fashion show.
“By the way, Mom wants me to head out to buy ornaments, since all they found in the crawl space were lights and some broken bulbs.” I averted my eyes. “Just, uh, letting you know.”
What the hell was I doing? It wasn’t like we were together. But maybe he needed a break too.
“Are you asking me to tag along?” he stage-whispered.
“Only if you felt like it.” I got to my feet and considered where I last put my keys.
“I’m in,” he said, and I wouldn’t deny a little thrill shot through me.
Once in the car, I breathed out in relief. “Thanks for being my partner in crime.”
He laughed. “Is that what I am?”
I grinned stupidly as I pulled onto the street. “I think Christopher is surprised we’ve been hanging out.”
“I’m surprised too,” he admitted.
I winced, remembering my mom’s curious look as we both headed out the door. “Do you think they’ll suspect anything?”
“They might if you keep hanging all over me,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Shut it.”
“Not like I’d mind,” he added in a husky voice.
“Stop or you’ll make me hard,” I hummed.
He glanced greedily at my lap. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“Guess I won’t be able to follow through on any of my devious ideas,” I teased with a wink.
He gaped at me, and I nudged his shoulder. “Kidding.”
“That’s a shame,” he muttered. His cheeks flushed adorably, and the idea of him being interested in anything with someone as inexperienced as me was potently arousing as well as entirely surprising.
A shame, indeed.
I pulled into the packed Walmart parking lot, but definitely considered driving someplace vacant so I could show him exactly what I had in mind. Namely, more of the same and maybe also just more. More skin and lips and hands and even teeth.
Jesus, I needed to cut it out, or I’d be shopping with a hard-on.
So I did the reasonable thing and put the car in park. “You ready to go into this fucking madness and shop?”
He stared out the side window at some lady pushing a loaded shopping cart. “Not a chance, but we don’t have a choice.”
“Famous last words,” I said, throwing his words back at him.
After fighting the crowd, we came out virtually unscathed with a few boxes in neutral colors—thanks to Blair’s decorating eye—plus a couple of packages of singular bulbs because Blair thought they were blingy.
We’d also headed into the toy section in search of new Barbies for Charlotte that Blair insisted she needed to add to her collection. When he promised to wrap them and suggested they could be from both of us, it felt like we were living in an alternate reality.
So why did the idea secretly thrill me at the same time? I told myself it was because I was used to being in a relationship, but deep down it felt like a little preview into what dating Blair might be like if he ever allowed anyone to get close.
15
Blair
After we brought home the ornaments and helped Mrs. Bell put away groceries, we decorated the tree while sipping on an eggnog-and-rum concoction Mr. Bell made.
I couldn’t drink more than a couple of sips because the creaminess messed with my stomach, but I was grateful for the effort nonetheless. Plus, the alcohol helped soothe my frayed nerves after being in the thick of the holiday shopping craze.
The Bells had, of course, thought of everything, most likely in order to make up for our lack of holiday cheer.
“Traitor,” Caden mumbled under his breath when I accepted the offering after smelling the cinnamon-and-nutmeg aphrodisiac.
When Caden’s dad insisted he try one too, I snickered. “Uh-huh.”
Then we had ourselves a good laugh when Caden pulled the next bulb from the bag. I’d chosen it beca
use it was red and glittery, and totally didn’t pay attention to the message written on the side of the ornament: Our First Christmas.
“Well, it was our first until my family ruined it,” Caden mused, and it made my breath catch for reasons I couldn’t readily explain. “Let’s still add it to the tree. Maybe in the back, facing the wall.”
“Good idea.”
But I couldn’t shake his statement for the rest of the evening.
I fell asleep on the couch during a Heads-Up tournament with Charlotte—guess even her squealing couldn’t rouse me—then headed up to bed early at Mrs. Bell’s insistence.
I stared at the ceiling, still thinking about what Caden said, as the reflection from the moon cast shimmering patterns. But like every night since coming to the beach, my eyes eventually shut of their own volition. Must’ve been the salty sea air.
Next day it was warmer, and we’d been out on the beach since midmorning, showing Charlotte how to build a sandcastle. I’d created the moat while Caden used a bucket Tabitha had found in the storage closet to shape a couple of towers. Christopher was scooping water with his daughter while she giggled and dumped the cold liquid on Caden’s formations, making them resemble misshapen peaks.
Regardless, we made a good team, and it reminded me of our younger days when Christopher and Caden would fight over the bucket and I was just happy scoring a plastic shovel.
Mr. and Mrs. Bell said much the same thing to Tabitha as they stood nearby, watching us create magic all for Charlotte’s sake—and maybe a little for nostalgia as well. Charlotte clapped excitedly and tried to hold back the water when waves encroached on the moat, flooding it with foaming surf.
“The high tide will eventually ruin it,” Christopher explained, and when she frowned, he added, “So we’ll just build another one.”
Seemingly satisfied, she skipped off to pick shiny shells near the surf as Caden and I walked the few steps to the water to wash off our sandy hands.
Christopher was looking at us funny as he joined us to douse water on his grimy knees.
“What?” I asked.
“You guys are acting weird.” He glanced between us. “Like you have a secret.”
I swallowed and tried not to glance in Caden’s direction.
“You’re just jealous because we’re getting along and you don’t have to be the buffer between us,” Caden suggested.
“Ah, that must be it,” he said, but I could hear in his tone that he wanted to call bullshit.
Heading back inside was like stepping in a time warp to our younger days. The huge tree stood in the corner of the room, all decorated and lending to the holiday feel that was sorely lacking before the Bells arrived. It was like we’d been forced to celebrate, and truth be told, I didn’t mind it after all.
I thought back to yesterday evening while decorating the tree, and my stomach flooded with warmth.
“It was our first until my family ruined it.”
Christopher was right. We did have a secret. We actually liked each other.
Maybe even a lot.
Afterward, we strolled through the Mote Aquarium so that Charlotte could see some jellyfish, and I admit they were pretty cool, along with the seahorses, which I’d always been drawn to. It’d been years since we’d visited there, and outside of some renovations and the addition of a stingray tank, not much had changed.
We ate an early dinner where I tried not to pick at my food, because chili was so not my thing. When Caden casually slid the bowl of oyster crackers to me, I was touched. They had the kind of dry texture I could stomach in small doses, and the fact that he’d become that attuned to my preferences made my chest feel funny.
Mrs. Bell appeared to be studying our interaction from across the table, but I was probably only hyperaware that my fondness for Caden stood out like a beacon of light. And so what if it did? We were childhood friends who had turned into responsible adults. Well, mostly.
Besides, it wasn’t like I was trying to jump Caden’s bones at every turn, even though I desperately wanted to. The tension seemed thicker, and even the slightest contact between us, like his ankle brushing against mine under the table, was becoming too much.
Truth was, sex came easy to me. I only needed to make my intentions known, and by the end of the night, I was being sucked or fucked by a hot guy.
But this felt different. Caden was a beautiful temptation I hadn’t gotten my fill of yet. And it was more than a physical thing. It was a visceral longing I felt deep in my gut. I’d just been getting to know him again, and now I felt under the spotlight. And before I knew it, this vacation would end, we’d go our separate ways, and that didn’t sit well with me. At all.
I was pretty darn sure Christopher might have something to say about all of it, especially since Caden hadn’t even come out to his family yet. He’d been acting strange, and even when we’d caught up a bit in front of the clown fish and anemone display at the aquarium, Christopher seemed not only worried, but suspicious that I was keeping something from him.
“You’re just…different,” he’d said. When I explained I was burned out and considering what to do next with my life, he seemed appeased. His advice about considering all my options as well as the toll my modeling career took on me was solid.
Caden nudged me, and I blinked, roused from my thoughts. Mr. Bell was asking me about my parents, so I caught them up on their recent travels.
Once the dishes were cleared, the family decided to walk down the beach to search for sand dollars, which Charlotte was totally fixated on, along with spotting dolphins. Her excitement was completely charming and sounded way too familiar.
Caden promised to catch up to us after he showered, and when I looked down at myself, I felt gross and gritty too. Christopher had already cleaned up before the aquarium visit, hogging the hallway bathroom like he normally did with all his hair products, and we still enjoyed ribbing him about it. Even Tabitha joined in after cleaning up in the bathroom attached to the master. She’d insisted Mr. and Mrs. Bell stay there for this trip, even though it essentially belonged to her and Christopher.
When my phone buzzed with a call from my mom, I turned back from the shore and toward the deck to take it in private, waving to the Bells as they headed farther down the beach. I filled my mom in on the past few days as I went inside to grab a hoodie from my room to combat the cool sea air.
I’d just read her my flight times for the New Year and said my goodbyes when I heard Caden’s muffled voice from the bathroom. “Anybody still here?”
“Just me. I came back for my hoodie. What’s up?” I paused outside the door.
“Forgot a towel. Could you place one on the counter for me?”
“Of course.” I grabbed one from the shelf in the hallway linen closet and slipped into the steamy bathroom, only to see Caden’s naked ass on full display through the glass partition. Fuck.
Right then he looked over his shoulder, and our eyes met.
I probably should’ve left, but instead I stood motionless while my cock plumped in record time. “Damn, Cady.”
“I’ll kick your ass,” he quipped as he turned to face me, and holy Christ, if I thought the back of him was nice, it was nothing compared to his front. The hair on his chest ran in a thin line down to a bushy patch at his groin, which was in contrast to my hairless body, and I fucking loved it. His fast-filling cock didn’t seem to mind my scrutiny either.
“You’re sexy as hell.” I glanced over my shoulder toward the hallway. “How long you think we have?”
“Dunno, why?” he asked around a thick throat.
“I want to touch you. Taste you. I fucking love giving head, and I…” I swore under my breath and took a step back. “Christ, sorry, not trying to overwhelm you.”
“Goddamn, Blair,” he groaned, sliding the door open wider. “Let me see you too.”
Thank fuck.
I quickly stripped out of my shirt and turned to kick out of my jeans as his gaze greedily raked over my
body, making me flush. I distantly wondered if I was too thin for his liking, but his gaze was filled with so much desire, I quickly dismissed the thought.
The water battered my body as I stepped inside and immediately sank to my knees.
“Oh my God,” Caden rasped. “You don’t need to—”
“Shush, we don’t have a lot of time.”
I buried my nose in his curly hair and smelled his soapy, musky scent. I could feel him trembling, and his fingers fumbled behind him to find purchase against the tile wall.
I took a deep breath to calm down and make it good for him, studying his pretty cock, which was thick and leaking. When I gently licked around the crown, his knees nearly buckled, so I gripped his thigh to keep him upright. Christ, he was going to be the death of me. His awe and enthusiasm about the simple act of having a guy sucking him off was as endearing as it was captivating.
Using my tongue and lips, I took only the tip of him inside my mouth to get him used to the suction. His fingers gripped my hair, and he released a groan that curled my toes. “Holy shit, that’s—”
“Shh,” I whispered, then sucked him down, his thick shaft stretching my lips to capacity as my tongue licked along a pulsing vein. My shaft dripped onto the tiles as I pulled more groans from his lips.
Pumping his hips, he gripped the base of his cock and urgently fed it to me as his other hand tightened in my hair. It was so damned hot, I nearly spilled my load. When my fingers slipped lower to grip his balls, he gasped. My thumb slipped behind to his perineum, and that was his undoing. He held on to my hair as he mumbled incoherently and spurted ropes of jizz inside my mouth.
After swallowing it all down, I licked around the crown until he was too tender and held me at bay. “Fuck. Just…fuck.”
I stood on shaky legs, my dick fully at attention. I was so goddamned hard, I probably could’ve come just from watching him pant and shudder as he came back to the world by varying degrees.
Beautiful Temptation (So This is Christmas Book 2) Page 8