Elkin Brothers Christmas: The Complete Series

by Leslie North

  “What?”

  “Be the best-engaged couple at this resort.”

  Gabe’s hand came up, and he stroked the side of her face, his eyes finally landing on hers. They flicked down over her lips and lingered there. “How should we do that?”

  “Oh, I’m not sure,” she said primly. “Do you think we should practice first? Do some exercises to get closer together before our next public appearance?”

  He made a low noise in the back of his throat. “I can think of a few exercises for that.” His gray-green eyes warmed. “I have to warn you, though—they involve significantly less clothing.”

  “Try me,” she said, all too happy when he took her up on the offer.

  13

  When they climbed out of bed an hour later, Gabe felt closer to Anna. Much closer. It still stung, the way she’d brushed over his worry about not belonging with his family, but it stung a lot less. He’d take that for now.

  They stepped into the shower together, and he tried to put his heart back inside his body as he ran the washcloth down her curves, circling her breasts and tickling her hips. She leaned back against him, her head on his chest. “No more,” she said. “Or I’ll be too tired to go to dinner with you.”

  “With me, Jonas, and Chase,” he said, clearly not entirely over her earlier defection to his family’s way of thinking.

  She stiffened. She hadn’t been prepared for this extra performance. “I didn’t know we were going to dinner with them tonight.”

  He worked the shampoo through her hair and helped rinse it out again. “Well, that’s what we’re here for—family dinners.” Gabe turned her to face him, but her dark eyes slipped away from his. He put a finger under her chin and tilted her face toward his. “You’ve been amazing at the dinners. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing.” She smiled, the nervousness disappearing from her face. But it didn’t disappear from her body. Her shoulders seemed tense as she dried her hair and put on her makeup. If she didn’t want to talk about it, he wouldn’t press. Not when they were about to walk out the door.

  The hotel’s restaurant was on the opposite side of the building, a five-star affair with low lighting and white tablecloths.

  “Is your grandmother going to eat with us tonight?” Anna murmured as they breezed by the hostess.

  “No. Jonas sent a message saying she was still too tired.” Gabe squeezed her hand. “I thought you had a good time with Chase and Tana today.”

  “Of course,” she said as if she was trying to convince herself, too. “It was a great lesson, and they’re good teachers.”

  “Then—” It was too late to finish the question, so he stopped himself. They had come to the round table where Tana, Chase, and Jonas were waiting. Jonas and Chase stood up to shake hands with him. It was all very formal. Tana came around to embrace Anna, and then they all took their seats. “Lindsey’s at a friend’s house,” Tana said, explaining her absence.

  “Now that the lovebirds are here, we can order,” Chase said, shooting Anna a wink.

  She laughed, the sound too loud and bright for the moment, and an intense awkwardness flooded over Gabe. “What are you going to have, Jonas?”

  “Steak,” his brother’s answer came without a second’s hesitation. “It’s my favorite thing on the menu.”

  “You don’t want to broaden your horizons?” Chase needled. “Anna did. She’s basically never been skiing before, and she spent a good two hours on the slopes today.”

  “Will I lose all my credibility if I also order steak?” Anna asked, her smile too full. Almost forced.

  Chase and Jonas chuckled, seeming not to notice.

  “Because it sounds good after all that exercise.” She glanced at Gabe as she said it, her cheeks going pink, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what she was trying to do. Could his brothers tell? That was the key at this moment.

  Tana said something about roast chicken, and the rest of them chattered about it until the waiter came back and took the orders.

  “Now that that’s done,” Chase said, folding his hands on the table, “what do you two have in mind for the wedding? Because I have some ideas.”

  This earned him a look from Tana. “You have ideas? About weddings?”

  “Yeah.” Chase grinned. “But I want to hear what the plans are first before I jump in with suggestions.”

  “Oh, we—” Anna glanced at Gabe. “We haven’t had time to talk about plans for the big event yet, what with the holidays, and the engagement.”

  “What’s your dream wedding?” Tana said, reaching for a roll in the basket at the center of the table. Those rolls were one of Gabe’s favorite things in the restaurant, but he didn’t want one now.

  Something had gone horribly wrong, and the direction the conversation was headed left him reeling. He should get up and make some excuse. But then his brothers would know something was wrong, and their questions would only intensify.

  “I always thought I’d like a summer wedding,” Tana mused, stealing a glance at Chase. “But winter weddings can be beautiful, too. All those warm wraps...”

  “I can’t see us getting married before the summer. Right, Gabe?” Anna’s gaze landed on him, looking for confirmation, her eyes wide with panic. Gabe grabbed her hand.

  They hadn’t come up with a fake wedding plan, but the conversation shouldn’t send her into a tailspin. Unless there was something else about wedding planning that he was missing completely. “That’s right. Not before summer at the earliest.”

  The waiter stepped in with their salad course. He’d never seen Anna look so relieved. She seemed to be intently focused on dressing the salad, and he was grateful for the lull in conversation while everyone else did the same. Except for Jonas, who didn’t like dressing.

  “What about your family, Anna?” Jonas asked.

  Anna’s eyes snapped back up to meet Jonas’s, her fork freezing in midair over her salad. The smile flickered away from her face and then reappeared seconds later. But Gabe noticed the slip. “What about them?”

  “I don’t think we’ve really had the chance to get to know you.” Jonas popped a cherry tomato into his mouth. “All of our gatherings have been pretty Elkin-focused. Where does your family come from?”

  “Las Vegas. Born and raised.” Anna shrugged, with a light laugh. “It’s not a very interesting story.”

  Gabe wasn’t buying it for a single minute. Everything Anna did took the form of an interesting story. That was why she was so good at arranging conferences—why she could make an inspiring narrative out of just about anything.

  Gabe searched his memory for the true story of her family, but somehow, they’d never talked about it. If she’d revealed her past to him, he would know. And now all he could think about were the ways she shifted away from those kinds of questions, or changed the subject, leaving him to wonder about her childhood. Jonas nodded slowly, suspicion creeping into his eyes. “So, you grew up in Vegas then. That sounds exciting.”

  “We lived in the eastern portion, in the suburbs,” Anna said. “But honestly, I don’t like to talk about my childhood. It was an uncomfortable time.”

  Chase straightened up in his seat, looking down at his salad, and Tana’s expression shifted toward sympathy.

  “But what’s important,” she continued brightly, “is that I’ve managed to make it on my own, and I’m happy where I am now. Very happy.”

  Anna looked back at her salad and stabbed at a piece of lettuce resolutely with her fork.

  Gabe could see that Jonas wanted to ask more questions. He could see it in the intense look on his brother’s face. “You’ll be the first to know when we’ve decided about the wedding,” he said pointedly, ending the conversation.

  The brothers let it drop, talking about attendance on the slopes until the main course came. But Anna didn’t relax. She spoke up every so often, usually to agree with Tana or ask Chase about his new position at the resort. Tension wound its way up the back of G
abe’s neck until it was too tight to bear. When the waiter came to clear away the dinner plates, he took Anna’s hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. “I think we’re going to head out,” he announced to everyone else at the table.

  Anna put on one more smile, and the two of them left. It wasn’t until they got off the elevator at their floor that her shoulders sagged. She leaned against him, trembling a little.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “Jonas doesn’t know when to stop sometimes. I think he missed the class on sensitivity.”

  “I don’t understand why he’s so determined to find out more,” she said through gritted teeth. Her arm went around his waist, and she held tight while he opened the door and entered their suite. Anna brushed past him to push the door shut and slam the locks into place. “My family has nothing to do with the wedding, or with me, and—”

  “He’s just trying to look out for me. My family doesn’t love that I live in Vegas, where they can’t keep an eye on everything I’m doing. It is Sin City afterall.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “I know—but it’s out of love. I know it is.” It irritated him, too, all the questions. Anna clearly hadn’t wanted to talk about it, and Jonas had pressed on anyway. “That doesn’t excuse the way he kept pressing for answers.”

  She let out a breath, some of the color receding from her face. “I get it. It’s nice you have someone who cares one way or the other.” Her gaze flicked down to the floor, and the corner of her mouth turned down. This time, he reached up to brush his thumb over that hint of a frown. Anna met his eyes again, and he was struck by the depth he found there, and the warmth, even when she was sad.

  “Tell me what’s happening with you,” he coaxed. “You’ve been tense since you knew about this dinner with my brothers. Did something happen out on the ski hill?”

  “No,” she said quickly. “No, I just—I found out more about how it was for you guys—growing up. It wasn’t anything like my childhood, and I felt...I felt like a puzzle piece that had fallen into the wrong box. Like I would never fit in here, even if I tried. And I know it doesn’t matter, but...I guess it does matter. To me.”

  She bit her lip, and a rush of affection as clean and pure as mountain water hit him. She had the same worry he did. But how? Anna was the perfect woman. She’d been successful in everything she’d worked for, and all she needed now was a bit of an investment on his part to be an enormous success.

  He swallowed, taking her face in his hands. If he asked this next question, it would change things between them. Gabe knew it would. But she’d danced around this issue for so long, and it seemed to be at the heart of all her worries. “I know you don’t want to talk about your family. At least not with my brothers—and I understand that. But I wish you would tell me.”

  “You don’t want to know. I promise you don’t.”

  “I do.” Gabe looked her square in the eye as he said it. “I want to know everything about you.” I want to kiss you, too. “But you don’t have to tell me if it’s something you’d rather keep to yourself. I’m only saying…” This was not the kind of conversation Gabe was used to having, and it was so uncomfortable it hurt, but he wasn’t going to give up on this now. Anna was worth it. “I’m only saying that I’m here, and I’d like to know because I care about you. That is if you’re willing to tell me.”

  14

  Anna knew it would be so easy to give in to Gabe.

  With his hands on her face and his stormy eyes locked on hers, she wanted nothing more than to tell him everything. Every last, awful detail. It would be cleansing, in a way. She wouldn’t have to keep that part of her life carefully separate.

  But she hadn’t come here to unburden herself about her past. And tension between them was the last thing she wanted. Tiredness pressed down on her shoulders, a bone-weary feeling that had dogged her for years. It was easier to give him an edited version of the past than to convince him that he didn’t need to know.

  Because he did need to know. Anna’s stomach turned as though she was standing at the edge of a high cliff, waiting to fall, knowing it was inevitable. If she was going to live with the way she felt about him, then he had to know. Better now than later when her past could only do more damage.

  “My parents went through a bitter divorce when I was young,” she said, finding it the easiest way to begin. They’d divorced because it was the first time her father had been in prison for longer than a year. The information rose to the tip of her tongue, but just as quickly died away. It was one fact that didn’t come under the share category. “I had to take care of myself because my mother was working nonstop to provide for us, and my older brother was always busy.”

  She could still remember the stepstool in the kitchen that she would pull up to the stove to cook macaroni and cheese before she grew tall enough to do it unaided. The extra food from school had come home in a plastic bag that was painfully obvious—all those packages of oatmeal and granola bars and things to tide her over through the weekend. Anna had tried her best to stuff the food deep into her backpack, so nobody else would see, but those telltale bags were handed out in the lunchroom. There was really no hiding it.

  And her mother hadn’t just been working. She’d been bringing lots of different men home. Those men would stay the night, leaving early without being quiet. “I was on my own a lot.”

  Gabe studied her, compassion in his eyes. It wasn’t pity, no—she’d seen plenty of that. It was empathy. But how long would that last? Gabe would never really understand what it had been like to grow up the way she had. He would never know what it was like to watch her older brother follow his father’s footsteps into a criminal’s life. All those facts simmered beneath the surface, never far away, but she couldn’t let them free.

  Not to Gabe. Not to anyone.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “You shouldn’t have had to be alone.” Hearing that from him made her feel painfully vulnerable, like he could see inside her mind to all her roiling thoughts. No. Letting people in like that was a recipe for disaster.

  Anna straightened, hooking her hands around his wrists and feeling the warmth of his skin through her palms. “But I was, and I made it through. I—I put myself through college, and none of my family showed up for graduation. Not that I expected them to. I’ve been on my own a long time and prefer it that way.”

  Gabe closed his eyes as if she’d told him something too awful to bear. It had merely been her life. There were other things she could imagine that were worse, and she’d done what she had to do to survive. “And Jonas wouldn’t stop bothering you about them,” he said, his voice pained. “I’m sorry about that.”

  His eyes met hers again, and she wanted to fall into his gaze. Fall into that gray-green heat and roll herself up in it until there was nothing except Gabe. “It’s all right.”

  “It’s not. It wasn’t all right, but it’s nothing to be ashamed of, either.” His brow furrowed. “Was there anything else that happened?”

  My father’s a criminal, she wanted to say. Gabe had accepted everything else she’d told him, but that—that was the worst thing. It could be the tipping point between seeing her as a person and seeing her as a charity case—someone to help for the sake of helping. Or worse, he could judge her unworthy to be around his family.

  “There was a thing with my fiancé, Freddie.” She bit her lip. “The breakup hit me hard. It’s made me wary of relationships. But you know that,” she said quickly. “We don’t have to have this conversation, you know. We could keep things simple.” Anna slid her hands down the front of his shirt. “Simple, like it was earlier.”

  He caught her wrists in his hands. “When you’re this on edge? I don’t think so. By the way, he was wrong.”

  “Was he?”

  “Yes.”

  Anna allowed herself a tiny grin. “Exercise is a good stress reliever.”

  A smile broke over Gabe’s face, so handsome she wanted a painting of it. “I have another idea.” He
took her hand, led her to the sofa, guided her to a seat in the middle, and sat next to her. “Do you like it hard or soft?”

  She burst out laughing. “What are you talking about?”

  His hands on her shoulders should have answered the question. “A massage, silly.” His voice lit up something sensuous inside of her, but Gabe was serious. His hands kneaded her shoulders.

  “Medium,” she allowed, sinking into his touch. “I like it medium.”

  Gabe lingered over her shoulders, releasing the tension there, working down her back until she had to lie forward on the sofa.

  It was actually the first massage she’d ever had.

  Anna had never thought of massages as something available to her. Her mom certainly hadn’t had the money for such a non-essential. And when Anna was out on her own and starting her career, the essentials were things like an apartment and professional work clothes—not massages. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. No one she’d ever been with had touched her like this. Not as a way to get in her pants, but a real massage—something to remove the tension from her muscles and help her relax.

  Which, of course, had the side effect of sparking a new desire in her, low down where there had only been nerves and dread. Gabe had worked his way down to her calves and was gently kneading the muscles there. Anna couldn’t stay on the couch anymore. She pushed herself up and into his arms, sliding her palms over his shoulders and to the back of his neck.

  “Thank you,” Anna whispered. Suddenly they were kissing. It happened so fast it was impossible to tell which one of them started it. She only knew that his lips were on hers, reassuring and possessive. She climbed into his lap, straddling him, letting him spread his hands out along her back.

  The dinner fell away. The Elk Lodge fell away. The world fell away, and there were only their bodies pressed close together. Gabe was hard against her and her own body lit up in response, nipples tightening, skin coming alive at his touch through her dress.