“I’ll explain later.”
Clarice scampered off and Janette leaned in, grinning now that small prying eyes and ears were gone. “Ablution quickly. Kimber’s downstairs.”
“What? Jesus. Shit,” he muttered it more to himself than to her, but kicked off the covers, subtly pushing the note under a pillow as he moved. “I'll be down in a few.”
He pulled on jeans and a tee. His reflection in the mirror was accurate. A mid-thirties man with bed head and a sex hangover. His eyes showed lingering want for her. His stubble showed a few flecks of gray. His mouth was slightly red from lots of kissing. “And you are going to hold yourself together, man, because she tore out of here like the building was on fire. No reason to offer her your throat to cut.”
Charlie brushed his teeth and ran a wet hand through his hair not letting his mind linger on the visions that kept popping up of her naked. Her bare breasts illuminated by the green sci-fi glow of his alarm clock. Her soft hair brushing his chest. Her tight pussy gripping him in a humid, blissful clench. “Yeah. Right.”
When his barefoot hit the bottom step his heart jumped sideways in his chest. “Hey, there,” he said, using his cop voice. “I’m glad to see you.”
Poor thing. She hadn’t been counting on Janette and Clarice, he saw. It was obvious from her face. Her big blue eyes darted from his sister to his niece and back again and then she looked like she might climb out of her skin when Clarice tugged her shirt and said, “I like your hair. It’s frizzy!”
Charlie almost laughed but held it down.
“Thank you, sweetie,” Kimber damn near whispered. She fingered the hem of her red sweater and shifted from foot to foot, her tall brown riding boots clacking on his hardwood floor. When he saw her in those jeans and boots, having just had her, his brain supplied him with a vivid mental movie of pulling those jeans down and bending her over the back of the sofa. Taking her from behind, one hand clasping the back of a soft leather boot, the other stroking her clit until she came around him, milking his cock with her tender flesh.
“Clarice would you—”
“Go in and pour yourself some juice. And mommy, too?” Janette interrupted.
Clarice nodded. “I get it. Little pitchers and big ears, right?”
Janette laughed out loud at her daughter, caught off guard. “Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” They disappeared into the kitchen, Charlie fighting a grin though being hurt.
“I didn't mean to barge in, I…” Her voice trailed off and he could tell she was mortified to talk where someone could hear. “I just wanted to see if you had a number for the roof guy.”
“I can call him,” he said, trying to keep this voice even.
“You don’t have to do that, that’s very nice, but I can do it.” She put her head down, and Charlie could see her steadying herself. “Thank you, Charlie. Maybe we can talk when…”
Just then Clarice came barreling in and Janette was fast on her heels, clearly trying to head the precocious child off before she reached her destination. Too late.
“Guess what!” she chirped at Kimber.
Kimber couldn’t resist and that warmed Charlie’s heart. He smiled when she grinned, despite her internal turmoil. “What?” She leaned down to be more face to face with his niece.
“I am off today and Uncle Charlie is off today and mommy is off today so…”
Kimber was nodding, listening, her eyes darting around wildly, but to her credit she was listening. “So?”
“We’re getting Uncle Charlie’s Christmas tree today!” Clarice jumped up and down clapping as little girls are prone to doing and Charlie grabbed his phone book from the small desk by the door.
“That is great! I hope you have lots of fun,” Kimber said, smiling at Clarice and then Janette. She even smiled ruefully at Charlie himself.
“We will! The tree farm has hot cocoa, fresh warm donuts, and hot cider. Even though I think hot cider would be the grossest gross thing ever.” Clarice shook her head, her blonde curls swaying.
Now Kimber laughed for real. “Actually, it’s really good. I think you should take at least a sip.”
Clarice cocked her head, chewed her bottom lip, regarded first Kimber and then her Uncle. “Hmm. I'll think about it. Deal?” She stuck out a hand and Kimber shook it with great seriousness.
“Deal.” Kimber smiled.
“You know you should come with us.”
“Oh, I—”
“Clarice—” Charlie started. Actually he wouldn't mind, but the wild look of worry that overtook Kimber told him the answer she’d give in advance.
Janette stepped in and took Clarice’s hand. “Clarice, haven’t we talked about this kind of thing? You are not allowed to randomly take over events and run them. Right?”
“Yes,” Clarice sighed, clearly not understanding why the hell not.
“Now say goodbye to Kimber.”
“Good-bye, Kimber,” Clarice said, heaving another sigh.
Kimber smiled, covering her mouth for a moment. Her eyes flashed to Charlie and his mind told him it would be perfectly reasonable to put his hands in her hair and kiss her. “Good-bye, Clarice. Have fun today.”
“Oh. Don’t worry. We will!” And then Janette hauled the still chattering five year old out of the room.
“Oh my god, she is funny,” Kimber said, looking up. Charlie could see how antsy she was to bolt from him. To just run away. So he decided to be the guy in the white hat and let her go.
“Here’s that guy’s card. It's really not a problem for me to call for you if you’d like.”
“No, that’s okay! Really. I don’t want to um…put you out any more. I feel like I’ve made a big enough mess in your quiet, little life.”
“My life is anything but quiet, Kimber,” Charlie said softly.
“I mean…”
“There is gingerbread too!” Clarice yelled from somewhere in the kitchen and they froze. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” she kept yelling. Charlie hoped against hope that she would say yes, but he knew she wouldn't.
Kimber started shaking with laughter and soon Charlie had joined her. “I'll see you soon, okay?” she said. She touched his arm briefly and the sensation of her touch scorched a path from his arm to his cock in seconds. Charlie gritted his teeth.
“Okay,” was all he could say.
Then she turned tail and bolted, long, brown hair flying out behind her while he remembered wrapping his hands in it and tugging just hard enough to make her moan. He needed a cold shower. Badly.
* * * *
Janette was pouring him coffee when he came down, hair wet, starving, and ready for caffeine. “So she was here last night. That’s what all the weirdness was about?”
“What?” The best defense, he figured, was to play dumb. “Um, I don’t think so.”
“Really?” She handed him a mug that said PRINCESS. It was technically Clarice’s but she was nice enough to let him use it ‘whenever he wanted.’ “When did your hair get so long?”
“What?” Now he was just confused. He stuck two pieces of potato bread in the toaster and took a few scorching sips of his coffee. “Mmm, perfect.” Maybe if he changed the subject…
“Do not change the subject,” she snorted. “I saw her roof had collapsed and I thought, Hmm. Charlie is nothing if not chivalrous. Then I saw how your bed was messed. Like maybe there’d been two people in it instead of one.”
“You are paranoid,” he said, but turned his face to the window to watch yet more snow drift lazily from the militaristic gray sky.
“And then…I found this!” His sister—even worse that she was his twin and figured his business was hers—brandished a black elastic ponytail holder at him and shook it as if proved every theory she held.
“A hair band!” He allowed himself a deep breath and a laugh. “Oh, no! Not a hair band. It’s not as if either of the two ladies, one big, one little who are always infiltrating my domicile use…gasp…hair bands!”
“Not black. I wea
r the ones with the gold crimp on them. And Clarice…”
She had just walked in and grabbed a juice box from the stash in Charlie’s fridge. “What about me and when are we leaving? I really need to get a Christmas tree. Pronto!”
Janette laughed. “You don’t like black hair bands, is what I was saying.”
Charlie rushed forward, “I’m sure it’s yours Clarice. It’s really no big deal.” But as he talked his niece shook her head morosely.
“Not mine. I do not like black hair bands.”
“I’m sure you own one,” he said and buttered the toast when it popped. Clarice held out her hand and he handed her a hot buttered triangle like a well trained uncle.
“Nope not me. No way.” Her face was set in a stubborn mask. When Charlie looked at Janette, she sported the same look.
“Why not? Not one? One black elastic?”
“Nope. I do not like them. They make me feel bad.”
“What?” He wanted to smack his own forehead but tried to stay calm. He could feel his twin studying him like some newly discovered fungus.
“Black is sad. I don’t do sad,” Clarice explained and took another piece of his toast.
“See. I knew it wasn’t hers. And it’s not mine…” Janette gave him the face that meant she’d say more but big ears were in the room.
Not knowing where her mother had discovered the hair band, or her inference from finding it, Clarice looked up at Charlie and said, “It’s probably Kimber’s. I think she loves you.”
Charlie choked on his coffee.
“Clarice! That is a bit much.” But Janette laughed softly.
“You're right. Okay. I think she has the hots for you.”
This time when he choked on his coffee, he just kept choking.
* * * *
It hadn’t taken long. Charlie has been shocked and his sister had just shaken her head. “It was a toss-up. Could have gone either way. She’d want the first tree she saw or she’d make us look at them all and then want the first tree she saw. We lucked out.”
And they really had, Charlie realized because the wind-chill was in the teens and the snow was blowing and looked to be falling sideways. Charlie tossed the bailed tree in the bed of his pickup and buckled Clarice into the backseat of the extended cab. “Ready, Freddy?” he asked, kicking the snow off his boots and climbing in.
“Ready. And don’t call me Freddy!”
“Surely you jest,” Janette said and grinned. It was a three way routine that dated back to when Clarice first learned to talk.
“Nope. And don’t call me Shirley.”
Charlie swung through a drive through and grabbed burgers, fries and some sodas. When Janette frowned at him he balked. “Hey, it’s only every once in a while. It’s usually ham sandwiches, apple slices, and milk. We have a Christmas tree. Let’s party.”
“Yeah, let’s party!” came Clarice’s muffled voice. When he eyed her in the rearview mirror her cheeks bulged with fries.
“Hey, missy that is cheating.”
“Clarice!” Janette said.
Clarice looked away with wide innocent eyes and mimicked whistling nonchalantly. Charlie grinned at her. The kid was too much. She swallowed as he guided the truck back into his driveway. “So, you string the lights and we’ll hang all the ornaments? Since we’re sharing this tree and stuff.”
Charlie had made it a group tree as Janette’s place was too small for anything beyond a table top tree. Next year, when they were in their own house he’d help them get a monster of a tree.
“We’ll all have to hang the ornaments. I don’t think I have lights. I think I left them with…” he didn’t finish the sentence and Janette piped in.
“They got busted," she said for Clarice's benefit. "We can make do without lights.”
Clarice was shaking her head as Charlie opened the door to help her out. “No way, no way. Ask Kimber. I bet she has lights.”
Chapter 7
“So you went over there to talk to him and got the number for this guy?” Sarah had left and returned only to find Kimber holding a business card and drinking coffee.
“Yep. I called. They’re coming in a few hours. Said it might be hard since it’s still snowing. But that the snow we got, though heavy and cumulative, wasn’t really enough to cave something in unless there were structural issues to begin with yar, yar, yar,” she sighed.
“Year, yar. And you didn’t talk to him because?”
“Because Clarice was there and his sister. And it was awkward. He looked maybe hurt?”
“Gee, ya think? He seems like a good guy so you sneaking out like he was some Average Joe from a bar probably stuck in his craw a bit. Craw? Crawl? That always gets me.”
Kimber shrugged. “I have no clue. Who cares! The point is they were watching us and when Clarice started talking to me about Christmas trees and stuff I just kind of…froze. I failed. So shoot me.”
Sarah made a faux gun with her fingers and pulled the trigger. “Oh, cry me a river. But I have to say, that kid cracks me up.” She laughed and opened the fridge. She pulled out some lettuce, ham, and hot peppers. “Lettuce wrap?”
“Sure, just one.”
“Oooh, one whole lettuce wrap? Let’s not over do it, shall we?”
“Not very hungry. And yes, Clarice is a cutie. Charlie’s home,” she said, wistfully as she saw his big black truck back into the driveway. The bed was stuffed with a giant evergreen and she felt a stab of sadness in the center of herself. She really liked him. Maybe too much and maybe too fast, but instinct said he was a good guy. She'd felt the attraction to him every time they'd met since she moved in, she'd simply pushed that feeling away. But maybe, just maybe, the more she thought about it, Sarah was right about him being straight as an arrow and her wanting him to be gay, so he’d be safe to like.
But was she really that damaged?
Probably.
“Go over and kiss him,” Sarah laughed and started to assemble some lettuce wraps.
“Okay.” Kimber set her mug down and marched past Sarah.
“Kimber!”
She held her hand up. Do not think. Do not analyze. It will all work out. He may be safe, he may not. But if you can sleep with him twice in one night, you should be able to talk to him. And kiss him. And be brave.
She barely felt her boots hitting the walk or the cold snow on her face. Kimber felt barely tethered to her own body. She came up on them and almost backed up and ran. Charlie turned and smiled, Clarice waved, Janette grinned, and Kimber swallowed hard.
“Hi, Kimber!” Clarice said.
Kimber couldn’t find her voice, but she waved at the little girl.
Charlie looked confused. “You okay?”
She nodded, ran forward three steps, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him. Somewhere far away she heard Clarice giggle to her mother. “They are smooching.”
“So I see.”
Charlie’s hands came up and he held her waist, kissing her back, his mouth gentle and soft on hers.
She whispered so only he could hear. “I shouldn't have left that way. And the note was a bad idea.”
“Don't worry about it.” His bright eyes flashed and he said, “We were just about to ask you if you have a spare strand—”
“Or more!” Clarice interrupted.
“Of lights for the tree. I realized I don’t have any.” Charlie kissed her hair, an oddly familiar and sweet gesture and Kimber remembered vividly why she had felt drawn to him. Handsome, kind, warm, and good in bed to boot. Protective, gentle but firm…she could go on. “And there will be hot cocoa and cookies and even some spiked eggnog later, possibly.”
“And there will be singing, and dancing, and Elvis Christmas songs!” Clarice chimed in, twirling in the snow.
Janette rolled her eyes, but her shoulders shook with laughter. “She has a thing for Elvis Christmas songs.”
“Who doesn’t?” asked Kimber.
“So what do you say, Miss Kimber?” His hand was warm and c
omforting against the small of her back. He ran slow circles with his thumb that no one could see but she could feel. They made her warm and flushed. Hell, they made her want to spend another night in bed with him.
“I’ll go look for those lights and tell Sarah that I’m playing hooky today.” She ran off through the snow, her belly buzzing from excitement. This could totally tank on her, but she sure as hell hoped not.
* * * *
“What. You go off all half-cocked, finally find your nerve, believe yours truly about his sexual orientation and then you’re leaving me here to be Cinderella for the day? That blows.”
“All you have to do is be here until they come. Then call me and I’ll come over and get them set up. It’s no big deal.” Kimber brushed her hair out and then twisted it into a messy knot at the top of her head. She artfully messed up her long bangs and put on a little rose colored lipstick.
“And you get to go to the ball, step-sister.” Sarah shook her head. “Hmph.”
“You’re being a bit dramatic aren't you? You’re the one who kept telling me to go after him, do this, do that, and now I do and you want to balk at me asking for one little favor.”
“You asking me to quit my job to start a business with you was a little favor. This is huge. This is a Christmas tree, hot chocolate, and Elvis.” She snorted. “You Grinch.”
“Woman, please,” Kimber laughed. “I’ll come over as soon as they come.”
“Are you gonna kiss him again?” Sarah winked lasciviously.
“Hope so.”
“How about bang him?”
“Sarah!”
“Diddle? Hump? Fuck? Screw? And a partridge in a pear treeeeeeee!”
“You are just nasty.”
“I try. You didn’t answer me.” Sarah turned on her laptop and launched her web browser.
“Gosh, I hope so. But obviously with his sister and his niece there, we’re kind of limited in the bedroom area.”
“Bummer.” Sarah shooed her with her hand. “Go on. I’m going to do some work and look at some logos, and you are going to go rock out to Blue Christmas while I sit here and scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush and whatnot.”
“Great. Don’t forget the grout.” Kimber grabbed the strands of lights she’d managed to scrounge from her moving boxes. She really needed to decorate her own house, too, come to think of it. But she’d worry about that later.
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