Gianna removed her seat belt. “Do your brother or sister have any kids?”
“No.”
“Can I assume that your career hasn’t afforded you the opportunity to spend time with children?”
“That’s an accurate assumption.” There was a big dose of amusement in his tone.
“Then I have to ask, are you sure you really want to go in there? I love them with every fiber of my being, but they’re loud. Probably sugar and any number of chemical food dyes have amped up their normally high energy level. The night before Santa Claus comes there’s only peace on earth when they fall into an involuntary, exhausted sleep.”
“Are you trying to scare me?” He opened his car door, and the overhead light illuminated his wry expression.
“Just keeping it real in case you want to beat a hasty retreat.” She pointed to the driveway. “See that minivan? It means they’re already here and waiting to pounce.”
“Then let’s go join the party.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She got out of the car then retrieved her presents from the back.
Arms loaded with gifts, they walked to the front door and Shane managed to ring the bell with his elbow. Moments later it was opened and Griffin stood there.
“Auntie G is here,” he announced in an exceptionally loud voice.
“Hi, Griff. You know,” she teased, “I think there are some people a few streets over who didn’t hear you.”
“You’re funny.” He gave Shane a long, assessing look. “Is he your friend?”
She winced at the word, but probably her mother had told him that. “Yes. This is Shane Roarke. My boss. Shane, this is Griffin, my nephew.”
“Nice to meet you, Griffin.”
“You’re the cook?”
“Chef,” she corrected.
“What’s the difference? Does he cook food?”
“Yes,” Shane answered.
“My dad is a good cook. So is Grammy.”
“We’re coming in now, Griffie.” She kissed the top of his head on the way to pile gifts under the living-room tree. “It smells good in here. Turkey, yum.”
Griffin stared at the exquisitely wrapped boxes Shane put beside hers. “Did you bring me something?”
“Griffin, it’s rude to ask that,” she scolded.
“But I wanna know. How am I gonna know if I don’t ask? Mommy says it’s good to ask questions.”
“Your mom is right,” Shane said. “And the answer is yes, I did bring you something.”
The boy grinned. “Can I open it now?”
“Let’s go talk to Grammy and find out what the plan is.”
“Okay.” He grabbed Shane’s hand. “I’ll show you where she is.”
“Lead the way.” Shane whispered in her ear. “Retail bribery works every time.”
When they walked into the combination kitchen/family room, the boy stopped. “Auntie G is here and Shane brought us presents. Can we open ’em, Grammy?”
Colin left his fire truck and toy firefighter figures on the rug in front of the TV and ran over to give her a hug. “Hi, Auntie G.”
Right behind him was Emily, trying to keep up on her short, pudgy legs, saying, “Annie G!”
Gianna grabbed her up and spread kisses over her cheek until the little girl giggled. “Hey, baby girl. You smell like sugar cookies.”
“Cookie.” She held up her sticky, crumb-covered hands for inspection. Then she spotted Shane, who grinned at her. Apparently his charm translated to women of all ages because the normally shy-of-strangers child held out her arms to him. “Pick me up.”
Jackie rushed over. “You don’t have to take her. With those dirty hands she’ll ruin your sweater.”
It looked like cashmere, a cream color that wouldn’t hold up well to grubby hands, Gianna thought. “This is my sister and her husband, Frank.”
The two men shook hands, then she introduced her parents. “Shane Roarke, Susan and Ed Garrison.”
Her father shook his hand and her mother smiled. “We’re so glad you could join us for dinner, Shane.”
“Thank you for including me.”
“Any friend of my daughter’s...” Her father had no idea how that touched a nerve.
Gianna decided for tonight she was not going to let that word get to her. “I smell mulled wine.”
“On the stove.” Her dad raised his voice to be heard over Emily’s wailing.
“Pick me up!” Apparently oblivious to the fact that she was up, the little girl kept holding her arms out to Shane.
“Dirty hands don’t scare me. Obviously it’s early childhood training for a career in the food-service industry.” He took the child who pointed into the family room. “I guess we’re going that way.”
While Em chattered to him in a language only a two-year-old could understand, he carried her to the pile of toys on the family-room floor. When he set her down, she grabbed a ragged plastic doll with all the clothes removed and pointed to the face.
“Eye,” he said.
“Eye,” Em repeated.
Gianna watched as he patiently played the naming-the-limbs game until the boys moved in to get his attention. Frank tried to run interference, but apparently two grown men were no match for three small children. The toys were forgotten in favor of wrestling, tickling and roughhousing. Shane easily went from instigator to casualty, alternately taking one of the boys on his back to letting them tackle him. Jackie and her dad tried to play referee, but no one was listening to them.
Her mother handed Gianna a glass of wine. “He’s even better-looking than on TV.”
“Am I the only one on the planet who never saw that show?” She was remembering the woman in the middle-of-nowhere diner who’d recognized him. The man playing with her nephews and niece was much different from the shell-shocked one who had just found his birth father.
“Apparently you are,” Susan said. “He’s a wizard with food and if I weren’t so secure in my cooking skills, having a world-famous chef to dinner could be just a little bit intimidating.”
“Your turkey is the best, Mom.”
“You have to say that, sweetheart, but I appreciate the sentiment.”
“It’s the absolute truth.”
“You were looking pensive just now.” Her mother studied her face. “What are you thinking?”
“Just that Shane looks really happy and relaxed.”
Susan glanced at the rowdy group with Shane in the center of it. “If that’s noteworthy, it would seem he’s lately been just the opposite.”
This wasn’t her story to tell so Gianna gave the heavily edited version. “He’s had a lot on his mind lately, but I think the weight has finally lifted from his shoulders.” When one of the boys climbed on his back, she laughed. “He’s got Colin there now.”
“Yes, he does. Also noteworthy is that the kids took to him right away.” Susan was using her mother’s-seal-of-approval voice. “They have a finely tuned BS—bad stuff—meter and can see through phoniness instantly.”
Gianna could read through the lines and the same thought had already crossed her mind. He would make a wonderful father. Tears burned her eyes because no matter how determined she was to put the “friend thing” out of her mind, it would take a Christmas miracle to pull that off.
She ached to be more than that because he was everything she’d ever wanted.
* * *
“I like your family.” Shane braked a
t a stoplight a few minutes after leaving the crazy, wonderful Christmas chaos at the Garrison house.
“I do, too,” she said. “My mother thinks you’re better-looking in person than on TV.”
“Good to know.” He was feeling a little reflective. “They make me miss my family.”
“You’ll be seeing them tomorrow.”
“As will you.”
He glanced at her in the passenger seat, streetlights making her red hair glow. God, he wanted her. In every way. How could he ever have considered leaving her at Christmas?
“Speaking of that,” she said, “what time are you picking me up to go to the airport tomorrow?”
“Are you packed?”
“Are you kidding? This is me. I’ve been packed for a couple days. All ready except for the last-minute things.”
That’s all he needed to hear. “Then I’m not picking you up.”
“Okay.” She slid a puzzled glance across the leather console between them. “Do you want me to come by your place?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
She frowned. “If you changed your mind about me going with you—”
“Just the opposite.” He accelerated when the light turned green and passed the street for her place. “Technically I won’t need to pick you up because I’m taking you home with me tonight. We can get your things tomorrow on the way to the airport.”
It was quiet on the passenger side for so long that he looked over. Gianna was staring at him.
Maybe he’d blown his chance with her after all, but every part of him fought against that. It couldn’t be too late. “Do you want me to take you home now?”
“No,” she said emphatically. “It’s just that I’m confused. You pulled back— I thought— You said we’re friends.”
“About that—” It felt like he’d been in a fog for months, a haze that just now cleared. “After seeing Arthur, I guess I went a little crazy. Like father, like son.”
“It’s called processing the information,” she defended.
Loyalty and support were two of his favorite things about her. “In my case it was more about going to the bad place and moving in for a while.” He looked over and saw her watching him intently. “I started ticking off the things about me that are like him, none of them good.”
“Shane, he has positive qualities. And you didn’t get all your DNA from him. You didn’t know Grace, but look at her children. They’re all good men. Salt of the earth.”
“I know. I’ve thought a lot about everything and had to work it through. Just because he buckled under the weight of disappointment doesn’t mean I will.”
“That’s right,” she agreed. “He’s not a bad man, I don’t think. Just one who lost his way.”
“So did I. For a while.” Almost to his place, he took her hand while keeping his other on the steering wheel. “Now I’ve got my head on straight.”
She squeezed his fingers. “I’m glad.”
He pulled the car into the parking garage and guided it into his space. After getting out, he went to the passenger side and opened Gianna’s door, then held out his hand. “Do you mind if we unload the gifts in the morning?”
He’d missed her more than he thought possible and was in kind of a hurry to get her inside. Besides, he had a lot to make up for.
“I don’t mind at all.” Her expressive eyes hid nothing and promised everything.
She took his breath away.
They went into the elevator and pushed the button for his floor, then walked down the hall to his place where he unlocked the door and led her inside.
“Alone at last,” he said, taking her face in his hands. “You’re cold.”
“Not for long. And my mom gave me something.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a red-ribbon-trimmed sprig. “Mistletoe. Sometimes a girl has to take matters into her own hands.”
She held it up as high as she could to get it over their heads. He took it from her and did the job as she slid her arms around his neck.
Need exploded through him as she touched her mouth to his, then pushed at his jacket, trying to get it off. In a frenzy of kissing and wanting he dropped the mistletoe because he needed both hands. They tugged at buttons and closures until coats and keys were on the floor and the raspy sound of their breathing filled the entryway. He could hardly wait to have her, but not here, not up against the wall.
Shane swept her into his arms and laughed at her shriek of surprise. “You know it’s Christmas Eve and Santa won’t bring presents until you’re in bed.”
She grinned. “Then what are you waiting for?”
“Not a damn thing.”
He carried her to his room where they undressed each other then fell on the mattress in a tangle of arms, legs and laughter. He hadn’t realized how lonely the past six months had been until Gianna. Or how much he didn’t want to be just friends with her.
He concentrated on her pleasure, touching her breasts, finding the place on her thigh that made her breath come faster, kissing a certain spot near her ear that made her moan. And he couldn’t hold back any longer. He entered her and brought her to the peak where she cried out with satisfaction. A heartbeat or two behind her, his release came sooner than he would have liked.
But they had all night.
He pulled her against him and felt her hand on his chest. “You’re the reason I didn’t go to Los Angeles sooner.”
“Me?” Her voice was a little breathless, a little sleepy.
“I couldn’t leave you on Christmas.” Or any other time, he added to himself.
“Merry Christmas, Shane.” She snuggled into him and relaxed, quickly falling asleep in his arms.
“And to all a good night,” he whispered, kissing her forehead.
The journey he’d started in June had brought him to an unexpected place and the future was still unsettled. He wasn’t sure where he and Gianna went from here because Thunder Canyon wasn’t big enough for him and the half brothers who wanted nothing to do with him.
Chapter Fourteen
Gianna stretched sleepily and touched something that felt a lot like a man’s broad back. That didn’t happen often in her world so she opened one eye and grinned from ear to ear. Merry Christmas to me, she thought. Memories of loving Shane the night before warmed her everywhere. He hadn’t said he loved her, but he hadn’t turned his back. Metaphorically speaking, since she was loving the view of his very real, very wide shoulders.
“I can feel you looking at me.” Shane’s voice was raspy with sleep and tinged with amusement.
“How did you know?”
“Like I said—I can feel it.” He rolled over and pulled her against him, resting his chin on her hair. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas, Shane.” She snuggled her cheek on his chest and caught a glimpse of his digital clock on the nightstand. “Holy cow. We have to get moving. There’s a plane to catch and I bet you’re not packed. All my stuff is at my apartment and I have to do an overhaul—hair, makeup, just the right outfit—before flying to Los Angeles.”
“Why? You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.” The compliment made her glow from head to toe, but a look for meeting his folks didn’t happen without some effort. “But your family will be there.”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “What with Christmas dinner being at their house and all.”
“Right. And I can’t meet them for the first time looking lik
e I just rolled out of your bed.”
“Why not?” He tipped her chin up and their gazes locked. “I like you right where you are.”
“Shane—”
“Okay.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “But let’s have coffee. We’ve got time. Weather’s good. I’ve been watching the forecast all week. Flights will be on time. We’ll be having Christmas dinner in L.A.”
“And I have to look fabulous.”
He rolled out of bed and picked up his jeans, then slid them on. “You need to stop worrying so much.”
“And you need to start worrying just a little more.”
Gianna got up and grabbed his long-sleeved white shirt. She was feeling a little shy, even though last night he’d seen every inch of her naked. The soft cotton was like wrapping herself in the scent of him and came down to midthigh. She buttoned it as she followed him to the kitchen.
Resting her elbows on the granite countertop, she watched him put warm water in a state-of-the-art coffeemaker that had more bells and whistles than her car. He ground up beans then added them to the disposable filter before pushing some of those bells and whistles. Several moments later the thing started to sizzle and spit.
He turned toward her. “It won’t be long now.”
“Okay.”
She’d have said okay to anything. The sight of his bare chest and the dusting of hair that narrowed down his belly to the vee where his jeans were unbuttoned absolutely mesmerized her. Tingles danced up and down her spine and for a second she thought there was a tune involved. Then she realized it was the doorbell.
“Are you expecting someone?”
“No. It’s probably whoever is manning the front desk.”
“On Christmas?”
“It’s part of the job, like bringing my car to the restaurant.” He shrugged. “Someone might have dropped off a package and the front desk is delivering. I’ll be right back.”
Gianna listened to the front door open then heard a very loud, “Surprise! Merry Christmas!”
The Maverick's Christmas Homecoming Page 18