After that, they had stopped by his parents’ house to let them know they were back. They didn’t stay for long, but his mother made them promise to come by for Sunday dinner and fill them in on the trip. He promised that they would.
And now, they were home, once again in their own bed. Beau had the television on, but he continued to flip channels, meaning he hadn’t found anything worthwhile to watch.
Not once since the other night had they talked any more about babies. Ethan continued to wait, hoping Beau would bring it up, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. He now knew how Beau felt, because Ethan had been doing the same thing to him for months. But Ethan knew Beau wasn’t doing it to get back at him.
Beau simply was torn on how to proceed.
Not that Ethan necessarily blamed him for his fears. Ethan would be the first to admit that sometimes irrational fears became so real it was impossible to let go of them. He’d spent his entire life hiding from everyone, including himself. While his family claimed they’d known he was gay long before he ever admitted it, they had never broached the subject, either.
And now, as Ethan lay in the dark, watching Beau in profile, he wondered how this would play out. One of these days, they would have to talk about it again. They would have to figure out a path to take, whatever that might be. Kids or no kids. Adoption or surrogate. With those came other decisions that had to be made. This parenting thing wouldn’t be easy, but neither of them expected it to be. They’d both watched his brothers tackle the job on more than one occasion. Sometimes Ethan envied them; other times he didn’t.
Nonetheless, he wanted to have a family with Beau.
So, while he continued to cherish every minute he had with this man, Ethan would continue to do research.
Along with options, they both had demons that they had to overcome.
Even two years later, Ethan was still seeing a therapist. His sessions weren’t as frequent as they once had been, but even he had to accept that the therapy had helped. Significantly.
Maybe Beau would be interested in going. They could talk about his issues with his parents. God knew there were issues, and although Beau pretended that it didn’t bother him, that his soul wasn’t shredded because the two people who were supposed to love him unconditionally had written him off, Ethan knew that it did.
But there was one thing Ethan knew without a doubt. They both had trepidations and they had fears, but they also had each other. And when the time came to start the process—Ethan prayed it would be soon—they would hold each other up, because that was what love did. It gave you the strength to do things you never thought possible. Beau had been Ethan’s strength for so long. Ethan was ready to return the favor.
Beau glanced over, smiling in the darkness.
Ethan smiled back. “I love you.”
That seemed to make Beau’s smile brighter, which made Ethan’s heart swell in his chest.
Yes. That was what he wanted.
To put that smile on Beau’s face.
Every single day.
For the rest of their lives.
♥▫▫▫▫♥▫▫▫▫♥
I hope you enjoyed spending time with Ethan & Beau. In case you’re wondering, yes, Ethan & Beau’s story does continue. They will have a follow up book because the overwhelming love for these characters has proven that they aren’t finished just yet. Stay tuned for more.
Read more about the characters you saw in this book:
Kaleb (Alluring Indulgence 1)
Zane (Alluring Indulgence, 2)
Travis (Alluring Indulgence, 3)
Ethan (Alluring Indulgence, 5)
Braydon (Alluring Indulgence, 6)
Sawyer (Alluring Indulgence, 7)
Brendon (Alluring Indulgence, 8)
Curtis (Coyote Ridge, 1)
Jared (Coyote Ridge, 2)
You can find all of Nicole’s books at the back of this book or on her website: www.NicoleEdwardsAuthor.com.
♥▫▫▫▫♥▫▫▫▫♥
Marissa & Trace: Early Christmas Present
Chapter One
The day before Thanksgiving…
TRACE KOGAN TOOK his wife’s hand, pulling her into him as he stared blankly at the wall, trying to see what she saw.
“Which color do you like better?” Marissa asked.
“Is there a difference?”
Marissa pulled back and lightly swatted him on the chest. “Of course there’s a difference. One is gray and one is blue-gray.”
“Then I like … that one.” He pointed at the wall where she’d painted two small sections, waving his hand to encompass both.
“Which one?”
He rolled his eyes dramatically, knowing it would make Marissa laugh.
“The one you like best,” he admitted. Trace knew that she would go with the one she liked better anyway. Not to mention, it really didn’t matter to him. Paint, flooring, cabinets … none of that mattered to him. Throughout the time Marissa had taken on the project of remodeling the warehouse where they lived, Trace had tried to stay out of the decision-making. As long as his bed was a king and his woman was in it with him, he couldn’t care less about the rest of it.
“We’re going with blue-gray.”
“Perfect. Exactly the one I was talking about.”
“You’re impossible, you know that?”
“I do,” he confirmed. “It’s my mission in life.”
“Please tell me that wasn’t a Mission Impossible reference.”
“Okay, that wasn’t a Mission Impossible reference,” he echoed, grinning.
When Marissa headed for the kitchen, Trace diligently followed.
“What time is dinner tomorrow?” he asked, going right for the coffeepot. He was doing his best not to stare at her ass in those jeans. The woman made him so damn hard just by breathing, so when she wore stuff like that, his dick was in constant opposition with his zipper. Not a comfortable thing.
“Your mother said everyone needs to be there at six. And remember, she said everyone must be on their best behavior.”
“Easier said than done,” he grumbled.
“Oh, come on. This isn’t the first time we had Thanksgiving dinner at Max’s house. No one ended up in the hospital the last time…”
Sometimes it was still hard to believe that Trace’s sister had married Maximillian Adorite. However, Courtney was officially a mob boss’s wife.
Trace thought back to the first Thanksgiving dinner they’d had at his brother-in-law’s house. Admittedly, it hadn’t been terrible, but merging the families wasn’t a simple task considering the tension between the Kogans and the Adorites. Apparently, the feud had started years ago when Trace’s father had dated Max’s mother. Of course, that was long before Casper or Genevieve was old enough to know better and before Casper set out for the military, where he ultimately met Trace’s mother and fell head-over-heels in love with her.
According to the tale, nothing had ever happened between Casper and the then-far-too-young Genevieve, but not everyone believed that. From what Trace had heard, Max’s father, Samuel Adorite, had held a grudge for many, many years. Then again, the man had been unstable to start with, and he’d proven it by forcing Genevieve to marry him when she was merely a child. Now that Samuel was dead and their lives were inevitably joined together because Courtney had married Max, they were still trying to figure it all out.
“It’ll be fine,” Marissa stated reassuringly.
Trace nodded, draining the coffee that was left in the carafe before depositing it in the sink. He turned to face her, crossing his arms over his chest and sipping from his mug. Again, he found himself admiring the woman. From the top of her blond head all the way down to her cute little feet.
“Do you know how hard it is to keep my hands off you?”
Marissa’s head snapped up, her ice-blue eyes locking with his. “You’ve actually been trying?”
Her smirk was enticing. “I’ve been trying,” he confir
med.
“So how do you explain last night?”
Trace grinned. “I said I’m trying. Didn’t say I was succeeding.”
The truth was, Trace didn’t want to keep his hands off her. Ever since the woman had told him she was ready to get pregnant, he’d turned into some sort of fiend. The fact that she was still on birth control didn’t hinder his ability to screw her senseless, either. Because of his job, Trace was sometimes gone for days, even a couple of weeks at a time. Now that his brother Hunter was finally back from his overseas assignments, Trace was able to stay close to home most of the time.
Something he preferred.
After downing what was left of his coffee, he rinsed the cup and put it in the dishwasher. When Marissa was finished cutting up her fruit, he crowded her from behind, wrapping his arms around her. “I’m gonna miss you.”
“You’re gonna be home in time for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow night, right?”
“I am.”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
“Did you ever figure out what you wanted for Christmas?” he inquired. It was a question he’d been asking for several weeks now. It never got him anywhere, but he was certainly trying.
“I told you, it’s not the same if I tell you what I want.”
Leaning in, Trace pressed his lips to her neck. “Are you sure you want me to make that decision?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, then that makes it easy.”
Marissa turned in his arms, smiling up at him. “Easy, huh?”
Trace nodded.
“Does that mean you already know what you’re gonna get me?”
“Yep.” He nibbled her earlobe. “And I’m gonna have to give it to you early.”
His wife’s confusion was etched on her pretty face, a wrinkle marring her flawless forehead. “Why’s that?”
“You’ll see. After dinner. Tomorrow night.”
“A Christmas present a whole month early. I’m intrigued.”
“You should be.”
He tugged on the front of her sweater, pulling her closer so he could kiss her mouth.
“You’re goin’ to Courtney’s tonight, right?”
“Yep. I offered to help them cook.”
“And I’ll meet you there for dinner tomorrow?”
“That’s where I’ll be.”
He nodded, staring into her eyes. “I love you, baby.”
Her smile widened and he saw the love shining in her eyes. “I love you, too.”
“SO…?” COURTNEY PROMPTED.
Marissa pulled her feet up underneath her, watching her best friend closely. With Max out doing whatever it was that a mafia guy did, the turkey cooking for tomorrow, Marissa and Courtney had called out for Chinese, then eaten it on the heated back porch while they sipped wine and talked about nothing important.
They seemed to have drifted to another topic, and Marissa was once again not on the same page. “So what?”
“He didn’t give you any other hints?”
Ahh. Trace’s Christmas present. They were apparently back to that. She remembered the twinkle in his iridescent white-gray eyes, the way his perfect lips had curved into a wry smile. The man knew how to torment her when he wanted to.
“Not a one,” Marissa admitted. “He told me he’d have to give it to me early.”
“Did he say it like that?” Courtney inquired, a smirk on her face. “Did he specifically say ‘give it to you’?”
Marissa shook her head, grinning. The woman had such a dirty mind.
It was almost uncanny how much the Kogans resembled one another. Like Trace and their other brothers, Courtney had thick, light brown hair and a strong jawline. They all had the same brilliant, nearly colorless eyes, too. Those eyes sometimes saw far more than they should.
Courtney giggled, probably enjoying the fact that Marissa blushed. “Fine. Don’t answer that.” She took a sip of wine. “What do you think it could be?”
Marissa shrugged as she pulled the blanket up on her lap. “There’s no telling with Trace. He’s always up to something.”
Courtney seemed to mull that over. “Maybe it’s a car?”
“I don’t need a car.”
“You aren’t supposed to get what you need for Christmas. You get what the giver wants you to get.”
Marissa considered that for a moment. “In that case, I’d have to assume it’s sex.”
Courtney chuckled. “You aren’t getting that already?”
“Not as often as I’d like,” she admitted. Trace had been gone a lot lately, leaving her sleeping alone. And when he was home, they were both busy. Work, family … it all got in the way of a meaningful, well-balanced relationship. The honeymoon was definitely over, but real life hadn’t altered her intense desire for the man. Unfortunately, when the timing wasn’t right, there wasn’t a lot she could do about it.
“Well, you better call me the minute you know. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep until you tell me.”
Marissa chuckled. “Oh, whatever. I’m pretty sure your husband takes good care of you. You probably pass out every night with a stupid grin on your face.” Considering the way Courtney’s mob boss husband couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her, Marissa figured they were going at it every chance they could get.
“I’ll say,” Courtney grinned mischievously. “Max does know how to take care of his woman.”
“You’re bad.”
“Funny.” Courtney chuckled. “That’s what Max says.”
Marissa leaned back on the couch and relaxed. She missed Trace already, and she knew he would back tomorrow. The short job he’d been assigned would only take him away overnight. She knew the only reason he’d taken an assignment that overlapped with Thanksgiving was because he’d asked to stay close to home for the next month. Marissa was looking forward to having him to herself for a while.
“Okay, girly, you’re far too quiet. You need more wine.”
“I’m game if you are.”
Courtney cocked one dark eyebrow. “I’m always game. Wine is better than water.” She grinned. “Speaking of wine. How do you think dinner will go tomorrow night?”
Marissa knew that Courtney was referring to the fact that the festivities were being held at Courtney’s house. The one she shared with her mobster husband and the various minions the Adorites employed. It wasn’t a secret that there was some tension between the Kogans and the Adorites. Not so much now that Courtney’s father-in-law was no longer on this earth. The man had apparently had it out for Courtney’s dad because of some fictional relationship he’d perceived to be going on between Max’s mother and Casper a million years ago.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Marissa consoled.
“You’re right. Everyone loves Max.”
“It’s a good sign that we survived it two years in a row.” Although Marissa hadn’t been in attendance the first year, she had heard that the two families had been able to keep the peace. “But I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say that everyone loves Max. I don’t think Hunter and Conner are all that fond of him.”
“That’s because they’re too overprotective.”
Marissa understood that all too well. She had a bunch of overprotective brothers as well.
“You’re right,” Marissa said with a chuckle. “I’m sure they like him. A little.”
“Maybe I should order more wine. Like, six or seven bottles. Just to make sure everyone gets along well.”
“It’ll be fine.” Although Marissa had married Courtney’s brother a year and a half ago, they’d spent nearly every Thanksgiving and Christmas together since they were in diapers. After all, they had grown up together because of how close their families were. Since their fathers owned Sniper 1 Security, they were pretty much one big happy family.
“Of course, there is the little issue with…” Courtney pursed her lips as she stared at Marissa.
It took a second for her to realize what her friend was referring to. Or rat
her who. “Dani?”
Courtney nodded.
“I’m sure Hunter is over her by now,” Marissa stated, not sure whether that was the truth or not.
“I don’t know about that. He’s still pretty angry.”
Not that Marissa blamed the guy. Courtney’s brother had fallen in love with a woman who had left him at the altar and disappeared right after. Of course, Max, being Max, had insisted that it was time for her to come home where her family was. Turned out—which was possibly the most shocking thing of all—Danielle Davidson was Max’s cousin.
Small world.
“Well, regardless, I’m looking forward to watching it all play out,” Courtney noted.
“I’m sure Max will be on his best behavior. And Hunter, too.”
“Is it bad that I’m worried more about everyone else?”
“Just think,” Marissa told her, “if they want to make it to Christmas, they’ll have to survive this. I’m sure everyone will be smiling.”
Worst case, they’d all be pretending to smile.
Chapter Two
TRACE MADE IT back to Dallas just in time to grab a shower in one of the guest bedrooms at his sister’s house. His parents were already there, and his brothers, as well as the Trexlers, were starting to arrive. From what he could tell, everyone had agreed to let bygones be bygones for the time being. Dinner would be served in half an hour, and he was anxious to see his wife. The overnight job had been one of those textbook personal security details. Some big-shot senator had needed some extra eyes on him during a speech he was giving.
Because it was a six-hour drive, Trace had stayed overnight and hopped on his motorcycle first thing this morning. He easily could’ve taken the company jet, but Trace happened to prefer the bike. He didn’t get on the open road often, so when the opportunity presented itself, he couldn’t refuse. He’d agreed to meet his brother Conner and drive the final two hours together. Although Trace had enjoyed every second of it, it’d been a long day already.
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