“Have a few more,” Adam chimed in. “It’s good for the soul, Tom.”
Truth was that Tom and Drew began drinking right at noon at Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar, the hottest new spot to indulge in both drink and epcurial pleasures on the island of Manhattan. And drink and eat, they certainly did. In fact, Tom would never remember the name of that damn place for the rest of his life without texting Drew first.
He felt no pain.
“It’s a big apartment, Papa Kirk—gotta keep it well stocked,” Ben said. “The Captain does love her kisses…”
However, Maxine didn’t even hear the jibes, so lost was she in her holiday daze with Drew. Now, as she thought about the crew it took to haul this behemoth up to the penthouse, she had to laugh. First, they’d ordered the tree by a mere photo on the web from a farm in Southern Massachusetts, as pines of that size just weren’t sold in the city. Luckily, Drew worked nights, so he was able to let everyone in during the day and manage the set-up. That evening, she’d hired Ben and Jeffrey—with payment of sushi and sake—to climb the ladder to string the blue and white twinkle lights. But they hadn’t had time to decorate it yet. Things were just too busy. Now it was Christmas Eve and someone had to fill up those branches.
They certainly had enough hands to help. Between her father and Vicki, the McKenzie clan, Aunt Frannie, Jillian, Ben and Jeffrey—and even the Worthingtons, who stopped by for a drink on their way to visit some relatives who didn’t live far from Drew—it was open house at Fort McKenzie that Christmas Eve.
Maxine could feel the rather hearty tug of a small hand against the hem of her sweater, almost childlike in its pull. When she turned around, she laughed. She’d know that red rouged face anywhere.
“Make him light again…” Aunt Frannie implored, wavering with that ever-present glass in her hand.
That night, Maxine decided to forego haute couture and opted instead for a Christmas sweater featuring Rudolph—with a nose that actually lit up. While Adam was actually quite disappointed in himself that he hadn’t thought to wear his own ugly Christmas sweater, Aunt Frannie couldn’t get enough. In fact, every few minutes, she’d insist that Maxine shake about just to see Rudy in all his glory.
“Oh, I love him! Maybe you’re not such a slut, after all…”
“Come on, Tom,” Maggie gave his shoulder a squeeze as she whispered in his ear. “I think it’s time for that little surprise we had planned for those two…”
“Hey, Maxie, that tree’s looking a little bare,” Tom pointed out.
“We bought ornaments!” Maxine exclaimed jubilantly with a sense of pride in their selections. “Snowmen…and snowflakes…and little white mittens…skis…skates…”
“How about a few things from Christmas Past?” Maggie asked as she and Declan hauled in the two large bins they’d been hiding in the kitchen pantry since Tom and Vicki had arrived—via Air Adam. “We sort of conspired to personalize your first tree together…”
While it might have been presumptuous on Maggie’s part to ask Tom to tote Maxine’s favorite ornaments from childhood to New York, she was relatively certain that they’d be making co-habitation official soon. Maybe those grandbabies she’d been dreaming of for years might actually become a reality.
“Yeah, it’s looking a little like the Charlie Brown tree over there, bro,” Adam observed. Jillian, however, was quick to nudge him.
“Hey, no picking on them—it’s Christmas Eve!” she said sternly but her smile peered through her brief dismay.
And just maybe, Maggie hoped, Adam might not be so far behind Drew to settle down with a nice girl of his own…one like Jillian, who would keep him in line with the tough love he needed.
This steady dating thing actually suited Adam well. Since Jillian finally agreed to go out with him, Adam remained true to his own promise to himself. He stayed away from the bars, and he’d lost the desire to even look at other women. This crush he’d harbored since she stepped into their lives several years ago as Drew’s publicist was far more than a mere infatuation. With every rebuff over the years, he only wanted her more. And now that he had the chance to finally prove himself to her, he had no intentions of letting her go. As they both knew, Adam could be just as stubborn as Jillian.
While Maxine and Drew promised to sit back and watch it all unfold between Jillian and Adam from the sidelines, they were both itching a bit to get involved. In fact, Drew was more than willing to offer his brother advice on where to go and what to wear on their big first date. Much to his surprise, his little brother followed his every suggestion—catering to Jillian’s love of seafood with dinner at Lure Fish Bar in SoHo, followed by a leisurely stroll up through Greenwich Village with a sweet first kiss right under the arch in Washington Square Park. He’d worn proper shoes and followed Maxine’s instructions to present his date with a bouquet of blue daisies, Jillian’s favorite flower.
Jillian, though, was just as happy to spend an evening in at her place, curled up on the couch with Adam and indulging in their shared love for Netflix and greasy New York pizza. In that quiet time alone, she and Adam had the chance to talk intimately, and he revealed the real man behind the posturing fraternity boy image for which he’d gained infamy. He professed his love for his family while Jillian discussed her sense of disconnect with her own.
Unlike Maxine, she didn’t have the support of an approving father back home, and the rift between Jillian and her parents had widened the gap between them over the years. Adam hoped that maybe he could help her to repair the damage. They’d visit. In fact, he made her promise they’d make it a point in the New Year.
The holidays brought forth another challenge for the younger McKenzie. By nature, he wanted to spoil Jillian rotten, but she refused to give him the gift list he’d requested form her, insisting that he make a donation in her name to Maggie’s foundation instead. On that occasion, Maxine stepped in and had a rather lengthy talk with Adam on the nuances of courting Jillian.
Together, Maxine and Drew vowed, they would create the quintessential boyfriend in Adam McKenzie…one shoe at a time.
“Can someone pass the mistletoe?” Adam shouted.
“Your parents are here,” Jillian whispered, her giggles hushed against his ear.
“Doesn’t stop Penelope and Dr. Drew!”
“Adam?” she murmured as he dangled that mistletoe above her head.
“What?”
“You’re kinda cute…”
“So are you, Miss Jillian,” he said, leaning in to steal that kiss. “So are you…”
Across the room, though, a small crowd had gathered around the tree to see what Maggie and Tom had up their sleeves.
“Oh, Daddy! Maggie!” Maxine exclaimed as she tore the lid from the plastic crate. “This is the greatest gift you could give us…”
“How sweet!” Mandy said, sneaking up behind Maxine to look over her shoulder while Ben rolled his eyes. His mother was just so damn nosey sometimes. “Look how adorable, Benjamin! Oh, I need to do this for you…and for…Jeffrey…”
Slowly, she turned to face her son and his boyfriend, who stood conspicuously apart from each other. Ben’s parents just made them nervous sometimes.
“We could bring your decorations over tomorrow,” she suggested. “I have them all sorted out. If you guys would like…”
“That would be lovely,” Jeffrey cut into the conversation before Ben could make one of his usual snide remarks. “Ben and I put the tree up at the townhouse, and my parents will be coming over for dinner. They’re in town now—they’re visiting with my aunt and uncle this evening. But they’d love to meet you.”
“We…we can do that…” Mike stammered. “Right, Amanda?”
Maxine’s smile was infectious, and Ben couldn’t help but to join her in a grin.
“And Max…you, too?” Mandy asked.
“Drew and I are going to make dinner here, but…”
“But we’ll be over for drinks tomorrow night,” Drew nodded. “We’re eatin
g early. And I don’t have a show.” The producers decided to double-up with matinees that week to allow the cast and crew a proper holiday while still fitting in eight shows.
“Need anything fixed while we’re visiting, Ben?” Tom ribbed him.
“Whole place needs a gut…” Jeffrey shook his head.
“Sounds like it’s going to be a beautiful Christmas, Cap,” Ben put his arm around Maxine and whispered in her ear, ignoring everyone else around them for just a second.
“I would have to agree!”
While everyone grabbed a few of the new ornaments Maxine and Drew bought together, the two of them poured over memories of their childhoods, reliving them again with each other.
“Aww…Drew, this is so sweet!” Maxine said rather suddenly as she dug through their stash. She turned around and held up a small clay circle with the imprint of his hand that dangled from a red satin ribbon. “Look how adorable! And how tiny…”
Unable to resist, she reached out for his hand to compare.
“That was my first Christmas back home, I think…” he said, taking a closer look. “Had to be…”
“I wish I had one, too!” she said, her fingers tracing over the imprint of his fingers.
Drew, in turn, moved along for a search through Maxine’s box and pulled out another clay project—a photo frame, sloppily painted in red and green, with her preschool picture tucked inside.
“Uh-oh…now we have some blackmail material on you,” Drew said, holding up the photo for everyone to see. “Sweet little Maxie Kirk with the big green eyes.”
“Max—look at you!” Vicki said as she wrapped her arm around Maxine. “Such a pretty little girl!”
“Thanks, Vicki,” Maxine returned with a hug.
“Look at that face!” Maggie said. “Oh, Tom, how could you stand it? So much cuteness!”
“Drew, you filthy pig! I can’t believe you’re my nephew…having a secret child with this woman…” Aunt Frannie said with a nod toward the frame.
“Aunt Frannie, that’s me…” Maxine endeavored to explain, but her words literally fell upon Frannie’s deaf ear. “We don’t have a secret love child together…”
“If nothing else, at least she’s consistent,” Drew reminded Maxine. “She still thinks you’re the mistress who’s ruining my marriage…”
“Well, I think these two ornaments need to be hung beside each other on the tree,” Maxine changed the subject, stepping over to wrap the ribbon of the handprint around a branch. Right behind her, Drew waited and placed the little frame just slightly above his own childhood creation.
“Beautiful…” he said and caught her chin to press a lingering kiss upon her lips. “Just like you…”
Every glass of eggnog passed around that evening seemed to get a little bit stronger. Eventually, they’d loaded the tree with decorations, and Maxine and Drew stepped back to mind their first holiday creation together with pride.
“You know, I think it’s time we all started clearing out of here…” Declan suggested, and naturally, Adam just had to protest.
“But I’m not even that drunk!” he whined. “I can’t leave yet!”
“You’ll have a nightcap at our house,” Declan insisted. “Got it?”
“Come on, big boy,” Jillian tugged on his sweater. “Let’s get our coats…”
“But I wanna—”
Pursing her lips, she nodded toward Drew and Maxine. “Time to go…” Jillian whispered from the corner of her mouth.
“You’re leaving us?” Maxine took a step back. “Daddy, we have the room for you and Vicki. Please, stay…”
While she found it very odd that her father and Vicki just decided to leave, Maxine thought that perhaps he felt funny staying in the apartment that she pretty much shared with Drew now. Above all, Maxine would always be Tom’s baby girl.
“Oh, we’ll…”
“We’ll all be here for that feast you’re cooking up tomorrow, Max,” Declan assured her. “Your dad and I are just going to partake in some McKenzie family tradition tomorrow…morning. After Santa…arrives…”
“What the hell kind of ‘family tradition’ did we ever have on Christmas but ripping open presents and gorging ourselves like the pigs we are?” Adam demanded.
“That tradition,” Drew muttered, and he clenched his brother’s arm before directing him toward the door. “You know…that surprise that Dad wants to share with Tom…”
“What. Ever.” Adam reached for Jillian’s hand and gave it a kiss. “You people are crazy!”
“We have to leave now if you want that nightcap, Adam,” Jillian teased. “You have to be in your jammies and in bed before Santa will come.”
“Santa goes to Brooklyn?”
“Love you, Max. See you tomorrow, Drew.”
“Thank you for having us tonight…”
“Wait—Tom, Vicki…do you have your overnight bags?”
“Merry Christmas!”
“Merry Christmas!” Aunt Frannie slurred as she clutched a full open bottle of Sherry. It was the holiday. They’d let her have a little more than she should. And Maggie would sleep on the divan in the guest room to keep her safe during the night. This was the ritual that the McKenzie Family repeated with every holiday. “You slut!”
One by one, their guests filed out into the hallway, and once everyone was in the elevator, Drew slammed the door and opened his arms. “Merry Christmas, little one.”
Slithering up against him, Maxine raised a suspicious brow. “You asked them to leave, didn’t you?” she accused playfully. “Let me guess. Kind Sir wants Christmas Tree Sex!”
“Well, I do…but no,” he said. “That’s not exactly the reason…”
“Can you believe they’re leaving Christmas dinner up to us tomorrow?” Maxine laughed.
“I’m just happy that I don’t have to pull a neck from that ham…”
“Well, I hope we don’t ruin it for everyone,” she lamented.
“You pulled off Thanksgiving splendidly, darling. Besides, Mom and Vicki are only a text away. If we think we’re screwing it up, they can cab it across the park,” he said. “Now, though, follow me. Santa left your stocking a little early for you…”
“Funny—he left one for you, too. Hold that thought, my hunk of man. I’ll meet you on the couch.”
She was so damn adorable as she ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Every little thing that Maxine did enthralled him—from her sweet laugh to the spring in her step to that twinkle of innocence that still remained when she blinked those eyes.
His thoughts, though, raced back to just a little over three months ago when a much greener, fresh-off-the-bus Maxine Kirk spilled her drink on him. Even then, as embarrassment claimed her ability to even speak to him, he’d already known that there was something very different about that girl. Drew always made an effort to get exactly what he wanted, and he wasn’t about to allow Maxine to slip away from him that night…even if he had to corner her and silence her with a kiss in the middle of a rainstorm.
And that kiss in the downpour confirmed their fate as a couple. Drew just knew in an instant that there was no turning back, and he chose to trudge forward with his mind, body and soul awakening to new and limitless possibilities with Maxine Kirk. Seeing her submissive streak emerge unwittingly later that night on the living room floor of that beloved old brownstone sealed the deal.
By the end of that first week they’d spent together, Drew found himself ensconced in all things Maxine—for better or for worse. He wanted to hold her and protect her from the world and spank her until she cried all at the same time. Much to his delight, she sought all of that and more in the circle of his arms.
However, here was so much more to Maxine than just her smarts and the sweetness of her submission. Beneath that happy-go-lucky personality, she clung to just as much pain as he had suffered. The center of her world disintegrated with Judy’s death. Hardly grown-up herself, she had to learn how to cope without her mother’s guidan
ce, and in that struggle, she succumbed to the pains of her past.
However, she refused to focus solely upon her own torments. Drew had endured a life in a world far more odious than Maxine could ever imagine. Although she still had difficulty comprehending the horrid details of Drew’s childhood, she stood by his side and accepted the unthinkable truth with sincerity in her soul…and with love in her heart for him. Other women, he’s certain, would have run away as quickly as they entered his life. Maxine, though, didn’t spurn his nightmares. She accepted them as her own, and forced him to see the truth and to understand the potential that existed in himself.
While they both had a strong support network of family, something was missing. That something was each other.
Drew couldn’t remember a time when he’d smiled so often or laughed for no reason. Somehow, Maxine brought a delicate balance into his life. He was even convinced that she was the reason this show was a hit for him. Goodness seemed to follow him everywhere since they’d met. Even in the darkest of moments, she had the ability to force him to envision brighter days. In her presence, he knew that happiness was never far away.
Only three months had passed, but those early days seemed so long ago. Since that chaste time in her life, she'd given him her innocence, her submission...and her undying love.
For all that he adored in Maxine’s submission to him, her independence struck Drew even deeper. Maxine had spent most of her lifetime in the protective shelter of her comfortable existence, yet small town life just wasn’t enough for her. She made such a bold and brave decision to move to the biggest city in the country with virtually just the clothes on her back. She was so much stronger and savvier than for which she gave herself credit.
Relinquishing her control to Drew wasn't merely just about masochism—although Maxine did learn rather quickly how to welcome the pain. Enticing him to punish her was just a mere game. Her deference to him was rooted so heavily in her absolute trust in him. He had stirred so many curiosities within her, but methodically gave her only as much, sexually, as she could withstand for a novitiate. Of course, she wanted more, but she also did understand his hesitations. She needed his guidance, which Drew offered so adoringly.
WRAPPED: The Manhattan Bound Series, Book Two Page 53