Holiday Spice & Everything Nice

by Conn, Claudy

  “I’m smiling because for the first time in my life I know where I want to be. Not where I think I should be and not where others want me to be. I just know,” he tilted her chin up and loved that the blanket slid down, exposing some serious cleavage, and she didn’t shift to catch it because she was too intent on him and what he had to say, “that I’d rather spend my worst days on this planet with you, than a thousand best days with anyone else.”

  “You mean it?”

  “I do. I used to go to sleep and dream of a woman. Of a life. Of a place I’d be happy, but it wasn’t until I found you sitting on that dryer trying to get yourself off that my dreams were trumped by the fucking awesome realty of you.”

  Up popped one of those thought bubbles he loved. This one said, dammit, before she said, “You knew that’s what I was doing? What tipped you off?”

  “Hm.” He moved in close and caged her in. “I think it had to do with the squirming and moaning—”

  “Squirming,” she mumbled against his neck. “You were watching.”

  “I was and you were absolutely perfect, darlin’, absolutely—”

  He didn’t get to finish as she threw her arms around his neck and practically strangled him.

  “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

  She squeezed him tighter. “It is, isn’t it?”

  “Sid?”

  “Not a chance,” she whispered in his ear. “I’m not easing up. And I’m not letting go. Deal with it.”

  So he did.

  Epilogue

  Sidney put away the last dish in Riker’s cabinet and smiled. “Thanks for the help.”

  Her mom smiled and waved her off. “It was the least I could do. Riker made such a lovely meal.” She sighed. “It’s been so nice getting away for New Year’s.”

  “Sidney? Did you know Riker did Paul Samis’s medical building here in Denver? You know. He’s the doctor your cousin Tiffany married.”

  Her mom gave her the dead-eye. “You better go see the lights before your father talks the poor guy’s ears off. I think Daddy has a man crush.”

  Sidney laughed, deciding this was nice for once. She’d been nervous about spending New Year’s with her parents, but now she was glad they’d come. She wasn’t sure if it was her who changed, her parents or just the inclusion of Riker into the mix, but things were different. Better. Her parents treated her as an adult and for the very first time in her life she felt like one of the grown-ups at the table and not the little girl who needed her dad’s approval.

  “James?”

  Her mother gave her dad that look and he blinked. Then he seemed to give himself a mental shake, and said, “Damn, the time flew, didn’t it? There’s less than ten minutes to midnight. I better get the champagne organized. Weren’t you guys going out back to see the fireworks?” He winked at Sid and said, “Your mother and I will get the bubbly ready.”

  No sooner did both her parents disappear into the kitchen that Riker pulled Sidney out onto the back balcony and shut the slider door. She loved it out here, even more so when she noticed that Riker had the heaters going. She still couldn’t get used to the cold, but she sure could get used to the property.

  From the front of the cabin she’d never have guessed what was behind it. The place had to be absolutely spectacular in the fall, as the back of the property opened out into a huge canyon. Dotted now by snow covered cedars and pines, but Riker told her there were all kinds of flowering trees that bloomed in spring, summer and fall. He’d explained that there was a lake at ground level too. It was frozen over now, but he assured when the moon was full and the ice melted, the moonlight shimmered over it. She could only imagine that view.

  “Alone at last.”

  “Yeah, but not too alone. They can still see us when they come back into the living area.”

  “That’s okay. I’m not going to ravish you just yet. I have something I want to give you.”

  “Hm.” She slipped her arms around him and smiled. “As I recall, you said you had something to give me this morning right before you ravished me.”

  “Yeah, but that was different. You were sitting on my dryer. You know how I feel about you on a dryer.”

  “You’re so bad.” She pushed away from him with a laugh. “I love that about you.”

  “I know.” He grinned and then reached sideways for a package that was sitting on one of the patio chairs. It looked like a shoe box.

  “What is it?”

  “Open it and you’ll see.”

  He didn’t have to tell her twice. She popped the lid, parted the tissue paper and sucked in a breath. “Aw, where did you find this?”

  “Do you like it?”

  When she looked up at him, he was smiling. She smiled right back. “I love it!”

  “Take it out. Look at the saddle bags.”

  Sidney lifted the reindeer, in a reared up position with a funky angel on its back, out of the box. This piece, although large, would fit right in with her collection. She handed Riker the empty box and turned to hold the figure up in the patio light to get a better look. The first thing she saw was the skillfully fashioned roll of tickets hanging out one side of the angel’s saddlebag and then when she looked at the other side she burst out laughing. The item there, looking like it had been poured out of acrylic maybe, was a stylized baggie filled with oats and glitter tied with a candy striped ribbon. “Did you have this made? You did, didn’t you?”

  He tossed the box on the chair and nodded. “Yeah. Did you see? Look.” He adjusted it in Sidney’s hands and said, “There’s a spring. This goes on top of a tree. This is going be riding the top of our tree next year.”

  Suddenly Sidney wasn’t laughing anymore. She brought the ornament to her chest and hugged it. “Our tree?”

  “Yes.” He brushed her bangs back and added, “Ours. But I’m sorry to say I’m going to have to put my foot down on one thing.”

  Her heart pounded so loudly she was afraid she wouldn’t hear what he had to say.

  “Next year, we’re getting the table with the markers. Sweet baby Jesus, I’m still picking glitter out of parts of me—well, let’s just leave it at, I’ve had enough bling to last me a lifetime. At least until we have our own kids.”

  “We’re going to have children? Me and you?”

  “Yeah.” His grin slid up into a smile that beamed and nearly blinded her. “But trust me on this. For our little guys? I’ll eat bags of glitter and oats to make them happy.”

  She had nothing to say to that so she said nothing at all. She just threw her arms around his neck, mindful of the tree-topper, and squeezed in tight.

  “Of course,” he mockingly gasped against her hair. “I have to live to be able to prove it to you.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too, darlin’.”

  “Hello?” Her father knocked on the glass and when they both turned to look he was tapping his watch. “It’s almost midnight. You coming in or what?”

  Sidney stepped back and grumbled. “I guess we should go in.” But then she remembered she’d have Riker for the rest of her life so she perked up. “Hey, how about I play the cheerleader to your football star when they go to bed. Sound good?”

  He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “Sounds perfect. Absolutely perfect, darlin’.”

  About Riley Murphy

  Riley Murphy writes sexy, humorous, and emotional romance, happy ending guaranteed. An optimist, she believes life is amazing, people are complicated, but in a good way, and we should never stop learning. Riley currently calls Florida home with her gorgeous husband. She has two phenomenal kids, one adorable-to-the-max grandchild, and a very bossy pooch.

  When Riley’s not working she enjoys reading, oil painting, and getting to the Sunday crossword before anyone else does, so she can fill-in all the easy answers first, and pull the smart card with the family.

  To see a full list of Riley’s stories visit her at: www.AuthorRileyMurphy.com

 
; Late One Night

  Aubree Lane

  Published by Aubree Lane

  Copyright © 2015 Aubree Lane

  No portion of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any print or electronic form without written permission of the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance between persons living and dead, establishment, events or location is entirely coincidental.

  1

  THE TAXI RIDE to Annie’s was filled with trepidation. Brittany should have let her sister know she was coming, but considering the last time they saw each other, Christmas two years ago, Britt figured she was better off simply appearing on her doorstep.

  She hoped Annie would be happy to see her, but she wasn’t counting on it. The amount of contact Annie had with their side of the family had dwindled to the occasional email or text message. Annie hadn’t even called with the happy news of the birth of her son, Max. The only reason Brittany found out about the bundle of joy was because a friend pointed out the announcement in a local newspaper.

  The way their mother treated Annie, after she told them she was in love with a wonderful man, was horrible. The only good thing that came from that tumultuous Christmas was Brittany had returned Annie’s expensive gift and added the cash to her escape fund.

  Britt couldn’t recall a time when the relationship between Annie and their mother wasn’t strained. For most of her life, Britt blamed Annie for the rift, but over the last few years, she realized exactly what Annie faced every single day living under Darleen and Carl Sutherland’s roof. After Britt’s sixteenth birthday, she was forced to work in her father’s landscaping business. When Carl decided to pay her for the long hours of manual labor, which wasn’t often, it was less than minimum wage. Along with the job, she was expected to keep her grades up and the house spotless. Seemingly overnight, she became a slave, and she hadn’t heard a kind word from her parents since.

  With the money she managed to squirrel away, Britt purchased a one-way ticket to Honolulu and prayed Annie wouldn’t close the door in her face. Even if her half-sister took pity on her homeless status, Britt worried her husband would object. Not having met Terence Javier, it was impossible for her to gauge how he would react to having an unexpected houseguest.

  The taxi pulled up in front of a cute little bungalow, and Brittany knew she was in the right place. In a former life, Annie owned her own business as an interior designer, and it looked as though her knowledge extended to the exterior as well.

  She paid the cab driver, and the old model Chevy Caprice drove away. Brittany felt bad about the chintzy tip she gave him, but money was tight and not knowing what her future held, she couldn’t afford to be generous. Amazingly, the driver smiled kindly and helped her with her bags.

  Britt blew out a breath and braced herself. She stuffed her winter coat on top of her suitcase and rolled it up the walkway. It was early and she was hesitant about ringing the bell. Waking a sleeping baby probably wasn’t the best way to start off the family reunion. Brittany propped the suitcase up against the railing, settled down on the porch swing, and waited for some morning noises which signaled the start of the family’s day.

  It was already warm and a bit humid. Brittany rocked back and forth. The rhythmic moaning of the chains calmed her anxious nerves. Her eyes grew heavy and twenty minutes later, Brittany was curled up with a floral pillow tucked under her head, sound asleep.

  • • •

  TERENCE JAVIER JOGGED to a stop. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face. The hour he spent running on the beach felt good. It had been a long two weeks back in Ohio, and he needed to purge every trace of that city, and the people he worked with, out of his system. Total ineptitude forced him to travel during the worst snowstorm in history to retrain an entirely new round of employees on the system he set up almost three years ago. The owners took advantage of a loophole in their contract and he hadn’t received so much as a dime for his trouble.

  It was his standard contract, but nothing like this ever happened before. He made a mental note to contact his lawyer and have him come up with better wording. Terence needed his expenses paid in the future. Since his lawyer lived right down the road and they shared custody of their daughter, he was positive a new contract would be in the works before the day’s end.

  He wanted a longer run, but his wife and baby son were working Annie’s Jamoka Jack Coffee Cart. Terence wanted breakfast ready for them when they arrived home. Annie had kindly let him sleep in and took Max with her while she provided specialty coffee to her regular clientele. Max wasn’t exactly a help, and he wasn’t anywhere close to being the best behaved baby. His wife would need a little tender loving care after this morning’s adventure. He found no difficulty imagining how frazzled she would be with a crying baby strapped to her back and demanding customers at her front. If he hadn’t enjoyed his calm morning so much, he would have gone down and relieved her of the kid, but since his beautiful wife wanted him to take the morning off Max duty, he decided to let her spoil him.

  Terence approached the house and frowned. He spied a dark blue, hard-shelled carry-on piece of luggage through the lavender blooms of the thorny Bougainvillea. Two steps and one giant leap forward, he found a young woman, with a beautiful shade of subtle auburn hair, sleeping soundly in his porch swing.

  He knew that face. He saw it every time he looked at his wife. She had to be a relative of Annie’s and he guessed she must be her half-sister.

  Annie rarely spoke of her family, but when she did, it was usually with disdain. She occasionally expressed concern over her younger sister’s well-being and wondered how she was surviving in that unhealthy household. To the best of Terence’s knowledge, Brittany’s arrival was unexpected, and Terence surmised the answer to Annie’s question was that Brittany hadn’t been doing well at all.

  Terence never considered his house small, but bed space was already stretched to straining capacity. His daughter, Erika, had been an only child for most of her thirteen years. This was the first time she would have to share her room. More and more, Terence liked the idea of Brittany staying with them, it would give Erika the opportunity to see what it was like not to have everything her way. If she didn’t like it, she could spend more time at her other father’s home.

  He grabbed the handle of the suitcase and rolled it into Erika’s bedroom. Terence didn’t worry about disturbing her slumber. At thirteen, nothing was capable of waking her on a weekend. His daughter took full advantage of not having to get up for school. On a typical Saturday, they were lucky if they saw her before noon, but today was not typical. Her help was needed.

  “Erika baby, wake up.”

  She gave him a groggy groan and rolled over.

  Terence grinned, knowing the torture he was about to inflict upon her. He shook her arm gently. “Erika, your Aunt Brittany has come for a visit. She’s asleep on the front porch, and I don’t want to scare her. I need you to take her a cup of coffee and wake her up.”

  Erika opened one eye and glared. “Who?” she asked.

  “Annie’s sister from San Diego.”

  Her other eye opened and Erika scowled. “Are you serious?”

  “No, I made it up just to get you out of bed.”

  Erika rolled away and pulled the covers back over her head. “Dad,” she whined. “Why’d you do that?”

  Terence broke out laughing. This wasn’t going to be easy. “Nice try. Get up. I need your help.” He gave her bottom a quick swat through the blankets and headed for the door.

  Erika sat up. “Dad! I’m thirteen. You can’t spank me anymore.”

  With eyebrows raised in warning, he faced his daughter. “You’re lucky I’ve been away for a couple of weeks, and that I’m still able to find this attitude of yours amusing. If that little love tap was a spanking in your eyes, it shows exactly how much we’ve abu
sed you.” His eyes narrowed and his voice grew firmer. “I need your help and I expect to get it. Do we understand each other?”

  The thirteen-year-old’s eyes reeled up toward the back of her head. “Fine, I’ll get up.”

  She immediately flopped back under the covers and Terence felt the need to reiterate his request. “I’ll be in the kitchen fixing breakfast and I better see your smiling face in ten minutes.”

  Erika moaned.

  • • •

  TERENCE KNEW MIRACLES were possible when Erika actually made it into the kitchen a mere fifteen minutes later and was fully clothed in shorts and the Maroon 5 t-shirt she purchased at their concert last June. She climbed up on a stool, reached across the counter, and grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate. Shoving it in her mouth, she crunched its mouth-watering goodness. “Who is this aunt I have never met, and why is she asleep on the porch?”

  Terence handed her a glass of orange juice. “Just so we’re clear, I only believe it’s your Aunt Brittany. I don’t know why she’s here, but I assume it’s because she needs to get away from a difficult home life. Annie told me some horror stories about her childhood and if the same is true for Brittany, I’m surprised she hasn’t shown up sooner.”

  The young girl yawned, walked over to the coffee maker, and poured herself a cup.

  Erika had never tasted coffee before. Amused, he watched and wondered if his daughter planned on drinking the brew, or if she was just trying to shock him. Either way, he wasn’t going to miss this for the world. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for the show to begin.

  With her cup filled to the brim, Erika brought it to her lips, took a big gulp, and promptly spewed it all over the kitchen floor, counter, and walls. Her hand flew to her mouth and her eyes went wide at the horrid taste. “That was hot,” she gasped. “And it tastes like sewage. I can’t believe Annie makes a living selling that muck. People are weird.”