Probably a combination of all three—but primarily that third one.
Holding Emery in his arms this morning on the beach had been both pain and pleasure. It was his natural instinct to want to offer comfort, but it didn’t take long before his mind started to wander. That was why he’d led them back into the house, because within minutes there would have been no way for him to hide the effect she had on him.
He was seriously losing his mind—so today’s plan to cook was the perfect solution. It was a ridiculous amount of food. He knew that. But it would guarantee he’d be busy for hours. As much as Emery would ask if she could help—and that still made him laugh—he wouldn’t allow it, because the kitchen was his domain and things would go smoother if he worked alone.
And it would be better for his peace of mind as well.
Just thinking back to the night they’d made pizza together was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. Emery’s body pressed up against his, the smell of her perfume, the feel of her hands working under his…
He cranked up the AC in the car and let out a long, frustrated breath. Putting the car in gear, he drove through town, cringing when he pulled into the parking lot of the local fast-food burger place. That had been her last request for lunch. Some sort of double cheeseburger she absolutely had to have, she claimed. Whatever. All Carter knew was there was no way he was going to eat any of it. He’d purchased some fantastic options of his own to make a sandwich, and on top of that, with all the cooking he was going to be doing, he’d be tasting as he went.
The chef never went hungry.
As his car inched along in the drive-thru line, however, the aromas coming at him weren’t nearly as offensive as he thought they would be. If anything, it brought him back to being a teen, when he and his friends would hit all the fast-food places after school. He hadn’t eaten anything like that in years. His car moved closer to the menu board and he seriously considered forgetting all about his own plans for lunch and giving in to his curiosity. After all, if he ate the way Emery did and still didn’t like it, he’d at least have some credibility in her eyes, right?
The picture of the french fries had his mouth watering. He loved french fries—crispy, lightly salted… He almost groaned at the thought. No doubt the burger would be subpar, but for one meal, could it really hurt?
By the time he was at the menu board, his mind was made up. He ordered enough food for four people, mainly because he was curious about a number of things on the menu and he’d think about how ridiculous he was being later on.
And because he had promised, he called Emery as soon as he had the food and before he left the parking lot. “I’m on my way,” he said casually, waiting to pull out onto the main road.
“So you’re, like…what, five, ten minutes away?” she asked.
“Um, yeah. About ten. Why?”
“Just curious,” she quickly replied. “I’ll make sure the table’s clear and ready.”
“The table was clear when I left. What have you been doing?”
“Sheesh, relax! It was just a figure of speech.” She let out a low snort. “Anyway, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
He was about to ask if there was anything else she needed but decided against it. There was no more room in the trunk and the bag of food he just picked up reminded him of how hungry he was. “Okay. See you in a bit.”
The temptation to grab a handful of fries was great, but he resisted—reminding himself he only had a few more minutes of driving and he’d be back at the house.
Turning onto the block, he noticed a strange car pulling out of his driveway and instantly tensed up. Who was it? Was it just someone turning around? Had someone found out where Emery was?
With his foot on the accelerator, he sped down the block and into the driveway, barely missing the garage door in his haste to stop and get out of the car. The food was forgotten as he jogged to the door, only to be stopped short by Emery opening it and stepping out onto the front steps. Her eyes wide, she greeted him with a smile.
“Hey! Where’s the fire?”
He was breathless and grasped her shoulders more to steady himself than anything else. “What—I saw… Are you okay?”
She looked at him quizzically. “Yes,” she said cautiously. “Are you?”
His eyes scanned her face and it took him a few long moments before he realized he was overreacting. She looked fine—concerned, but fine. He instantly released her and took a step back. “Uh…yeah. Sorry. I—I saw a strange car pulling out of the driveway and I thought…” He stopped and raked a hand through his hair, unsure if he should tell her what he was thinking, because he didn’t want to freak her out. Not right now.
“You thought someone found me,” she said, her expression going a little soft.
Rather than speak, he nodded.
Emery reached for him and Carter realized it was one of the few times she’d been the one to do it first. Her soft hand cupped his cheek and her smile was sweet. “Thank you for being so concerned. I’m fine. No one was here.”
Shaking his head to clear it, he took another step back and then turned toward the car. “If you grab the lunch bags from the front seat, I’ll grab the cooler from the trunk and we’ll deal with the rest after we eat, okay?”
She all but skipped to the car in her excitement to get her junk-food fix on, and all Carter could do was laugh.
“There’s an awful lot of food here, Carter,” she called back to him. “It almost looks like there’s enough food here for more than one person.”
Yeah. He knew he was going to catch some grief from her over this, but he’d deal with it.
“Or maybe I just figured you had some catching up to do,” he replied, hefting the cooler out. Placing it on the ground, he slammed the trunk closed and caught Emery standing only two feet away with a knowing smirk on her face. “What?”
“It got to you, didn’t it?” she asked. “The smell. The delicious smell. You could practically taste the salt on the french fries. Admit it.”
Leaning in close, he said, “I admit nothing. Now come on before it all gets cold.”
They walked to the door and Emery went ahead of him, holding it open for him. It took all of three seconds before he realized something was off. Different. Something was—
He dropped the cooler at his feet and stared in shock. What the…?
Emery came to stand beside him and he could feel her vibrating with excitement. “Surprise!”
Turning his head, he looked at her like she was crazy. “What is all this? Why… I mean, how…it’s…it’s…”
“It’s inspiration!” she replied giddily, walking ahead of him into the kitchen where she promptly began setting up their lunch. “Your mother and I talked about it and I thought today would be the perfect day to do this. You’ll cook, we’ll take some pictures, and I think it will go a long way to helping you get in the spirit of this project.”
Slowly, Carter walked around. The entire living room had been transformed into a winter wonderland. Where everything had had a beachy, coastal feel this morning, it was all replaced now with elegant Christmas décor. He had no idea how she had pulled it off in such a short amount of time, but it was amazing. Looking toward the dining area, he found the table elegantly set for a large family holiday dinner.
It was perfect for what they were doing.
Carter finally found his voice. “How did you manage all this?”
Looking pretty pleased with herself, Emery continued to put their lunch out on the table as she explained. “It took longer than I thought it would. That’s why I kept calling and giving you extra stops to make.” Grabbing a couple of french fries, she grinned at him. “But I found a decorator who specializes in this sort of thing, and it’s all rented and they come in, set it all up. They’ll be back in a few days to take everything back.” She motioned to the table. �
��Let’s eat!”
He joined her and found it hard to focus on the food in front of him—he was still in awe of the transformation of the house. “I can’t believe you pulled this off.”
She smiled and picked up her burger. “I’m extremely organized and efficient. In other words, I had a plan.”
Picking up his own burger, he looked at her and saw how pleased she was, unsure if it was because of a job well done or the greasy treat she was eating. His stomach growled, and he needed to ignore how unhealthy the meal was and just…go for it. “Well, color me impressed,” he said, referring to her, but realized it could also have meant the meal.
It was surprisingly good.
And satisfying.
When neither had spoken for several minutes because they were too busy eating, Emery leaned over and said, “Welcome to the dark side. We have empty calories.”
Carter almost choked on his food but managed to swallow it down before reaching for his drink. Her sense of humor was something he was finding to be utterly charming.
Add that to the list.
There was no time to dwell on it, however, because he was almost done with his burger and was seriously enjoying it.
Now that deserved some dwelling.
“Admit it,” Emery said from beside him, leaning back in her chair. “You enjoyed it.”
“Never.”
She laughed, husky and sexy, and…he seriously needed a distraction.
Reaching over, she looked in the second bag and then gave him a knowing glance. “Who are these chicken nuggets for?”
“Oh, um… I thought you might like them,” he said, not wanting to look at her. Carter busied himself with finishing his fries—which were salted to perfection.
“Hmm. I don’t know if I could eat them right now.” He heard her rummaging around in the bag again. “And what about this? Is this some sort of apple pie?”
Busted!
“Maybe.”
She laughed again—loud and hearty. “Carter Montgomery, you better admit right now that you bought all of this for you because you remember what it’s like to eat like a normal person!”
He lost the battle with his own laughter. “I will do no such thing.”
Standing, Emery took the bag with the extra food and made her way across the kitchen. “Well then, as much as I appreciate the thought, I’m way too full to eat another bite, so…I’ll just throw this out.”
“Wait…what?” he cried, coming to his feet. “Why would you do that?”
With a careless shrug, she replied, “These things never reheat well, so it’s pointless to save it. Besides, what do you care? I can give you the five bucks they cost you, if you’d like.” The bag was dangling over the trash pail, and the look on her face was full of challenge.
And amusement.
“Emery,” he began as he took a step toward her. “Just…put the bag down.”
“And nobody gets hurt?” she teased before letting out a very feminine giggle.
Deciding to stall, Carter studied her. “I just hate to see food go to waste.”
“All you have to do is admit you got it for you. Just say the words and I’ll put the food back on the table.” She shook the bag for good measure. “Come on. I dare you.”
Those were fighting words.
Before he could question it, he lunged for her and Emery let out a high-pitched squeal before taking off around the kitchen island. By their third time around, Carter caught her around the waist and spun her while she cried out, “Uncle! Uncle!” They were both laughing hysterically by the time he collapsed back in his chair with her in his lap. It took several minutes for them to calm down.
“Man, you just cannot stand to be proven wrong,” she said, but made no attempt to move from the circle of his arms.
This was dangerous territory. He knew that. It felt far too good to hold her. Turning his head, he inhaled the smell of her shampoo, daring to lean in farther until his lips were touching her ear.
Softly, he murmured, “Just give me the apple pie, and nobody gets hurt.”
It was meant to be funny—a small joke to go along with all the teasing they’d been doing—but it didn’t feel so funny when Emery let out a low moan at his words.
“Make me,” she whispered, and—holy crap. It was all Carter could do not to haul her over his shoulder and take her inside to his bedroom.
Her name came out as a plea as Carter ran his tongue along the shell of her ear. Emery trembled in his arms as they tightened around her. The bag fell to the floor and she shifted ever so slightly so they were nose to nose. Then it was her turn to sigh his name. Her hand came up and cupped his cheek, and for a moment, he was afraid to move. Afraid to breathe. He didn’t want to risk doing anything to break the spell or ruin the moment.
It would kill him.
Reaching up, he mimicked her pose by cupping her cheek. He owed it to her to be honest.
“This isn’t about making either of us stop talking,” he said gruffly. “This is about me kissing you because I have to.”
Slowly, Emery licked her lips. “Good.”
It was as if everything happened in slow motion from there as if they were being drawn together by forces beyond their control, and when their lips touched, they both sighed and eased into it.
All Carter could think was how this was possibly his sweetest victory ever with Emery—knowing she wanted his kiss just as much as he needed to kiss her.
Chapter 5
Don’t think, just feel…
That’s what Emery told herself as she sank into the kiss with Carter. It was pointless to pretend she didn’t want it and she was tired of fighting it. For almost two weeks she’d done nothing but think about it—especially when she was alone in bed at night—but she never thought she’d get the chance to experience it again.
She’d never been happier to be wrong.
The way Carter kissed was like nothing she’d ever experienced before in her life. She’d gladly give up chips and dip and popcorn if they could be replaced with his lips.
Whoa.
There was no urgency. There was no desperation. What there was right now was a slow simmer that was building up to something more. Kissing Carter was like watching him cook—he was meticulous in his preparations, and then his actions became a little more intent before things came to a sizzle.
Yeah, she was totally okay with the cooking metaphor, because it fit them so perfectly.
His jaw was rough and scratchy against her fingers, but his lips were so incredibly soft yet firm. She hummed softly as his tongue touched hers, and felt herself melt against him. The moment was so perfect, so arousing, so completely and utterly unexpected, and Emery wouldn’t change a thing.
Well—maybe she wouldn’t have gotten onion on her burger had she known this was coming.
Carter ran his hands up and down her spine before one came up and anchored in her hair. It gave her a bit of a thrill how he was holding her to him as if he was afraid she’d move away.
Like the last time.
Not gonna happen.
So many times since that kiss she’d kicked herself for freaking out the way she had. It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted him to kiss her, she just wasn’t confident enough in herself—or him—to trust why he was doing it. The fact that he clarified why he was kissing her this time was probably the sexiest thing he could have done.
His mouth moved from hers as they both gasped for breath, but he simply moved on to her throat and began nipping, licking, and kissing his way around.
“You smell so damn good,” he murmured hotly against her skin. “And you taste even better.”
Part of her wanted to joke and say she smelled like the french fries she had just eaten, but now definitely wasn’t the time. Playtime was over. She wanted serious. She wanted heat. She wanted him
to…
Rather than think, she firmly cupped his jaw and brought his lips back to hers.
That’s when everything changed.
Where before it was a slow simmer, now it was a full-on sizzle, threatening to boil over.
Yeah. She was cooking.
They moved together to get more comfortable, and Emery ended up straddling his lap and oh Lord, did that kick things up to a whole other level. Standing and kissing Carter? Sitting cradled in his lap while kissing Carter? That was nothing compared to the full-bodied experience of kissing him while feeling him intimately pressed up against her most sensitive spots.
Which were now burning for more of him.
Maybe it was because it had been so long since she’d felt desirable.
Or maybe it was because it had been so long since a man had touched her like this.
Or maybe it was just because every minute of every argument she had shared with this man was meant to lead to this.
If anything, Emery began to kiss him with more urgency and Carter matched her. Now their moves were frantic—clinging and touching and grinding to get closer. She wanted to pull off her shirt and watch him take his off and feel them skin to skin. She wanted to see and touch and feel every inch of him.
At that moment, as if reading her mind, Carter reached down and gripped her ass hard.
They were done being polite. They were done with the gentle exploration. Whatever they had started now took on a life of its own.
He stood with her wrapped around him. Emery locked her ankles behind his back, her hands raked up into his hair and gripped it hard, willing him not to stop. She had no idea where they would go or if she was ready for what was to come; all she knew was she wasn’t ready for this moment to end.
Opening one eye, she saw they were moving out of the kitchen, across the living room. Would they go to the couch? The floor?
Carter broke the kiss again as he stopped in his tracks and looked at her. They were three feet away from his bedroom door. His bedroom was here on the main floor; hers was upstairs. And right now, she was thankful for the proximity of his.
A Dash of Christmas Page 11