12 Days of Forever(38)

“I brought essentials,” she says, walking away from me. She bends over, and I find my head tilting to the side to get a good look at her beautiful ass. Yvie’s been working hard to firm up and I’ve been helping.

Yvie turns her head quickly and catches me staring at her. Her grin is wicked as she winks at me. When she stands, she’s holding a bottle of wine.

“The only thing missing is food,” I say, as she walks past me and into the kitchen.

“I thought we could get take out.”

I pretend to ponder the idea, but pull out the take-out menus and hand them to her. I trap her against the counter and nuzzle her neck. She giggles, but doesn’t pull away.

“How about Chinese?”

“Perfect,” I murmur against her neck.

After calling in our order, I open the bottle of wine and pour us a glass each.

“To a new year and new friends,” I say, as our glasses touch.

“And midnight kisses,” she says, pulling my glass away and bringing me in for a kiss.





Warmth. That’s what I feel when I’m nestled in Xander’s arms. He’s allowed me to channel surf. He hasn’t balked once, even when I stop on the sappy movies. He encourages me to change the channel and kisses away my blubbering tears when I don’t.

“I don’t understand why you watch this if it’s going to make you cry.” He adjusts me in his arms, resting his head on top of my shoulder. His arms are wrapped around me as I sit between his legs. A blanket, one that his mom made, covers his legs.

“Tell me about your parents.” I know this is a line we shouldn’t cross, but he knows so much about my family, and I know nothing about his. We’re not in a relationship, but we’re friends and friends can know things. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

“What do you want to know?” Xander brushes his fingers along the nape of my neck causing not only goosebumps, but also a change in body temperature. I know what he wants. I want it too. It’s our last night together and both of us have avoided the elephant in the room – when or if we’ll see each other again. I want to see him. I’m just not sure how to make it work. I don’t know if Xander fits in with the life I lead in New York. I had a hard enough time fitting in here. I’m just not sure how long I’ll be able to stay away. Aside from my family, I really enjoy being with Xander. I just don’t know if I can give him what I think he needs in life.

“What do they do, names, where do they live?”

“Ah, are we at that stage now?” Before I can answer, his fingers tighten over my shoulders and he starts to knead my muscles. My head falls back, and I let out the longest moan ever.

“Hmm, I sort of like that sound,” he whispers against my skin.

“Xander, tell me.”

He sighs, but doesn’t stop with the massage. His fingers and hands are like magic and could put me to sleep, although I know that won’t happen. Not tonight.

“My dad is a financial advisor and my mom is an interior decorator. They live in Miami is an obscenely large home that most of us refer to as a mansion. They work long hours, cater to the stars and vacation a lot.”

I’m a little taken by how well off his parents seem to be. By all accounts, Xander should be a stuck up party boy living off his parent’s money, but he’s not. He’s grounded, with a good head on his shoulders and with a thriving business.

“Do they know the guys?” By guys, I mean Liam, my brother and Jimmy.

“Hmm, I’m not sure. They could, or maybe Liam knows someone who knows them. We’ve never discussed it, and I’d never use my parents to get ahead in life.”

I nod, and lean back into him a little more. He stops rubbing my shoulders, and instead wraps me in his arms.

“Do you like your job? What about your parents, do they like that you live in Beaumont?”

“When I answered the ad for JD, I never thought it would lead to all of this. I was just a few years out of college and working in a rehab facility when I happened to see the ad that the administrator posted from the job website. It said that it could be twenty-four hours, and that the applicant must be willing to travel, all expenses taken care of. I thought, what the hell? I’m young and have nothing holding me back so I answered. The phone interview wasn’t even with Liam, and I really had no idea who I was going to work for until he called me one day.

“I’d love to buy one of the old buildings downtown and renovate it with businesses on the bottom and some nice apartments above them. I’m thinking more high-end to maybe bring in bigger business and help the economy thrive. Either way, my parents are on board. My dad is the silent owner of the gym. Everything is in my name, but he’s there in the event of a financial crisis, not that I see that happening anytime soon.”