Blame It on the Mistletoe (16 page)

“That was amazing, oh my god,” she said between heavy breaths. He crawled up her body and looked down at her with a wicked grin.

“We just started.”

“Kiss me, please.”

He did, and his mouth was wet and hot. He became frantic, his tongue stroking into her mouth, and his hips pushing her legs wider so he could settle against her. After a few minutes of kissing her senseless, he rose up to his knees and retrieved something from the night stand. She saw a strip of condoms, and he ripped one off.

“Were you planning this?” She laughed.

“Maybe.”

He knelt between her thighs, knees wide and rolled on the condom. When he was done he grabbed each of her legs, angled her body to meet his and looked down at her. “You are the sexiest woman, Brooke Abbott. And don’t you dare tell me not to say that.”

Their position exposed her so completely to him, which felt naughty and perfect at the same time. Their eyes locked as he moved slowly, sliding into her, farther and then farther still. She felt full and complete, nothing having ever felt so good. She let her gaze travel downward as he pulled all the way out and pushed back in. She loved how his abs moved beneath his skin as he pivoted in and out of her body. The friction of him inside her was such a sweet torture that her body was humming, just on the edge of another release.

“Not yet, Brooke.” He slowed down, driving her crazy. Letting go of her legs, he leaned forward, putting more of his weight on top of her. It was heaven, his chest against hers as he kissed her deeply.

He kept up the exquisite game, bringing her close and then pulling back, confusing her body and also driving it insane. After a while she pushed at him, and taking the hint he rolled them over, letting her straddle him.

She sat up and rocked against him, slowly and methodically. He palmed her breasts, his thumbs rubbing over her nipples. She pressed into his hands, leveraging herself with her fingers on his firm chest so she could increase her speed.

“Oh shit, keep going babe, just like that.” His hips left the bed, meeting her over and over. She looked into his eyes as she came, biting her lip so she didn’t make too much noise in the hotel room. Alex didn’t miss the look in her eyes. “That’s it, Brooke, come for me.”

Her eyes shut in ecstasy at the sound of his voice saying those words, and just like that he was groaning low in his chest as his rhythm slowed, each thrust purposeful and controlled. Finally he grasped her hips and pulled her down hard against his pelvis as he sucked in a deep breath through his nose and then blew it out.

They stared at each other, panting, and after a moment she collapsed on the bed beside him, completely out of breath, and completely in love.

**

Alex had made love to Brooke once more during the night. He glanced at the clock, and it was three in the morning. She was sleeping quietly against his chest, her hair tickling his chin. The most bizarre thought had crossed his mind as she drifted off in his arms—he’d never been happier than he was right at that moment.

It had only been a couple of weeks, and yet he’d known Brooke Abbott his whole life. Sweet young Brooke was the most amazing woman he’d ever slept with, ever known. She was so sensitive and responsive. She’d turned out to be the most passionate woman in bed.

She stirred in his arms and looked up at him. The lights were out but he could tell her eyes were open. “You’re store is closed on Sundays, right?”

“Yes, thank goodness. I’d be a wreck tomorrow.”

“Today, you mean.”

She giggled, the warmth of her breath blew across his chest. “Yes, I guess so.”

He ran his hand down her back, knowing that the thing gnawing—well, one of them anyway—at his mind was likely going to upset her … and him, but he had to ask. “Tell me about your ex, Brooke.”

She was quiet for a moment and then laid her head back down. “We dated in college, started my junior year at Arizona. He was a business major, clean cut, cute. We had an American Lit class together.”

He let her collect her thoughts. As much as he didn’t want to hear any details, he needed to. He couldn’t really explain why, but he did. Finally she continued. “He was a year older than me, and when he graduated he bought a little house. We’d been dating exclusively for about eight months when he asked me to move in with him. At first it was great, my parents weren’t happy of course since I was living in sin. They wanted us to get married. I wanted it too, and I kept thinking he’d ask anytime, since, you know, we were
living
together.

I’m not really sure when he started being abusive. We’d been together almost two years, which was why it was so hard to understand. He’d always been moody and a little jealous, but in the beginning I was actually flattered by it. No one had ever liked me like that.”

Alex hated the sadness in her voice, he rubbed her back gently, encouraging her to talk.

“At first he never did anything that I classified as true abuse. I mean, I know better now, but at the time I’d convinced myself that’s not what it was.”

“Like what?” He wanted to know exactly what this asshole had done to her.

“Like … pushing me up against a wall, or shoving me. Squeezing my arms, yanking on me. Talking down to me in public, that was almost the worst. Humiliating. I mean … I just know I never had a black eye, or a broken bone. A lot of it wasn’t really even painful physically … just, scary I guess, manipulative. He was always mad at me and found a way to make me feel bad. I often found myself apologizing although I couldn’t have told you what for. I just knew apologizing made him better. It sounds so stupid now. Toward the end I was just wondering when he was going to go crazy and really hurt me.”

“And he did, didn’t he?” Alex asked. Praying she’s say no, but he knew better. After the look of terror in her eyes the other night, he knew that she’d been hurt. She stiffened in his arms, and he braced himself for what she would say next.

“My period was late once, I was so afraid I was pregnant. The thought of having Chad’s baby, imagining living that life forever, or him snapping and hurting a child. … It scared me, and I packed up my car one day while he was at work with as much of my stuff that I could manage.

“He came home early and caught me before I could leave. I didn’t know what to do. Out of fear I told him I thought I might be pregnant and wanted to visit my family. He lost it, I still don’t know what he was more upset about, the fact that I might be pregnant or that it was obvious I was leaving him. He dragged me into the house and …”

“Tell me, Brooke. What did he do?”

“Nothing. That’s the thing, if he’d ever choked me, or broken a rib. If he’d raped me, I think I would have run sooner. But that night he threw me down on the floor, and vowed I would never, ever leave him or I would be sorry. I just stared up at him. He was enraged, and I just couldn’t understand what the hell I was doing there staring up at this asshole while I was on the floor. Where he’d thrown me. It was ridiculous.” Brooke paused and Alex had to keep himself from jumping up and hunting the bastard down. “My car was still packed and at three in the morning I snuck out of the house and left. I called Ryan the minute I got out of town. I was a mess, crying and telling him everything, what I’d been dealing with for several years. My parents still think I just came home because we broke up.”

Alex swallowed hard, his insides vibrating with anger. He was slightly relieved that she hadn’t suffered physically as bad as he’d imagined, but it killed him knowing what she’d gone through, and he hated that he couldn’t fix it. “Brooke, look at me. What he did, it was definitely abusive. Do you believe that for sure now?”

She nodded her head, her eyes glistening in the dark. “I do, although it took some therapy to get me to this point. I think a lot of what I had to work through was why I’d excused his behavior for so long. I just kept confusing his …
problems
with love. Gosh, how embarrassing to be having this conversation. I had a normal life until that point, I wouldn’t have imagined myself capable of being that girl.”

Her voice broke on those last words, and Alex pulled her into his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She cried quietly, and the sound of it nearly broke him in two. They laid there so close they were nearly one body, and it felt so good to hold her like that.

“What are you thinking?” she asked with a sniffle. “Do you wish you didn’t know? Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Hell no, are you kidding me? What I’m thinking is that I’d like to find that motherfucker and do some serious damage to his face.”

“You’d scare the shit out of him if he saw you coming.”

“Damn right I would.” He squeezed her hard, loving the feel of her naked skin against his. She laughed, and he drank in the sound of it.

“I’m glad you told me,” he said.

She snuggled into him, her legs tangling with his. “Me, too.”

**

There were nine shopping days left until Christmas and Brooke was excited. Her store was doing well, she had another full class tonight, and she’d spent almost all of yesterday with Alex.

He was unfortunately flying home to Oregon this afternoon for a while. The company he worked for had a group booked for a two-day hiking trip, and his friend who was also the owner had plans to go home to Texas the weekend before Christmas. Alex had promised Brooke he would come back and see her again right after Christmas. The news had shocked and delighted her.

She’d been too afraid to ask him what was going on between them. She didn’t want to push her luck by asking for some sort of vocal proclamation or commitment. She was happy doing what they were doing, but she knew the truth. She was madly in love with Alex Coleman. It wasn’t a surprise that it hadn’t taken her long; she’d had a major crush on him in her youth, so he’d already been ten steps ahead of the game just by being himself.

Brooke cranked up the holiday music on her iPod and hooked it into the speakers behind the counter. She’d always loved the way it put her in the mood and reminded her of the Christmases of her youth. She’d had a good childhood, she had to admit. Her parents weren’t perfect—they expected a lot, they were old-fashioned, but they were good people.

Alex had asked her if she’d consider telling them about Chad, and she was thinking about telling her mother. If for nothing else, she wanted her to stop mentioning his name.

She’d been open for a little over an hour when Ted Orsman entered her shop. “Hello, Mr. Orsman. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked with a smile.

“This is a nice little shop you have in here, Brooke. Beverly told me you are quite the entrepreneur. I had my doubts when she first showed me the old bucket she purchased here, but I have to say, it looks cute sitting on the hearth holding firewood.”

Brooke laughed. “It’s all in the perspective, right? And I’m glad you like it. Things are going well.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it. Say, listen. I just wanted to run something by you that I’m not sure you were aware of.”

“Okay.”

“You do know that Alex Coleman recently inherited this building, don’t you?”

Her mouth dropped open.
What?
She quickly shut it again. “No, I’m afraid I didn’t know.” She felt ashamed that she had to admit that, but it was pointless to pretend she wasn’t shocked, it had been so obvious by her immediate response.

“Oh shoot, I’m sure he meant to tell you, or … maybe he didn’t. You see, he’s had a very generous offer from a developer in Kansas City. Over a million dollars, and you can imagine, one just doesn’t turn down an offer like that.”

“I see.” Her stomach churned, all of her conversations with Alex flipping through her mind. Why hadn’t he told her? Over a million dollars?

“I’m sure you can have a shop just as lovely in another location,” she heard Mr. Orsman’s voice say.

Except there was no other location, at least not in Preston. Spots on Main Street never really went up for rent as people made arrangements before tenants moved out since retail space was in such demand. And she couldn’t imagine owning a business anywhere but Preston, where she felt safe. Her parents were here … and Ryan. He was clearly the only man her age that cared about her. Her brother, how pitiful.

She didn’t want Mr. Orsman in her presence one more minute, his over-the-top false concern was making her sick. “I certainly appreciate you coming in. I’m sure it will be dealt with soon.” She walked toward the door, signaling to him that she wanted him to go.

“I am sorry, Brooke. Sometimes these things—”

“Mr. Orsman, thank you. No apologies or explanations are necessary.”

He nodded and left the building. Brooke laid a hand against her stomach, emotions warning inside her. She needed to think, because she wasn’t sure what she felt more, anger, fear, or grief. They were all strong, all threatening to drown her. She turned around to view her shop from the front door. It was so pretty and welcoming, and it was …
hers
. So much work, so much hope, and so much money. How could she be so happy one minute imagining what could be, and then so lost the next? What would she do without all of this? How would she ever pay back the loan? She’d have to try and sell off all the inventory, try to expand her online presence. Or possibly consider renting a space in Kansas City. There were co-op style shops downtown that did quite well.

Oh god, just the thought of it all made her ache. She pushed out a long breath and went behind the counter to look at a calendar. What kind of time frame was she dealing with? A few days? A week? A month? And why the hell hadn’t Alex said anything? That question kept repeating in her mind?

What had the whole past couple of weeks been about if he’d known all along that he was going to sell this building right from underneath her? There was absolutely no reason to get involved with her; if he was the owner, he could kick her out with no questions asked. So, why?

Brooke swiped a tear from her eyes and then headed for the bathroom. She needed to make as much money as she could before she had to close. Hopefully she could stay open until Christmas, hold her next few classes, and make enough to pay off a portion of her loan. Then she’d just have to live with Ryan while she figured out her next move. That sounded horrible—although she loved him to pieces, she did not love the idea of living with him.