Authors: Vi Keeland
I smiled up at Kennedy and pretended to be
surprised by Garrett’s reaction, but Kennedy knew better. He shook his head at
me and gave me a look that said I might be in trouble later.
***
After the game was over we went to a bar
that Garrett picked. The beautiful hostess was excited to see Garrett and
sized up Shauna with disapproval as she led us to a VIP section that overlooked
a dance floor below. Shauna had changed out of her uniform and into jeans
with strategically placed rips and knee high black leather boots. She wore a
tight black t-shirt emblazoned with the team name in crystals across her
chest. Her wrists were covered with sparkly silver and crystal bracelets;
she looked like naughty Barbie, a figment of every man’s wet dream.
Kennedy and Garrett went to the bar to grab
our drinks and Shauna told me how gorgeous she thought Garrett was.
Two guys stopped by the table “Can we buy
you ladies a drink?” the shorter one with the hulking muscles asked.
I looked at Shauna and then back at the
guys, who clearly were not used to rejection with the way that they looked
standing there gorgeous and confident. I was about to decline, and explain
that we were there with people, when I felt Kennedy’s presence behind me.
“Move along.” Kennedy said with a steel
face and dismissive hand gesture.
Kennedy settled in on the seat beside me,
his arm draped behind me in a possessive stance. I caught Shauna’s eye and she
gave me an approving smile.
“Let’s go Garrett. I can read a lot about a
man on the dance floor and I’m wondering what kind of book you are.” Shauna
arched one eyebrow mischievously and Garrett grabbed her hand and led her down
to the dance floor.
We watched as they danced and quickly found
their rhythm together. My gaze slid over Kennedy. He wore steal grey dress
pants and a dark grey cashmere v neck sweater. His normally pale blue eyes
picked up the color of his clothes and changed the color to an unusual grey
blue. He looked urbane and ridiculously sexy. I could never get used to how
gorgeous this man is.
“You’re doing it again.” His voice was low
and gruff.
I snapped out of my momentary visual admiration
of him. Confused. “Doing what?”
“Looking at me like an angel that I want to
take home and fuck till the devil comes out.”
Shocked by his words, I gasped, crossing my
legs together tightly to reign in my body’s reaction to his strength. “Oh
boy.”
He blew out a loud breath and set down his
drink. He turned to me. “I’m killing myself trying to push down the urge to
beat the shit out of a man who tried to buy you a drink and you are sitting
there looking at me like I’m a gift you want to unwrap. You have no fucking
clue. What did I ever do to deserve you Hope?”
I studied his face, taking in every detail.
“You made me believe who I am.”
His lips covered mine and he kissed me. For
a minute there was nothing but Kennedy and me. The music disappeared and all
of the people around us. When he released me, I whispered in his ear. “I love
you.” He smiled then reached in to whisper in my ear. “I love you too
beautiful.”
Shauna and Garrett spent a long time dancing
and I was thrilled that they liked each other as much as I had hoped. When
Shauna tried to get me to dance with her, I felt Kennedy go stiff and I knew it
was more than he could handle tonight. Kennedy announced it was time to call
it a night, and Charles appeared out front when we finally made our way through
the crowds.
“Ummm, we will take a rain check on the ride
big brother, I’m going to walk Shauna home.” Garrett was holding Shauna’s hand
and she beamed at me and winked and blew me a kiss. Kennedy and I climbed in
to the limo.
“Where to Mr. Jenner?” Charles asked.
“Home.” Kennedy responded and I realized it
didn’t matter where we lived, I was home wherever I was with him.
***
My first week back to work flew by and I
barely had time to notice the hulk like man that Kennedy had hired to watch over
me. Christmas was on Sunday and I was excited that we had a three day weekend,
even though I had only just returned to work. We had decided to go to Chicago
for the weekend and spend Christmas with his brother and his family. After my
last day at my job, we would go to Oregon for a week and have a late Christmas
with my Dad. I knew Dad was worried when he left after my accident, but I also
knew that Kennedy had been calling him and giving him updates ever since he
went back home.
When we arrived at Kennedy’s apartment on
Christmas Eve, I was elated to find a twelve foot tall Christmas tree gleaming
with thousands of twinkling lights. It was decorated entirely in silver and
red and it looked as if it had just been torn from a layout in Good
Housekeeping magazine.
“When did you find the time to do all
this?” Kennedy walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.
“I had a decorator come and get the house
ready for us.”
The apartment was dark, except for the
lights from the sparkling tree. It looked magical. “It’s beautiful, thank
you.”
“I’m glad you like it, it’s the first tree
I’ve ever had of my own.”
My voice gave away my shock. “What? You
never had a Christmas tree before?”
“Nope. I go to Franklin’s every year for
Christmas, so I never saw the point of putting one up.”
“But we are going to Franklin’s for
Christmas this year too?”
Kennedy thought for a minute. “I guess I
never had anything to celebrate before.”
I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him
gently on the mouth. “We both have something to celebrate this year.”
***
I woke up on Christmas morning before
Kennedy, which was rare. I watched him sleep for a while, in awe of his
chiseled jaw and perfect lips. I couldn’t imagine a day when looking at him
didn’t take my breath away. He was just so perfectly masculine. Even sleeping
he exuded a raw sexuality. It took more than a little self control to not wake
him, but we both had a rough couple of weeks, and he needed his sleep.
I went to the kitchen and made coffee. I
stared at the majestic tree in the dark for a while and reflected on Kennedy’s
words from the night before. Beneath that strong, dark exterior was a
beautiful thoughtful man. A man that loved me. A man that wanted to live
with me. The thought made me warm inside.
I caught a glimpse of Kennedy out of the
corner of my eye as I was spooning the eggs onto plates. He stood in the
doorway, leaning into the doorjamb casually with his arms crossed. His body
filled the doorway and his face looked amused.
“That smells good. But I would have liked
to have had breakfast in bed.” He smirked.
“I was working on it, but you came out
before the bacon was done.” I pouted.
“I wasn’t talking about bacon and eggs.”
His smile was sinful.
I could feel my face flush and his stare was
unwavering. “Oh.”
“I have a Christmas gift to give you.” He
took two long strides and reached out and pulled me into his arms.
I looked up at him and felt the heat in my
face ignite. “I bet you do.”
He laughed and his pale eyes brightened.
His sexy smile made me tingle and I wrapped my arms around him.
“You look so fucking sexy wearing that
t-shirt and standing in the kitchen making breakfast. I had a hard on before I
even touched you.” He pressed his hips into me to validate his words.
“Behave,” I admonished. “Our breakfast is
going to get cold and I want to give you your present before we go to
Franklin’s house.”
“I’ll behave if you promise I can fuck you
bent over your desk at your new job very soon.” His voice was low and sultry.
“Isn’t that a little premature? I haven’t
even started yet!”
“Just promise me that if the opportunity
presents itself, you’ll be ready for me. I’ve been dreaming about it for days.”
I was aroused just thinking about what he
said, and he knew it. His smile was devious and delicious.
I breathed out an exaggerated sigh as if I
was doing him a big favor. “Okay, fine,
if
the opportunity presents
itself.”
***
We ate breakfast and exchanged gifts. I
hadn’t had much time to for shopping, but Shauna had helped me pick up a few
things that I knew I wanted to get him. It was no surprise to me that Kennedy
had overdone it. For my first gift, he led me into the bedroom and opened a
closet door. He had emptied a whole closet for me and it was already filled
with clothes and shoes. Rows of beautiful designer clothing lined the walls
and I was sure he had made some personal shopper a very fat Christmas
commission.
As if all of his generousness wasn’t enough.
“I have one more gift for you. But you need to get dressed to see it.”
“Kennedy, you are insane. You’ve already
bought me too much!”
“Don’t worry beautiful, this one is as much
for me as it is for you.” He smacked my ass. “Now go cover up that sweet
little ass, so I can take you out in public.”
As usual, I dutifully complied with his
command. Kennedy wouldn’t tell me where we were going. We pulled up in
front of a beautiful hotel and Kennedy came around and opened my door.
“Good morning, Mr. Jenner.” The valet said
as he caught the keys that Kennedy threw his way.”
We made our way to the second floor when the
hotel manager caught up to us. “Mr. Jenner, how nice to see you. Everything
that you requested is in order.”
“Good. I won’t be needing anything else
today.” Our pace quickened with his blatant dismissal of the manager who
looked a bit disappointed.
We arrived at the door that Kennedy was
looking for, and he handed me a set of keys. I noticed that the keychain had a
script J on it and the plaque on the door read
Hope York
. He smiled
and motioned with his hand for me to step forward to unlock the door.
Inside was an elegantly decorated office.
It was professional, with a touch of whimsy. A large antique desk with carved
legs sat in the middle of the office. In one corner was a picture of Kennedy
and I taken the night of the Kelly’s charity dinner, and we were both smiling
and looking at each other. In the other corner was a crystal business card
holder. I picked up one of the cards,
Hope York, Event Manager.
On
the opposite side of the desk sat three different, uniquely upholstered Queen
Anne style chairs. In the corner was a large lithographic of the ice cream
painting that hung in our bedrooms.
I felt my eyes sting as I took it all in.
“How did you do all this?” The tears rolled down my face as I looked at him
and saw him watching me closely, wanting my approval.
“Fuck angel, don’t cry.”
I sniffled unattractively through my tears.
“I love you.”
He lifted my chin forcing me to look at
him. “I love you too angel, Merry Christmas.”
He lowered his mouth to mine and covered my
lips with his in a gentle kiss. He leaned his forehead against mine. His pale
eyes turned dark with lust. “Looks like the opportunity has presented itself.”
There was no way that I would be able to say
no to him. He had done so much to make me feel at home, and had been so
generous to me. I wanted to show him how much I appreciated all that he had
done. Besides, the man was simply irresistible.
He crossed the room quickly and locked the
door, then slid behind me in front of my new desk. Then I let him do just as I
promised…fuck me bent over my new desk.
***
Franklin and Lauren’s house was filled with
the electricity of an excited child on Christmas morning. Emily had convinced
Lauren to let her open one of our gifts, and I was thrilled with how excited
she was when she opened her new Easy Bake Oven. It was my favorite toy when I
was a little girl, and I had hoped that she didn’t already have one.
Emily and I were busy making a mini
chocolate cake in her new oven when I heard the doorbell and Garrett’s voice. I
heard some introductions and murmuring, but Emily and I were too focused on
watching the light bulb cook the little cake to notice anyone walk into the
room.
“Well is this what you are going to do in
Chicago all day, bake little mini cakes and play house?” There was no mistaking
that voice. I turned.
“Shauna! What are you doing here?” I ran
and hugged her and we stayed that way for a minute.
“Garrett and I wanted to see each other
again and Kennedy thought it would be a nice surprise for me to come visit
you!” We giggled like two school girls who just landed the captain of the
football team.
I looked up and saw Kennedy watching us
intently. He gave me the full blown dimple smile and I mouthed
I love you.