An Underestimated Christmas (Underestimated 3) (33 page)

“I think I was set up.”

“You were,” I confessed and softly spoke the words. Morgan could tell I was about to kiss her. Her chest stopped moving when her breathing stopped. My heart raced a hundred times faster than it should as I leaned in, touching her lips with mine. My conscience was lightened and it was the best feeling in the entire world. Her eyes closed when our lips finally met and arms fell around my neck. I pulled her closer when she stood on the tips of her toes and opened her mouth. Blood rushed to my groin and I pressed it into her stomach when she moaned.

“Drew,” Morgan panted, pulling away. I didn’t want her to pull away. She patted my chest with two taps and ducked under my arm. My body fell to the bar and I groaned, banging my forehead on the cool marble top. She left me. Left me wanting more. Dammit. I was beginning to hate my right hand.

Okay, maybe I rushed into the whole house thing. I couldn’t believe what Drew arranged for me. And to be perfectly honest, I did feel better about the past, and I promised myself and Nicole that I wouldn’t go take it off the shelf and reminisce about it when things got tough. I had to find a new hobby, something to occupy my time. That’s what Nicole said anyway. The boys were enough to occupy my time.

As hard as it was to spend the days with Drew and the boys, creating Christmas memories of all things, I slept in my own bed downstairs or with one of the boys. We kissed, we held hands, and we cuddled in front of the fire, but that’s as far as it went. It was stupid really, but for whatever reason, I found it extremely difficult to let him go all the way.

I couldn’t believe the progress Nicholas was making with John. Drew even talked him into asking a total stranger in the supermarket if he could take her cart for her. It made him extremely happy to know he helped her. He would have never done that before. I still wasn’t convinced Stacy was going to get him to perform in front of a group of people, but she insisted he was her star student. She wouldn’t let me watch the practice. It was a surprise.

Things felt different between Drew and me, not great, but different. We were making progress and I was happy I didn’t have the weight of worrying about getting high, or when I was going to be able to sneak away to do it. I never realized how crippling it was before.

“You ready Ebenezer?” Drew asked, grabbing Nicky and tossing him over his shoulder. “Have you seen Nicky? I can’t find him anywhere,” Drew teased, holding onto his ankles.

“I’m right here, silly,” Nicky called, trying to look around to Drew’s face.

“What? Did you hear something?” he teased.

“Nicky go get your shoes. We have to get going. Where’s your brother? Tadpole! Come on. We have to go,” I called.

“I pooping,” he called back.

“You wearing those jeans?” Drew asked, setting Nicky to the floor and moving behind me.

“You’re the one that moved me to the coldest climate on the planet,” I reminded him. “Maybe if I was still in California I would be half naked,” I added for the tease.

Drew let go of my hips and walked away. “Hey, where you going?” I asked in a laugh.

“I have to get away from you. I’m going to wipe some ass. Are you ready? We need to go.”  

We spent yet another day talking to John about Nicholas, and then we baked cookies. On Thursday, we spent the day in front of the local drug store ringing a bell and well, a lot of flirting.

“Let’s sing Jingle Bells, maybe that’ll get them in the giving spirit,” I suggested, ringing the bell to the by passers.

“I can’t sing. I have a better idea. Let’s kiss.”

I laughed and rang the bell more. “Merry Christmas,” I said to a lady dropping change to the bottom of our little red bucket, hanging from the tripod. “I’ll make you a deal, Mr. Kelley. You sing Jingle Bells with me and if that doesn’t work to get more people in the giving spirit, we’ll try your idea.”

“I’ll sing whatever you want if I get to kiss you, Mrs. Kelley.”

We got to the second chorus with no money when Drew started singing louder, making up his own words to the familiar tune. He sang loud, letting the people passing by know he was going to kiss his wife. He actually got a crowd and a red-faced wife. People gathered to watch my dumb husband promise them all a kiss. They even hooted and whistled at the romantic display of public affection. And we got a lot more money.

I had a good day with Drew that day and a good evening.

On Friday night, Drew left me to do his guy thing at the barn. I talked to Alicia on the phone and then Carlie. She was really going to do it. I was so proud of her for stepping up and wanting a better life for her and Carol. She could live there as long as she wanted if it helped her finish school. My next plan was to get her reunited with her family. 

I was actually surprised when Drew was home at a decent time. The boys and I were laying in front of the floor working a snowman puzzle. Drew removed his shoes and laid on his stomach beside them to help. Tadpole jumped on his back and Nicholas explained that he had to do the straight sides first and then they could do the middle. He was getting whiny, complaining when Drew or I placed a piece in the middle, but yet he did it himself.

“Drew, can I go through your phone?” I blurted for no apparent reason. I wasn’t even thinking that. What the fuck. Where did that come from?

“Ohh, I thought for sure that one was going to fit,” Drew yelled when the piece didn’t fit. He never even looked at me. He just rolled a little and fetched it out of his jean pockets. He handed it right over. Not one word.

I swiped my finger over it, feeling like I was about to do something bad, like it was a trap and I was going to get into trouble. I went to his pictures first. Pictures of his family. Selfies of him and me, funny photos of the boys, photos of the snow, photos of the house, and more of the boys and me. Drew truly loved his family. He may be an ass sometimes, well, a lot of the times, but there was never any doubt about the love he had for me and these boys.

“Here, go to my messages. The one from Dundee Realty.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Just do it. But don’t hate me. I couldn’t help myself.”

“If you bought another house without telling me, I’m seriously going to be bury you in the back yard.”

“I want to be buried in the back yard wif daddy too,” Tadpole decided.

“If you don’t stop stepping on my fingers you’re going to be,” I teased pinching his belly.

“And what if I
didn’t
buy a house?” Drew asked at the exact same moment I read the message.

“You didn’t pay for my house?” I asked, reading the
thank you for your time, but…
message
.

“No, I couldn’t do it. Do you hate me?”

“No, I don’t hate you. I’m glad you didn’t, but did you have a plan for when Christmas was over and I told you I was going?”

“No, and I didn’t have a plan when you told me you wanted to go look inside, either. But I did stop by and put the real estate sign back in the yard.”

“You’re a horrible, horrible man.”

“But you love me.”

That I did. And for the first time in a very long time, I thought Drew and I might be okay after all.

Saturday was a blast. I chose a black party dress for the Christmas party and Drew and my little guys wore black suits with red Christmas ties. We were the best-looking family on the planet and I loved us as a family. Even though I would have been furious with Drew a few days before, I was happy he didn’t pay for my house. I wanted this. I wanted to be right here with my family, with Drew.

The party was so much fun. The food was amazing, and the company we kept was awesome. I loved Nicole and Stacy to death. The three of us stood off to the side looking like a million bucks and gossiped while the men and kids mingled.

“You guys look happy,” Nicole accused, bumping my arm with her shoulder.

“We’re okay. Did you know he didn’t pay for the house?”

“I have to go find John,” Nicole announced, trying to escape. I grabbed her arm and called her a traitor.

“Have you talked to Carlie? I’ve tried to reach her all day. She said she was coming,” I asked, looking to the door for the fifteenth time. Where the hell was she?

“Not since yesterday. She said she was bringing Carol and coming, I don’t know. Tell me what’s going on with you two. You didn’t tell me he looked that good in a suit. He’s a little sexy,” Nicole said.

“Yeah, he is, but I still like him better in jeans and basketball shorts,” I confessed.

“Or naked,” Stacy laughed.

“No, not naked. I can’t remember the last time we did that,” I declared.

“Why?” both my friends asked at the exact same moment.

“I don’t know. I’m still sleeping downstairs or with one of the boys.”

They spoke in unison again. “Why?”

“We’ve kissed and made out, but I chicken out every time it gets to that point. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s like I’m a virgin afraid of losing my purity again or something,” I explained.

“Or you’re holding on to something you shouldn’t be holding on to?” Nicole accused.

“Like what? I can’t think of anything. It’s frustrating. Shut up. Here he comes.”

“Here who comes?” Drew asked with a smile.

“You, we were just talking about sex,” Stacy offered. Great. Like I needed another Alicia in my life.

“Is that so? I’m just going to leave that one alone and take my wife to the middle of the floor for a dance,” Drew countered with a cute as hell smile.

“Thank you,” I said, falling into his arms.

“Tell me what you were talking about.”

“I wasn’t talking about anything, it was them.”

“You’re lying. Tell me, or I’m going to break out in one hell of a tango and you’re going to follow.”

“Yeah, right. We haven’t danced like that in years. We probably forgot how,” I reminded him about the fact that we hadn’t danced since before Calloway passed away.

“You didn’t forget. I saw you dancing with Tadpole and Nicky the other day in the hall.”

“You saw that, huh?” I asked, smiling up to him. Drew kissed the tip of my nose and spun me around once.

“I did. The heels with boy shorts was pretty sexy.”

“You could have said something. I gave you a full show.”

“You did and I loved it. So did my Tad. He’s going to take after me,” Drew said, spinning me and circling his hips into my ass.

I turned back around and looked at the smiling faces of my two conniving friends. “Drew, stop. This is a family thing.”

Drew didn’t care. “How about something with a little beat?” he called to the DJ on the stage that wasn’t there the day before. Drew was turning into quite the handyman. He even fixed a dripping sink thanks to YouTube. He was just too proud to call Solomon. It was fine, though. Tadpole helped.

“Drew, no. What are you doing?” I protested when he grabbed me around the waist again. “I’m serious, stop.”

“You’re a beautiful dancer. Come on, let’s show them where we came from,” Drew teased while we waited for the song to end and another one to start. Nicole was the troublemaker that started the circle. Oh my god. I was going to die of embarrassment.  

“I’m not a dancer. I don’t dance.”

“You’ve been dancing since you were eighteen. You’re a liar.”

“Drew, please don’t make me do this. And I didn’t have a choice. You made me. Remember Jaymes? Remember when he taught me how to dance?” I asked, trying my best to ruin whatever the hell he thought he was doing in front of all these people.

“Stop. We’re not talking about that night or any other night. We’re talking about this one. Are you ready?” Drew asked, holding my arm around my waist, ready to spin me into a dance we’d learned years ago. There was no way we were going to pull this off in one piece. I begged one last time before the music changed.

“I’ll do anything you want, Drew, but not this.”

“Have I told you how beautiful you are tonight?” Drew whispered in my hair. I could feel his smile and I was so happy that he was happy, but I did not want to do this.

“Have I told you how much I hate you?” And there it was. The bump from his hips into mine. Drew and I were in full-blown tango mode to “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” I tried my best to ignore the crowd, clapping and dancing, egging us on. The smile never left either of our faces. We both messed up a couple times, but nobody cared. It was fun and I was happy.

Drew pulled me into his arms when the song ended. “Silent Night” faded in from the stage and my arms went around Drew’s neck. I knew the kiss was meant to be soft, sweet, and quick. I meant for that to happen, too. I parted Drew’s lips with my tongue and he responded. Although the dance floor filled with other couples, Drew and I were the only two people in the room for moment. Emotions were high while we swayed, surrendering ourselves to each other.

“Want me to keep the boys tonight?” Nicole asked, swaying her husband closer to us. Our moment was halted and I smiled over at her. No. I didn’t want anyone to keep my boys, but I may not have minded taking care of their daddy in a bathroom stall or something.