Blue-Eyed Soul (16 page)

"Who said I was trying to be?" Aleks grinned and began quartering the. "I can't help it. I have... memories now. Accosting me. It's very distracting. I could cut a finger off."

Remey laughed, swatting Aleks's butt as he came around the island and climbed onto a stool across from him. "Ass."

"Yes, it is. Mine, as a matter of fact. You better leave it alone or I'll think you only came to manhandle me."

This was nice. Aleks kept teasing and his smile made Remey's heart stutter.

Remey peered up at him from under his brows as he chopped celery. "So that would be a bad reason to have come, I'm taking it? Shoot, um... let me quick come up with another, then..." He pretended to ponder it, before dissolving into laughter again. Remey couldn't recall the last time a man had made him feel so giddy and... well, smitten might be the word.

The best part was, he was pretty sure it might be mutual.

Before kisses could happen--and Remey was sure kisses were going to happen any second--Willow came bursting in, little hands flailing as she described the long-awaited appearance of the Dora balloon and Boots and, finally, Santa and his sleigh at the very end.

Remey managed to pull his brain out of "flirt with Aleks" mode and back to normal as Willow chattered at them about the parade, the balloons and Santa. Stevan and Jess came in a minute later, and Stevan scooped Willow into his arms, perching on the stool next to Aleks's, while Jess poured Willow a cup of juice, and Remey listened to everyone talk.

He felt so at home with them--all of them--and it wouldn't be a stretch to say he liked Aleks's family nearly as much as he liked Aleks. Remey caught himself wondering what Aleks would think of his parents and brother, what they would think of Aleks, and he did his best to push the thought away. It was a little early to be thinking such things.

Remey already knew his parents and brother were planning to come to Haven for a week at Christmas, and he was sure his mama would insist on meeting Aleks, since Remey had already told her about him. He'd have to see if Aleks might be comfortable with it; it was only a month away. Granted, Remey had met Aleks's family before they got involved, which was kind of unavoidable in a town the size of Haven. He heard his name and blinked, pulling himself back to the conversation.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Jess grinned at him. "I was asking Aleks how the planning for the concert was going. I'm so excited, I'm buying a ticket as soon as they go on sale this weekend."

Remey grinned. He'd done the first of three radio guest spots this week, talking about the show and the youth center Aleks was trying to raise the money for, dodging the more personal questions the hosts had slipped in. It hadn't been anything unusual. Remey could do morning radio spots in his sleep, and sometimes did when he was touring, but he'd had fun, and when he'd checked his messages after the show to find a text from Aleks saying the interview had been perfect, it'd been the icing on the cake.

"I'm excited as well. I've been practicing every Christmas song I know for the last two weeks."

"If you have anything new you want to play, or maybe a couple of songs off your last album, I'm sure folks would love it." Aleks scooped potatoes into the big bowl beside him. "You've got lots of fans around here, it seems."

Remey gave Aleks a teasing look. "Not you, I suppose?"

Jess burst out laughing, and Aleks reached over to poke her side. "Shush, woman."

Remey's glanced between them. "What? What's so funny?"

Aleks rolled his eyes. "Nothing."

"Oh, nothing, my butt!" Jess darted around the island so Aleks couldn't get at her. "Aleks was in here bopping to one of your songs this morning is all."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Jessica." Aleks shook his head and continued chopping. "I was not bopping. I was humming."

Remey laughed, a thrill rippling through him as he leaned forward. "You were? Which song?"

"Um... I think it's called "If Ever"?"

Aleks seemed to be trying to act like he had heard it maybe once, which still would have been kind of sweet, but then Willow gave him away when she bounced on Stevan's knee, belting out some very off-key but recognizable lyrics. Remey grinned.

"So... you've been listening to my stuff." He beamed at Willow, too. "And you,
bebette!
You know some of the words already?"

Willow beamed and nodded. "Uh-huh! Daddy put the... the DC in the car and plays it all the time an' he's teachin' me the words so's we can sing."

Aleks let out a choked sound, and Remey couldn't help it, he laughed out loud. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed." Both Stevan and Jess were laughing, and Remey took the opportunity to stroke his fingertips along the back of Aleks's hand.

Aleks rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Hush. I couldn't help it. Carl mentioned he'd ordered a bunch of them since people in town have been asking for them all week, and I couldn't resist."

Remey grinned and went back to chopping celery. "I'm glad you like it." It was a little embarrassing how happy it made him to know Aleks liked his music, and he restrained the urge to ask what Aleks thought of each and every song.

Aleks lifted a shoulder, his expression teasing as he met Remey's eyes. "What can I say? It's better than Dora. Even Willow thinks so."

Remey laughed and shook his head. "I'm going to take that as a compliment, thank you very much." He glanced over at Jess. "I could maybe play a new song. I finished something up earlier this week." He'd had the music playing in his head for a while, but he'd managed to find the right words for it a few days ago. They'd hit him like a Mack truck in the shower one morning, and he'd scrambled to write them down and had finished the song two days later.

He'd barely gotten the words out when Jess clapped a hand over her mouth, eyes going wide. "Oh, you're kidding? A brand new song? As in, never heard before?"

Remey smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I finished writing it the other day. I was going to save it for when we started work on the next album, but, hey, never too early to start some buzz, right?"

Remey frowned as Aleks turned away, turning up the heat under a pot of water on the stove. He'd noticed before how Aleks was sometimes sensitive about mentions of Remey's career. It upset him a little bit because his career was part of him; music was part of him. But he thought he understood Aleks's reservations, considering the situation with his ex-wife.

"What other balloons did you see during the parade, Willow?"

She brightened and started chattering about all the different balloons and how when she was bigger, she wanted to be in the parade and hold one of the strings on the Dora balloon, or maybe ride on one of the floats and wave to everyone watching.

Remey snuck a glance at Aleks as she talked, noting that he seemed to have relaxed a little bit. Good. The last thing Remey wanted to do was get the idea planted in Aleks's head that a relationship between them could never work solely because of Remey's career.

"Tweeees!" Willow bounced as Aleks buttoned her coat and wound the fluffy purple scarf around her neck.

He chuckled and set her on the bench in the entryway to slip her snow boots on over her shoes. "Yes, trees. Sit still." He finished tugging one boot onto her wiggling foot as his cell phone began to ring. "Hold that thought, kiddo." He yanked his phone out of his pocket. "Hello?"

"Hey!" Remey sounded chipper, as always.

Aleks tried to ignore the way his stomach pitched pleasantly at the sound of his voice.

"Hey, what're you doing?" He tucked the phone against his shoulder and began trying to get Willow's other boot on.

"Not much. I wanted to ask something... well, two things. First, I wanted to know who I needed to get in contact with for the music? I have all the backing tracks ready, in set order. All I need is to talk to the person handling the sound during the show."

Aleks pushed to his feet once Willow's boots were on, then grabbed his own coat. "Mildred Cook. She handles all the sound and lighting for the theatre downtown where the show will be. I'll give her your number?"

"Perfect, thanks."

"No problem." Aleks zipped up his jacket. "What was the other thing?"

"Oh, that." Remey laughed. "Me wanting to talk to you is a thing, right?"

Aleks laughed, too, a rush of warmth spreading through him. "I suppose it is."

"What are you and my favorite kid up to today?"

"Going to pick out our Christmas tree."

"Oh, at one of those farms where they have rows and rows of trees and you pick one out and--"

"Hardly," Aleks interrupted him with a laugh. "We're heading out to the forest to pick our tree, and I'm going to cut it down myself."

"Ohh, very manly of you."

Aleks could hear the interest in his voice.

"I guess I should find one of those tree farms for myself. My mama will be scandalized if she gets here at Christmas and I have one of those god-awful plastic ones."

Aleks wrinkled his nose. "A plastic tree? Remey, that's sacrilege."

"I know." Remey laughed. "But, come on, do you see me tromping out into the forest with an ax to chop down my own tree?"

No, Aleks couldn't. He glanced at Willow, who was humming to herself--one of Remey's songs--and smiled. "True. Are you busy right now?"

There was a silent pause. "Now? Why?"

"Because if you're not busy, why don't you come with us to get our tree? We can get you one while we're at it."

Willow's head lifted, eyes bright. "Is Remey, Daddy? Remey can come?"

Remey laughed. "I'd love to come, yeah, if you're sure?"

"Absolutely sure." Aleks ruffled Willow's curls and nodded in answer to her question. "How long do you need to get ready? We're already bundled and can be there in ten."

"Ten minutes is fine. I only need to grab my coat and stuff."

Aleks grinned. "Cool. See you in a few." He hung up and held out his hand to Willow. "Come on, Willow. Let's go tree hunting!"

Ten minutes later, they were pulling up in front of Remey's house and as soon as they stopped, Remey darted out onto the porch with a wave before he turned to lock the door behind him.

"Remey! Hi, hi," Willow chirped, waving from the backseat.

"He can't hear you yet. Give him a second." Aleks laughed, stretching across to open the passenger door as Remey hurried down the walk and climbed in.

"Hi! Hi,
bebette!
" Remey turned to smile at Willow.

"Remey, we gon' get our Christmas tree, an' Daddy said, Daddy said I gets to help decorate this year 'cause I's big enough! An' after we get the tree, we gets to have hot choc'late with lotsa 'mallows." Willow beamed at him. "Can I has your 'mallows?"

"Willow Grace," Aleks scolded, barely suppressing a snicker. "What did I say about talking people out of their treats?"

Willow stuck her lower lip out and sighed. "Not to do it. But, Daddy, he might not want his 'mallows! Right, Remey, you might not wants them?"

Remey pressed his lips together, as if fighting to keep a laugh in, and shook his head. "Sorry,
bebette,
I like marshmallows."

Willow looked dejected for all of half a second before she cheered right back up. "Maybe Daddy'll give us extras 'cause we both likes 'em so much."

Aleks chuckled. "I tell you, one of these days she's going to be a famous lawyer, the way she can argue and negotiate and get people to see her way of thinking." He glanced over at Remey and smiled. "What have you been up to the last couple of days?"

"Working off your Thanksgiving meal." Remey patted his stomach.

Aleks rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you're so in danger of getting fat. Meanwhile, I've been out running in the snow the last two mornings, thanks to your pies."

Remey gave him a look, as if he wanted to say something flirty or suggestive, but couldn't because of Willow. It was cute, watching him bite his tongue, and Aleks wondered what kind of things might be going on in his head. Maybe later he'd get to find out.

After the marshmallows.

* * * *

"Daddy! Dat one, dat one right there!" Willow cried from his arms, her mouth inches away from his ear, and Remey winced.

Aleks had told him he didn't have to carry her, but he liked it, especially the way she snuggled against his chest and clutched her little hand on his scarf. Now, though, Willow was squirming to be let down, and Remey obliged. She ran to a tree and started jumping up and down, patting its trunk.

Remey watched as Aleks tilted his head, considering the tree. "You know, Willow, I think you might be right. Stay right there." Aleks dug in the backpack he'd slung over his shoulder when they'd parked at the edge of the forest fifteen minutes before, pulling out a tape measure and then handing Remey the ax he carried. "Hold this, but for goodness' sake, be careful."

Remey smiled and took the handle of the ax, while Aleks went to measure the tree. It was a perfect Christmas tree, he thought, shaped just right, with lots of branches for ornaments, and it looked healthy. It wasn't going all brown or anything. Aleks measured how tall the tree was and how wide, and finally stepped back, dropping the measuring tape into the backpack and gesturing to Willow.

"Out of the way, Willow. Go stand with Remey." Aleks flashed Remey a smile as he took the ax back before taking his coat off and handing it to Remey.

"Ooh, you're going to be all lumberjack hot?" Remey murmured, and Aleks laughed, shooting him a heated look.

"You bet. Grab hold of her hand, would you?"

Remey couldn't even pretend not to be completely enthralled by the sight of Aleks chopping down the tree. It wasn't the kind of thing men he knew did, which made it not only sexy, but unfamiliar and even more attractive for it. The way Aleks's hair swung, the red catching the sunlight, the sweat that broke out on his temple, even the way he sort of half-grunted a couple of times were all very sexy.

When the tree toppled, safely away from all of them, Remey and Willow cheered.

Remey came forward, peering at the tree, then at Aleks. "Now what?"

"Now I tie this rope on the trunk"--he held up the rope he'd brought--"and we drag it back to the car. Well, I'll drag. You make sure little miss doesn't run off. Then we'll find you one."