Blue-Eyed Soul (24 page)

The next thing Aleks knew, Willow had flung herself at Remey, Remey was hugging her tight and their eyes met over her head. Aleks didn't know what to say, mouth opening and closing a couple times before Alli, who stood beside Remey, rolled her eyes.

"Here's where you invite us in, small-town."

Remey gave her a smack on the arm. "Allison!"

She glared at him. "It's freezing out here!"

She was right. Aleks took a step back, heart racing as he gestured them inside. Since Willow didn't seem keen on letting go of Remey anytime soon, it was either they came in or he lost a kid.

Aleks frowned as he shut the door. "When did you get back?"

"Right now. We drove in from the airport in Albany. Aleks, can we talk... alone?"

Aleks shook his head. "No."

Remey's face fell, turning his head to nuzzle Willow's curls. "Oh. Okay..."

Aleks smiled. "I mean, I don't think she's going to let go." Willow had the right idea. All Aleks wanted to do was hold onto him, too. He managed to stop himself because, God, he'd been such a jackass and Remey might have only come because Willow had asked, not because he wanted anything to do with Aleks anymore.

Remey smiled hesitantly, cuddling Willow closer to his chest. "I don't mind, but I do need to talk to you."

Before Aleks could say anything, Alli scooped Willow out of Remey's arms, settling her on her hip. "Look, I'm going to take this little princess into the kitchen for cookies and milk, and we're going to have a nice girl chat, just like grownup girls, huh, Willow?"

"Cookies!" Willow agreed, shooting Aleks a look. "Daddy, can has cookies wif Alli, right?"

Aleks smiled, nodding. "One cookie before bed. They're in the snowman tin on the counter, Alli."

Alli nodded and strolled off down the hall to the kitchen, leaving them alone. Aleks met Remey's gaze, and the other man sucked in a shaky breath. He looked more nervous than Aleks felt, which was saying something and made him feel a little better.

"Take your coat off and stay a while..."
Forever, maybe.
He could only hope. Remey had come for a reason, right? He couldn't keep his hands to himself, though, and reached out to slip one arm around Remey's waist, tugging him close. "Please tell me you didn't come only because Willow asked you to."

Remey shook his head, his hands fisting on Aleks's sweater. "No. I would've come, even if she hadn't." He met Aleks's eyes, his lips quirking into a small smile. "You might be able to ignore messages and texts and e-mails, but I didn't figure you could ignore me on your doorstep."

Aleks let out a rough breath, tugging him closer. "I was an idiot. And a jerk. And judgmental as hell. I'm sorry."

Remey slid his arms around Aleks's shoulders. "You were. I understand why, but still... you were kind of a jerk about it."

Aleks snorted. "Thanks for agreeing with me, I guess." Then he bent his head, their eyes locked. "Say you forgive me," he whispered.

"Will you kiss me if I do?" Remey asked, his voice breathless.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm going to kiss you either way."

Remey smiled up at him. "Then I definitely don't forgive you. Now you have to kiss me until I change my mind." His blue eyes were playful. "It might take a while."

Aleks laughed. "Such a shame." Then he slid one hand up to cup Remey's cheek and claimed his mouth, soft and slow. His hand came up to cup Remey's face as the kiss deepened and stretched out for what felt like an eternity. When they pulled apart, Aleks smiled down at him.

Remey smiled back. "Well, this was much easier than I thought. I figured I'd have my work cut out for me, or you'd slam the door in my face or something." He pressed closer. "I like this much better."

"Me, too. I am sorry. I shouldn't have blamed you for stuff with nothing to do with you. If it makes you feel any better, Jess gave me what-for and, to be honest, Willow's been barely tolerating me since I refused to produce you."

Remey smiled and shook his head. "It wasn't only you. She was pretty insistent and sounded a little disgusted with me for not being around when she called me on Tuesday." Aleks cringed and opened his mouth to apologize, but Remey shook his head. "I was so happy to hear from her, Aleks. It drove home how much I missed her, how much I missed you, too. I got even more impatient with the negotiations afterward."

"But you're done now, right? Or did they give you a break for the holiday?" Aleks asked.

"Oh, no, I'm done. Everything's been copied and signed sixty bajillion times and sent off to the lawyers. They wanted me to stay longer, to do this annual Christmas special airing tonight, but..." Remey shrugged. "I needed to be here. I promised Willow I would."

Aleks was quiet for a moment. "You mean the special where they air all those kids' Christmas movies and get someone famous to host?"

Remey nodded. "Yeah. But I'd have had to do it live, and I wouldn't have been able to get here in time, if at all. Alli had to pull all kinds of strings to get us on the flight as it was."

Aleks blinked, a little stunned. That special was huge. It aired all over the country every year, then ended up on On Demand and streaming video for endless replays. And Remey had given it up in order to keep his promise to Willow. "They asked you to do it and you said no?"

Remey nodded. "Yeah, but I'd already talked to Willow by then." He sounded so matter-of-fact. Like, "Oh, yeah, I turned down the biggest holiday TV hosting gig ever 'cause I made plans with a three-year-old."

It was right about then Aleks realized, with extreme clarity, what a fool he'd been. It'd never been about not putting him and Willow first. Not for Remey. Like Aleks had said before--a concert could be rescheduled, but he and Willow couldn't. And Remey got it. Clearly, he did.

He smiled and bent to brush a kiss across Remey's lips. "I'm going to be making up for this for a long time, I think. Mental note not to jump to conclusions so fucking fast next time. I end up leaping right off the fucking cliff."

Remey smiled. "I'll keep it in mind, Aleksander. That mental note is going in the vault for future reference."

Aleks let out a breath. "You saved me a trip, you know. A walk of shame."

Remey's brows shot up. "I did? How?"

He took Remey's hand, led him into the living room and gestured to a small pile of presents set off to one side under the tree. "I was going to have to deliver these to your house. And beg for forgiveness on your front porch."

Remey smiled, lacing his fingers with Aleks's. "That would've been extra embarrassing, especially since my family's here already. Luckily, they already know
all
about you. You didn't have to get me anything, though, Aleksander. I wasn't expecting you to."

Aleks smiled. "I know you didn't."

"I'm sure I'll love whatever it is."

Aleks hoped so. He'd started the painting well before things had blown up. And while Jess had teased he was spilling his pain onto the canvas, that hadn't been it at all. He'd been in his studio every spare minute painting everything he felt for Remey. As if he could take the want and the desire and the
love
and leave it there. It didn't work out, though, and yesterday he'd finished and only felt
more,
if it was even possible.

It was very different from anything he'd ever painted before and he had a feeling Remey was going to love it.

"I hope so. But it's not about presents."

"What is it about? What is it, actually?"

"It's this, us, right now. Shit, Remey, I'm head over fucking ass in love with you. I don't even know how long
that's
been going on, since I'm apparently oblivious as hell. But I do. I love you."

Remey gave him an indulgent smile. "I know."

Aleks's brows shot up. "You do?"

Remey shrugged with a smile. "I think I figured it out right around the night of the football game."

"You? Excuse me, Cajun, but I believe
I
figured it out while you sat there all deer-in-the-headlights." Alli came striding in, Willow on her hip, cookies in her other hand and both of Willow's.

Remey rolled his eyes and groaned. "Thank you, Allison, when I'm eighty and telling my grandkids about the moment Aleks first told me he loved me, it's going to make such a romantic addition when I add how you barged in trailing cookie crumbs all over the carpet." He laughed, though, and looked up at Aleks. "Maybe she's right. I hoped. I didn't quite
know."

Aleks grinned. This was how he wanted his life to be. Not always perfect, with Hallmark moments interrupted by quirky, sometimes annoying people they loved, crumbs on the carpet and just... life. Real life. Hollywood could stay outside their door, outside Haven's city limits. In here, Remey was Remey, the man Aleks loved, Alli's best friend, and if Aleks had anything to say about it... Willow's daddy, too.

So this year, they got each other for Christmas.

Maybe next year it'd be rings.

Fae Sutherland has always dreamed of being a published author, starting her writing career off at age 11 with a series of stories so bad only a 6th grader could have written them. She has since progressed to more serious writing, though always keeping that dash of irreverence and fun (and a hell of a lot more heat!).

Fae is perhaps best known for her many books co-written with Marguerite Labbe. Between them they are the award-winning, bestselling authors of multiple novels, novellas and short stories. Fae also writes with Chelsea James. Currently, Fae is focusing her writing on solo work.

When Fae's not working on new stories to make her readers sweat, she spends her time on website design, spending too much time on Twitter, and watching oodles of Food Network with her beloved life partner. If there's any time left over, it's spent snuggling the cat.

Find out more about Fae at http://faesutherland.com.

Find out more about Fae (and Marguerite Labbe, her occasional co-author) at their website: http://chasethedream.net

* * * *

Chelsea James always wanted to be a writer, but never got serious about it until the muses became too many and too noisy for her to ignore. Throwing sanity to the wind (who needs it anyway?), she dove headlong into her life's dream of sharing her words with the world.

When not catering to her muse's whims, Chelsea has a full-time job catering to the whims of spoiled lawyers. Not to mention the spoiled cat and her best friend, hetero life-mate and co-author, Fae Sutherland, on whom she blames everything (but still adores).

For more info on her books with Fae, check out Fae's website at http://faesutherland.com.