Christmas With the Alexanders (7 page)

When Julia tried to get up to help, Ridley sent her a stern look. “It’s our turn to take care of you for a change.”

Kay checked on Hope again and found the baby sitting up and having an animated babble conversation with herself. When she saw Kaylee, she got to her feet.
 

“Mama. Hi, my Mama.” Hope danced on her toes happily and stretched her arms up toward Kaylee.

“Merry Christmas, baby girl.” Kay snuggled her daughter closer. Hope wouldn’t get her gifts until later since they were at the apartment, but she’d be getting something even better today. Breakfast with the Alexanders and then dinner with her grandparents. When she’d looked out the window earlier the roads hadn’t been cleared yet, but she was sure they would be before long. Eli could drive her to her parents’ house later so they’d still get to see them.
 

Hope would be surrounded by people who cherished her all day long. Kay couldn’t think of a better way to spend the holiday.

She carried Hope to the bed and went through their usual morning ritual. After the baby was clean and dressed in the extra outfit Kay always kept in the diaper bag, they walked back to the kitchen.

“There’s my other angel.” Julia approached and this time Kay wasn’t at all surprised when she suddenly found herself with empty arms. Hope didn’t make a sound, just stuffed her fist in her mouth and allowed Julia to walk off with her.

Eli came in next and Kay stiffened. The other girls watched them closely. Kay felt like all the things they’d talked about that morning must be echoing around the kitchen and he’d somehow hear them.
 

“Morning. Did you sleep all right?” he grumbled.

She nodded. “Great. Hope did, too. Now she’s getting spoiled some more.”
 

He looked over to where his mom was lifting Hope in the air and blowing gentle kisses against her belly. “You’ve made my mom really happy, you know that?”

“She’s made us really happy, too.”
 

They ate breakfast together and then the family all gathered around the tree again. Kay watched the children shrieking as they tore wrapping paper off their gifts and tried to play with everything simultaneously. Raina plopped Jada down on the floor next to Hope. The two babies regarded each other with curious eyes before breaking into their excited baby chatter.

Still a little hesitant to get in the middle of their family time, Kay leaned against the doorframe leading to the family room and watched the chaos. It was like something from a movie, the extremely photogenic family all gathered around the huge eight-foot tree that twinkled with a multitude of lights.
 

Eli stood next to her and watched the scene with amused eyes. Then he leaned closer to her so she could hear him over the din. “I’m going to drive you to your parents later today. I’m sure they won’t appreciate us keeping you all to ourselves on Christmas.”
 

“They’ll be grateful to you. Just like I am. I’m so glad you were there yesterday.”

Kay wanted to say so much more. Not just to thank him for helping her, but for being the kind of person she knew she could count on. There were fewer and fewer of those people in her life lately.
 

Eli shrugged off her thanks. “I’m glad I could help. Actually, I’ve decided to move back home after the New Year, so I’ll be around if you get the sudden urge to fall into another ditch or something.”

Kay was startled into letting out a little giggle. “You made a joke!”

His lips pulled up just slightly at the edges. “It happens. Occasionally.”

She could hardly believe it. It had to be the holiday spirit because she’d never seen Eli like this. Her eyes drifted up and she saw the sprig of mistletoe hanging over the doorjamb. He followed her gaze and his smile disappeared. Then his eyes dropped to her mouth.
 

Everything inside her softened. She wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking or if the mistletoe was actually having some effect, but in that moment, she closed her eyes and made a wish.
Kiss me.
She wanted it more than her next breath.

A second later, there was the soft brush of skin on skin as his lips whispered against hers.

Her eyes popped open and she sucked in a desperate breath before his mouth settled on hers again. His lips were warm and soft and perfect. Instinct, or perhaps it was just pure shock, was the only thing that allowed her to kiss him back. Her hand trailed up the incredibly tight muscles in his chest and settled against his cheek. When he pulled her closer, she melted against him, boneless. If he hadn’t held her so tightly, she probably would have melted into a puddle at his feet.

It was way too soon when he pulled back and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
 

“Merry Christmas, Kay.”

Then he turned and left her clinging to the doorjamb for support.
 

*
 
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*

ELI HAD ALMOST made it out of the house when he heard someone calling his name. Jackson stomped down the back steps, pulling his coat on over his sweater.

“Hey, hold up.” Jackson nodded at the barn where Eli was headed. “Are you going to get more wood?”

“Yeah. I noticed we were getting low.” His shoulders sagged. As long as it wasn’t Kay, he could deal with it. It had taken all he had to leave her with just a kiss. But he would never want to embarrass her.
 

“I’m glad I caught you alone. I wanted to talk to you.”

They fell into step walking toward the barn, the newly fallen snow crunching under their boots.
 

“About?” Eli prompted.

Jackson shrugged, but he looked so uncomfortable that Eli suddenly knew the answer. He wasn’t naive enough to think that no one in his family had noticed him kissing Kay under the mistletoe. In a family of busybodies, it was impossible to do anything without attracting attention.

“It’s about Kay, isn’t it?”

Jackson turned to him then. “This is going to sound weird, but I wanted to ask what your intentions are.”

Eli let out a guffaw. “My intentions? Who are you, her daddy?”

Jackson chuckled along with him. “I know it sounds strange, but she doesn’t have a lot of friends. Ridley and I have both grown really fond of her over the last year. She’s a nice girl. I just don’t want to see her get hurt. Even unintentionally. Or get pushed into anything she can’t handle.” Jackson narrowed his eyes.
 

Ahhh.
That’s what this was really about. His brother was referring to Eli’s varied and experimental sexual background.
 

 
Eli wished he could tell his little brother not to worry, that he had absolutely zero interest in Kay and wouldn’t hurt her. But he’d done enough lying to his family. There were so many things they didn’t know about him. So many horrible things he’d done in his past. He couldn’t face it if they ever learned the truth about him.
 

Or if Kay did either.
 

She looked at him like he was her knight in shining armor. For one magical moment, he’d been selfish and taken what she offered. It had truly been selfish, too because he knew if she ever found out the truth about him she wouldn’t want him anywhere near her.

“Kay is a sweet girl and I like her a lot, but she’s too young for me. I’m just sticking close to keep her safe.” Eli almost choked over the words. But it was Christmas. It was time he thought about what was best for her. Best for them all.

“If anyone’s a danger to her, it’s you,” Eli continued. “You guys spend a lot of time alone together. She looks up to you and that could easily turn into something else. She’s been taken advantage of before. She needs to know someone will help her for the right reasons.”

Jackson watched him for a long moment. “Oh hell, it’s already too late.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You already care about her,” Jackson stated accusingly.

Eli stopped walking. “I told you, I’m just looking out for her. It’s nothing.”

“You wouldn’t say that if you could see your face when you talk about her.” Jackson clapped Eli on the shoulder so hard it almost knocked the wind from him. “I take back everything I just said. Instead I’ll say good luck.”

Eli held open the door to the barn where his parents kept their stash of firewood. “I don’t need luck. But I do need your help with something.”

*
 
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*

KAY LOOKED UP anxiously when the back door opened. After Eli had left, she’d agonized over every little thing she’d done. Had she been too forward? Maybe she shouldn’t have been so obvious, staring at the mistletoe. They’d just gotten on good footing, and maybe he’d felt obligated to kiss her.
 

He probably hadn’t wanted to hurt her feelings.

She watched as Jackson stepped across the threshold. Then he closed the door behind him and headed straight for her. Her heart sank. Eli hadn’t come back and Jackson had the carefully detached look she’d come to recognize as his
bad news
face.

“Hey there. Eli wanted me to tell you that something came up and he had to go. But I’ll drive you to your parents’ house later.”

Kay nodded. “Of course. Thank you. I really appreciate it.” She walked back to the hallway leading to the bedrooms, resisting the tears that burned behind her eyelids. She would never know how she managed it, but she kept it together until she got in the bedroom. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she let go and tears spilled over her cheeks.
 

It wasn’t just that she was hurt and embarrassed. It was the fact that she’d really believed for that one shining moment that Eli felt the same way she did.
 

After a few more minutes feeling sorry for herself, Kay blew out a breath and wiped her eyes. As tempting as it was, she couldn’t hide back here forever. Julia would wonder where she was, and it would put a damper on the atmosphere if they were all worried about her. They’d done more than enough of that for one holiday.

She opened the door to the hallway slowly. It was empty. Thank God. She didn’t want anyone to see her with her eyes all red and puffy. She went to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, then returned to the family room.

The kids were still playing with their new toys, but the adults were trying to clean up. Mark walked around the room holding out a big black trash bag so they could all throw in the stray bits of wrapping paper.
 

Kay leaned down and scooped up some stray pieces near her foot. When she turned around, Julia stood next to her, holding Hope. She passed the baby to Kay.
 

“You look like you could do with a few baby hugs to cheer you up.”

Kay figured everyone had probably figured out what had happened by now. They’d all seen Eli kiss her and then disappear a few minutes later. It had to be obvious that she’d chased him off from his own family celebration.

“You know, Eli found a stray dog when he was a boy,” Julia commented. “He loved that thing. None of the other boys paid it any attention, but Eli spent hours finding him a bed and feeding him from his hand. He was devastated when we found out the dog had heartworms.”

“Oh no. How terrible.” Kay had never had a pet, but she’d always loved dogs. She couldn’t imagine taking care of a pet only to learn that it wouldn’t make it.

“Well, it’s not incurable, but we couldn’t have afforded those kinds of medical bills for a dog. Eli found a wealthy older couple in the church willing to take him on and pay for his treatment. I always wondered how he convinced Margie Herman to do it. She’s hardly the charitable type.” Julia made a face.
 

Kay smiled. Apparently Julia didn’t like
everyone
in town.

“My point is, when people look at Eli, they see this big, strong tough guy. A warrior. They don’t see that big heart. He’s always been willing to sacrifice for those he cares about. He wants what’s best for whoever is under his protection.” She squeezed Kay closer and whispered, “Even if he thinks the best is someone or somewhere else.”

Mark called out for Julia, so she gave Kay one last soft smile and crossed the room to where her husband stood with the rest of the family.
 

Hope pointed at the tree, and Kay moved a little closer so she could stare, enraptured, at the twinkling lights. As she watched her daughter’s awestruck expression, a little bit of the warmth she’d felt earlier returned, seeping through her.
 

Maybe his mother was right and he’d left because he thought he was protecting her. From what she didn’t know, but didn’t she owe it to herself to find out once and for all?
 

Hurt feelings aside, Eli had proven he wasn’t unaffected. She hadn’t imagined that kiss nor had she been the instigator. He’d kissed
her
. And she definitely hadn’t imagined how he’d pulled her closer. Kaylee grinned as she started making a whole new list of New Year’s resolutions.
 

Ridley had tried to help her get Eli alone once before but Kay hadn’t taken advantage of that situation. She hadn’t been
ready
to.
 

But now she was.

As she watched the lights twinkling on the tree, she allowed herself to feel the first stirrings of that magical, elusive emotion that her daughter was named for.

Hope.
 

THE END

Thank you for making this series such a success! Eli & Kay's story will release in January 2014. I plan to give a special discount to the fans who have supported the series from the beginning. You can sign up for the notification right from your e-reader.
 

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If you missed the previous books, stay tuned for a special excerpt of Jackson & Ridley's book,
One More Day
. Jackson lost everything when his wife died, including his ability to love. Until his neighbor, scared and on the run, reawakens feelings he thought he'd buried years ago.