“I like the way you think.”
“Don’t get any ideas,” Damon warned, but he couldn’t hide a grin.
“Ha. I bet if I tried, I could wrap you around my little finger.”
“Oh, I do like you, Marlie.” Leila sipped from her mug. “Never take my boy’s attitude.”
“What attitude? I’m a nice guy.” Damon glanced at Marlie and rolled his eyes.
She bit back a laugh.
“I saw that.”
“You did not.” Damon flushed. “Woman sees and hears everything, even from two rooms away,” he mock confided to Marlie. “It was hell growing up here. Especially because Grace is just like her.”
“Please. That girl is like the old man,” Leila said with a huff.
“I met her. She’s no slouch,” Marlie admitted. She studied his parents, seeing the humor and love abundant in their family. “I’m not sure yet. But I’m thinking she gets her attitude from both of you.”
Damon huffed. “Major Reynolds is a major pain.”
“I’m telling her you said that,” his dad said.
“Please don’t. She scares me.”
“Me too,” Big Mike admitted.
Leila and Marlie laughed. And Marlie settled next to Damon, content and more than comfortable when he held her hand. When his parents noticed the hand holding, they smiled even wider.
They spent the next few hours decorating the tree with ornaments Grace and Damon had made as children. Then they fitted out the living room to look like Santa’s workshop. Unlike Marlie’s mother’s lean toward modern décor, the Sinclairs preferred traditional decorations.
Marlie had a blast dancing with Damon to old Christmas tunes when not trimming the tree and helping Leila move things around. The older couple made her laugh with stories of Damon being naughty during his younger years, as well as the pranks his older sister consistently pulled on him and his friends.
But it was the love she felt from the pair that showed her why she liked Damon so much. Mike and Leila treated each other with respect and affection, not afraid to argue but also not afraid to kiss or hold hands.
Damon grumbled a lot, but he also treated his parents with love and admiration.
Marlie thought their dynamic resembled the one she had with her parents. After inviting them to her family’s Christmas party and departing with hugs, she told Damon so.
“Yeah. Your family is a lot like mine,” he said on the way back to her place. “It’s like, there’s a lot of love and a lot of bossy maternal figures that somehow get you to do or say things you don’t mean to. But you do what they want anyway because you love them.”
“That’s probably why I felt so comfortable at your house. Plus, I think I might have a crush on your dad.”
Big Mike had pulled her aside while Damon was occupied with his mother.
“Marlie, just remember. The boy might look like a monster, but he’s got a tender heart. Go easy on him when he steps on his own dick. Because he will. Don’t ask me how I know.”
She had laughed and agreed to be gentle, wondering just how sensitive Damon really was. Thus far with her, he’d been funny, sarcastic, and sexy as all get-out. Then she remembered him looking into her eyes, telling her how beautiful she was while he held her face gently.
“I don’t know if I like you having a thing for my dad.” Damon glared at her.
She grinned. “It’s only because he looks like you.”
He shrugged. “Well, I guess that’s okay. I don’t know. You might have to make it up to me while naked and bent over the couch.”
“Again?”
“But this time, scream my name like you really mean it.”
