Bloody hell, he mused.Sothisis what happens when you lose your testicles to Cupid.
“Looks like it’s you and me,” Adam said. He raised his bottle in a toast. “Here’s to the outsiders.”
“I think we could change that with a little mistletoe.”
Adam spit out his drink and wiped his chin.
Simon waggled his eyebrows and stood up. “Not me, you knobhead.Her,” he said, jerking his thumb toward Sadie.
Adam turned as red as Santa’s arse after sliding down a chimney. He shrugged it off as he always did and took another swig of beer. It hadn’t escaped Simon’s attention that Adam had an infatuation for Sadie. He was clever at hiding it, and no one else had seemed to pick up on it, but Simon began to wonder how much longer the charade could go on.
Since Chitahs could pick up emotional scents, Adam often distanced himself from her during social functions, especially when Levi was around.
“Should be an interesting dinner,” Simon murmured as he sauntered off and took a seat across from Sadie. “How’s it going, love?”
Sadie plucked another string on her guitar and adjusted the tuner. “It would be better if I had some new strings.”
Simon hadn’t bought gifts for anyone. His humor and good company were gifts enough. “How’s the hippie lifestyle treating you?”
“You know, I’ll be glad when I can get my own living space.” She slid her pick between the strings on the bridge and leaned the guitar against the wall. “I’m more creative late at night, and I can’t exactly practice whenever I want. It wakes Leo, and he’s a guy who sticks to a schedule. At first we worked something out, but I feel like I’m suffocating my muse if I have set working hours. That’s not how a creative mind works, and I really need to focus on new material. There’s a band down in Tennessee who has an online album sold exclusively to Breed. I’d like to do something like that.”
Simon heard Sadie’s boot heels tapping against the floor. “Is the pay really worth it to keep singing in pubs? You’ve been wearing those same tattered boots for years.”
“Hey, these are my lucky heels.”
Simon snorted. “Planning on getting lucky tonight?”
A soft pink tinted her cheeks and she leaned back, giving him a smarmy grin. “You’re not my type.”
“I didn’t mean me, and I think we both know what I’m talking about.” Simon stood up and leaned toward her, smiling wolfishly. “Don’t stay up too late waiting for Santa. He might not be the only bloke with a big package. See you on the morrow,” he said with a wink.
Chapter 9
Justus and Page
After adorningthe tree with ornaments and shiny garland, Justus finally headed up to his house. No amount of calisthenics could have prepared him for holiday shopping and assembling a Christmas tree. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw twinkling lights and tacky sweaters.
Justus removed his shoes in the dark hallway, and his bare feet whispered against the kitchen floor as he strode into the living room and found Page asleep on the couch. He quietly approached, the streetlights reflecting off the snow and bathing the room in yellow light. Her favorite afghan was draped across her feet.
He loved it when her hair was messy and unkempt. She looked like a fairy who had wandered into his life and put a claim on his heart. One who blushed all over when he crooked his finger at her and whispered words of love in French. It was a language he didn’t speak often, and he’d lost his heavy accent over the years. After Rose was born, he realized that teaching her French created a special bond between them and linked her to his past. He wanted to teach her everything.
Justus caressed Page’s heart-shaped face and watched her long lashes flutter. She looked more beautiful now than when they’d first met, and not a day went by that he didn’t thank the fates for bringing her into his life.
What had he done to deserve such a remarkable creature? She was not only the mother of his child but the keeper of his heart. An intellectual who worked tirelessly to counsel and heal people. She had postponed her appointments for two days in order to celebrate Christmas, and Adam had volunteered to leave in her stead if someone had a life-threatening emergency.
Justus took the reading glasses out of her hand and placed them on the table. A small book of sonnets was resting on the floor, the pages open. Justus cradled her in his arms and gently lifted her from the sofa.
As he moved down the hall, he peered into Rose’s room and made sure she was asleep. She sometimes woke up in the middle of the night and would switch on a flashlight beneath the covers to look at her science books. She couldn’t read anything that advanced, but she was an astute child and had recently asked Justus to teach her the alphabet and basic words.
She was so much like her mother.
He felt a pinch of nervousness again. Would she like his Christmas gift? Justus had taken great care to pick out something he thought would spark her imagination: a custom-made projector that displayed realistic moving images of stars, nebulas, solar systems, gasses—all of it. A friend of his designed gadgets for Breed that humans didn’t have, and nothing he’d seen on the human market matched the realism of this light display.
Satisfied that Rose was asleep, he continued walking to his bedroom.
When he reached it, he nudged the door shut with the heel of his foot and walked forward. Without windows or a light, he counted the steps until he reached the bed against the left wall. Once there, he gently placed Page on the mattress and then strode to the dresser on the opposite wall to light a candle. The mellow light cast a spell in the room with its silent presence.
Justus liked the familiar, and when they’d moved into the new building, he’d wanted a simple room just as his others had been. Windows in the bedroom were intrusive and removed all privacy, not to mention security, so he’d taken it out. Page could have complained, but she understood his needs and didn’t find it to be a huge sacrifice. They didn’t quarrel over living space or material things; they compromised.
