Chapter 30
Thanksgiving Day had never felt like this for Memphis before. Sure, he’d seen enough in TV shows and movies to see what the holiday wassupposedto look like, but their billionaire lifestyle had kept the family from preparing pies, basting turkeys, and cleaning up together after the fact.
Lucas had been the…well, if there was a belle of the ball, he was the ham of the holiday. If he hadn’t successfully stolen every heart in the Duran family during prior engagements, he’d definitely done so today. Even Maverick and Emmitt got pulled into the little guy’s charms while Lucas showed them the magic trick Trenton taught him with one of the golden acorns and a penny.
Memphis folded the dish towel he held in half and hung it on oven rack. His gaze wandered around the spacious kitchen and dining area—a space Andie had had updated upon moving in after their honeymoon. In one corner, the guys huddled around the toy race car track that Richard had thought to order for Lucas online. They were still assembling the thing, but boy, was Lucas excited as he watched them piece it together while learning the difference between a flathead screwdriver and a Phillips.
He couldn’t help but imagine what Christmastime might look like this year. Maybe that would look like more of the ones he’d seen on TV as well. The guys huddled around a locomotive track that circled around the tree. Richard and Ava, whose wedding was next week, would be married, a small event in a chapel close to Ty’s townhouse. Well, her soon-to-beoldtownhouse. They’d finish moving the rest of their things out first thing in the morning.
If Memphis could wait and propose to Ty around Christmas, the holiday season would be a great time for it. His pulse raced at the mere thought of taking vows with her. Speaking of Ty—she, Andie, Ava, and Betty sat huddled around a laptop looking for some new Christmas décor for the inn. They would, no doubt, have a list of things they wanted the guys to help with, like wrapping garlands around the banisters and hanging wreaths on every cabin door.
He couldn’t remember feeling this hopeful about his future. Yes, he’d gotten Ty and Lucas back, after thinking he’d lost them forever, no less. But Memphis had also gotten something off his chest. Upon taking Lucas to Holly and Margo’s and letting him tuck himself in, Memphis and Ty headed to the nearby park where he told her nearly everything there was to tell about his family and how they wound up in the relocation program.
He’d told her about Detective Lingley and the seriously impressive success rate of the relocation program. Lastly, and because it could affect her and Lucas, he told her about Ava’s past. How she escaped her deranged ex-boyfriend and ended up with the Duran family at the inn.
She asked questions, a lot of them, as a blend of shock, fear, and hesitation played over her face. But once she ran out of questions, Ty recited the most important facts, mainly the ones that centered on their safety at the inn.
“Is that your full disclosure?” she asked as Memphis waited for her reaction.
“Yes.”
She’d handled it all surprisingly well. It helped that the relocation program’s statistical success was close to flawless. At that point, she’d thanked him for telling her, apologized for all that he’d gone through, and then moved in for a kiss.
Memphis had come up with one last disclosure then: the fact that he was ridiculously drawn to the curve of her neck. He’d grazed her skin with his teeth to prove it and earned a whimper of pleasure.
Memphis hadn’t realized he was staring at her until Ty’s gaze met his. Heat flared low in his belly as she gave him that signature look of hers. A half smile poised at her lips, that dimple sinking into her cheek, and the slightest lift of her right brow.
Memphis beckoned her with a curled finger and lifted a brow of his own. He watched, anticipation stirring within him as she pushed her chair from the table and excused herself from the group. Memphis was already backing up toward the walkway that led to the front room; they’d havethatto themselves.
Ty seemed to catch on quick, her footsteps veering in that direction as well.
Once they were tucked into the room, the wall blocking any spectators, Memphis backed Ty against the wall, slipped his hands over her heavenly hips, and rasped out a sigh. He brought his lips to the side of her neck and kissed her there long and slow.
“I was just thinking about my favorite little nibbling spot,” he said, allowing his heated breath to tease her skin before playfully biting on her earlobe.
Ty’s breath came out jagged. Her hands moved up the back of his head where she gripped his hair. “Mmm,” he managed as chills erupted over his arms. She slid her lips up to his ear. “I was thinking about something too,” she said, her silky lips teasing his skin. “You’re going to be working really hard to carry boxes and help Lucas and me move in. You’ll definitely need a good massage after that.”
Memphis went still. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?
“You know Andie brought on another LMT,” she started, teasing him with a nip to his earlobe. “And I’m sure they’ll be exceptionally good…” Another nip. “But I figure I’ll letyoudecide which of us you’d prefer.”
Whoa.He pulled back to look at her.“You’re really going to give me a massage?”
She grinned. “You’re no longer banned from my table.”
“But not because you’re no longer attracted to me…” It was a dumb thing to say, but he wanted the confirmation.
“I’m irrevocably attracted to you, Memphis. I just…know where we stand now, that’s all. But it’ll have to be outside of my paid appointments, of course.”
Memphis rolled his shoulders back, looking forward to finally discovering what it would feel like to get a massage from Ty. “We’re going next level, huh?”
She shrugged one shoulder. “We’re moving past that particular barrier.”
Memphis leaned in to sample his favorite spot once more. “Then I’ll just have to offer a little something more in return,” he said with another teasing kiss to her throat.
Ty giggled softly and pressed her fingers into the back of his neck. At any moment, someone could come strolling through the walkway and disrupt their interaction. The mere idea had him pulling away from the wall, tugging her backward toward the front door, and opening the coat closet behind him.
Ty moved in as he beckoned. Memphis quickly pushed the hanging coats to either side while Ty pulled the closet door to a quiet close. There, tucked between puffy winter gear and cozy sweaters, Memphis brought his mouth to hers with a hot, rather demanding kiss that gave way to the passion welling inside of him.
Ty gripped the front of his shirt, and the feel of that pull, the sensation of her knuckles against the thin fabric of his tee shirt, had Memphis fisting a handful of the coat behind her. That addictive heat flared low in his belly as he slid a leg between hers and moved in impossibly closer.
Their motion slowed into long, drawn-out kisses that made the decent side of him glad they didn’t have the whole place to themselves right then. Still, there in the hidden space, Memphis savored the silky stroke of Ty’s tongue as it glided against his. He reveled in the slick heat of her mouth, consumed by the euphoria of each sensation. With growing, pleasant anticipation, he clung to the promise of what would come when the time was right.
It occurred to him, as they brought their time in the closet to a reluctant end, that he had a whole lot to be grateful for. This nice guy had scored the best girl after all. And Lucas too. Their future might not be etched in stone, but he felt certain they’d be spending it together, and nothing pleased him more.
But there was more. His family, who had lost their parents years back, and most recently, their names, pasts and, to a degree, their freedom to live as they were used to living, was here, enjoying life together. Andie had found her match, Richard had found his, and Memphis—he’d practically gotten a two-for-one deal with Ty and Lucas. Most had found their peace at the inn as well, even Emmitt. Maverick still had a long way to go, yet Memphis sensed it would come in time.
In his mind, it was inevitable; the siblings were celebrating holidays like they did on the Hallmark shows Andie always watched. What was better than that?
Yes, he had a lot to be grateful for. But Ty and Lucas, he admitted as Ty emerged from the closet with him while flattening the static pull at her hair, they were the greatest gift of all. And if everything went according to plan, Memphis would get to love and cherish them forever.
