Chapter 16
Mav
“Merry Christmas, Mav,”Eli whispered against my mouth.
“It’s not Christmas yet,” I murmured as I drew him closer to me, though there was no room left between us.
“Yes it is,” he said. “It’s 12:01.”
I chuckled as I realized we’d been slow dancing for a couple of hours. After we’d said our goodbyes to Hawke and Tate who’d wanted to get Matty home to bed, as well as to Ronan, Seth and their new posse of little ones, Eli had dragged me on the dance floor insisting that we dance…another first for me and one I was glad for because any excuse to have his body pressed flush against mine was fine by me. Even when the DJ had played more upbeat music, we’d stayed in our quiet corner and swayed back and forth, oblivious to the couples around us who’d joined us on the dance floor.
I knew we’d need to get on the road within a couple of hours so that we could be home to spend Christmas morning with Caleb, Eli’s mother and Jace, but I figured reality could wait a bit longer. And reality was going better than I could have hoped for. When Eli had spoken to Caleb earlier in the evening, he’d put the phone on speaker and I’d heard for myself how relaxed and happy Caleb had actually sounded as he’d told us what he and Jace had done duringthe day and how they had plans to go to Mariana’s house for dinner.
But as pleased as I’d been to know that Caleb had had a good day, I knew another fall was coming when Jace had to leave. Even if the man lived in the area, it was a relationship that neither he nor I could in good faith encourage. Caleb was clearly more than just “attached” to the man and while I couldn’t necessarily fault the age gap between them since there was a similar age spread between me and Eli, I knew Caleb was so messed up in the head that he wasn’t in any position to think rationally about a physical or emotional relationship with an older man who wasn’t looking for commitment.
“Mav.”
I reluctantly released my grip on Eli so I could turn around to see who’d called my name and I saw Mace approaching me. Cole and Jonas stood just a few feet away, arms around one another and their luggage in hand. “You heading out?” I asked as I leaned in to hug Mace.
The man nodded. “We need to be in the Hamptons first thing.”
I knew Mace and his men were spending Christmas with Jonas’s best friend Casey, her husband and their three children. “Glad you guys were able to make it,” I said as I slapped him on the back.
“Us too,” Mace responded and then he was hugging Eli. “Eli, good to see you again and glad to hear you’ve agreed to make an honest man out of this one,” he said with a chuckle.
Eli laughed and then he was pressing against my side. “Have a safe trip home.”
“Will do,” Mace said and then he was patting me on the arm before turning away. I saw him take Jonas’s outstretched hand and then they left the house.
A glance around the dance floor showed that the party was winding down and there were only a handful of couples remaining. “We definitely need to have this at our wedding,” I murmured as I motioned to the dance floor before drawing Eli back into my arms.
“Definitely,” Eli agreed. “But let’s skip the dog chasing the cat down the aisle.”
I laughed. “Baby’s too damn lazy to chase anything.”
Eli gave me a light punch on the chest and then he was dragging me down for a lusty kiss. “I can’t wait to marry you,” he said against my mouth.
“Vegas is a short flight away,” I offered as I tried to catch my breath. “I can probably commandeer Ronan and Seth’s jet.”
Eli smiled and said. “Sure, and then you can explain to my motherandDom and Logan that we got married without them.”
I nodded. “Point taken.”
“It’s going to be perfect, Mav,” Eli said softly as he played with the engagement ring he’d finally put on my finger a few nights earlier.
I tipped his chin up and said, “It already is, Eli.”
And then I kissed him before I got us moving again.
Because realitycouldwait a couple more hours. And when we were finally forced to meet it head on, we’d do it…together.
Chapter 17
Ronan
While my intenthad been to wake my husband up early on Christmas morning with some soft, gentle kisses that would hopefully lead to more than just kissing, my plan was thwarted by a small body that surprisingly took up a lot of space. Not to mention the Spiderman doll that was nudged up under my armpit.
I hadn’t even heard Jamie sneak into bed with us during the night, but I definitely didn’t have a problem with it. Especially not with how cute he looked all snuggled up against Seth’s chest and Seth holding him protectively with one arm. I supposed it was a habit we shouldn’t be encouraging, but for now it wasn’t something I would have changed for anything. A glance at the clock showed it was pretty late considering it was Christmas morning, but it wasn’t really all that surprising considering it had been well after midnight by the time we’d gotten home. The kids had been tired, but they’d seemed to have had a good time at the wedding. At one point Seth had even managed to get little Nicole out on the dance floor when they’d been doing one of the dances that appeared to have a choreographed routine associated with it. Nicole hadn’t heard the music, of course, but I suspected she’d felt the vibrations. She’d been nervous at first, but as soon as Jamie, Matty and Leo had joinedSeth and started following along with the routine, Nicole had gotten in on the act and she’d been all smiles by the time the song had ended and she’d gone back to the safety of her sister’s company.
