“You don’t think it’s just scribbles?” She’d officially completed two entire sets of scribbles that would each film into about a two-hour flick.
“It’s never only scribbles, Kenz.” He crossed to her and kissed her in the familiar way they now had after the night they’d spent together…before she’d fallen asleep. “And what you wrote is definitely not scribbles. You’re good at it.”
The heat of a blush crept up her neck at the compliment. She leaned into him, ready to change the subject. “How’d you know I was awake? Before.”
His hand slid to her naked bottom, scooting her into the bathroom, right against the counter. “You’d been staring at me for twenty minutes.”
She smiled against his mouth, planting a kiss at the edge. “You never even looked up.”
“Some things a guy just knows.” His hands began roaming across her body like she was a new instrument he was ready to play.
Her skin heated. He gripped her backside and set her on the counter.
Arms around his neck, she poured herself into the kiss. The fly of his jeans pressed against her already-wet core. She reached for the button between them, flicking it open and sliding her hand into his boxers.
His head fell back when she gripped him, but his hands stayed at her hips. Pressed there.
Then someone knocked on the bedroom door. More like, someone pounded on the bedroom door.
“Hey, asshole,” a male voice said against the wood. “Rise and shine, it’s Christmas.”
“I’m going to kill my brother,” Tucker said, the heat of the mood dissipated.
She released him. “Why is he here?”
“Who the hell knows? He’s family. They come and go whenever they want. I think I need new locks on the doors.” He put himself back together, buttoning his pants.
The counter was suddenly chilly against her bottom. He helped her down, setting her gently so her feet planted on the cushy bath rug, but his hands lingered on her waist.
She ran a palm over his abs, around his back, holding him against her. “I’m going to shower.”
“I’ll grab your bags.” He said the words, but he made no move to leave. Instead, he laid light kisses along her shoulder, over the curve of her neck.
“Then we’ll head to your parents’. Don’t let me forget the French toast.”
“And a jar of mayo.” He leaned away and did the lopsided grin thing, making the dimple under his eye pop.
A quick press of his lips against hers, and he left. Closing the bathroom door behind him. Leaving her totally exposed. And not because she wasn’t wearing any clothes.
12
Chapter Twelve
Kenzie fit right in.
After the ride to the ranch with his parents, he hadn’t questioned how Kenzie slipped so easily into his family dynamic, but seeing the reality with everyone together was something amazing.
Something that made his heart feel complete.
His five-year-old nephew had taken up residence on Kenzie’s lap while she read him some story about a mouse at Christmas.
His parents had a normal-sized tree filled with all the Christmas ornaments he and his siblings had made over the years in school. At the top, his mother had used a cowboy hat instead of a star. The house was warm—and not just in temperature. It was the kind of house you could take a nap in. Lay down on the sofa and fall asleep. When you woke up? Someone would’ve tucked a blanket over you. One his mother had knitted herself.
Kenzie ate it up.
His family ate her up.
Cord and Brody obviously acted like idiots, but he could tell they were happy. Tucker had finally foundhishappy. Sierra, Jenny, and Cassidy? They were on cloud nine with Kenzie in the kitchen helping dish up food, Kenzie in the living room telling jokes, Kenzie on the sofa cuddling Jenny’s kids.
