As we climbed out of his truck, I adjusted my shirt once more before turning to help Poppy out of the truck.
“Excited to see Santa?”
She nodded her head eagerly, “I brought him a present!” Grabbing a hand-painted paper bag, she shook it in the air, grinning at me.
“Isn’t he supposed to be the one giving you presents?”
“Yeah, but I hope to butter him up.” Unable to stop myself, I snorted and looked at Colt, who was chuckling under his breath. The girls ran off to the front doors as Colt, Wren, and I made our way after them.
“They overheard me telling Wren I was buttering her up to get a present from her later,” Colt muttered to me, sheepishly shaking his head. “Here I was trying to be subtle and seductive with my wife, and now I’ve got my five-year-old out here trying to bribe Santa.”
“Did it work for you?” I asked, arching an eyebrow and a sly grin carved into my brother’s face. “Of course, it did.”
“Then no wonder Poppy’s so certain.” I grabbed the door and held it open for Wren, who was laughing to herself as she went inside. I followed her in, my eyes immediately scanning the lobby to look for June.
She was standing at the gingerbread houses, looking it over as I walked up behind her. Sliding my hands along her delicious, velvet-encased hips, I pressed myself into her back and ass, moving my lips to her ear.
“Well, hello, gorgeous.” My teeth caught her ear lobe with a playful nip before she spun around to face me, a smile lighting her eyes.
“Hi, handsome.”
“You look good enough to eat, can I?” I waggled my eyebrows suggestively, making her laugh as I caught the sound with my lips. Kissing her deeply, my hand slid from her hip to cup her ass, enjoying the feel of her against me. Half-expecting her to pull away from me, keeping me at arm’s length still, she surprised me as she wrapped her arms around my neck and deepened the kiss with wanton flicks of her tongue.
My cock hardened, and I groaned, wishing there was somewhere we could sneak away to. Well, it was a resort. I’d happily pay for a night to get this woman on top of me again.
“We’re doing this?” She pulled back, the question in her eyes as she waited like the other shoe was going to drop. Reluctantly pulling my hand off her ass, I grabbed hers and threaded our fingers together, squeezing it.
“We’re doing this. C’mon, I’m going to introduce you to my older brother and his wife.”
She took a deep breath, nodded her head, and then smiled. “Alright, let’s do it.”
Leading her over to where Colt and the girls were standing, taste testing the first display of cookies, I cleared my throat to get their attention.
“This is June, my superbly hot girlfriend.” I flashed her a grin before looking back at Colt.
“I know who June is, you moron.” Colt wiped his hand off on his jeans and held it out to June, “nice to see you again, June. I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“I am, for good, actually.” My head twisted to look at her. We hadn’t talked about it. I was focused so much on getting her to trust me that it’d never dawned on me there was a chance she was only here for the holidays. I would’ve made it work no matter what, but the excitement of knowing she was going to stay rushed right through me.
“My brother offered me the position of head chef for the resort, so I’m moving back in January. I have a few things I need to settle up after the holidays, mainly getting my stuff back here, but I’ll be home for good by Valentine’s day.” She turned to look at me. “If you’ll be around.”
“Oh, I’ll be there with flowers. I know a guy, after all.” I grinned and kissed her again before looking back at Colt. “You know where Ma is? I wanna introduce her.”
“I think Deacon was helping her get her gingerbread house in for the judging. Try the ballroom?”
Glancing back at June, I gave her hand another squeeze. “Ready to meet my ma?”
When she spoke, I could tell by the look in her eyes that she meant every word, and I had nothing else to worry about. She was all-in too.
“I’d love nothing more.”
epilogue - june
A year later
I finished washing my hands with a sigh, pulling the paper towel out of the dispenser, and dried them before tossing it in the garbage as I made my way to the door. It was peak season as families began arriving for the Christmas holidays, and as much as I hated to leave before the dinner rush, I could trust my sous-chef, Georgia, to handle things for one night.
Tonight was my one-year anniversary with Evan, and I still had to shower before meeting him for dinner since Eau de Chicken is not exactly sexy.