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“I think you’re just spent.” Liam breathes heavily, holding his own chest. “Damn, that was amazing.”
I raise my head and stare down at my toes to see if they wiggle. “Shit. I think you paralyzed me.”
Chuckling, Liam shifts onto his side and brushes a soft kiss across my forehead. “Maybe you shouldn’t have teased me all throughout dinner.”
“Teasing? I was hungry.”
“Starving people don’t seductively suck gravy off their fingers.”
“My mom makes good gravy. I was savoring it.”
“The pie?”
“I moan every time I eat her pie. It’s delicious.”
His face crinkles with laughter. “I see. So, you dropping whipped cream on your shirt then swirling it around with your finger?”
I suppress my own laugh. “I was cleaning it up.”
“Yeah, yeah. I think you knew exactly what you were doing and got exactly what you intended.”
That I did. A gratifying sigh escapes me. Life can be so unpredictable in the merriest of ways. Mom told me how happy she was for me. Dad was even happier. He’d always considered Liam a second son, and to have him become a permanent fixture in our life, I think it would help fill some of the empty space since Billy died.
We ate Mom’s prized Christmas Eve roast and laughed and shared stories. Dad toasted to Christmas miracles, and Mom snuck little comments in about weddings and babies. My head was already spinning, and her questions made me even dizzier.
When Liam cut me off from the holiday wine, we said our goodbyes, and made it back to his place in record time, as he proceeded to show me how much I’m his in the most creative ways.
My cheeks burn at the giddiness forming in my chest.
“What are you smirking about?”
I roll onto my side to gaze at the most handsome person in all existence. “Just happy. Thankful. Not everyone has a mom who can cook a roast like—ahhh!” I squeal as Liam’s fingers dig into my hips. “Okay, I’m kidding!”
“Can we be serious for a second?” His sated eyes become somber, and my smile falls. “Are we good?”
I stare at him, trying to decipher his question. “Yeah, why?” Does he not think we are? Shit. Am I reading this all wrong?
He strokes his fingers down the side of my cheek. “Because I want tomorrow to be the first Christmas of the rest of our lives. I want us to start fresh. Be done with the past, and let our mistakes stay there too. I don’t want the guilt to hang over us, and to do that, we have to agree to let go. I know damn well I’ll never make that mistake again with you, and I want you to know that.”
I let out a huge breath. “I do too. I just want to be us. I mean, if you’re in, I’m in.” He leans in, his lips gently pressing against mine. A slight moan travels up my throat, and I part my lips, wanting more.
Liam grips my ass and tugs me forward, caging me against him. “Oh, I’m in, baby.” And he seals the deal with the most devastating kiss known to man. When we’ve both exhausted any steam left in us, we fall apart, and he tucks me into his side.
The time glowing from the clock on the nightstand catches my attention. “Hey, Liam?”
“Yeah, baby?” he says, his voice groggy with sleep.
“Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” he hums, then says, “And the answer is no, you’re not opening a present early.”
I scoff. “That’s not even why I said it. And why would I assume you got me anything? We didn’t become an official couple until like five hours ago.”
His lips rest at the back of my ear, and he takes a sleepy breath. “Because I saw you peeking at the wrapped boxes in my closet, and you are horribly impatient.”
“So not true.” So true.
“Holls, every year, you would sneak into your parents’ room, open up all the gifts, and tape them back together.”
“That was one year.”
He sighs and snuggles me closer. “Whatever you say, Holls. Go to sleep.”
I grumble under my breath and yawn. Maybe when he falls asleep, I’ll sneak into his closet—
“Goodnight, Holls.”
Ugh. Fine. “Goodnight.”
“Oh, and, Holly?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
And just like that, he gives me the best gift ever.
Christmas Day
Two years later…
“Pssst…baby, wake up.”
“Five more minutes,” I grumble, shoving my face farther into the pillow.
“I thought you were so eager to open your gifts?”
“I did last night. Now, I just wanna sleep.”
His deep chuckle tickles the edge of my earlobe. “Taking off my clothes isn’t unwrapping a gift.”
“Okay, fine, can one of my gifts be to sleep five more minutes?”
“Get up, Bergner.”
I roll over, taking in his sexy morning hair, happy eyes, and full lips. “That’s Mrs. Cody to you, sleep thief.”
He steals a kiss, his low growl waking up my libido. “Love the sound of that.”
