Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 24900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 125(@200wpm)___ 100(@250wpm)___ 83(@300wpm)
It’s definitely not how I pictured our life together, but honestly? I’m obsessed. I get to smooch Nathan anytime I want, eat club fries at midnight, and then escape to a ridiculous country estate that looks like the set for a Hallmark movie. I keep thinking it’ll feel weird, but it just… doesn’t. It feels right. Like this is what we were supposed to be doing all along.
Nathan tells me to go wild with the holiday decorations, so, obviously, I do. There are twinkle lights up the staircase, fake snow on every window at the penthouse, and enough cinnamon-scented candles to fumigate a small village. When we get to his country place, I fill the entire front porch with pine garlands and giant red bows. Nathan just watches, grinning like a maniac, and hangs up whatever ornament I hand him.
On Christmas Eve, we’re tangled together on the couch, eating pizza and staring at the world’s most aggressively festive Christmas tree. I mean, there are enough twinkle lights on it to induce a seizure. Every branch is covered in the most ridiculous ornaments I could find. There’s a pizza slice, a disco ball, and a tiny plastic flamingo wearing a Santa hat that Nathan found at a gas station last week and insisted was “essential for holiday magic.”
I’m snuggled up against Nathan’s side, his arm heavy around my shoulders, and my feet are in his lap because he’s starting to love my fuzzy sock collection.
Nathan slides a hand down to my ankle, fingers idly tracing little circles just above the sock line. It should not be sexy. It is. My entire system short-circuits every time he grazes my skin, and he freaking knows it.
“You know,” he says, voice low and all sorts of sinful, “I used to look forward to the holidays because it meant I could hang out with you.” My heart freaking melts.
“Me too.” I bury my cheek against Nathan’s chest, feeling his heartbeat thud under my palm. His T-shirt smells like laundry detergent, expensive cologne, and a little bit like pizza. Basically, heaven on earth. “Honestly, I never really cared about the holidays at all until we started spending them together. You make everything fun. Even untangling lights.”
“Bullshit. You’re a holiday psycho.” Nathan’s hand slides under the hem of my pajama shorts, fingers tracing lazy circles on my thigh. Every nerve ending in my leg wakes up and does a little happy dance.
I snort into his shoulder. “Excuse you. I’m festive. It’s not my fault you’re a total grinch.”
His mouth does this dangerous, slow curve. “If I’m a grinch, why am I letting you put up a twelve-foot-tall inflatable Santa on my roof?”
“Because I bribed you with sex?” I can’t believe I just said that. My cheeks are on fire. Like, actual-sunburn-in-December level red.
Nathan just grins at me. “Not gonna lie, it was a very compelling argument.” He bites my earlobe, just for emphasis, and I nearly drop my plate of pizza onto the floor. “Santa’s lucky I didn’t put up an entire army of inflatable reindeer.”
“Oh, don’t tempt me.” I wiggle my butt against his thigh and try to act casual, but his hand is already sliding higher under my shorts, fingers tracing dangerously close to the “bribe” zone. “I have an Amazon cart full of light-up snowmen. I can do some serious damage.”
Nathan growls, all possessive caveman, and yanks me closer like I weigh nothing. The plate actually does hit the carpet, but neither of us cares. “You want to bribe me with sex, Veronica? That’s fine by me.” Nathan’s hands are already on my hips, fingers digging in like he’s got something to prove.
I barely get a chance to breathe before he flips me over so I’m straddling his lap. My thighs land on either side of his hips, and holy hell, he makes that look so easy. I don’t even try to protest as his mouth moves over mine, all tongue and hungry little bites. My brain shuts down.
He palms my thigh, squeezing. I gasp as he slides my pajama shorts up, exposing the ridiculous red thong with pink lace trim Dee insisted I buy for “holiday emergencies.”
Nathan’s grin is pure wicked. “You wearing these for me, baby?”
I want to gobble him up whole. “Maybe.” I squirm in his lap, hoping he notices how wet I am already.
Nathan pushes the shorts higher until the thin red thong is on full display, and his dark eyes go nuclear.
“You’re killing me with these, Roni.” His voice is so deep it sends shivers down my spine. He slides his finger along the lace, snapping it against my skin, and I nearly launch off his lap. Holy. Crap. My body is on fire, and we’re not even halfway undressed.
He tugs my shorts over my hips so slowly I almost whimper. He’s completely focused, like undressing me is the most important thing he’s ever done in his life. His fingers trace along my outer thigh, then up the inside, and I swear my nerves are about to riot.