I whisper into her ear, “I’m going to make you pay for that Marky slip.”
“I hope you do, big boy,” she whispers back, making me growl. Karen throws her head back and laughs, the little minx. Forty years and the sound of that laugh still makes my pants get tighter. I squirm in my seat as my wife leans over and mumbles, “Calm yourself there, Daddy Miller.”
“Not in your lifetime, woman. You know what you started. I’m going to make whatever dirty chapter you’re on in that hockey romance of yours look like child’s play.” I frame her face in my hands. “Be prepared.” And smack a kiss on her lips.
Rhys throws his hands in the air and groans. “Ugh, not you too.”
The table erupts in a fit of laughter at my precocious little grandson. One day, he’ll get it.
“Merry Christmas.” Karen lays her head on my shoulder as we watch everyone laugh, chat, and eat.
No better holiday than one spent with good people, especially when those people are your family. Related and chosen. Together, we are the Millers.
“Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”
twenty-four
Callie
Christmas Day
“Wakeup,sleepyhead.”
The bed dips, but my eyes refuse to open. They feel dry and scratchy from not having enough sleep. I swat at Eli as he runs a warm hand up my thigh, and I groan, “No. I don’t want to.”
Eli chuckles into my neck. His breath makes my nipples pebble. “Did I keep you up too late?”
I almost slip and say it’s our little nugget zapping all the energy out of me. “Nope,” I mumble. Shifting onto my side, I groan at the soreness in my muscles and the delicious ache between my legs.
“Why don’t I believe you?” he asks, and I can hear his cocky smirk without seeing it.
Okay, maybe it was all thesextracurricular activities we got up to last night. But he doesn’t need to know that. I cover my head with a pillow. “Go away.”
Eli laughs as he gives my hip a squeeze. “No way. It’s Christmas. Besides, I’ve got asurprise for you.”
I lose interest in his surprise when my stomach growls. “Is your surprise breakfast?”
“It can be if you get out of bed.”
“Promise?”
“Would I lie?”
His question gives me that horrible sinking feeling again as the memory of him lying to me surfaces. I push the thought away.
“No,” I easily answer. Eli wouldn’t lie, but I can’t shake the feeling he’s keeping something from me. I trust he’ll tell me when the time is right.
Eli taps my butt. “Put on your pajamas.”
I slip the pillow off my face and crack open my eyes. Soft white light frames the curtains in the room. “What time is it?”
“Early.”
“That’s not a real answer.”
He laughs instead of giving me the time.
“Eli,” I whine.
