Christmas with the Single Dad (The Single Dads of Seattle Book 5) Page 14

  “Your dick in a box doesn’t count.” Mark rolled his eyes. “Believe me, I asked Tori if she would accept that as a gift from me, and she told me she’d rather just unwrap a bag of baby carrots. Said it’d pretty much be the same thing, but at least the carrots tasted good dipped in ranch.”

  Zak choked on the beer in his mouth, half of it spitting out and the other half making him cough.

  That Tori was a real ball-buster.

  “That’s my woman,” Mark said sarcastically.

  “What about me?” Tori emerged from around the corner and wrapped her arm around Mark’s waist. “Speaking my praises, are you?”

  Mark wrapped his arm around her and pecked her on the side of the head. “But of course, my love.”

  Tori was all smiles. “Thanks for the wine, Zak. We approve of Aurora.” Her blue eyes narrowed. “Don’t fuck it up.”

  Zak reared back. “What makes you think—”

  “Just listen to the woman,” Isobel said, coming to stand next to her sister. Aaron was right behind her with a drowsy-looking Sophie on his shoulder.

  “Uh-oh, man,” Mark said. “Better get that baby home if Santa wants to fulfill his mission down the chimney. She looks sleepy.”

  Aaron grumbled and gently patted Sophie on her round, chubby cheek. “Wake up, baby.”

  Tia, Aiden and Gabe rounded the corner, all of them yawning. The grandparents and Aurora were right behind them, all yawning as well.

  “Looks like everyone is ready for bed,” Tori said, joining in on the communal yawn. “Need to get to sleep, that way Santa can come.” Gabe slid his hand into hers and leaned his head against her hip. She glanced down at him. “You excited for Santa?”

  The little boy seemed too exhausted to do anything but blink and nod.

  “All right.” Mark pulled his arm out from behind Tori and clapped his hands. “And we’re going to head out. Thanks for the drinks, man. Merry Christmas, everyone, and we shall see you all in a few days.” He nodded at Zak. “Poker next Saturday?”

  Zak nodded. “Of course. Adam and Mitch will be back by then too. Should be a full group.”

  Mark grinned. “Good. I’m feeling fleeced after this holiday and all the gift buying. Could use a win.”

  Aaron snorted as he led the group to the front door. “Says Mr. Moneybags.”

  “That’s Dr. Moneybags,” Mark corrected.

  There were hugs all around, including Tori and Isobel with Aurora. Then they wished their guests a final goodnight and a Merry Christmas and shut the door.

  Zak clapped his hands loudly. “All right.” He glanced at his watch. It was nearly ten thirty. No wonder the kids looked so exhausted. “Tia—angel on the tree. Aiden—baby in the manger. Papa and Granny—get your old coot butts to bed. Aurora—” His tone softened, as did his eyes. “Would you mind helping me tidy up?”

  Her smile warmed him from head to toe.

  “I would be happy to,” she said, playing with Tia’s hair as she walked behind Zak’s daughter toward the living room.

  “But first she needs to help me put the angel on the tree,” Tia said.

  Zak nearly tripped and fell into his grandfather.

  Tia had asked Aurora to help her with her angel?

  Tia had never asked anybody to ever help her. It was Tia’s thing. Had always been Tia’s thing. She wouldn’t even let Zak lift her up. The stubborn little monkey required a ladder or for the tree to be angled down far enough to her small stature on the floor.

  Zak had to see this for himself.

  They all headed into the living room, where Tia’s angel lay in her box beneath the tree. His daughter knelt down and pulled the box to her, then she motioned for Aurora to kneel down next to her. She slid the box over to Aurora. “You can open it,” Tia offered.

  Gently, as if unwrapping not just a porcelain-faced doll that sat on the top of a tree, but a doll made of fragile crystal, Aurora lifted the lid. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes and her jaw appeared clenched as if she were trying to keep more emotions from surging forward.

  “This was our family tradition too,” she whispered. “I put the angel on the tree. My … ” She swallowed. “My brother put baby Jesus in the manger.” She lifted her gaze up to Tia’s. “I had no idea other families did the same thing.”

  Zak could feel Aurora’s pain through the air. She’d been vague about her brother’s passing, obviously for the sake of Zak’s kids—which he appreciated—but he wanted to know more.

  He wanted to know everything.

  He had so many questions for the woman he was falling for, and yet he wasn’t sure she’d open up to him about any of them. She didn’t seem like she wanted him to get to know her, didn’t seem like she wanted to lay it all out like he had.

  Was that dishonesty or self-preservation?

  Was this just a fling to her, and she didn’t get attached or open up to flings?

  You’re reading into this shit too much. Chill out. It’s been two days.

  “You can take her out of the box,” Tia encouraged. “You won’t hurt her.”

  With a stiff, forced smile and a nod, Aurora lifted the beautiful little doll out of the box. “She’s lovely. Where did you get her?”

  “She was a gift from my dad for my first Christmas.”

  Aurora ran her hand lightly over the doll’s hair. “That’s a really special present. And I can see you take great care of her, so you must really love her.”

  Tia gently asked for the doll back and clutched her to her chest. “I do love her.” Her eyes traveled the length of the tree. “She only comes out once a year, but for that little bit of time, she makes the whole house feel more special.”

  Aurora’s smile was a touch wider and seemed to be making its way to her eyes. “I bet she does. I can already feel her Christmas magic working.”

  Tia’s eyes sparkled as she continued to stare up at the top of the tree. “Yeah,” she said on a slow breath. She turned back to face Aurora. “You can put her on the top this year if you like. If it’s your family tradition too and you don’t get to do it this year with your own angel, you can use mine.”

  Aurora shook her head and held her hands out in protest. “Oh, no, no, no. I couldn’t. That’s your tradition. She’s your doll. Thank you for the offer, sweetheart, but I can’t take that away from you.” She glanced behind her at Zak, who was standing behind them watching it all, watching in awe as his daughter embraced Aurora like she’d never embraced anyone in her life.

  Tia craned around, and her eyes fell on Zak. “Dad, can you lift me up, please?” She stood up and stepped toward her father. Still surprised by his little girl’s complete one-eighty, he gently placed his hands on her waist. “Not yet, though, mmkay?”

  Aurora was still sitting in front of the tree, her brown eyes full of curiosity. Zak probably looked the exact same way. He glanced around at his grandparents and son. They, too, seemed eager to know what Tia had up her sleeve.

  “Aurora,” Tia started, “if Dad says it’s okay, you can stand on the arm of that chair, and we can put the angel on top of the tree together.” She turned around to face Zak. “Can she, Dad? Can she stand on the arm of the chair just this one time?”

  Zak’s eyes softened as he stared down into the eyes of his daughter, a hopeless romantic, a pure optimist and an absolutely wonderful person. “Sure, sweetheart, just this once.”

  Tia’s smile pulled at every single string in his heart. Her head spun around to face Aurora, and she held out her hand to help the woman up. “Come on. Dad said you can.”

  Aurora took her hand and stood, then she gingerly stepped up onto the chair cushion and then finally on to the wide arm. It would easily hold her weight—that wasn’t why the kids weren’t allowed to climb on it. Zak just liked his kids and his furniture in one piece, and it was easier to make them horse around outside or downstairs in the gym on the mats than in his expensively furnished living room.

  “Up please, Dad,” Tia commanded, ju
mping a little to help Zak with the takeoff, not that he needed her to. His child weighed less than half of what he deadlifted.

  He lifted her up until she was able to reach the top of the tree, then he skirted around so that Aurora could hold on to the doll as well. Then the two of them carefully, placed Tia’s porcelain Christmas angel atop the tree—both of them smiling and giggling as they did.

  “Now the tree looks perfect,” Daphne said. “I’ll get the lights so we can see it in all its glory.”

  Once the angel was secure, Zak brought Tia back down to her feet, then he held out a hand for Aurora to step down off the chair at the same time the living room went dark. The Christmas tree shone like a bright beacon before them, with tiny rainbow lights, popcorn garland, ornaments the children made and Tia’s angel.

  It was the perfect tree.

  He felt a small body lean against his leg, and he wrapped his arm around Tia, stroking the length of her hair down her back. “Great job, kiddo,” he said.

  “Thanks, Dad,” Tia said with a yawn. “Now Aurora’s officially part of the family. It’s not just my tradition anymore, it’s ours.”

  13

  Aurora grabbed the empty wineglasses off the kitchen table and brought them over to the dishwasher. After the emotional moment in the living room when Tia had asked Aurora for her help putting the angel on the tree, they’d all watched Aiden put the baby Jesus figure in the manger—Aurora’s eyes once again wet and her heart heavy as she thought of Brecken—and then everybody but Aurora and Zak went to bed. Tears had pricked Aurora’s eyes at Tia’s heartfelt words, the way she’d welcomed Aurora into their family with open arms and a beautiful smile.

  It made her miss her own family and their traditions more, but it also eased the ache inside her chest at how much this new family embraced her.

  “I’m going to go and grab all the Christmas presents in the garage,” Zak said, having tidied up the board games and helped her put away the leftover pizza. “I didn’t think I’d have to bring the gifts out until later, when the kids got home from Disneyland, but I’m glad that I get to see them open everything tomorrow morning.”

  Aurora’s heart beat heavy at the thought of Zak not being with his kids on Christmas. She’d never been so thankful for snow in her life—for more reasons than one.

  He headed off in the direction of the garage, and Aurora continued to clean up.

  She was busy humming “Jingle Bells” in her head when a creak on the steps caused her to pause from where she’d been wiping the counter. It was Aiden on the stairs.

  “Hey, buddy,” she said. “Everything okay?”

  He nodded, rubbing his eyes and yawning. “I’m okay. Can’t sleep though.”

  “Too excited for tomorrow?”

  He scratched the back of his neck the way she’d noticed Zak did when he was uncomfortable. He slogged his way into the kitchen. “No. I don’t believe in Santa anymore. I know that the presents come from Mom and Dad. Tia still thinks he’s real though, so we pretend for her.”

  She nodded, then continued to wipe up the counter. “That’s very sweet of you to continue pretending so your sister still gets to enjoy it a bit longer.”

  He made a noise in his throat.

  It was insane how similar he was to his father, not only in appearance, but also mannerisms and facial expressions. “Some kid at school last year came to class one day saying how his parents refused to lie to him, so they told him there was no such thing as Santa from the very beginning. He decided to tell the class one day. Said our parents were all a bunch of liars.”

  Aurora’s hand paused on the countertop. “He did what?”

  Aiden nodded, walked around behind her and grabbed a fresh drinking glass from the cabinet. He filled it up from the fridge dispenser. “Yeah. Lots of parents were upset when their kids went home crying about no Santa.”

  “But not you?”

  He shook his head and shrugged before he took a sip. “I wasn’t sure if he was real or not, but I kept pretending for Tia. I know my parents are liars though, so that didn’t bother me—at least my mom is.” His blue eyes, the same shade as his father’s, grew dark and stormy. “Promise me you’ll never lie to my dad the way my mom did … please.”

  Holy shit.

  Where was this coming from?

  Wasn’t this kid like ten?

  His gaze narrowed, and his glass paused in front of his mouth as he waited for her response.

  Swallowing, she nodded. “I promise. Th-though I have no idea what kind of lies your mom told your dad … ”

  Did she want to know?

  Even if she did, it wasn’t right for Aiden of all people to be filling her in.

  The door leading out to the garage opened. Aiden’s eyes shifted in that direction, as did Aurora’s. Zak came fumbling through, his arms loaded up past the top of his head with boxes of gifts. He spied Aiden, and his eyebrows lifted. “What are you doing up, buddy? Everything okay?”

  Aiden lifted his drinking glass, and he nodded, which seemed to be enough for Zak because he continued on into the living room. Aiden swung his hawklike stare back to Aurora. “I like you,” he finally said. “You make our dad smile and laugh, but just please don’t hurt him. Our mom really hurt him, and I don’t want to see him like that again.”

  Aurora blinked back hot tears.

  Zak was raising some pretty unbelievable kids.

  “I’ll do my best,” she said, feeling that sense of unease begin to gurgle deep in her belly again. She shoved it down, reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder. “For the record, I like you too.” She let go of him. “Now get on to bed.” She made a clicking sound with her tongue the way one would for a horse. “You don’t want Santa to find you still awake, do you?”

  Aiden rolled his eyes and smiled as he headed back in the direction of the stairs. “Santa, Dad, whoever. I’m just hoping there’s a microscope under the tree.”

  Aurora smiled back. “You’ll need to go to sleep to find out. Now shoo.”

  He smiled once more, then climbed the stairs, waving to her before he disappeared.

  Please don’t hurt him. Don’t lie to him.

  Why did she feel like she was not only going to break her promise to Aiden, but she was also going to break his heart?

  “You head on upstairs and wait for me,” Zak said, joining Aurora in the kitchen after he’d finished putting all the Christmas presents beneath the tree. “I have one more thing I need to take care of, then I’ll come join you.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his nose in her hair.

  She pressed her nose to his pec and inhaled.

  Dear God, the man smelled good.

  “Don’t be too long,” she said, resisting the urge to bite him. “That’s an awfully big bed for just me. And I’m quite tired. I’d hate to fall asleep before you came to kiss me goodnight.” She made sure her pouty face was extra pouty, then batted her lashes at him.

  His deep, throaty laugh made her nipples pearl. “Don’t worry, I’ll be but a minute.” He dropped his hand from her waist to her butt and gave her a gentle pat. “Head on up.”

  She did as she was told. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and then ignored the voice in her head telling her to put pajamas on and climbed into bed in her birthday suit.

  She was sitting up against the headboard, reading through the text messages from Pressley and his growing insistence to see her, when the bedroom door opened.

  Aurora’s phone dropped into her lap, Pressley and his desire to see her forgotten.

  Zak stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, his strides slow and cocky—so it was more like a swagger—as he approached her. His smile was carefree and relaxed, almost arrogant—and it made everything inside her melt.

  But as lazy as his gait and smile were, his eyes told a different story. Purpose and desire burned hot in the dark blue of his irises. With just a look, just a saunter and an amused grin the man was capable of turning her into tot
al mush, a fuzzy-headed fool with only one thing on her mind. Thankfully, it looked like Zak had that same thing on his mind as well. He had a plan, and it was going to be her job to follow it. To acquiesce and do as she was told. Like a good girl.

  She loved it when he called her a good girl. Because even though she was doing as he asked, she somehow felt bad being his good girl.

  How weird was that?

  He stopped next to her side of the bed, a slight smile lifting the corner of his mouth. “Evenin’, lass,” he said.

  Aurora’s pulse sped up to the rate of a hamster’s.

  Her eyes slowly raked him from toe to tip, lingering extra, extra long on the center area, where a box wrapped in Christmas paper sat in his hands. And of course, what was behind that box? A kilt.

  A mother-effing freaking kilt—and nothing else.

  And boy, did he wear it well.

  She licked her lips, her eyes continuing to roam across his body, around each hardened pec, down the washboard of his stomach, the sexy V-line of his hips that pointed to the secret beneath the kilt.

  The kilt.

  Oh dear lord, he’d put on the kilt.

  She still couldn’t believe it.

  He also had a present for her. How did he manage that? He hadn’t left the house.

  She felt like a complete tool now. Here he’d miraculously managed to get her a Christmas present and even wrap it, and she had nothing but her naked body and a smile to give him.

  “What say ye, lass? It’s getting’ a wee bit chilly. Might I share yer bed wit ya?” His arm extended forward, and he cupped her cheek, the other hand still holding the box.

  She nodded. “I’d like nothing more.”

  “But first ye need to open yer present. I made it myself. I hope you like it.”

  She shook her head, which caused him to remove his hand from her cheek. “Zak, you really shouldn’t have. I didn’t get you anything. We’ve only known each other for a few days. I wasn’t expecting anything. Please.” She made to push it away. “It’s too much.”