Page 71 of The Santa Rules
He must sense my discomfort, and he peers down at me, searching my eyes for some kind of clue. “Is that mistletoe?” he says, his eyes lighting up as his fingers grip my chin and tilt my face up to his so he can seal his mouth to mine in a kiss. It starts sweet and chaste, but we lose ourselves in the moment as his hand slides up to hold my cheek, and I grip his waist while balancing my cup in the other.
“Okay, okay, we get it, get a room,” Raven teases.
“I think it’s sweet,” Summer says.
I can hear Lucy laugh. “There’s too much tongue in that to be considered sweet. And they’re not even under the mistletoe.”
Hardy pulls back, and I feel like one of those cartoon characters still pushing my lips out in a pucker looking for his.
“Fuck mistletoe. I don’t need an excuse to kiss her,” Hardy says to them, his eyes still locked on me. He leans in to kiss my cheek and then whispers against my ear, “I hope you know we aren’t staying at this party for long.”
“Your place or mine after?” I flash him a seductive smile.
“Given the layout of the bedrooms at my place and how loud I plan to make you moan, my place might be the safer option.”
——————
“I think the last time I got naked this fast was when Avery had a blowout while I was changing her and she sprayed me with poop,” Hardy says, whipping off his shirt and kicking off his shoes at the same time.
“Totally what you want to hear when you’re getting naked with your fella.” I laugh, and he gives me a sheepish grin. “I’m just messing with you. Remember when you saw Isaac’s massive poop? When you become a parent, your dignity goes out the window and you have to be able to pivot from poop talk to sexy time since you never know when the little semen demon is gonna cock-block you.”
His shoulders shake in silent laughter. “I love how you make me laugh. You could’ve given me shit for ruining the mood, but instead you always lean into the humor, and I love that.”
“You do, huh?” I say, standing in front of him in only my underwear as I take a step closer to him. He still has his pants on, and I thread my fingers through his belt loops and tug him against me.
“I do. I didn’t think I’d ever find my sense of humor again, let alone joy. And I love that you’ve brought that back into my life. Into our lives.”
That’s an awful lot of loves. Is he testing the water to gauge my reaction?
“What else do you love about me? You know what a fan I am of lists.”
“I love?—”
“Daddy!” Avery’s voice calls from the hall, and we look at each other in wide-eyed panic.
I grab my clothes and run to the bathroom, closing the door behind me. My breaths feel loud, but I try to stifle them as I quickly and quietly pull my clothes back on. I totally jinxed us with the mention of cock-blocking.
The room gets quiet, and I peek my head out and find it empty. I pull out my phone and send Lucy a quick text for a ride and locate my shoes, slipping them on as Hardy sneaks back in the room.
“Sorry, I need to go take care of this. Turns out she had a little too much water earlier and had an accident.” He walks over to the closet and pulls out a set of sheets for Avery’s bed.
“It’s okay. Lucy’s coming to get me. I realized you picked me up and then let Maggie go home so I needed a ride anyway.”
“Fuck, I totally didn’t think about all the logistics. I’m sorry.” His brows are pinched, and he looks like this pains him, and I reach up to smooth the wrinkle between them.
“No need to apologize. I’ll see you in the morning, handsome,” I say, stretching up on my tiptoes to kiss the tip of his nose.
I love the way he feels touching every inch of my skin, and even though the kiss is chaste, it makes me want him to throw me over his shoulder and manhandle me, but we can’t seem to catch a break tonight.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he says, pressing his forehead against mine.
“I know you will. Now go take care of your little elf princess.”
“Oh shit! I forgot about the elf!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll throw something together while you change her sheets and get her settled. I always have extra elf plans for school.”
“I wish you could stay.” There’s a look in his eyes that makes me think he’s wishing for more than just one night.
