Page 17 of What Happens This Christmas
MITTS FOR NIPPLES
CANDY
“I suppose I should put the candles away in the house.” I pushed my thighs closer together and stepped out of the car one foot at a time. I made sure not to touch my clothes to the outside of the car so I could avoid getting dirt on them. After all, it wasn’t as though I was donning a cheap tracksuit.
Nick shut my door for me, his steps falling in sync with mine. “Why’s that?” he questioned before focusing all of his attention on the doorman, pulling out his wallet while maintaining eye contact with the gentleman. “Please ensure that the tree on the top of our car finds its way into our penthouse.” His voice was low and deep, speaking with a conviction that couldn’t go unnoticed.
The gentleman nodded curtly, taking the money and slipping it into his pocket without further question. “Consider it done,” he replied, his facial expression unchanging, and as stoic as ever. Sure, lugging a Christmas tree into someone’s house wasn’t part of his job description, but those things changed more frequently than the hair color on a former debutante. Pay handsomely enough for something, and people tended to momentarily forget their job duties. True that not every doorman would have taken kindly to that, but Nick knew ours.
As the doorman made himself scarce, and we continued walking inside, I removed my black leather gloves. Finally getting around to answering his question about why I wouldn’tbe needing candles, I did. “Your tree comes with its own stench,” I explained simply, knowing that his nose wasn’t broken and that he could smell the intoxicating scent ofhisChristmas. His insistence on arealtree. I hoped he would enjoy it, descend the stairs and stare at it in the mornings before heading into the kitchen for breakfast.
As he stepped in front of me to open the door, I could have sworn I heard him grumble something under his breath, which was a nasty habit in my opinion, but I didn’t question it. Frankly, doing so, especially now, would only be a waste of my energy. Soon he would be nothing more than an ex-husband. I’d entertain the holidays because it was what was necessary to maintain our status and dignity, but anything more wasn’t warranted.
“Where would you like it?”
I spun around to find the doorman right behind us, arching a brow as he held the top of the tree, the rear end dragging on the floor a step or two behind him.Fabulous. Did he always have to be so prompt when he did something?“Would you mind taking care of this?” I turned my attention toward Nick, who was holding the door open to allow for the ridiculous thing to make its way inside. I folded my gloves in my hands and held them tightly in my palm. “I feel a headache coming on and would like to go lie down before it gets any worse.”
“Sure, sweetheart,” Nick returned, a flash of a smile crossing his lips, but just as fast as it came, it disappeared. My husband—the great magician. “I’ll make sure it finds its place in the great room.”
I shut my eyes briefly with a slow nod before retreating to our room. It had been a long day and the last thing I needed was more stimulus. I feared Nick would want us to take up caroling next. Heaven forbid actually. I hadn’t knocked on a door withsheet music and sung like my life depended on it in a very long time, and I would like it to remain that way.
I’d never thought of it before, but it could have been that Nick was having a midlife crisis before his midlife point. Never mind that. It would be a cross for the next woman in Nick’s life to bear. Perhaps he’d turn to a woman in her early twenties, a spry thing with a zest for life and adventure. She’d bleed him dry, but the sex would be great, I was sure of it. If I was lucky, I’d miss the news announcing their impending nuptials.
“With all the new inventions cropping up, you would think someone could make mitts for nipples.”
I jumped out of my skin, one hand shooting faster than a flare gun to my chest and the other instinctively snaking around the wall to the light switch to turn it on. Who on God’s green earth sat in the dark on someone else’s bed? My sister, Eloise, that was who. My younger, carefree sister, to be exact.
I swallowed as my heartbeat slowed to a normal, acceptable rate. “It’s called a brassiere. You should invest in one,” I said in response to her inane statement. Mitts for nipples? And that was the way she made herself known? “I don’t recall inviting you. Remind me, in case it slipped my mind.”
She hopped off the bed like a child who robbed a candy store and was on a sugar high. “It couldn’t have, silly,” she answered, her eyes flaring with genuine excitement. “Because I didn’t call, text, direct message, send a pigeon carrier, smoke signal, or anything else for that matter.” She bounced her way over to me, wearing a powder blue sweater and faded barrel jeans. For someone who didn’t live in New York, I would’ve thought she would dress smarter. Not my sister, though. As long as she was living her life, free as a single little bird, she didn’t care about much else.
I set my gloves down, then slid my scarf off. Unable to continue undressing like I’d wanted to, I set out to fix thewrinkles on my bed she’d caused from sitting on it. “How did you even get in here?” I asked, wondering what I ever did to deserve this. Her being here was the last thing I needed. Especially now with Nick. It wasn’t as though we were a happily married couple at the moment. My sister was the mouth of the south, and she didn’t need to know about him asking for a divorce. In fact, the less she knew, the better off we would all be.
I turned around and was met with her hitching one of her shoulders in the air, frowning as she fussed with the sleeves of her sweater that were way too long to be comfortable in any regard. Maybe they were stretched out or the sweater had been cleaned too many times and had seen its day. Either way, she needed to retire it.
“Your doorman let me in.” She blinked at me in confusion when I didn’t respond. Not that I could have. I had no clue, which was why that feeling of confusion she felt was mutual. I’d be having a word with our doorman sooner rather than later. “Oh, Cici, you have no idea how good it is to see you.” She rushed up and pulled me close for a hug. Then, out of the blue, she pushed me back by my shoulders and studied me closely. “I’ve missed you!” she shrieked. Eloise could be a bit…dramatic.
“Oh.” I sighed and walked away from her to my en suite. Anything to get away from her tight hugs. It was like being hugged by a python.
Meanwhile, she kept talking. Not that Eloise couldn’t be heard from just about any room in the house. She was always loud, sometimes vulgar, and generally my opposite in every way. All she had to do was open her mouth. Without that, if you looked beyond her terrible fashion sense, you wouldn’t know we were as different as night and day. We both had the same long, natural blonde hair. Although, she wore hers in fairly tight curls thanks to her quarterly perms. We also both had similar bonestructure, hazel eyes, and the same long legs. Our mother’s genes were quite strong and seemed to be inherited by us both.
She continued murmuring on, filling the dead space with chitter-chatter. There was no such thing as beloved silence where Eloise was concerned. “…and that’s how I found out that he and his wife are celebrating thirty long and blessed years. It practically gives me ass tremors just thinking about the way those two are going to grow gray and saggy together.” She ran her hands through her hair, as I walked back into my room. She flipped nearly all of her locks to the opposite side, the low lights she insisted on since she had been a teenager on full display. “Speaking of, how are you and—”
“Eloise?” Nick cocked a brow, his head turning to me, probably wondering if I had known that we should have been expecting her. Unfortunately, I had been just as in the dark as he was. And I was still unclear on why she was here. We didn’t do unannounced visits. Ever. The holidays didn’t change that fact.
I rolled my lips and shrugged, trying to convey my shock to him.
Eloise jumped up excitedly and smiled, creases appearing in the corners of her eyes from how far the smile was reaching. She could dial it back anytime now. Not that she would. This was her natural state. Then again, she never had to worry about anything in her entire life. She didn’t care what people thought, she just did her own thing.
“BIL of mine,” she exclaimed loudly enough that I remembered why I preferred not to stand too close to a speaker. If I were to forget something, I wished it would have been that awful nickname that Eloise insisted on calling my husband. The coined term BIL, better known as brother-in-law, was as unnecessary as the squeal she was letting out. “How are you?” She ran into his arms, clutching the front of his shirt before swatting his arm and backing up a few good feet, sizing him upand down as she crossed her arms. Jutting a finger under her elbow, she went on. “You’re not sagging.” She looked over her shoulder at me and winked. “Yet. Lucky you, Cici.”Yeah, lucky me, indeed.
Nick’s eyes narrowed as he scratched his chin. “I didn’t think I was…sagging.”
He wasn’t. Far from it, as a matter of fact. I could attest to that. Frankly, I had a feeling out of the two of us, he’d be the one to never look his age. Although wasn’t that true of most men? They seemed to age surprisingly well. That was probably why twenty-year-old women were looking to bed older men. They were experienced, usually rich, and most times, didn’t look their age.
On the other hand, I already knew of multiple well-esteemed aestheticians in the city. They all came highly recommended by my friends, most of whom may as well have co-signed the loan on their houses, considering how much they paid them to have eternal youth. I kept their cards as an insurance policy, knowing that Nick was a catch, and I never wanted him to feel stuck with an old bag. As it turned out, though, feeling stuck wasn’t a feeling Nick seemed to be acquainted with. He obviously had no problem asking for an out when he wanted one.
I brushed a hand in the air and lightly chuckled, making my way over to Nick. “Of course she didn’t mean it like that,” I said, placing a hand on Nick’s arm.
