Page 68 of What Happens This Christmas
One twist of my wrist and the loud rip that ensued echoed through my office.
It felt damn good to be rid of the papers and everything they represented.
Chapter 30
one is on the market
Nick
“Consider it an early Christmas present, bro. Smack that rubber on, or tell your woman to close her legs.” Jack tossed the foil package on Brady’s desk. “Bottom line is that she can’t get pregnant again before I put a baby in Quinn.”
I cleared my throat, making myself known since knocking on the open door hadn’t done the job the first time. “Not trying to interrupt, but—”
“All good,” Brady said, stacking his feet up on his desk and leaning back in his chair. “What’s the problem?”
I pulled on the back of my neck. “No problem, just looking to head home early. There’s a new wave of customers out there now, but when it dies down—”
Jack held a hand up. “Say no more. You can go home to your wife.”
I nodded.
“That is why you want to get the hell out of here, right?”
How did I say this without sounding like a freak?
She was all I’d been able to think about.
She consumed me mind, body, and soul.
I felt sick with longing.
If she was the plague, then I wanted to catch it.
“Right on the money,” I finally replied. Yeah, that was better than the alternatives. Made me seem a lot less like an obsessed fucker. Which I wasn’t. But how did I describe to him thatmy marriage had been on the rocks, and we’d been about to legally separate? But after a breakdown on her part and multiple orgasms from quite possibly the greatest fuck of our lives, we were on the mend? “It’s Christmas Eve. I don’t want her to spend it alone.”
“No little ones?” Jack asked, cocking a brow.
I shook my head. We had wanted to wait when we had first gotten married, and then it just never felt like the right time. We hadn’t broached the topic after that. “Nope.” I jutted my thumb toward the door. “Anyway, thanks for letting me leave early, but until then, I should probably get back to it,” I said, glancing at my watch.
Brady nodded, but Jack harrumphed. “We’re not paying you to sit back here and talk to us, so yeah, I’d say so.”
Jack was…a funny guy. I raked a hand through my hair and made my way out front again, walking behind the bar.
“Hey, what body part do I have to give up to get a goddamn drink around here?” a man sitting at the bar asked.
I cracked my neck, tired of the people who acted like a drink was going to change their lives. It wouldn’t even change their day, hated to be the bearer of bad news. It was a bandage, but nothing more. I should have known because I used it as that, going for my trusty whiskey whenever I didn’t know what the hell to do about my marital troubles. Marriage, it wasn’t for the faint of heart, that much I’d say. “We’re not accepting body parts at the moment. What can I get you?” I wasn’t in the mood for his shit. We reserved the right to refuse service, but I didn’t want to use that card on the holiday.
He fisted his hand on the top of the bar and furrowed his brows. “A beer.”
I turned to the keg and poured one, then slid it to him without hesitation. As I scanned the rest of the bar, I spotted ahand waving gently, almost cutely. Whoever it was clearly was trying to get my attention.
Strolling over to the attention-seeker, I rapped my knuckles on the bar. “What will it be?” I questioned, making a conscious effort to remain uninterested. It was a habit I picked up and learned was best to stick to so single women didn’t get the wrong idea.
“Well, I’ll be,” she said, leaving my question unanswered. It was hard not to notice the alluring nature of her voice. She was clearly trying to flirt and make herself seem more attractive by dropping her volume a decibel. It was breathy, chesty, and had a slow drawl that could make a man hang on her every word. So, basically, she was manipulative by nature. “Nick Crane in the flesh. I am a lucky woman, indeed.”
I allowed my eyes to roam, perusing her body and giving her a quick once-over before meeting her seductive gaze. There was nothing striking about her, and although she might’ve been a stunner at first glance, she paled in comparison to Candy. She would forever be the woman I held everyone up to, no one on par with her.
This woman was lean, her hair so dark brown that it almost looked charred. It wouldn’t have surprised me all that much, considering it was obvious she’d dyed it one too many times, her hair looking like straw. She should be introduced to a bottle of conditioner. It would do her a world of good. She had amber eyes that could hardly be seen through the fake as sin thick lashes that covered them, making it appear as though her eyes were closed at all times. It was creepy, really.
