Page 42 of Big Daddy Christmas
“Ahh. Clearly she needed the stress relief.”
Holden chuckled. “Funny, that’s what Braden said before he dragged her into the bedroom.”
Pink flooded Jacob’s cheeks. “Should we… give them some privacy?”
Not for the first time, Holden found himself wondering if Jacob would ever lose that innocence he still had from growing up so completely hidden away from the word. “Son, you’ve watched Braden do way worse than give his babygirl a little spanking. If Braden wanted privacy, he would have taken her somewhere else or told me to get the fuck out.”
“Right.” The color in Jacob’s cheeks darkened. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“My sweet boy.” Chuckling softly, Cordelia cupped his face in her hands and rose onto her tiptoes to brush a kiss over his lips. “We’ll be right across the hall if you need us. All right?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Ivy took her turn kissing him goodbye and reassuring him they were close by if he needed them before sliding her hand into Cordelia’s and following her Domme out of the room.
Poor kid looked so out of place, standing there in the middle of the room with his hands in his pockets, staring up at the ceiling like he’d rather be anywhere but there.
“Did Cordelia talk to you last night?”
The question did nothing to ease the embarrassment in Jacob’s cheeks, but it did seem to distract him from the noises still coming from the other side of the door, so Holden considered it a success. “Yeah. She told me you tattled on me.”
Unabashed, Holden grinned and passed him a cup of steaming coffee. “She would have done the same in my position. We look out for each other, and that means looking out for each other’s subs. Hopefully she wasn’t too hard on you.”
“She wasn’t.” Still blushing furiously, Jacob shrugged and added what Holden considered way too much milk and sugar to his coffee, but he knew better than to hassle the kid about it, no matter how playfully. Cordelia had read them all the riot act the one and only time someone had dared to tease Jacob about his drink preferences in front of her. “I think she was more worried than mad.”
“Because she loves you and she hates to see you being so hard on yourself.”
“I know. And I guess I appreciate you telling her, even though you’re a big snitch.” Sipping his doctored coffee, Jacob rolled his eyes. “The three of us talked about it and I do feel better about things. They told me it’s okay if I never do anything really important like what Hannah wants to do. If I just want a quiet life.”
There was a hint of question in his voice, like he was looking to Holden for confirmation. Which he was all too happy to give. “They’re right. You did your part by testifying against your father and the other elders. And I have no doubt that even if you don’t pursue a career like Hannah’s, you’ll continue doing good. It’s part of your DNA.”
“That’s the stuff that makes us who we are.” Jacob’s entire face lit up with excitement. “I learned about it from Jurassic Park, and then made Ivy teach me all about it. But apparently you can’t actually make a dinosaur out of leftover DNA in a mosquito. I still kinda want to try, though.”
“Boy, there are like ten movies explaining why that’s a horrible idea. No more science class for you.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Damn straight I am, when it comes to you potentially unleashing dinosaurs on the earth.”
“What’s this about dinosaurs?” Striding into the room looking exactly like a rockstar on his day off with the ripped jeans and loose-fitting silk shirt, Ice grinned. “What’s our boy up to now?”
“Apparently he watched Jurassic Park and now he wants to make it real life.” Holden shot Jacob a mockingly stern glare, which only earned him an even cheesier grin from the boy in question.
“Oooh, if you do, I want a pocket-sized T-Rex. In the movies they’re always trying to make them bigger, but you just know if they made them purse-sized everyone would want one.”
Turning his glare on Ice, Holden narrowed his eyes. “You’re not helping, Elias.”
Ice’s smile shifted to a smirk. “Who said I was here to help?” Glancing around, he raised his brows. “Quick subject change. Where’s the groom?”
Holden nodded toward the closed bedroom door. “Needed a few minutes with his babygirl for some, ah, stress relief.”
“Ah, the age-old dance. Wonder if Silver will be in need of some 'stress relief’ before the wedding.”
“Knowing our women, they’ll all be over here at one point or another.”
“True,” Ice said with a laugh as he reached into his pocket, his laughter fading. “Hey, I gotta take this. It’s Simon.”
Fuck. If Ice and Silver’s manager was calling, odds were something was going down, possibly with Silver’s ex who had, somehow, manage to escape any jail time for his attack on her last year.
