Page 15 of Naughty and Nice

There was no room in his life for kids, or a woman for that matter. Willow was just a bit of fun … but it wasn’t feeling that way at all.

To Rebel, it was starting to feel like a lot more, even though the hours were ticking by, letting him know it wouldn’t be long before he had to let her go.

****

Willow laughed.

There was no way they were in any kind of synched beat with the Christmas music he had playing way too loud. Both were still naked, at Rebel’s insistence. It was still snowing outside, and since Rebel had stepped foot inside her bar hours ago, she was pretty sure it had snowed a couple of extra feet.

She didn’t care. Her home was toasty warm, and even if she wasn’t, between the dancing and fucking, Rebel was finding plenty of ways to keep her warm.

Rebel pulled her close and sang along with a tune that was overplayed at this time of year. Most of them were, but Willow loved them. After a good thirty minutes of dancing, they both collapsed on the sofa. Rebel wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

She was exhausted and yet at the same time, she didn’t want to go to sleep. If she went to sleep, she had this horrible feeling that when she woke up, things would be different. It was approaching three in the morning, so she knew they were going to pass out at some point.

“Tell me your plans for the future,” Rebel said.

“My plans?” She took a second to gain back her breath and then sighed. “I don’t have any plans.”

“You don’t have any plans?”

She shrugged. “I’m running my dad’s bar. I never thought I would, but it does seem to be a full-time occupation, so I’ve got no choice.”

“Do you like it here?”

Willow tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “I love it, and it’s crazy because I left here after graduating, promising myself I would never return. I would pave a whole new life for myself.” She sighed. “I ended up working in a couple of bars in the city. Lame, huh?”

“No, not lame, but kind of sad, that you could have been helping your dad with this place.”

She nodded. “Did you know my dad well?” she asked.

“As well as any customer could, I guess. I was the guy that brought him back up here when he got too drunk.”

“Oh,” she said, feeling embarrassed for the moments she had no part in. “I’m so sorry.”

He chuckled. “You don’t have to be sorry. I got free beer and the best kind of whiskey out of it. He always talked about you, though.”

“He did?”

“Yep. You know he regretted how things were with you, but he didn’t have the first clue how to make it right.”

“I … had no idea.” She always figured that leaving her father behind was what he wanted. “Was he happy?”

“I can’t answer that, Willow, and I’m not going to get between you and your dad, or your past. I knew him as the guy that served me and the guys, and didn’t have a problem with us hanging out at the bar. He trusted me to get him upstairs, close the bar, and of course listen to him talk about his daughter.”

Willow got to her feet. She didn’t want to hear any more so she went straight to the bathroom, closed the door, and stepped toward the sink. She couldn’t look at herself.

When she left, she didn’t even bother to say goodbye in person. All she had done was leave a note and figured that was good enough.

The door to the bathroom opened and she didn’t open her eyes or look up. “Can you give me a minute, please?”

He didn’t leave and seconds later she felt his palm on her shoulder. She was tempted to brush him off, because he wasn’t listening to her, but she didn’t really want to do that.

Willow didn’t have a clue what she wanted, but when she opened her eyes, she felt the tears she’d tried to keep at bay.

“Please,” she said.

Much to her surprise, Rebel pulled her in close. Again, she was tempted to fight him because he refused to do what she asked, but then she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. She took a deep breath, then another, trying with all her might not to cry. There was no way another woman had cried on Rebel’s shoulder like this. Not during or between sexual pleasure. She hated that she was the one to do this. It sucked.

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