belong here, Anna. I would be honored to have you as my granddaughter.”
Her throat closed, tight with tears, and she leaned forward to draw the older woman into a hug. “You have no idea how much that means.”
A knock at the door interrupted the new flow of conversation, and Anna stood up without thinking, wiping at her eyes. “I’ll get it.”
“She’s already settled in,” Chase said, and the spill of their laughter—kind and familiar—warmed her from the inside out. She was accepted here. Loved. It was the most comforting feeling she could have dreamed of.
At the door, a bellboy waited with a red box in his hands. “Oh! We must have forgotten this in the car.” Anna took the cake and reached into her pocket for a tip. All she had was a twenty, but she pressed it into his hand. It was Christmas, after all.
She returned to the living room and cleared her throat. “I have an announcement.”
Elin’s hand went to her throat.
“It’s not that I’m pregnant,” she said, shooting Elin a grin.
Tana let out a huge breath.
“It’s that Gabe baked me a cake.”
“That’s almost a bigger deal,” said Jonas, and then they were all looking at him and the cake as she unveiled his creation.
“Who wants a slice?” Anna called out. “I’m cutting it right now.” She was met with silence. “Oh, come on. He did a good job!”
The brothers laughed again, and Anna even forgave Jonas for his wariness about Gabe’s first baked dessert. He genuinely loved his family and he wanted what was best for them, even if he could be a little pigheaded about what was best. When she returned from the kitchen a few minutes later, with a tray laden with pieces of sliced cake on plates, he was the first to step up and take one.
The family took their seats in the living room again, each one turning their cake over for inspection and then looking to one another, as if for reassurance.
“Who’s going to go first?” Gabe asked. “Oh, never mind. I made it, so I’ll take the plunge.” He cut off a piece with his fork and popped it into his mouth without hesitation. Anna held her breath. She had never wanted someone to be successful more in her life. Gabe’s eyes went wide. “Oh, my God,” he said. “It’s good. I’m not even kidding—it looks weird, but it tastes delicious.”
Everybody followed suit after that, and Anna took a bite. Oh, it was delicious. Soft and wonderful, with a hint of vanilla. Gabe had done an excellent job. Anna leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“Save it for when you’re alone,” Chase teased.
“No way,” Gabe said, leaning over to kiss her again.
Gabe crawled into the bed beside her at the end of the day—the longest, happiest day of Anna’s life. Christmas Eve with the Elkin family had run late—and Elin had retired much earlier, exhausted from the fun and her illness taking its toll. Jonas and Chase had stayed to talk by the fire, while Tana and Lindsey had slipped out together over her protests.
It was only when Anna finally whispered to Gabe that she was ready for bed that he’d made a move to leave. The truth was Anna just wanted to be alone with him. And now he was here, stretching out beside her and running a hand over her face. “I love you,” he said.
“I want you,” she said, a huge grin keeping her from making it a seductive invitation.
His eyebrows rose. “Yeah?”
Anna reached over and tugged down his boxers, revealing the thick, hard length of him. “You want me, too.”
“I don’t deny it.”
She climbed on top of him, and Gabe slid his hands up underneath her big, soft sleep shirt. The higher his hands went, the wider his eyes got. Anna wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
He finally reached her waist and pulled her down over his chest to kiss her, deep and hard and fierce, and she pressed herself down on the hard ridge of him and rocked her hips back and forth. Anna was already slick, already wanting. There was a time for elaborate foreplay and lingering between her legs, but this wasn’t it.
Gabe groaned into her mouth, his hands digging in hard on her hips. He stuck a hand out, and it collided with the bedside table, almost knocking the lamp over. His low growl showed his impatience as he wrenched the drawer open and dug inside for a foil packet. Gabe ripped it open