The Christmas Pundit (Laurel Holidays #2) - V.L. Locey Page 0,40
on the perfectly set table. “But man, twenty-four pounds sounds like a lot for three people. Maybe we should invite someone to help us eat some if it?”
She straightened, baster in hand, and gave me “the look.”
“What are you dancing around, Evan?”
“Me? Nothing. I like your dress. It’s pretty and brings out the color in your eyes.” Her lips flattened, and her toe began tapping. I opened my mouth to inform her of the lust-induced invitation I’d extended to Gideon last night when the doorbell rang. Crap. Crap. Crap. Her eyebrows flew up and hid under her bangs.
“Evan, what did you do?”
I threw a look at my father making his way to the front door after pausing the movie he’d been watching in the living room.
“Okay, don’t get mad.” I opened with. Her eyes rolled to the ceiling as turkey juice dripped from the baster to the linoleum. “I might have invited—”
“Gideon, well this is a surprise,” Dad shouted/announced. Mom’s face fell, shock making her jaw go slack. She rebounded quickly though, brandishing her baster at me like a flaming sword.
“I should tan your hide,” she threatened but it held no great malice. My parents did not believe in corporal punishment. They never spanked me as a child so I doubted she would now that I was creeping up on forty. Still, to be safe, I pushed my ass tighter to the cabinet. “What on earth is he doing—Gideon, what a pleasant surprise!”
My sight flew from my mother to Gideon lingering in the doorway, a bottle of wine in one hand and a bouquet of autumn lilies in the other. Dear Lord and all his tiny cherubs the man cleaned up well. His cheeks were clean, his hair combed back and styled, and his dark gray suit was cut to emphasize the width of his shoulders. He wore a yellow shirt with a slim black tie and his cologne—that tantalizing scent of coriander and sandalwood—made the aroma of roasting turkey seem bland in comparison. I had it bad. There was no sense in denying it any longer. I wanted to sleep with Gideon. It was an astounding revelation but yet…not. I’d been attracted to him since that first day he’d ridden back into town on the bus. Perhaps it was just time to accept the knowledge and move on to the next phase of our changing relationship. What that was remained to be seen, but I sincerely hoped it included more kissing.
“Thank you so much for having me. These are for you,” Gideon said to my mother as he passed over the flowers. Then he turned his charm on my dad. “And this is for you. I wasn’t sure what you drank with the meal, but my mentor always liked a light red with turkey.”
“That’s very kind, thank you,” Mom said, slapping the baster into my hand to take her bouquet. “I’ll just get these into a vase and put the wine in the fridge. Dan, why don’t you take the boys into the living room while I get things around.”
Dad spun on his heel, giving me a confused glance before smiling at our guest. “This way, boys. You haven’t missed much. We’re just at the part when Quigley gets to the Marston ranch and goes to show off his shooting skills.”
Gideon looked at me in bewilderment. “Quigley Down Under. It’s a Thanksgiving tradition around here. Tom Selleck. Alan Rickman.”
“I thought Die Hard was the holiday film movie everyone watched. And Home Alone which I never could stand.”
“Not in this house,” I whispered and got an amused twitch of incredibly pink and kissable lips. “Only you would dislike a film about a kid thwarting two criminals with unique and cartoonish devices.”
“Meh. The whole premise is stupid. Why didn’t the crooks just rob Michael Jordan who lived seventeen minutes away? Jordan is much richer than Kevin’s parents.”
“Oh God, you’re one of those. A nitpicker. Why am I not surprised?” I waved at the sofa while Dad dropped down with a huff into his recliner.
He shrugged after he was seated. “I hate stupidity. And that movie was stupid. What kind of parent suddenly remembers that they forgot a child when they’re halfway to Paris?”
“Okay, yes, watching it as an adult isn’t the same as watching it as a kid, but you have to admit that the first time you saw it as a kid you so wanted to be Kevin protecting his house from those bumbling burglars.”
I sat down beside him while