Married to Krampus - Marina Simcoe Page 0,55

ours. We would have a dinner at our house on Christmas Eve. Then, my sister and I would stay the night at Grandma’s and open all the presents the next morning. Hers were always the most fun. She liked giving people gifts that were personal, but also unique and even whimsical. And of course, it was always a big surprise.” Daisy’s chest rose with an inhale. “Ever since Grandma passed away, Christmas has never been the same. Still nice, but not the same.”

She glanced around the table. He and Lievoa remained quiet. Even the boys appeared subdued.

“Anyway...” Daisy cleared her throat, shrugging her shoulders as if shaking off the lingering sadness of nostalgia for the times long gone. “Dessert time?” She grabbed their empty trays and dashed to the kitchen.

Lievoa followed her with her gaze.

“Human or whatever, Daisy is great,” she concluded.

“I like her, too,” Zun said firmly. “Daisy is a good friend.”

“Well, she is more than a friend, isn’t she?” Lievoa turned to the boy. “She is your—”

“Lievoa,” Grevar interrupted, putting a warning in his voice.

“I like Daisy,” Olvar declared. “And she is staying with us for a whole year!”

“A year?” Lievoa leveled a stare at him. “What are your sons talking about, cousin? Care to explain?”

He cringed inside. He should’ve foreseen a possibility that his arrangement with Daisy might not remain a secret forever. Maybe, he should’ve at least considered letting his closest family and friends in on it. Deep inside, however, he’d thought he could fix it somehow. That sooner or later, Daisy would stay with him—for life, not just a year.

“What did you do?” Lievoa frowned, folding her arms across her chest.

“I’m working on it,” he muttered.

“I hope you like these!” A tray of desserts in each hand, Daisy rushed in, saving him from a lengthy explanation. Though if he knew his cousin at all, the explanation had just been postponed, not cancelled.

“Tell me what you think about each.” Daisy moved around the table, serving the strange looking pieces on individual plates in front of each person at the table. “You only get three,” she warned the boys. “But you’ll get to choose which ones you want.”

Lievoa leaned toward him over the table and hissed into his face, “I like her more than a lot of Voranian women I know. I don’t care what you’ve done, Grevar. Fix it!”

He took a long swig from his glass, nearly choking on his wine.

“Dessert?” Daisy moved to his side with her tray. “Which one would you like?”

She stood so close. Her sweet, flowery scent mixed with the aroma of his wine, more intoxicating than any liquor. Heat radiated from the point where her bare arm touched his shoulder. She bent over holding the tray out for him to make his choice. All he had to do would be to slide his gaze a little sideways to glimpse the tantalizing sight of her breasts inside her neckline...

His cock twitched with ache, and his heart squeezed with longing. Would there ever be an end to this torture? How would he survive if she left?

“Colonel?” she prompted, her voice a bit raspy.

“This one.” He pointed at something brown.

He stuffed the whole thing into his mouth the moment she’d set it on his plate. It turned out to be delicious—sweet, with just a hint of bitterness—even though he didn’t like sweet foods that much.

“This one is my favorite, I think.” Lievoa pointed at the round pastry decorated with a creamy pink flower. “Though, it’s really hard to say. They’re all so good.”

“I like this one, too.” Olvar shoved the last of the three pieces on his plate into his mouth.

“Me too.” Zun ate all three simultaneously, taking a bite of each at a time. “But I like this one the most.” He bit into the round brown thing, the same Grevar just had.

“This is a chocolate cupcake,” Daisy cheerfully explained. “Unlike the mousse, I made it with the chocolate equivalent powder. That’s why it turned out pretty good. Miss Goodfellow, my old boss at the bakery, used to say that my cupcakes were the best. Her customers always asked for them.”

Lievoa clapped her hands. “Daisy, you could get a job in a bakery here, too.” She tossed a glare his way.

Did she think Daisy was leaving because he wouldn’t let her out of the house on her own? Of course, Lievoa would be accusing him of a million things, right now. But would Daisy getting a job in Voran help him keep her?

“Do