Tic-Tac-Mistletoe - N.R. Walker Page 0,59

“I’ll take more of last night, yes, please and thank you. Actually, more of the last three days as a whole.” He waved his hand in a circle. “All of it. Except for the running off the road thing, and the cry-screaming that you were a serial-killer bear. We can just skip those parts. But I’m definitely interested in—” He smiled. “In the possibilities.”

It made my heart so happy to hear that. And relieved, which I’m certain he could see on my face. “Good. Same. I am too.” I stopped short of asking him outright what those exact possibilities were, even though I really wanted to know, because his sister was waiting for us. Would we see each other on weekends? Every weekend? Every second weekend? Once a month? I wanted to ask but didn’t want to come across as needy. “Whatever those possibilities might be.”

Hamish grinned and climbed off the bed, stark naked. “Santa brought coffee, apparently.” He rifled through one of his suitcases and pulled out his PJ’s and quickly put them on, then stopped and stared at me. “Are you . . . did you not want breakfast? I can bring you a coffee if you want to stay in bed?”

I chuckled. “I was just enjoying the view.”

His grin widened and his cheeks tinted pink. “I’ll go out first. That way Liv can embarrass only me while you throw on some clothes.”

“Deal.”

He slipped through the door and pulled it closed, and I sighed up at the ceiling. I was happy for the first time in a long time, even with me leaving today. He wanted to see me again. We had possibilities we needed to sort out, but things were good. Actually, things were great.

Hamish was great.

Last night had been amazing. His body, his mouth, his . . . everything. But it was more than that with him. He was funny and smart and kind and sensitive and honest.

And he was waiting for me with fresh coffee . . .

I threw back the covers and pulled on my jeans and a shirt, then detoured to the bathroom before venturing out to the kitchen. Liv had some Christmas piano music playing and the house was warm, and something smelled amazing. I poked my head into the kitchen.

“Oh, here you are,” Hamish said, handing me a coffee. “Josh is cooking pancakes for breakfast.”

“Merry Christmas, Ren,” Liv said. Her hair was in a messy bun; she wore flannel pyjamas and a huge smile. “Sleep well?”

I got the distinct impression that in the thirty seconds of my absence that Hamish had told her everything we’d done last night. I sipped my coffee, pretending I wasn’t embarrassed. “Slept really well, thank you.” Chutney was, of course, by my feet. “I better take this little one out for a bathroom break.”

“I’ll get her shoes,” Hamish said, disappearing out to the living room. He tied on her four little shoes while I held her.

“Awww,” Liv said. “You’re just so cute together.” Hamish shot her a please-shut-up glare, but she rolled her eyes. “I can’t help it. I’m hormonal and clucky.”

I laughed as I took Chutney out back, and in no time at all we were sitting down eating a breakfast of pancakes and bacon and fruit, more coffee and juice, and listening to Christmas songs on the TV. There was a decent foot of snow on the ground, but the sun was out and it really was a perfect Christmas morning.

When we were done eating, Josh disappeared from the table and he came back out push-sliding a huge box. It was covered in Christmas wrapping so we couldn’t see what was in it, but his grin was huge. “Now, I know we said no expensive gifts this year because of the baby and all,” he said, looking mightily pleased with himself. “But I couldn’t resist.”

Liv stood up. “Is that for me?”

He shrugged. “Well, yes and no. It’s for us . . . as a family.”

She put her hand to her mouth. “Josh, what did you buy?”

“Come and open it,” he said, grinning.

Liv tore into the paper, and as soon as she saw what it was, she stood back and began to sob. “You said it was too expensive.”

He wrapped her up in his arms. “But I saw how much you loved it, so I went back. I had to go pick it up from Mom and Dad’s yesterday.”

Liv wiped at her eyes and turned the box around so we could see it was a