“You didn’t know he was in Baltimore?” Colm asked.
Kelli shook her head but didn’t separate from the hug, still clinging. “Nope.” There was precious little emotion behind that response, which simply reinforced the fact that Kelli had stopped expecting anything from the man a long time ago.
Kelli’s parents had divorced when she was thirteen. Not that it came as a surprise to anyone—Kelli included—except Barb.
Kelli had actually confessed once she was shocked her dad had managed to stick around that long.
Barb, however, was blindsided by her husband’s departure, and her general unpleasantness before that had turned to hardcore bitterness after. She criticized her ex to anyone who would listen and had for the past twenty-plus years. Time had not healed her wounds. Not even a little bit.
Mr. Peterson had tried to remain a part of Kelli’s life the first few months after he’d left. Until his ex-wife made it too impossible. Then he moved across the country to Denver, met a woman with two sons, and remarried. As far as Colm knew, Kelli and her dad exchanged birthday cards and spoke on the phone a couple times a year. If she’d ever wanted more than that from her dad, she’d never expressed it.
Actually, after her dad split, Kelli had begun to turn to his father whenever she needed help with something she probably would have gone to Mr. Peterson for. It was Colm’s dad, Tris, who taught her how to drive, throwing her in the car with him and Padraig, claiming it was just as easy to teach three teens as it was two. Dad had taught her how to change a tire, how to check the engine oil, how to fish. It was his dad whom Kelli had asked to go with her when she’d saved up enough money for her first piece-of-shit car.
Colm placed a soft kiss to the top of her head. “I’m sorry it was such a rough day, but hey, at least it’s over.”
“That would comfort me more if Christmas wasn’t a month away. I’m considering running away with the gypsies.”
“What if…” Colm took a deep breath, shocked by what he was about to offer, but he did it anyway. “What if you invite Barb to join all of us here for Christmas dinner? There are enough of us that if we all take a turn, no one should have to spend more than ten minutes with her.”
Kelli lifted her head, her expression one of longing and horror.
Jesus. Only Kelli could pull off a look like that.
Then she leaned closer and sniffed his breath. “Have you been drinking?”
Colm narrowed his eyes. “No, Kell.”
“Why would you subject your family to that?”
He chuckled. “They all know your mom. And just like you, they’re fine with her. In small doses. We’ll divide and conquer. What do you say?”
Kelli quietly studied his face for a full minute, obviously giving him time to come to his senses. He stared her down.
“I think that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He laughed loudly. “Shit. Talk about a low bar.”
Kelli tilted her head. “Seriously?”
He revised his statement. “Okay, yeah. You’re right. It’s a damn high bar.”
“Just the same,” she said, “maybe you should clear it with your family. I really don’t want to impose.”
“It’s not an imposition.” Colm knew his family would be fine with it, especially when they found out about his and Kelli’s change in relationship status.
Deep down, Colm was hoping this Christmas would be the first in a lifetime of holidays he and Kelli would spend together as a couple. And he knew perfectly well that meant Christmases with Barb as well.
Colm pressed his forehead against hers. “I guess you’re going to make me go be social, aren’t you? Or can I convince you to go upstairs for a quickie?”
“No quickie.” She shook her head, though she was grinning widely. His invitation to Christmas seemed to have lifted the weight of the world off her shoulders. “I haven’t had my pumpkin pie yet, and there’s no way I’m taking a chance on missing it. You know how those vultures are once the desserts come out.”
Kelli’s favorite part of Thanksgiving was his mom’s pumpkin pie. She loved it so much, Mom baked one for her for Christmas every year that, as her mom said, “Kelli doesn’t have to share.”
And Kelli didn’t.
She didn’t even slice the Christmas gift pie. Just grabbed a fork and went after it.
“Well, if you’re not going to come up for the quickie, you’re coming up to spend the night. Nonnegotiable.”
Kelli gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m not a fool, Colm. I’m not about to fight you on something I want. Badly.” She ran her hand down his chest suggestively before drifting even lower. She just barely grazed his covered cock, but it was enough to wake the boy up. “I’m thinking a blowjob might be on the books, thanks to the Christmas invite.”
“Dammit,” he muttered. “An erection and jeans don’t mix, beauty. You know that.”
She gave him a wicked grin and another stroke, leaving him rock-hard. “I do know that. That’s what makes it so much fun for me.”
“Payback’s a bitch, Kell. Just remember.”
She lifted one shoulder as if she didn’t have a care in the world, then she turned back toward the dining area of the pub just as Aunt Riley yelled out, “Dessert!”
He heard Kelli laughing, perfectly aware she’d left him at a disadvantage as she disappeared among the crowd of his family, all of whom were jockeying for position around the cakes and pies.
Colm readjusted his pants, counted to twenty, then pictured Barb in a bikini. By the time he’d gotten himself under control and to the dessert line, the pumpkin pie was long gone. He looked over and spotted Kelli with a huge slice.
He narrowed his eyes because, well, it was his favorite too.
She lifted her hand and revealed two forks.
Oh yeah, Colm thought.
This was definitely love.
Now he just had to convince
