Chapter 8

Marlee waited until Ash vanished altogether into the crowd. She let out a shaky breath. She had to get out of here before he came back. She asked directions to Toys R’ Us and bought the best kite she could afford. It was a high-speed racing kite with two handles for turning it in the air. It flashed bright red and blue in the package. Colton would love it.

She paused near the front door. She scanned the sidewalk outside, but when she saw no sign of Ash in either direction, she hustled out and hailed a cab. She hurried back to Colton’s apartment and wrapped the kite as fast as she could. She hid it near the back behind the other presents where he wouldn’t see it until Christmas morning.

She got settled into the couch to wait for Colton to come back. To hell with Ash! She would stay indoors for the rest of her vacation if it meant not seeing him again. If he were going to pull something like this, she would sacrifice anything to avoid getting mixed up with him.

Colton took a lot longer getting back than she expected. She made dinner and put it out on the table in the kitchen, but he still didn’t come. She went back to his living room and watched the news on TV. He didn’t get back until dark.

She heard his footsteps ringing down the hall. He blew into the living room and flopped onto the couch. He tossed his phone on the coffee table and propped up his feet. “Jesus! What a cluster fuck! You wouldn’t believe the state of things down at the docks.”

Marlee smiled. “Did you get it all worked out? Is everyone playing nice for Christmas now?”

He rolled his eyes. “They better, ‘cuz it costs them $10,000 every time I have to drag my tired ass down there to wag my finger in their faces. You wouldn’t think grown men could act so much like spoiled children.”

Marlee switched off the TV. “Well, it’s over now. Now you can join me for dinner because I’m starving.”

“Not so fast, you,” he called out. “I’ve got something to say to you.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“No, it can’t. I finished at the docks around four. I’ve been talking to Ash in the park ever since.”

Marlee froze. “What about?”

“About you, of course. After I left the docks, I got a text from him asking me to meet him at Strawberry Fields. He always goes there when he has some serious thinking to do.”

“So what does this have to do with me?”

“What did you do to him? He’s a mess. I’ve never seen him like this before.”

“I didn’t do anything to him. I just fucked him. That’s all I did.”

“He says he’s in love with you. He says he can’t live without you. He’s ready to throw away our whole working relationship over this.”

Marlee threw up her hands and whirled away. “Aw, God, don’t you start with that stuff. He’s off his rocker. You told me he wouldn’t want anything more. You made a big deal about him never sticking with one woman for long. Now he goes and pulls this.”

Colton shook his head. “I can hardly believe it myself. He says he’s never met anyone like you before and he doesn’t want to lose you. He wants to go all the way with you. He wants you to quit your job in California and move in with him so he can....do whatever with you all the time.”

Marlee collapsed into the nearest chair and hid her face in her hands. “Can we please drop this? I’m not getting involved with him. He told me all this already, and I told him there’s no chance. Can’t we just leave it at that?”

Colton frowned. “When did you talk to him about this?”

She waved her hand. “Just before. I started to...Aw, what the hell. I might as well tell you. I wanted to go out to buy you a Christmas present. I’ve been going crazy trying to figure out what to get you. I was just about to walk out the door when he turns up on your doorstep. He convinced me to go with him to the caroling, and then we’d look for a present for you. It all came out, and I had to shut him down hard. I let him walk away, and I haven’t seen him since.”

Colton stared at her. Then he shook his head. “You really know how to wreck a guy, don’t you? You should see him.”

“I have seen him. That’s the problem. I won’t see him again. That’s for certain.”

“He’s an emotional disaster. He’s all wound up over you. He’s never been like this—ever—not in all the years I’ve known him.”

“That’s because no one ever picked him up the way I did. He’s always been the player, loving and leaving ‘em behind. Now the shoe’s on the other foot. He’ll get over it, and maybe he’ll be nicer to women in the future, now that he knows how it feels.”

Colton smacked his lips. “You can’t honestly be thinking of kicking him in the teeth like that. How can you be so cruel?”

Marlee rounded on him. “Isn’t this what you warned me about? Isn’t this what you were worried about him doing to me?”

Colton shrugged. “I admit I thought he would break your heart. I thought he would screw you and leave you hanging out to dry. I never thought you would be the one to do it to him.”

Marlee stood up. “Look, Colton. I like Ash. I like Ash a lot. He’s exactly the kind of guy I could get involved with—if I were in the market to get involved with somebody—which I’m not. We have no future together, and letting him know that sooner rather than later was the nicest thing I could do for him.”

Colton relaxed. “Yeah, I understand that now. I just hate to see him hurting like this. He’s my best friend. If there’s any way I can make it better for him, I want to do it.”

“Well, there isn’t. I’m not doing anything with him, especially not freakin’ marrying him.”

Colton’s eyes popped. “He wants to marry you?”

“Well, he didn’t actually come right out and say so. He didn’t have to. His face said it all.”

Colton whistled. “Holy hell. I didn’t realize it went as far as that.”

“It didn’t. It never could, and it never will. Now can we please eat something?”

He burst into a grin. “Sure. Why don’t you bring the food in here? We can have a TV dinner.”

“All right.”

She collected all the food and spread it on the coffee table. They watched a little TV. Then Colton turned off the set and switched on the radio. They listened to more carollers on Times Square.

Colton reclined on the couch. “This is the nicest Christmas I’ve had in a long time. I forgot what it’s like having family around. I could almost wish you were moving in with Ash. Then we could spend Christmas together all the time.”

Marlee cocked her head to look at him. “Is what Ash said true that you are having deals going behind the scenes?”

Colton snorted. “He’s not supposed to know about that. He’s supposed to think I can’t live without him. He’s supposed to think we’re joined at the hip.”

“So I’m not the only one giving him the slip.”

“I guess I’m not giving him the slip if he knows about it.”

“So it’s true, isn’t it? You’ve got irons in the fire all over the place.”

“I’d be a pretty shoddy businessman if I didn’t.”

“I’m not so sure Ash doesn’t have his own thing going on the side, too,” she remarked. “Judging by the look of his house, I would say he’s doing pretty well for himself.”

Colton stared at her. “You went back to his house?”

“Sure. What did you think? Did you think I bonked him the alley behind the bar?”

Colton made a face. “I didn’t want to think about what you did. I didn’t think he took you back to his house, though.”

“Doesn’t he usually take his conquests back to his house?”

Colton coughed. “I don’t know what he does with his conquests, and I don’t want to know. I just never thought about him taking somebody to his house before. He seems more like a motel room kinda guy.”

“All right. I won’t talk about it anymore.”

“You’re hardly one of his conquests. It seems to me you conquered him, not the other way around.”

Marlee stole a peek at him where he relaxed on the couch with his eyes half open. “Listen, Colton. I’m really sorry about all this stuff with Ash. I never wanted to mess things up between you two. I should never have screwed around with him in the first place.”

“You didn’t mess things up between us. He came clean to me. He’s sorry he got mixed up with you, too. He doesn’t want this situation to interfere with our friendship. He wishes he’d stayed away from you. Then this never would have happened.”

Marlee hung her head. Neither she nor Ash kept their distance from the other the way they should have. Now they both had to live with the consequences.

“You’re right, you know,” Colton mused. “I never wanted to think my little sister could have sex with anybody. I never wanted to think of you as an adult before. I wanted to keep you a little kid forever. That’s the main reason I didn’t want you near Ash. I thought he would take advantage of you.”

“Whatever you think of me, Colton,” she replied, “I didn’t take advantage of Ash. I didn’t do anything he didn’t want me to do.”

“Oh, I’m quite certain of that. I’m sure he went ever so willingly to his doom.” He chuckled under his breath. “He loves women. He loves to see how they act and react in bed. He loves hearing their noises and seeing the expressions on their faces when they cum.”

Marlee stared at him. “He told you that?”

“He told me all about it. He tells me more than I ever wanted to know. I’m sure he won’t tell me anything about you, though. He wouldn’t dare. I have to hear that from you.”

“I won’t tell you anything about him or what he does in bed,” Marlee muttered.

“Good. Now let’s get some sleep. There’s only one more shopping day ‘til Christmas.”