CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Bring the heat.
Ana rubbed her foot against Jack’s leg as they lay in bed. “I have to get up and put the turkey in the oven, but I can’t move yet.”
“Then I sexed you up good and have fulfilled my boyfriend duties.”
“I suppose you have, but you may have overperformed.” Glancing over, she ran her hand along his stomach. “What would happen if I couldn’t get out of bed and Thanksgiving was canceled?”
“Then my sexual mastery would be confirmed.”
“I doubt that’s necessary.”
“Still, it would be nice,” he replied with a chuckle.
“You have enough speculation about your prowess with that woman claiming you’re a deadbeat father.”
Rolling over, he pulled her into his arms. “My attorney hasn’t heard a peep out of anyone, and the cause of action hearing is in a couple of weeks.”
“So, she hasn’t done anything about running the paternity test, even though she’s squawking all over Twitter about how you’ve done her wrong?”
“Nope, and I don’t really expect her to since she knows the minute she does it, her claims fall apart.”
“Well, hopefully, the whole thing will be resolved before too long, and we can get rid of the cloud hanging over our head.”
“Is that how it feels, Ana? Is being with me that bad?”
“No, Jack.” Running her hand down his face, she moved closer. “It’s just…”
“What?”
“Challenging. I can’t go anywhere by myself, and I’ve had to move out of my house all while trying to get settled into a new job.”
“When you put it like that, it sounds really crappy.”
“Good thing you seem like you’re worth the extra effort; otherwise, we might have a real problem.”
“I promise you this will be finished before you know it and we’ll have nothing but smooth sailing.”
“Life is hardly ever that, and I’d be happy with anything that doesn’t resemble a typhoon.”
Pushing his hips against her, he grinned. “Does a sexual typhoon count? Because I’m more than ready to make one happen.”
She scooted back and laughed. “No way, I need to get cooking, so we’ll have some food to serve our guests.”
“I could just put up a sign on the door that reads: I’m sorry, we’ve had to cancel Thanksgiving this year because I couldn’t help myself and had my way with Ana.”
She pushed at his shoulder, rolled over, and jumped up. “Not going to happen.” Hearing his laughter, she waved her hand behind her head. “I’m going to shower.”
Once she turned on the water and was about to get in, she heard the door open, and in walked the devil himself. “Don’t try and distract me.”
“I’m just going to soap your back and make sure that you’re clean in all those hidden spots.”
Narrowing her eyes, she smirked. “You are a bad man, Jack Ellis.”
“I know, and you love it,” he replied as he opened the shower door. He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. “I’m here to help and nothing more.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of because I don’t know if I’ll survive much more your help.” She took his hand and walked under one of the many shower heads and let the warm water rain over her already relaxed body.
Looking up into his dark green eyes, she realized that, by some miracle, she’d fallen in love. Against all odds and her very best intentions, she loved Jack Ellis, professional football player.
And probably always would.
What to do…what to do!
“The way you’re looking at me makes me think you’re falling for me but fighting it.”
Closing her eyes, she nodded. “It seems I have and I’m slightly panicked.”
Putting their mouths together, he kissed her gently. “Once you get used to it, there won’t be anything but good feelings.”
“Are you speaking from experience?”
“Sure am!”
“You might as well just take my heart since it seems to want to go with you anyway.”
“I’ll take good care of it and ask you do the same with mine since it’s been in your care from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“What do we do now?”
“Hold on and guard it with everything we have. What we have is precious, and I for one am not going to let anyone or anything come between us.”
Sliding her hands around his waist, she hugged him tight and hoped it was possible.
***
Jack stood in the kitchen and watched Ana prepare two turkeys for the oven. “I’ll put them in the oven when you’re ready.”
“That would be great since these babies are over thirty pounds apiece.”
“Give me the basting schedule, and I’ll set my watch and take care of it.”
“Thanks, Jack.”
“Don’t thank me; we’re a team and in this together.”
“Except for the dishes after dinner, that’s all you and the guys because I plan on passing out after we eat and having a nice long nap.”
“Sounds fair since you’re doing all the cooking.”
Wiping her hands, she stood back and nodded. “These are ready to go in.”
“Good thing we have double ovens, or we’d be in trouble,” he replied as he put the turkeys in the oven one at a time.
“Whoever owned this house before must’ve loved to cook because there are a lot of nice features in here.”
“In a couple of months, I bet you’ll have your list of improvements complete, and we can remodel it however you want.”
“I don’t have a list of any kind; this is your house, not mine.”
“It will be our house because I wasn’t blowing smoke when I said on national television that I wanted to marry you.”
“Well, that’s very…”
“Exciting?”
“Interesting,” she replied. “And…”
“You told me this morning that you’d fallen for me and I saw it in your eyes, so what’s the problem?”
Taking his hand, she looked up. “I think we get along, and I’ve certainly fallen under your spell, but I’m a scientist at heart, and need a little more data before I can make a major life decision. I think we should take our time and make sure it’s the real thing.”
“Oh, it’s real, alright. That’s for damn sure.” Taking her hand, he looked over her shoulder. “This might be a good time to show you the present I got for you.” He watched her expression close down. “Don’t worry; it’s not a ring.”
“I didn’t think that.”
“A little part of your brain did, and the look of utter panic was hard to miss.”
“I don’t think that’s an accurate description.”
“Yeah, it was.” Bending, down he kissed her nose. “You’re going to love the surprise; don’t worry.” He led her outside toward the stairs that led to the pool and pointed to the two massive swan floats. One was painted with her name, and the other had his. “Swans mate for life, so I thought it was appropriate.” When she lifted her T-shirt and wiped her eyes and nose, he frowned. “You’re happy, right?”
Jumping into his arms, she buried her nose in his neck. “It’s the most perfect gift of my life, and I love you, Jack Ellis, even if it doesn’t make sense.”
“What about taking our time and making sure it’s real?”
“That still stands, but in the meantime, I’m going to love you anyway.”
Letting out a big whoop, he ran toward the pool and jumped in, holding Ana tightly. He pushed off the bottom of the pool and brought them to the surface quickly. “I love you, Dr. Ana James, and always will.”
“I love you too; now let me out because I have a lot of cooking to get to.”
He swam them to the edge and helped her out. “Best holiday…hands down…ever.”
Standing at the top of the steps, she kissed him. “Agreed.”
They walked toward the doors that led into the master bedroom, and Jack felt a balloon of happiness expand in his chest. “Tell me who’s coming over today.”
“Let’s see; we have Trevor and Katie, and Brian and his date, Alex and my cousin Lourdes and then the four or five single players you invited from the team.
“That’s a good-sized crowd for our first holiday together.” Opening the door to their bedroom, he led her in, and they walked into the bathroom, leaving a trail of water. Turning on the water for the shower, he gave her a grin as they peeled off their wet clothes. “Since we’re in love, I think it’s only right that we consummate it here in the shower.”
“We’ve already consummated this morning.”
“I find that you can never have enough consummating.” Wiggling his eyebrows, he grinned. “You know you want to.”
Laughing, she put up her hand, “I need to walk today.”
Lifting her up, he walked into the shower and put her back against the wall and bent his legs. Placing his mouth against hers, he entered her in one long thrust and let her sigh fall sweetly into his ears as he began to move.
This was definitely the best holiday of his life because the woman that he loved, loved him back, and that’s all that would ever be important.