“No,” he answered, shooting her a wicked grin. “But a guy is supposed to ask.”
Not able to wait a moment longer, Emily threw herself into his arms, hugging him so tightly she was probably choking him. But Grady didn’t complain. He pulled her against him, holding her like he’d never let her go.
“It was going to be a yes anyway,” she told him softly, laying her head against his shoulder.
“I know Hope can be convincing, but did you really think I had a wife?” Grady tilted her head up to look into her eyes.
“Honestly, I just reacted. I’m sorry. This is all pretty scary. I’ve never felt like this before, and I guess I just thought it was all too perfect to be real.” She sighed, wondering now how she ever believed it as she looked into Grady’s eyes, seeing the intensity of his love for her shining from their smoky depths. “I knew I could end up destroyed and hurt.”
“No one will ever hurt you again,” he answered hoarsely, his voice pulsating with emotion. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into his lap. “If they do, I’ll have to kill them.”
Emily smiled against his shoulder, knowing Grady would always have protective, dominant instincts, but she wasn’t complaining. His love would always surround her, and she would always feel the same protective feelings for him. “I’ll shower you with so much love that you’ll learn to love Christmas like I do someday,” she told him confidently.
“I’m already liking it. It’s Christmas Eve, and I’m pretty damn happy,” he replied, his voice muffled against her hair.
“What would it take to make you love it?” She squirmed in his lap, feeling the hard, hot protrusion against her ass.
He moved at lightning speed, putting her on her back as he came over her, his eyes mischievous and wicked. Moving between her thighs, he pinned her hands over her head. “You . . . in my bed . . . all night long and all day tomorrow. I think I’d be deliriously happy by the end of tomorrow and love Christmas. I might just stroll through Amesport handing out candy canes and wishing everyone as merry of a Christmas as I just had.”
Emily laughed merrily. “I think I’d like to see that.”
“You know how to accomplish it,” he challenged.
“I promised to show you a merrier Christmas,” she said thoughtfully.
“Yeah. Yeah, you did.” Grady swooped down and kissed her before adding, “But I thought you weren’t going to do what we just did.”
“No woman could resist a Christmas present like you,” Emily told him with a contented sigh.
Grady broke into a sexy smile that melted her heart, and then he kissed her, a Christmas kiss that promised her forever.
They never made it out of bed until the next evening, and they were both so happily exhausted that it was all they could do to eat, and then take themselves straight back to bed, the candy canes completely forgotten.
But it was the merriest Christmas Grady and Emily had ever had.
EPILOGUE
One week later, Grady found himself back at the Youth Center, but he wasn’t exactly going reluctantly anymore. Grady Sinclair was throwing a party, and he was actually the host. He’d had very little time to arrange it, but he’d pulled off a pretty decent New Year’s Eve bash.
The party was in full swing, the band he’d hired filling the hall with music that had most of the folks of Amesport out on the makeshift dance floor.
He smiled as he watched Emily hugging her parents and laughing. God, she made him happy, and he felt every possessive instinct in his body stand at attention when he saw the flash of his ring on her finger, almost unable to believe she was really his.
Her mom and dad had been surprised when Grady’s private jet had picked them up at the airport, but they had taken everything in stride. They’d come to meet him and attend the party to make their daughter happy. Really, Grady thought that was pretty extraordinary. Maybe it was normal behavior for loving parents, but normal was something he’d never experienced with his own mother and father.
Honestly, his childhood had been fucked up, but Emily made up for all that and more. If he had to do it again just to find his way to her, he’d do it in a heartbeat. He’d moved to Amesport to finally try to find some peace. Since he’d already owned property on the peninsula, he’d thought the small town would be the perfect place to avoid people. But he realized that real happiness couldn’t be found in a location. His real joy was Emily, and he was quickly realizing that all people were not like his father, that he really didn’t need to isolate himself. He might never be a social animal, but he wasn’t afraid of people anymore. Emily loved him. If she could accept him, maybe others could as well.
Grady’s eyes strayed to the other side of the room, watching his siblings all gathered together, looking like they were actually enjoying the party, maybe because it had brought them all together again. Hope had come from Aspen, minus her loser boyfriend, and his brothers Evan, Dante, and Jared had all arrived together a short time ago. Even Jason had showed up, claiming he had nothing better to do for New Year’s Eve.
Grady’s eyes narrowed on Dante, noticing how exhausted his brother looked. Dante, a year younger than Grady, had taken his own path after he’d left the Sinclair home when he was eighteen. He’d gone to college for a criminal justice degree, joining the police force in Los Angeles, quickly and aggressively moving up the ranks to become a homicide detective. Was he happy? Grady noticed the dark circles under Dante’s eyes, and the weary expression on his face. Maybe Dante had just been working crazy hours lately, but Grady had a feeling that Dante probably looked exactly the same most of the time. How could he not? Dante worked homicide in the worst district in Los Angeles for murders, many of them gang related. That kind of job had to eventually take its toll on a cop.
His wayward thoughts were interrupted as Emily came toward him, her hips swaying in a red cocktail dress that he really thought should be illegal. It clung to her curves and exposed more skin than he thought she should be showing, but she looked so incredibly hot that he was hard the instant she smiled at him.
“I still can’t believe you arranged all this. God, you look gorgeous in a tuxedo.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and planted a soft kiss on his lips. “You’re amazing, Mr. Sinclair.”
Grady raised a brow at her, knowing a challenge when he was confronted with it. “I thought I told you that I’d make you pay for calling me that. There’s a lot of Sinclairs. I want to be special.”