BANKS Maya - Undenied (Samhain).txt (14 page)

“Ellie, come on, you can’t decorate the entire house in white lights,” Jake grumbled as she handed him another strand of twinkling white bulbs. “Let me at least do the mantle in colored lights.”

Wes grinned as she ignored Jake’s outburst and calmly handed him yet another strand of the boring-ass white lights she loved so much.

Her hand cupped her swollen belly, and she smiled as she looked down. The baby must have moved again.

“If you’re going to get this done before everyone else shows up, you better get a move on,” Wes drawled.

Jake flipped him the bird. “I don’t see you doing much, Hoffman. Weren’t you supposed to come over and help?”

“I helped. I told Ellie what lovely taste she had in Christmas decorations. And I helped her decorate the tree.”

Jake muttered something unintelligible under his breath. A few seconds later, he climbed down the ladder. “All done.”

Ellie smiled up at him, and Wes watched as Jake melted into a puddle of mush.

The doorbell rang, and Ellie turned toward the door.

“I’ll get it,” Wes said. “You two continue on with whatever it is you were doing.”

Wes opened the door, and a rush of unseasonably cool air blew in. Gracie shoved by him and made a beeline for the fireplace. He chuckled as she stuck her hands out, teeth chattering a steady staccato.

Luke walked in at a much slower pace and removed his coat.

“Merry Christmas, Gracie,” Wes called over to her.

“Come over here and I’ll hug you,” she replied. “But my ass isn’t moving from in front of the fire.”

He and Luke exchanged amused glances and both moved over to where Gracie stood. Wes held his arms out to her, and she curled herself around him, shaking like a leaf the entire time.

“Damn, girl, it’s not that cold out there.”

She shot him a dark glance as she moved from his arms to Luke’s in her effort to get warm.

Ellie and Jake walked over and exchanged hugs with Gracie. Luke smiled at Ellie and gave her a quick hug. “How’s the little one doing?”

Ellie smiled. “Active. Keeps me up a lot at night.”

The doorbell rang and Luke turned in the direction of the door. “That’ll be Jeremy and Michelle. They were leaving the same time we were.”

A few seconds later, Jeremy walked in holding a baby carrier, Michelle right behind him.

Lively chatter ensued as they gathered around the tree to ooh and aah over Ellie’s handiwork. Presents were dropped on the floor and shoved underneath.

Amidst all the laughing and good cheer, a soft knock sounded at the door. Wes slipped away and went to open it. His knees went weak when he saw Payton standing there in the doorway.

He pulled her inside, into his arms and kissed her long and hard. “I missed you,” he whispered.

She smiled and kissed him again.

“Close the door!” Gracie exclaimed.

Payton laughed and turned to slam the door shut. Wes took her hand, tucked it into his and pulled her into the living room where the others were gathered.

She received hugs from all around before Gracie promptly confiscated her, dragging her over to the fire to chat.

He smiled. He’d gotten better about sharing her with his friends. Now it gave him a surge of satisfaction to see her accepted by the people so important to him.

Things had been a wee bit awkward between Payton and Gracie the first time they all got together, but Gracie, in her usual, straightforward manner, addressed the issue head-on, cleared the air and the two had been at ease with each other ever since.

After a while, Payton made her way back to him, just as she always did. She slipped her arm around his waist and stood beside him as he talked with Luke and Jeremy. Automatically, his hand came up to stroke her hair, his need to touch her ever present.

“Let’s eat,” Ellie said from the doorway of the dining room.

They all filed into the formal dining room, and murmurs of appreciation filled the air as everyone saw how beautifully Ellie had decorated the table.

When everyone was seated, Jake cleared his throat and rose from his chair. He reached for the wineglass in front of him. He looked vaguely uncomfortable but then he looked down at Ellie, and a soft smile lit up his face. She reached up and squeezed his hand, returning his smile.

Jake kept her hand in his and raised his wineglass with the other.

“This past year has seen a lot of changes. All of which have been good.” He glanced down at Ellie again. “The woman I love more than anything put me out of my misery and married me, and now we’re looking forward to the birth of our first child.”

A tear rolled down Ellie’s cheek and she wiped at it self-consciously. As Wes stared around at the others gathered, he saw a mixture of emotion on all their faces.

Did it get any better? His chest was about to expand to bursting. Mushy? Yeah. Did he give a fuck? No.

Jake raised his glass in Luke and Gracie’s direction. “And our good friends finally saw the light, decided they couldn’t live without each other.”

Luke folded his hand over Gracie’s on the table and leaned over to kiss her. She gave him a dazzling smile then raised her glass toward Jake and blew him a kiss.

Jake lowered the glass to his right where Jeremy and Michelle sat with Thad in Michelle’s lap. “We got to see the first baby born to our group. A precious little boy sure to grow up with many doting aunts and uncles.”

Then he raised his glass higher and stared down the length of the table to where Wes and Payton sat. “And we gained a new friend. Payton, you’re a welcome addition to our group. You make that ornery bastard happy, and that’s all we can ask.”

Payton curled her fingers into his under the table as she smiled broadly back at Jake. She and Wes raised their glasses to Jake.

“May we always be as happy as we are right here, right now,” Jake said, encompassing the entire table with a sweep of his glass.

They all raised their glasses in a toast. As silence descended, Wes lessened his grip on Payton’s hand, looked over at her and nodded. She smiled and let him go. He stood, holding his glass with him.

“A word if you don’t mind,” he said in Jake’s direction.

All eyes turned in his direction, and Gracie looked like she might burst into tears at any moment. Wes grinned and shook his head. The hormonal lunatic.

He looked once more at Payton then held his hand out to her. She slid her hand into his and stood beside him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her tightly against him.

“We have something we want to tell you.”

Everyone leaned forward in anticipation.

Wes took a deep breath. “I’ve asked Payton to marry me.”

He held his hand up as an outburst of congratulations and whoops made it around the table. Beside him, Payton wrapped an arm around his waist and squeezed reassuringly.

“We’re moving to Liberty County. I’m going to be taking a job with the sheriff’s department there. Payton will be close enough that she can commute to Houston, and we’ll still be within an hour’s driving distance of you guys.”

Gracie, bless her heart, promptly burst into tears. Luke did his best to console her until she smacked him on the head and informed him they were happy tears.

The entire group crowded around, hugging, shaking hands, congratulating him and Payton. His fears of leaving everything that was familiar to him slowly dissipated. He still had his friends, people who meant more than anything to him, but better yet, he had Payton.

She looked up at him as the others returned to their seats. Her blue eyes shined with such love and understanding. Unable to resist, he lowered his head to kiss her.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

“And he calls us pussies,” Luke said in disgust.

Payton laughed and pulled away, but Wes kept a firm grip on her hand.

He shot Luke a cocky grin. “If having the love of a good woman makes a man a pussy then I guess we’re all pretty much screwed.”

That got him the smiles of every woman seated.

About the Author

To learn more about Maya Banks please visit www.mayabanks.com. Send an email to Maya at [email protected].

Look for these titles by Maya Banks

Now Available:

Seducing Simon

Colters’ Woman

Understood

Overheard

Coming Soon:

Brazen

The Dear John Letters

When she breaks free from the bondage of her past, he’ll be waiting.

Understood

© 2006 Maya Banks

Jake Turner committed the ultimate mistake of falling in love with his best friend’s wife. The distance he puts between them costs both him and Ellie Matthews dearly. Jake will never forgive himself for not seeing what a bastard his friend was. Now that Ellie is free from her nightmare, Jake waits, needing and wanting. He’ll be there when Ellie is ready to spread her wings.

Enjoy the following excerpt for Understood:

Jake Turner glanced around at the gaudy Christmas decorations adorning the interior of Zach’s Bar and Grill and suppressed a grimace.

He motioned for another beer and ignored what his buddy next to him was yammering about. Things were always lively at Zach’s close to Christmas. Jake could never figure out if people were getting out to celebrate the season or if they were all just lonely and looking for another human being to connect to.

“Earth to Jake. Come on, man, you’re in another world over there.”

Jake blinked then scowled at his friend, Colin. “What the hell do you want?”

Colin nodded toward the door. “Isn’t that Ray’s ex coming in?”

Jake’s pulse quickened, and he yanked his gaze toward the entrance. All his breath left his body in one hard rush. What the hell?

His gaze came to rest on Ellie Matthews as she stood just inside the doorway. Only it wasn’t Ellie as he was used to seeing her.

She took a hesitant step forward then stopped and scanned the room, her eyes wide. Her bottom lip worked between her teeth, a sure sign of her nervousness.

Long soft curls spilled over her shoulders, hair that a man would itch to thrust his fingers into as he thrust into other parts of her body.

But what had his blood pressure soaring was her get-up. Despite it being the middle of December, she wore a top barely held up by the spaghetti strings over her shoulders. The neckline plunged, and the material cupped her breasts in all the right places.

Her mini skirt, if you could call the scrap of denim barely covering her ass a skirt, rode so high up on her thighs that Jake knew if she moved wrong, the entire bar would get a glimpse of her pussy.

She had a “fuck me” ensemble going on complete with “ride me hard” shoes. He’d never seen her in high heels once, and yet she teetered unsteadily toward the bar in three-inch, fire-engine red heels.

“Jesus, I had no idea she was so damn hot,” Colin muttered.

Jake rounded on Colin with a ferocious glare. “Shut the hell up,” he growled.

Colin raised an eyebrow in surprise but remained silent.

Jake turned his attention back to Ellie, who stood at the bar. The bartender plunked down a shot which she promptly drained before motioning for another.

There wasn’t a single male eye that wasn’t riveted on her. Two men sauntered up to the bar and stood close to Ellie. She smiled at them flirtatiously, and Jake was struck with a sudden realization.

She was taking the plunge.

A surge of red hot jealousy spilled over into his gut. She was finally breaking free of the hold Ray had on her, only this wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. Jake had waited a long time for her. He’d thought she needed more space. He was supposed to be the one she came to when she was ready to take that leap.

He gripped his beer bottle until his knuckles went white. What the hell did she think she was doing? His eyes narrowed when she downed another shot. When she turned her attention back to the crowd of admirers at her elbow, he saw the fear in her eyes.

It was then he understood what it was costing her. This whole “take me home and fuck me” was all a brave act. She was scared to death, and the only way she had a hope of carrying through with it was by getting thoroughly drunk.

Over his dead body.

He was striding across the room even before he realized he’d gotten up from his table. In two seconds flat, he shoved by the group of men all panting over Ellie and stood beside her at the bar.

She turned unfocused blue eyes up at him, the fear that shadowed her gaze disappearing as she realized who he was.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Ellie?” he demanded.

Panic flitted across her face, and the fear returned.

Without waiting to hear what she had to say, he bent slightly, pushing his shoulder into her belly. He stood back up, slinging her over his shoulder. His hand rested possessively on her ass.

He turned to glare at the men who’d surrounded Ellie. “She’s mine,” he said in his most menacing voice.

They backed off quickly.

He started for the door, Ellie’s upper body swinging against his back.

“Jake?” she said in a small voice. “Where are we going?”

God, he hated that sound. The fear in her voice. The uncertainty. It made him want to put his fist through the wall.

“Home,” he bit out.

In a heated Valentine weekend, Caleb and Jacqueline explore just how far their friendship can go.

Be Mine

© 2007 Gwendolyn Cease

Caleb and Jacqueline have been friends for nearly two years since he was engaged to her best friend. But now the engagement is over and Jack wonders where they stand. Jacqueline wants to maintain their friendship, but would prefer so much more.

Caleb invites her to spend Valentine weekend with him at a bed & breakfast since he had made the reservations long before he and Claire broke up. Though the breakup with Claire was only a month ago, the relationship between them had been over long before that. Caleb wants Jacqueline and is prepared to do anything to get her.

And he doesn’t just want her for the weekend, he wants her forever. Caleb uses every strategy in his erotic arsenal to convince her she is more than just his friend—she is the woman he loves.