Mistletoe & Kisses (22 page)

Chapter Five

THE NEXT TWENTY minutes fly by as we get into a perfect rhythm in the kitchen. Before I know it, we have breakfast done and get everything set up for everyone to start making their plates.

“Would you mind running outside and letting Brody know breakfast is done? I gotta get Corbin’s plate made and set him up at the table,” Ella asks.

I wash my hands and dry them with the dish rag hanging on the oven door. My mood is already improving, and I’ve already mentally forgiven Brody for waking me up. I’m glad I got to come down this morning and do all this with Ella. It felt great having someone around to talk with while preparing breakfast. Normally, I’m always alone and running out the door to work, so breakfast is a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich or a Poptart.

“Sure. I can’t wait to meet Corbin. How old is he?”

I follow Ella towards the living room, where Corbin is watching Disney Jr. on the flat screen resting on the mantel of the massive fireplace.

“He just turned three. He is the sweetest, most intelligent little boy I’ve ever known. You’re going to love him.”

Ella walks around the large sectional and scoops up the little boy, who has the cutest smile and the same reddish curly hair as his dad. He is in his footie jammies still and snuggling with his soft-looking blankey and sippy-cup as Ella carries him toward me.

“Corbin, I want you to meet someone,” she says gently as she presses a kiss to his plump, rosy cheek. She smiles up at me as she points Corbin in my direction. “This is my niece Callie. She’s come to spend Christmas here. Can you say hi to her?”

He gives me a shy smirk and hides his face behind his blanket. Reaching out, I tickle his belly and he lets out the sweetest, most cheerful giggle that instantly makes my heart light up. “Hi, Corbin. I love your jammies. I take it you love Jake and the Neverland Pirates? They are so cool.”

His eyes slowly appear above his blanket. They’re sparkling with excitement and I can’t help but smile at him. He is adorable.

“I love Jake!” he says matter-of-factly, finally removing the blanket from his face. He points at his pajamas, showing me all the characters on it.

“I swear we watch that show twenty times a day. Thank goodness for the DVR, or I think he’d never take a nap,” Ella tells me as she squeezes one of Corbin’s chubby cheeks.

I tickle Corbin’s belly one more time. His smile is like a ray of sunshine breaking through an overcast day. It is definitely helping boost my mood. I’m excited to play with him today. I rub my belly as I think about what my baby will be like, if she’ll look like me or Jase. I refuse to let sadness creep in and ruin my good mood, so I push all thoughts of Jase to the back of my mind.

“I know that all too well. I babysit my friend Gia’s daughter once a week so she and her fiancé can go out for a date night, and we spend the entire day watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I think I can recite every episode word-for-word. Well, I’m going to run out and get Brody, but save me a seat next to you for breakfast, okay?” I direct the last part at Corbin, and with another face-splitting grin and his cheeks reddening, he nods shyly at me.

Ella walks back towards the dining area with Corbin. Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence are already at the table eating their breakfast as I head outside to find Brody. The second I open the front door, a burst of cold air hits my face and blows through the holes of my knitted sweater, making a shiver pass through me. I make my way down the stairs, stomping through the fresh snow that fell last night.

It’s beautiful outside today, minus the cold weather. The pine trees lining the shoreline are covered in fluffy snow, making it appear to be a winter wonderland. I hug myself, attempting to keep my body warm as I walk around to the side of the large home and try to find Brody. I get to the spot that is visible from my room, where he was chopping wood earlier, but he’s no longer there.

A gust of wind whips by me, making me quicken my pace. “Jesus, it’s freezing today!” I mutter to myself as I look around for this guy. I’m cursing my clothing choice, because right now, it feels like I’m walking around topless.

I spot the large wooden barn Ella was talking about earlier, where Brody and Corbin live. I pray to God he’s in there, because it’s way too cold to keep wandering around this massive property, trying to find him.

The barn is shut and a padlock is hanging from the door. I glance around the side of the barn and spot a small white door that must lead upstairs. I walk over to it and test the door handle, discovering it’s unlocked. Turning it, I quietly step inside and shut the door behind me. I climb the tall staircase that leads up to another white door and stop when I reach the top. Peering through the glass, I try to see if I spot him anywhere. I knock on the window and wait for almost a minute with no reply. Knocking again, I wait and see if he’ll answer.

Still nothing.
Where in the hell is this guy
? I’m bouncing on the balls of my feet as I try to keep myself warm. It helps being inside this stairway, but it’s still pretty damn cold. Finally, I check the handle to see if maybe it’s open. I don’t want to head back out into the cold just to find he was inside going to the bathroom or something. I don’t know why Ella didn’t just text him. It would be a hell of a lot faster, and a whole lot warmer.

My stomach grumbles as I let out a sigh of relief when the door swings open. I’m hit with a burst of warm air as I pop my head into the house. “Hello? Brody? Are you in here?” I shout into the house as I try to speak through my chattering teeth.

I hear movement from a room just off of the small living room before a deep and husky voice yells back to me, “I’ll be right there.”

Stepping into the house, I shut the door and lean against it. I rub at my arms as I try to warm myself up; I can’t stop shivering.

I feel my body slowly warming up as I look around the small space. It isn’t much, but I guess for a single guy with a son, they don’t need much. There’s a small kitchen that opens into the living room, and then two doors off of the living room I’m guessing are bedrooms. One says Corbin on it with rainbow block letters, and the other is cracked open, which must be the room Brody is in.

The living room is pretty plain. The walls are a flat cream color with a dark cream-colored sofa in the center of the room. There’s a flat screen on the wall, but other than that, there are no photos or decorative objects hung up. I spot a few photos of Corbin on the refrigerator. There’s a small toy box on the floor by the couch with some toys scattered around it, but it’s otherwise pretty bare. This doesn’t feel homey; it feels like a just-for-now kind of place, which is sad.

In my house, I have photos covering every wall of my mother, Ella, my grandparents, and even photos of Gia and me, and of us with Aaliyah. I love seeing my loved ones all around me. I’m a sucker for knickknacks and throw pillows. This place needs some serious TLC to make it more cozy and inviting. I don’t know why most guys are so plain when it comes to their living space. This place is just depressing.

I’m broken from my thoughts when I hear his voice again. “Sorry about that; I had to take a quick shower...” His tapers off and his feet falter when he walks out of the bedroom and spots me standing in his doorway.

Wow
. I think my brain just short-circuited. Standing before me, looking way too delicious for this early in the morning, is Brody in loose fitting jeans that are hanging off of his hips, his shirt in his hands, and his dark red hair damp from a shower. The ends are slightly curls, and I feel my fingers twitch as he walks towards me, slipping his shirt over his head.

I’ve never wanted to run my hands over every inch of a man so badly in my entire life. My eyes slide from his waist, following his happy trail that appears from beneath his waistband and trickles up his solid six-pack and perfectly defined, wide and muscular chest. My eyes hesitate as they take in his deeply cut V.

Damn, damn, damn.

My pregnancy hormones are in high gear right now. I suddenly feel myself grow wet just from taking in his freaking Adonis-like body. I guess all the woodcutting does a body good!

“Oh, sorry. I thought you were Ella. You sounded just like her.” He gives me an apologetic smile before slipping his long sleeve thermal tee onto his body. With every step he takes towards me, I feel my heart rate increase and my body flush. I went from being freezing cold five minutes ago to scorching hot, just from looking at this man.

I laugh nervously and tuck my hair behind my ear. “Yeah, sorry about that. She’s feeding your son, who by the way is the cutest little guy I’ve ever met. She sent me out to find you to let you know breakfast is ready…oh, and I’m Callie. I’m Ella’s niece.”

God, I don’t know how I am even speaking right now. He’s smiling at me with this perfectly straight, sparkling white smile. I normally go for the bad boys with tattoo-covered bodies, but for some reason, I’m finding his ink-free, chiseled body to be turning me on faster than anyone I’ve ever met.

His neatly trimmed beard, which I’m assuming he keeps because he either hunts or because he works outdoors all winter, is giving him a rough, dark, and mysterious persona, and I find it extremely attractive.

I blame it on becoming addicted to the Outlander TV series, because I’m crushing like a school girl on this guy, who looks a whole hell of a lot like the sexy Scottish Jamie-dude on the show. All I can say is
damn
.

“Shit. I better stop dragging my ass then.” Reaching his hand out to me, he says, “You already know my name, but it’s only polite to make proper introductions. I’m Brody, and it’s very nice to meet you, Callie. I’ve heard her talk about a niece in Albany. It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.”

I slide my hand into his and he gives it a gentle squeeze as he shakes it. I don’t know how something as innocent as a handshake can have every nerve-ending in my body firing as the warmth from his hand travels through mine and straight to the pit of my stomach. I don’t know if it’s the baby moving, or something more, but my belly just got the weirdest fluttering sensation, one which I’ve never felt before.

The feeling must not be mutual, because Brody’s eyes never changed as our hands made contact. I feel like every inch of me awakened for the first time just from holding his hand, while he has the same content expression on his face and friendliness in his eyes.

No look of burning desire glowing in his eyes, they are the prettiest shade of green I’ve ever seen, with a hint of blue. His aquamarine orbs pop with his dark reddish-brown hair framing his face. His hair hangs to just below his ears, and a few strands are dangling in front of his face as he smiles down at me with a look of curiosity taking over his strong features.

“How the hell did she get breakfast done so fast? That woman cooks enough food to feed an entire platoon, so having breakfast ready before nine a.m. is a miracle.”

“I was up bright and early, thanks to a certain lumberjack chopping up wood at sunrise, so I helped her with breakfast.”

He stares at me baffled for a few seconds before a smirk curls up the corner of his mouth. “Sorry about that. Normally I don’t work on Saturdays, but this morning I had to chop wood because there’s talk of a northeastern storm coming, and it’s expected to land in a day or two. Since Ella never serves breakfast before nine, I figured I had time to take a shower. I didn’t want to stink at the breakfast table...” 

I’m just standing here gawking at the poor guy, practically drooling all over myself listening to him, but not really hearing what he’s saying. I heard shower, and then my concentration flew out the window.

I notice he stops talking, so I nod my head in agreement. What I’m agreeing to, I have no clue. All I know is I want him to keep talking, because his voice is doing crazy things to my body.

My stomach growls again and I laugh, pressing my hand to my stomach. “Sorry. I haven’t eaten yet either. It was torture smelling all that food and not being able to eat it. Anyways, I’ll head back to the house and let you finish getting ready.”

Just as I turning to grab the door handle and leave, he reaches out and grabs my shoulder. “Hold on and I’ll walk back with you. I just need to slip my boots on real quick.”

My heart pitter-patters in my chest and I have to close my eyes for a moment to regain my composure. He’s so close I can practically feel the electric charge from his body jolting straight into mine. The baby moves, startling me, and I bring my hand to my belly as I try to control my breathing.

“Okay,” I murmur as I spin around, still gripping the doorknob, and sag against the door.

His gaze slowly moves from my face down to my stomach, where my hand is resting. His eyes darken as he watches me rub my belly. “You expecting?” he asks lowly.

I let out a nervous laugh. This is awkward. I’m fantasizing about this guy I just met, while I stand here pregnant with another man’s baby.

“Yeah, five months along. I just found out yesterday it’s a girl.”

“A girl. Well, I guess it’s safe to say you’ll be going pink-crazy, now that you know.”

With laughter in my voice, I tell him only half-jokingly, “Yeah, it’s going to look like Pepto-Bismol exploded in her nursery. And seriously, I am not kidding when I say I can only hope my daughter is born with even a fraction of Corbin’s cuteness.”