My Sunshine (21 page)

“What’s wrong?”

She took a couple of deep breaths. “I thought I heard someone else in the bathroom. It scared me.”

John
pushed past her and entered the bathroom. He opened all the stall doors. “Nope, no one here.” He pulled her to him.

She was shaking and looking as frightened as a small child. He
kissed the top of her head.

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” he said, tipping his cowboy hat.

“I’m the law in these parts. Me and my trusty side-kick, Slim, will protect you.” He nodded toward Dennis, who had come over when he heard Chloe scream.

Chloe
smiled. “My hero.”

John entwined his fingers with Chloe’s. It was later that same night and they were in John’s bed. Their lovemaking had been satisfying as always, but John’s favorite part was always holding her afterward, skin to skin. He enjoyed touching her, feeling the smoothness of her skin and the warmness of her body. The creaminess of her skin was inviting, making him want to taste every inch of it.

“I’ve been thinking,”
John said.

“A dangerous pastime to be sure,”
Chloe joked.

John
chuckled. “I don’t want to go to my parents house for Christmas. Do you want to go visit Daniel and Rebecca?”

Chloe
was surprised, but then again, she wasn’t. The Thanksgiving trip hadn’t turned out so great, and she wasn’t sure that he had even talked to his parents since. He knew that he had talked to each of his sisters; Catherine was being supportive, albeit with an “I-told-you-this-would-happen” attitude, but Garby was being harder, stressing their already strained relationship.

She shook her head. “Not really. For Christmas, they

always go over to her parents’ house, and for the past few years I have just been tagging along. They are nice people and all, but…no, I don’t want to go home either.”

“Then let’s go away somewhere, just me and you.”

She nodded. “Now, that sounds like a plan. What did you have in mind? Something tropical? The Caribbean?”

“No, no. I was thinking something more Christmasy.

Maybe with snow.” He squeezed her and kissed her temple.

“You just let me do the planning.”

“Okay, then,” she said. She ran a hand up his thigh. “I’ll just plan the next half hour or so.”

Afterward,
Chloe reached for the earplugs on the nightstand. “I hope these work,” she said.

“Me, too,” he said. He pulled her close to him and they fell
asleep, comfortably wrapped up in each other.

Four days later, Christmas Eve,
John and Chloe landed in Las Vegas. “What do you think?” John asked as they followed the bellhop to the penthouse suite at the MGM Grand.

“Well, I don’t see any snow,” she said, stepping inside the
room. “But I’ll give you credit for Christmasy. The lobby was pretty.”

“We can put a tree in your room if you want,” the bellhop
said. “If you’re going out later, we could do it while you’re gone.”

John
looked at Chloe and conceded to her decision making.

She beamed. “That would be great, thanks.”

John pulled out his wallet and tipped the bellhop fifty

dollars. He didn’t do it slyly or by means of a handshake. He
simply handed the man the single bill and the bellhop took it, shoving it into his pocket without looking at it.

“Just stop by the front desk on your way out this evening.”

John nodded slightly and shut the door behind him. “What do you think?”

Chloe
looked around in awe. She had stayed in a couple of nice hotels since meeting John, but this penthouse suite was unbelievable. “It’s amazing,” she said. “This room has an upstairs!” She raced to the steps and took them two by two to the bedroom. She sprinted into the bathroom. “There’s a TV in here!” She went back to the bed, where John had lay down.

“This is great,” she said.

John beckoned to her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. She was obviously excited. It brought him immense pleasure to see her like this, to give her the chance to experience new things. She came over to the bed and crawled in next to him. He kissed her when she reached the headboard.

“I thought you’d like it.”

She nodded. “I do. It’s almost enough to make me forget that you brought me to Sin City to celebrate the birth of Jesus.”

John
smiled. “Sin City is just what you make of it. I’m not planning on doing any gambling or hiring any hookers or going to any strip shows or anything else associated with this town. I just wanted to bring you to a great hotel. We don’t even have to leave the building.”

“What all is in this hotel?”

“Well, there’s the casino, of course, and about fifteen

restaurants, and theaters and the Garden Arena, and there’s even
a wedding chapel.” He raised his eyebrows. “So if we get drunk we can go down and get hitched.”

Chloe
knew he was joking. “Then pour me a drink,” she joked back.

John
smiled, but it quickly faded. In the months he had known her, he had never seen her take a drink of alcohol. She had never given a reason for it, just that she didn’t drink, but she didn’t seem to be against it. Tyler and Christine didn’t drink, either, but their reasons went right along with their reason for their chastity. He knew Daniel drank beer, he had seen it in their refrigerator and Rebecca had offered him one when he went to Canton to bring Chloe home with him.

“Do you want a drink?” He sat up. “I can fix you one.

There’s a bar in the room.”

“Doesn’t that cost extra?”

John tried not to smile. No woman he had ever been with had ever shown any concern over the amount of money he was spending. Chloe, though, meticulously kept account of her finances almost to the point that she was obsessive-compulsive.

He couldn’t stop himself and the corners of his mouth turned up
into a grin. Soon, he was laughing.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Yes, I’m laughing at you.”

She picked up a pillow and hit him over the head with it.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. Seriously,
though, do you want a drink?”

Chloe
considered it. She knew that mixing alcohol with her medication would make her drowsy, and she didn’t want to sleep her whole vacation away. She glanced at her watch. It had been almost 24 hours since taking her medicine, and even then, she had only taken half her normal dosage. In fact, in the past week, she had missed four days entirely and on the other three days; she had taken half or less than what she needed.

Go ahead,
Chloe. It won’t hurt. You need to loosen up some.

She smiled at
John and nodded. “Make me a drink.”

He jumped off the bed and she followed him down the stairs
to the wet bar in the room. “Have you ever drunk?”

She nodded. “Back in high school, you know,” she said.

“Just beer, though.”

John
poured Vodka into a glass then added orange juice.

“We’ll start with something simple,” he said, pushing the glass
toward her. “We’ll move on later.”

Chloe
cocked her head and smiled at him. “Are you going to get me drunk and take advantage of me?”

He smiled over the rim of his own glass. “I’m sure you’ll
come up with a few good ideas of your own.”

She took a sip of her drink and closed her eyes as she felt it
move down her throat. “It’s good.”

John
fixed himself a drink and they sat on the couch. They found a TV station playing “It’s a Wonderful Life” over and over. For the next six hours, they drank and ordered room service and watched the movie three times. It was after midnight when John finally turned off the television.

“Are you ready to go upstairs?”

She nodded and tried to stand, feeling a little wobbly. “I think you might have to carry me,” she said.

“That’s no problem,” he said, scooping her up. “Are you
feeling a little drunk?”

She nodded. “I’m feeling a lot drunk,” she said. She

yawned. “I’m sorry.”

“What? You’re not going to poop out on me are you?”

John slowly navigated the steps.

“No, I promise.”

He dropped her on the bed. “You want to go down and get married now?”

She didn’t know what to say. He sounded serious. She
studied him. “Are you serious?”

“I could be.”

“What does that mean? You could be?”

“No. I don’t want a Vegas wedding.” He lay down on the
bed next to her.

“Me either,” she said, throwing one arm and one leg across
him. “Actually, I have this idea of what kind of wedding I’d like. A fantasy, I guess.”

“Really? Let’s hear it.”

“Well, I want a Christmas wedding. I vision this log cabin and snow falling outside, and a big Christmas trees and candles, and a big fireplace in the house, with a roaring fire. It would be small and intimate. I’d have a sleeveless white dress, like a princess, and long white gloves. There’s a guy playing the violin as I walk down the aisle, and the groom is in a tuxedo.”

“Who’s the groom?”

Chloe shrugged. “Don’t know.”

John
bit him lip and studied her. “I can give you Christmas trees tonight. That’s all I can promise, but if you’ll have me, I’ll…”

She placed her fingertips on his lips and he quit speaking.

“It’s just a fantasy, John. We’ve got time.” She pressed her body close to his, facing him. “Merry Christmas, John.”

“Merry Christmas,
Chloe.”

“This was my best Christmas eve.” She cupped her hand
on his chin and pulled his head down for a kiss. It was the next morning and they were again sitting together on the couch.