Pulse (Collide) (23 page)

Emily sighed and eased the last gift from the bag. “We’ll see. Now here. This is the one I
insist
you start using today.”

Gavin eyed her suspiciously and pulled the red bow from what appeared to be a clothing box. “Your expression tells me this is some kind of payback gift.”

“Sweet, sweet, Mr. Blake, you know me so well,” she purred, tossing her arm around his neck.

With another shake of his head and a smile, Gavin slowly, so slowly, peeled the green wrapping paper from the box. He hesitated, bringing his eyes to Emily’s. He could see she was becoming impatient. He chuckled when she tore the rest of the paper from the box and flipped off the top. Before he had a chance to get a look at what was in it, Emily yanked out a piece of bright yellow clothing. However, she was holding it balled up in her lap.

Oh, and she was laughing. Hard.

“What is it?” Gavin asked, unable to keep the laughter from his voice.

Emily stopped laughing, cleared her throat, and tried her hardest to keep her face serious. “I really hope you like it.” She batted her eyelashes, bringing a hooded Los Angeles Lakers sweatshirt up to his chest. “I know Michael will
love
that you’re wearing it during the game today.”

Gavin shook his head. “Nope. Not a chance.”

“Yes chance,” Emily retorted.

“No way.”

Emily frowned. “Yes way.”

“Nope. I love you, but I’m not wearing that in front of Michael. Besides, I’m diehard New York. I have my Knicks sweatshirt with me.”

Sighing, Emily drew her brows together, her frown deepening. She knew how to get him. “You know, I had many reasons for picking out that gift.”

“I’m sure you did,” Gavin admitted, circling his arms around her waist. “My misery being one.”

Emily laughed. “No, it wasn’t bought
solely
for your misery. But it could’ve, considering you made me prance around in that
hideous
Yankees sweatshirt.”

“The Yankees are hardly hideous,” he replied easily with a smile. “And let’s not forget I made you prance around wearing it in the privacy of my home without another soul on earth watching.”

“Yes, that’s true. But, it’s just… well, I have a thing for guys in yellow.” Emily shifted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and made sure to circle her hips over his as she did. Ah, yes. He was getting hard. “There’s something about the color that makes me get…
wet
.”

Gavin bit his lip, his eyes tracing Emily’s face. “You’re so full of shit.”

“Oh no, but Mr. Blake, I’m really not. Between watching you wearing it and suffering the little bit you’ll have to, I’ll be a guaranteed good time for your efforts.”

Sliding his hand up her back, Gavin tangled his fingers in her hair, tugging just enough. With a clear view of her gorgeous neck inches from his mouth, Gavin took the opportunity to indulge. He dragged his lips across her collarbone as he gripped her hair tighter. “I’ve created a woman who thinks she’s going to win me over with sex.”

Sinking into the feeling of him gently biting her shoulder and then lightly sucking on her neck, Emily wasn’t sure who she was fooling. She’d backed herself into a corner and had no desire whatsoever to come out. “Is it working?” The questioned filtered out as a moan.

“Possibly,” he answered, slowly lifting her tank top over her head. He tossed it onto the bed and reburied a hand in her soft hair. The other cupped one of her breasts. Eyes locked on hers, he licked her nipple. Another moan crawled up Emily’s throat and Gavin got off on knowing he was beating her at her own game. “Are you willing to work to get me to wear this sweatshirt today, Miss Cooper?”

Yep. Completely backed in a corner. Emily lost the battle. But not really, because by the time the early morning hours had come and gone, not only was she achingly rejuvenated by her boyfriend’s
multiple
Christmas gifts, she was also looking forward to seeing him sport the hideous color yellow for the remainder of the day.

With Brenda Lee belting out “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” from the speakers in the living room where Michael and Gavin were getting ready to sit down and watch the basketball game, Emily giggled while Lisa jerked her hip in rhythm against hers as the two of them finished rolling up the last bit of cookie dough. Emily placed the tiny chocolate chip ball onto a baking sheet and popped the tray into the already heated oven.

“Remember how much mom loved this song?” Lisa’s tone was cheerful as she reached into the refrigerator for a pie shell that would eventually hold homemade apple filling. “God, it was so fun watching her dance around to it. She loved Christmas.”

A light smile touched Emily’s face at the bittersweet memory. She flipped on the faucet and placed her hands under the warm water. “Yeah. She did love Christmas.”

Lisa set the pie shell on the counter, once again bumping Emily’s hip in tune with the music. Emily sighed, enjoying the jovial mood her sister brought to the moment. It didn’t shock her though. Lisa, in a sense, had replaced their mother long before she’d passed away and she always made sure Emily was tended to. From helping Emily with homework to showing her how to apply makeup when she was old enough, Lisa willingly fell into the role thrust upon her after their father left. And not once did she ever throw her responsibilities resentfully into Emily’s face. When long days and nights came and went without their mother, whether it was because she was working late bartending to put food on the table or out with one of her newest boyfriends, Lisa kept a certain level of consistency in Emily’s life. A calm. An unwavering sense of peace.

As Emily stood with a dish towel in her hands, not only did slight hostility toward her mother bloom in her gut, she started to wonder why she’d allowed her mother’s words to anchor her to Dillon for as long as she did. Sure, her mother didn’t live to see what Dillon had morphed into. Before she took her last breath, Patricia Cooper left the earth thinking her youngest daughter was being swept off her feet by a true knight in shining armor. Emily was pretty sure if her mom had witnessed his change, she would’ve told her to get rid of him. Still, Lisa was the mothering force in her life, and during long conversations, she had always let Emily know if he wasn’t treating her well, she should walk away.

The signs had been there. Warning flags were waved in every direction from most of the people surrounding her. However, she blanked them out. The few times she’d spoken to a counselor after leaving Dillon, she was told it was possible she leaned into Dillon after her mom died because he was a piece of something that no longer existed anymore. He was a witness to a soul another man in her life would never meet. In a sense, holding on to him was holding on to her mother. Holding on to her past. Although that past was painted with specks of sorrow, it was still familiar, understood. It was cold, yet warm, dark, yet filled with bright light she would never experience again. It was something that was forever… gone.

As Emily dried her hands, Gavin’s words from this morning filtered into her thoughts. Not only did she have to forgive her mother for the mistakes she made, she also needed to forgive herself. And that’s exactly what she did in those seconds in her sister’s kitchen on this particular late Christmas afternoon. Though she knew she’d never begin to fully understand the way her mother was or the way she’d followed in her path, Emily reached into her heart and stripped away the last bit of negativity she held toward herself and her mother.

“Hey, I lost you there for a few.” Lisa’s soft voice lulled Emily back. Placing her hand on Emily’s cheek, she gave a weak smile. “Are you okay?”

Emily didn’t answer as she pulled her sister in for a hug. As if sensing what Emily was going through, Lisa squeezed her tight. Her comforting hold seized Emily with love as it always did.

“Uh oh. We’ve interrupted a sisterly moment.” Michael chuckled as he and Gavin strolled into the kitchen. “We suck, man.”

Staring at his jewel, Gavin smiled and leaned against the arched entryway. He watched Emily back away from her sister, love gripping him by the neck as her gaze caught his. Even dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, she was so goddamn beautiful she took his breath away. With a smile on her face that filled him completely, she made her way toward him. Warmth spilled through his body as she looped her arms around his neck, her soft auburn hair draping down her back as she looked up at him. She seemed genuinely happy, and he could feel it.

“Have I told you that you look amazeballs in yellow?” Emily laughed, snuggling against his chest.

Michael snorted, reaching for an olive on a platter filled with cold cuts and cheese. “Yeah right. He looks like Big Bird on crack.” Lisa smacked his arm and pulled the cookies from the oven. “That hurt, babe.” Michael mocked pain and rubbed his arm.

Gavin shook his head. “You might be right, Michael, but if you’d received the…
gifts
I did in exchange for wearing this, you might find yourself on a crack high modeling a Knicks sweatshirt.”

Emily blushed and laughed.

“Not a chance, buddy,” Michael replied, popping the olive into his mouth. “No matter what my sister-in-law gave you, considering your big, goofy ass looks like it was hit with a hearty blast of sun, I’m thinking you need to withhold your last Christmas gift and give it to me instead. Hell, I’d be your girlfriend
and
wear a Knicks sweatshirt. Me love you long time, Gavin.”

“Michael!” Lisa gasped, smacking his arm again.

Michael chuckled, and Emily looked at Gavin, her expression confused. “Last gift? I thought we were done exchanging?”

Gavin popped a knowing brow, a smirk on his face. “Ah. That’s what I had you thinking, sweets. To be quite honest, I’m filled with surprises that’ll keep your mind… blown… constantly.” Dipping his head, he pulled her closer, his lips brushing her ear. “And I’m not just talking about when those gorgeous, shaking legs are wrapped around my head while you’re moaning my name.”

Emily whipped her head around, glancing over her shoulder at Michael and Lisa. Thankfully, they weren’t paying attention. Quickly, she pulled Gavin down for a heart-stopping kiss, and then she whispered into his ear, “Thank you so very much for making my legs shake the way you do.”

Gavin grinned, his eyes filled with considerable male appreciation. “The pleasure’s
always
mine.” Emily smiled, and Gavin looked at Michael. “Hey, Lakers loser.”

Michael snapped his head up from where he was digging into the smorgasbord of food piled on the counter. “What’s up, New York Knicks-don’t-have-a-chance-in-their-wildest-fucking-dreams nobody?”

Gavin threw his head back and laughed. “Whatever you say.”

“Yeah. We’ll see.” Michael swiped a beer from the refrigerator. “What can I do for you?”

“I forgot to grab the, uh”—Gavin looked down at Emily and back to Michael—”you know, those things, from you last night.”

Leaning against the counter, Michael took a long pull from his beer and shrugged. “I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”

For the third time in less than five minutes, Lisa swatted his arm. “Michael. You know what he’s asking for. Stop being a jackhole.”

“Damn, babe. It’s Christmas.” Lisa rolled her eyes. Shaking his head, Michael snorted and dug into his pocket.

Gavin let out a puff of air, turned Emily around, and slid his arms around her waist. Walking behind her, he moved her toward Michael and yanked something from his hand that Emily couldn’t see.

“What are you all up to?” Emily’s eyes flicked to her sister, whose face looked as if it was about to burst at the seams with joy.

“Does she have sneakers on?” was Lisa’s answer, clapping as Emily and Gavin rounded the corner to the mudroom flanking the back end of the house.

“Nope,” Gavin called. “What size are you, Lisa?”

“Six,” Lisa answered.

“Sit,” Gavin commanded, pointing to a bench as he released Emily’s waist.

With a curious look molding her face, Emily sat. “What am I, a dog?”

“Mmm, I bet if you were, you’d have a sexy bark.”

Smiling, Emily shook her head as Gavin knelt down and scanned a row of shoes underneath the bench. He plucked what appeared to be a size six Nike woman’s running shoe off the floor and propped Emily’s foot on his thigh. After slipping her foot into the sneaker and tying it, he repeated the process with the other.

Once finished, he looked up at her, his smile wide. “Comfortable?”

Emily crossed her arms. “What are you doing?”

“You didn’t answer my question. Are they comfortable?”

“Yes. They’re comfortable.”

“Good,” Gavin said, lacing his fingers in hers as he stood, pulling her up from the bench. “You ready?”

Emily slid her sweatshirt hood over her head. “To go running? Sure. Why not? I’ll need to burn off today’s calories anyway.”

“First: I’ll help you burn off those calories later. I’m the best workout you can get.” Emily rolled her eyes and giggled. “Second: we’re running and we’re running fast. But not with our feet.” Gavin stopped short at the garage door.

“Okay. Now you’re scaring me.”

Dipping his head, Gavin cupped the back of her neck and stared into her eyes. “Emily Cooper, the only thing you have to fear is how much I’m going to love you for the rest of your life. And… how many times I’m going to make those legs shake. But that’s beside the point. Never fear me, sweets. Understand?”