Skin Deep (31 page)

Jackson had gotten me a gorgeous red cable
knit cashmere sweater with a cowl neck and a kick ass pair of black
skinny jeans. He admitted that he had snuck into my closet and
looked at my sizes so he could get it right.

Brandon had gotten me a beautiful pair of
diamond stud earrings, which I told him was too much. He just
blushed and told me to shut up and enjoy them.

I opened Luke’s presents last. He’d gotten me
a gift card to Victoria’s Secret (who’s she kidding anyway? She
doesn’t have any secrets left…) which I figured was more of a gift
for him; a beautiful gold necklace with a diamond pendent; and in
the last box was a card that said simply, ‘Go to the laundry
room.’

I looked at him quizzically, but he just
smiled, giving nothing away. I got up and walked into the laundry
room, smiling at Brandon and Jackson who were still thanking me for
their gifts. I’d gotten Jackson a large framed black and white
picture of the Los Angeles downtown skyline at night. I’d told him
it was for his new house, just in case he missed the big city now
that he’d moved back. I’d also given him a couple new button down
work shirts.

I’d gotten Brandon a new bottle of his
favorite cologne, because he’d mentioned that he was running low in
passing one day. I’d also gotten him a couple new long sleeved
t-shirts with funny sayings on them.

Luke was the hardest one to buy for and had
taken me the longest to figure something out. I’d finally bought
him a couple new Henley’s, a pair of jeans, and four tickets for
the Jeff Dunham show tomorrow night in Dayton. Yes, four, because I
couldn’t leave the other two out, especially because they all sit
around and watch the DVD’s of the guy all the time and laugh their
asses off.

I walked into the laundry room as directed
and found another small box. I opened it and found another note.
This one said, ‘I love you. You’ll find it with Hairy.’ I paused
for a moment, completely confused before it struck me that Hairy
could be Doug. I headed back into the living room to find the guys
all sitting on the couch, Brandon and Jackson smirking and Luke
looking like he was about to puke. Weird.

I turned to find Doug sitting
pretty-as-you-please in the oversized armchair, with a basket
handle clamped between his jaws. I quirked an eyebrow and walked
over to him. I tried to take the basket from him but he wouldn’t
let it go, so I settled for opening it instead. When I folded back
the lid, there was a note taped to it that said, ‘Well?’ Even more
confused, I reached into the basket and pulled out a little white
box. My heart started pounding as I opened it to find an absolutely
breathtakingly gorgeous princess cut diamond ring. It had to be at
least a carat, and had probably another carat’s worth of round
diamonds framing the square of the center stone and extending down
the sides of the white gold band.

I took the ring out of the box with shaking
fingers and looked up at Luke. I gasped as he stood up, walked over
to me, got down on one knee…and repeated the question written on
the card that Doug was holding on the basket.

“Well?”

“Seriously?” I asked. “That’s how you’re
gonna do it?”

He nodded. “I’m not taking no for an answer,
so you might as well put it on and just say yes…” he drawled.

I made him wait for two hours. Okay, I lied.
It was more like two minutes. But hey, he went to Jared, and he got
the Neil Lane collection, and, truth be told, my dad had actually
kinda proposed to my mom like that back in the day. So I said
yes.

Chapter 21

After everyone cleaned up their presents and
got ready, we all headed over to my mom and dad’s house. Jackson
had spoken to his mom on the way over, and she had expressed how
sad she was that he hadn’t come back to her house for Christmas,
but she understood why he hadn’t. He’d been in meetings almost
nonstop with work and with the builders for his house, and if it
wasn’t for the fact that he was staying with us, we probably
wouldn’t see him, either.

While he was talking to his mom, I had called
Allie to tell her the news. I had to pull the phone away from my
ear because she shrieked so loudly, and we talked for a minute
longer before I finally was able to get off the phone, promising
that she would get to see the ring A.S.A.P.

We pulled up and the kids came running out,
still in their pajamas, which got them yelled at for being out in
the snow with no coat or clothes. I ushered them back in the house
and the guys followed, all carting the bags and bags of gifts that
we had for everyone.

Once we’d all opened our gifts, cleaned up,
and helped mom get Christmas dinner on the table, we all sat down
and ate. Calland for once was on his best behavior, with the
exception of his outburst at the table when he was the first to
notice my ring. I’d begged the guys not to say anything and they’d
reluctantly agreed, figuring that I’d be shouting it to the
rooftops, but I just wanted to see how long it would take them to
notice.

I had been reaching for more macaroni and
cheese when Calland, with a mouthful of food, hollered, “What the
fuck is that?” before grabbing my hand, knocking macaroni all over
the table. “Holy shit, Emma, did you knock off a jewelry store? Are
you-” he turned to Luke. “Did you propose to my sister?”

Luke had nodded and my mom and sisters had
squealed and surrounded me to see the ring. I can’t believe no one
had noticed it earlier because I kept staring at it, honestly just
loving the way it sparkled and shined on my finger.

I’d waited for my dad to say something, but
the jig was up when he just sat there with a shit eating grin on
his face. The truth came out then. Luke had actually gone to my
father to ask his permission to marry me, and had even told him
about the whole elaborate plan he’d thought up to propose. In
return, my dad had shared the story of how he’d proposed to my mom,
which was hiding the ring in the pocket of a bathrobe he’d gotten
her for Christmas. When she’d opened it and tried it on at the
urging of dad and his parents (he’d done it at their house), she’d
automatically stuck her hands in the pockets, and found the ring.
Apparently, when she pulled it out and looked at it in surprise, my
dad had just said, “Well?”

I guess Luke didn’t want to mess with a good
thing since it turned out so well between my parents and had
scrapped his original plan, instead tweaking my dad’s proposal to
my mom to fit us. Now that I knew the reasoning behind it, it made
Luke’s off-the-wall proposal that much sweeter.

We stayed until evening, playing games and
just generally having a good time, before we headed home and just
hung out. All in all, it was the best Christmas ever.

The week between Christmas and New Year flew
by and, for once, I was excited about New Year’s Eve. Allie, Leah,
Jenna, and I all had gotten together to go shopping for outfits to
wear to the party that was happening down at Griff’s. Jenna had
arranged for a babysitter, and we’d all planned on taking cabs in
the event that everyone decided to drink.

New Year’s Eve came and all of us girls got
together at Jenna’s house to get dolled up and then we were going
to meet up with the guys at the bar. After we all got done
primping, we were standing together in the mirror.

Allie, with raised eyebrows, breathed, “We’re
fuckin’ HOT!”

Every one of us nodded, because we looked
damn good. I couldn’t wait for the guys to see us…

Jenna was wearing a silver dress that was
almost like a shirt; it bloused at the top, tightening and draping
into a mini skirt that hit mid-thigh. The sleeves were
three-quarter length, but were split from the shoulder to just
below her elbow before coming to a stop in a black jeweled band on
her forearm. She’d paired it with a sexy pair of strappy black
stilettos and had piled her hair on top of her head in a messy but
precise twist.

Leah was wearing a black mini skirt with a
white and black corset type strapless top, with a killer pair of
black suede peep toe stiletto booties. She’d left her hair down,
tumbling in waves over her shoulders to the middle of her back.

Allie was wearing a silver sheath dress that
fit her like a second skin. It had a black lace overlay and a high
neckline in the front, but when she turned, it basically had no
back, coming to a stop dangerously low over the beginning swell of
her ass. She’d gone with a strappy, silver pair of stilettos that
made her legs look a million miles long, and her spiky hair (all
black for once) was liberally sprayed with silver glitter.

Since I didn’t do dresses very often, I’d
gone with a long black form fitting top that left one whole
shoulder and arm bare, and clasped with a silver jewel over the
other. On the side that clasped at my shoulder, it had a small
gather of material that fell on either side of my shoulder to drape
loosely down my side. It came to about mid-thigh, and I’d paired it
with a really cute pair of silver skinny jeans . I’d worn the
kickass heels that Allie had gotten me for Christmas and Allie had
loosely French braided my hair at each side of my head before
gathering it into a messy knot at the back of my head.

Satisfied that we were going to drive the
guys wild, we all piled into Jenna’s car and headed out to the bar.
When we got there, things were just starting to heat up; people
were dancing, drinks were flowing, and it looked like everyone was
having a blast. We walked to the table we had reserved (our usual
booth was too small for all of us) where the guys were all sitting,
and all four of us gasped when we caught sight of them. We thought
we were hot? Shit…we didn’t have anything on them!

Noah was wearing a black button down shirt
with the sleeves rolled up over dark grey jeans and black leather
boots.

Jackson was wearing a red button down shirt
with a tribal skull on the pocket and the same design emblazoned
across the whole back of it. He’d also rolled up his sleeves and
buttoned them up with the tabs on the shirt sleeves. Even I had to
say that his ass looked delicious in a tight pair of black jeans,
and he’d worn black boots with silver buckles.

Brandon wore a white and black striped short
sleeve button down over a black thermal long sleeve, pairing them
with a well worn pair of faded jeans and black and white sneakers.
He had a black ball cap turned backwards on his head, and a pair of
diamond studs flashed in both his ears.

And Luke…he looked extra yummy in a black
button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up like Jackson and Noah.
His shirt had a sweet silver tribal looking cross on the back of
it, almost like the one he had worn for our date when we’d first
gone out. He’d gone with his grey boot cut jeans that fit him
perfectly, and his black boots with silver buckles as well.

The guys turned and caught sight of us, their
jaws all dropping, which made each of us grin as we looked at each
other knowingly. Leah waved at them and winked at us before she
trotted off to the bar in search of someone to nab as her date for
the evening.

We danced and drank champagne and the evening
flew by. We all gathered back at the table to grab the noise makers
that Griff had put on every table and headed outside with most of
the patrons of the bar. We all fanned out, Luke keeping me close by
his side and waited for the countdown. All at once, voices began
counting down from ten and everyone joined in, shouting into the
dark night. When the town clock struck midnight and everyone yelled
Happy New Year!, Luke pulled me into him and kissed me deeply,
stealing my breath and making me weak with want.

He pulled back and whispered, “Happy New
Year, baby. I love you…” just as the fireworks started exploding in
the sky. I tipped my head back to watch and started laughing in
amazement as soft white snowflakes started drifting down over us.
Luke pulled me back against him and kissed me while the sky lit up
with color bursts and the streets became dusted in white.

Luke and I trudged back inside, our cheeks
reddened from the cold…and maybe a little flushed with good old
fashioned lust! We made sure everyone was covered to get home or
where they needed to go and made our excuses, both so eager to get
out of there and get our hands on each other.

We pulled up to the house, both running for
the door, collapsing against it as our lips met, kissing and
undressing each other as we fumbled to the couch, falling over onto
the cushions. When our lips parted for a second to catch our
breath, Luke’s eyes lit up and he sat up, pulling me up with him. I
opened my mouth to ask him what he was doing, but didn’t say
anything as he smiled and shook his head, entreating me silently to
trust him.

He led me, both of us naked, to the back
door, grabbing a couple thick towels off the dryer in the laundry
room where I’d left them after pulling them out of the dryer
earlier. I let out a gasp as he pulled me out into the frigid night
air, running quickly to the hot tub where he pulled back the cover
releasing the steam and heat rising from the top of the water. He
turned on the jets and we got in, sinking our bodies down in the
hot water as snow continued to fall around us.

He pulled me onto his lap, our lips meeting
in a slow and tangling kiss, our tongues sliding against each
other, teeth nipping at lips, breath mingling and steaming in the
night air. Nothing was rushed; Luke’s hands roamed my body slowly,
taking the time to touch every inch of me, caressing and stroking,
stoking the flames of desire burning through me higher and higher.
I pulled him even closer to me, rocking my hips against him, loving
the feel of his velvety hardness slicking through my tender folds,
but he pulled away from me when I tried to sink onto the tip of
him.

Kissing me one more time before releasing my
lips slowly, he lifted me out of the water, my skin steaming in the
coldness, so hot that the snow melted upon impact with my body. He
pressed me back, my hips on the edge of the tub, my back laying on
the towels piled on the decking. I shivered, not really cold
because the heat had seeped into every inch of me, warming me from
the outside as my desire heated me from the inside.