A Muffin Top Christmas Read online

  We take a step back to give the paramedics some space and I nudge Evey’s arm. “Is that true?”

  She shrugs. “Just let him have his moment.”

  I watch with confusion as Monica flings herself into Tommy’s arms and smothers him with hugs and kisses. “And what’s that about…?”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  I nod. “Okay…”

  “Hey, little brother.” Anna appears beside me, looking tired but happy. “The Boston Police Department would like to — once again — thank you for your help in apprehending one of our most—”

  “Please…” Evey holds up a hand. “Don’t feed his ego.”

  Anna laughs. “Well, ego or not, there’s going to a mountain of paperwork for all of this.”

  I sigh, looking up into the dusking sky. “I figured…”

  “But…” she grins at me. “That can wait until after your family’s first Christmas.”

  “Thank you.”

  She steps forward and gives me a hug. “You guys have fun.”

  “Hey,” I whisper in her ear, “next year will be your family’s first Christmas.”

  Anna leans back and pauses as that sinks in. “Yeah,” she says. “I guess so.”

  “Still coming for lunch?” I ask.

  “Yep,” she says, stifling a yawn. “I’ll be back at noon-ish sharp.”

  “Go get some rest,” I say, winking. “You’ll need it.”

  “Ehh…” She rolls her eyes and gives my arm a punch. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  Evey looks at me as Anna walks down the alley to the parking lot. “Why does she need rest?”

  I smirk. “I’ll tell you later.”

  She nods. “Okay…”

  A baby’s cry rings out and our eyes instantly fall to Evey’s coat pocket. She reaches in and grabs the baby monitor stashed inside.

  Zachary cries a little louder but we both look at each other and smile.

  “You think it’s too late for Santa Claus to show up?” she asks.

  I shake my head. “Never.”

  ***

  Milk and cookies for Santa. Christmas stories and poems.

  And not one damn yawn from Zachary.

  Evey sings the last words of Silent Night, the Hail Mary pass of trying to get this kid to fall asleep, but he’s way too busy staring at the colorful strings of lights reflecting off the ornaments on the tree beside us.

  I sigh. “Tonight must have been way too exciting for him.”

  “Here…” She holds him out to me. “You try one.”

  “Okay…” I sit him on my knee. “Have yourself a Merry little—”

  “Not that one,” she snaps.

  “How about a quiet, gentle sway?” I suggest, cradling him in my thick arms. “Maybe that’ll trick him.”

  We sit still, watching him blink and kick his feet as I rock him back and forth. The sun has fully risen outside. Kids across Boston have surely stomped their parents awake by now. Families are sitting around the tree, tearing wrapping paper to shreds and marveling over their gifts.

  And we just want to go to bed.

  Evey balances on one arm. “Should we be the cool family?” she asks. “You know, the one that lets the kids pick out one present each to open on Christmas Eve?”

  I raise a brow. “Kids?”

  “Yeah, kids.” Her smile falls fast. “But not for a long time — like a really long time.”

  I chuckle. “Yeah, sure. We can be the cool family.”

  “Good, because…” she shifts onto her hands and knees, “I have something to give you.”

  I watch her crawl beneath the tree, my eyes instantly focusing on her perfect, round ass. “Is it this view? Because Merry Christmas to me…”

  Evey looks back at me with sly eyes and laughs. “No,” she says, colorful lights reflecting off her blonde hair. She returns to her seat on the floor in front of me. “It’s this…”

  The package is completely flat — so much so that I can barely call it a package at all — wrapped with shiny, red paper.

  “And what is this?” I ask.

  She sets it down and reaches for the baby. “Open it.”

  I hand Zachary back to her and she kisses his head as she rests him against her chest.

  “Is it a picture?” I ask, tearing the paper.

  “Nope.”

  I toss the paper aside and stare at the manila folder in my hands. “Is it lab results of some kind?” I ask, raising my brow again. “You sure you’re not pregnant?”

  “Honey, if I were, we’d be having an entirely different conversation,” she quips.

  “I’m just saying… it wouldn’t be the first time a woman got knocked up without having sex.”

  “Open it,” she laughs. “You’re killing me here.”

  I flip it open and I instantly feel a heart palpitation or two when I recognize a real estate contract for some property across town. I scan to the bottom to find two dotted lines, one of which already features Evey’s whimsical signature.

  I look at her. “Evey… what is this?”

  “Nothing is set in stone,” she says. “This is more of a feeler than a gift, per se…”

  “Evey.”

  “Okay…” She clears her throat. “How would you feel about maybe expanding Muffin Top?”

  I sit back. “Expanding?”

  “Opening a second location.”

  My mind goes blank. “I hadn’t thought about it. Ever, actually…”

  “Well, I was thinking that since we aren’t spending thousands on a huge wedding anymore… we could take that money and put it to good use. You know, investing in our future, and all that. I found a place, it needs a little work, but I think it has potential—”

  “Okay, wait a second here.” I roll over to burrow under the tree. A few ornaments rattle loose and fall on my head as I chuck some gifts to the side to find the stack of applications and brochures all wrapped up in a bow that I got her.

  She tilts her head at it. “And what is that?”

  “My vote for what we should do with that money,” I argue. “Send you to business school.”

  “Vincent, I don’t need to go to business school.”

  “Why not?”

  She smiles. “Because there is nothing in this world that I can’t learn from you.”

  I pause, losing myself in her beautiful, confident eyes. “Really?”

  “If you…” she pauses, “if we decide to expand, then I’ll be right there with you; learning from you, growing with you. That’s a better education than any school could ever give me.”

  I pick up the contract again and slowly look it over. As I do, the print becomes sharper and a crystal-clear image of our future forms in my head.

  Evey and me taking over the world one muffin at a time. A happy kid latched onto each of my legs and Evey’s belly swelling with just one more.

  “Are you sure?” I ask her.

  “Hey,” she grins, “you actually taught me how to make candy corn. Together, we can do anything.”

  I laugh. “Maybe you’re right.”

  “Of course, I am…” She looks down at her chest and falls silent, her eyes growing wide as she happily realizes that Zachary has closed his.

  I sit up tall with excitement. “Shh…” I say, moving slowly to help her off the floor.

  The baby yawns as we lower him into his crib and he opens his eyes for one last look at us before finally falling to sleep.

  “Merry Christmas, buddy,” I whisper.

  Evey brings her fingers to her lips, gives them a kiss, and then touches them to his forehead. “Merry Christmas, Zach…”

  She looks up at me with tears shining in her eyes.

  I know what she’s thinking because the thought has taken hold of me, too. This morning, this very moment, came so close to not happening at all. We almost lost each other.

  I take her hand in mine and bring her fingers to my lips.

  Beautiful, sweet Evey. My Evey.
My present and future.

  No one will ever stand in the way of that again.

  Chapter 10

  Evey

  We slink backward, navigating across the floorboards, knowing exactly where to walk to keep from waking Zachary on the way to our bedroom. I stop in front of the doorway and Vincent cups my cheeks, leaning down to give me a soft kiss.

  “I love you,” he whispers.

  I fall for him all over again and he embraces me against his chest. “I love you,” I say, inhaling him in as much as I can.

  His lips graze my ear. “If you’d rather sleep, I wouldn’t blame you.”

  Sweet, merciful sleep.

  I’d want nothing more than to drift off and forget this night ever happened. Forget about the damn Shank family and everything they’ve done to us. Forget about my brother getting shot and the bullet holes in the front door of my damn bar.

  To fall asleep in Vincent Silva’s arms would be a dream come true.

  But sleep can wait.

  I push up onto the tips of my toes to whisper in his ear. “Get on the bed and take your pants off.”

  Vincent blinks and his mouth curls into a wide grin. “Oh, thank god…”

  He grabs his belt buckle as he walks into the room. I pause in the doorway, take one last look at my sleeping son, and close it behind us.

  I watch as Vincent stumbles with his pants around his ankles and his shirt caught on his elbows. “Shh,” I warn, trying not to laugh.

  Vincent slows down, gently kicking the pants away and letting the shirt fall, leaving only his boxers and socks. My eyes fall to his body, still as tight and toned as the day I met him. Thick, strong muscles; trained to perfection. That sexy tattoo on his flexing bicep. Sink or Swim.

  And, of course, the huge bulge taking shape in his boxers.

  I bite my lip and lean against the door.

  “What?” he asks, standing with his hands on his hips.

  “You’re still so…” I grunt, “Vincent.”

  He chuckles. “And you’re still Evey.”

  I roll my eyes. “Yeah, right. Evey with the bigger feet and the longer stretch marks and the wider—”

  “Evey.” Vincent stops me and walks closer until he’s standing over me. “I have always loved your body.”

  I look down but he rests a finger beneath my chin to keep my head up.

  “I mean that,” he says. “You’re the most confident woman I’ve ever met before in my life. That’s what drew me to you in the first place.”

  “Really?”

  “Hell yeah.” He takes a breath. “But I saw some of that confidence fade after Zach. Now, I’m a man, so I have no idea what it must have been like to have another living thing take over your body and change it like that. That’s rough and I understand it on some level… but I don’t ever want you to think that when I look at you I see something I don’t like. Evey, when I look at you, I see perfection.”

  I scoff. “No, you don’t—”

  “The swoop of your hip when it meets your ass,” he says, smirking. “The way your belly pooches out.”

  “Hey, now…”

  “I like it.” He leans in. “Why do you think I named my bakery Muffin Top?”

  I hold in a laugh. “Yeah, I kinda figured…”

  “Remember how you wouldn’t let me see you naked for weeks after you gave birth?”

  My cheeks burn. “Yeah…”

  “Well, I snuck a few peeks anyway,” he admits, “and I have never been more turned on by you.”

  I smile wider. “Oh, come on.”

  He cups my face and kisses me softly. “Evey, you gave birth to my son. You are a powerful, mighty woman and I will never stop being in awe of you.”

  Shivers dance down my spine. “Okay, that’s pretty good.”

  His kisses come harder and faster. “I fantasize about you every day… loving you, touching you. I worship you, Evey Ryan.”

  His erection presses against my stomach and my own thoughts run wild. “I think you’ve sold me here…”

  “I just want to watch my cock slide in and out of your—”

  “Just shut up and do it, please.”

  “Okay.”

  Vincent easily lifts me up into his arms and my insides swoon the way they always have as he cradles me. I kiss him as we move, admiring everything about him until he lays me onto the bed.

  He’s on me in seconds, ravaging me with desperate passion. I sit up, laughing at his erratic movements while he slides my shirt over my head and throws it across the room. He admires my breasts, trapped behind a white bra, as he tugs at my skirt and tosses it away, too.

  I lie back in nothing but my matching bra and panties, presenting my neck for his tender bites as his hands own me. His nails scratch down my curves, digging into my skin until his strong hands reach my thighs. He forces them apart and descends me, his lips never leaving my skin as he inches closer and closer to my throbbing core.

  I watch his mischievous eyes. He looks up at me as he bites the top of my panties and pulls at them with his teeth. I throw my head back and quietly laugh as I raise my hips to let him slide them down to my ankles.

  Vincent licks from my toes to my knee, traveling up my right leg to lay a kiss on my hairy mound. He continues up my belly to my navel, pausing to kiss both breasts before finally landing on my trembling lips.

  Everything burns inside. My skin cries out. The pressure builds more and more the longer we delay this but I don’t want this worship to end either. He pins me down, towering over me on his arms, and I spread my knees for him.

  His erection tents his boxers and I feel it push into my leg. I reach down to burrow my hands beneath the elastic band and cup his tight ass. Vincent chuckles as I squeeze and run a finger between his crack. He lets out a groan and bites my lip in a playful kiss.

  I push the boxers down and free his cock, wrapping my fingers around it and grinning as lust fills his eyes. It’s the same aching lust I saw in him during our first kiss and every time we’ve been intimate ever since. One flick of my wrist and he moans for more, making me forget all about my own hang-ups and I remember just how much he loves me for who I am.

  Vincent slides against me, nudging his hardness against my slit and I twitch with anticipation. He takes hold of his base and guides the tip to touch my clitoris. I close my eyes, feeling the tease of warmth as he rubs us together, massaging the sensitive bud.

  I want him inside so badly but he refuses to give in. It’s always been me first and he’s not about to let that tradition change now. He grinds us, knowing exactly where to touch me to make my toes curl and I descend a little deeper into pleasure.

  “Vincent,” I whine, digging my nails into his sides.

  A chuckle shakes the back of his throat. “You’re perfect, Evey,” he whispers, offering a firmer rub. He takes his free hand and lays it on my covered breast. “This shape, this body… you’re all I’ve ever wanted.”

  I bite my tongue, silencing a moan as he pulls my bra down to expose my nipple. It grows hard and more sensitive against his palm, igniting a surge of pleasure in me.

  “You’re amazing,” he says.

  I smirk. “You stole my line.”

  My hips buck, flinching and swaying, as climax takes me over. Vincent’s open hand falls to mine and we entwine our fingers together. I hold on, feeling a wet deluge seep out of my crevice as I look up into his satisfied eyes.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” he whispers, letting go of himself and leaning down to kiss me again. His tongue parts my lips and I let him taste me while my pulse pounds and my body softly flexes beneath him.

  Finally, his cock teases my folds and I moan, begging for him to take me but then a panic halts my breath.

  “Oh, wait—” I stop him and I point to the drawer. “Not for a very long—”

  “A very long time,” he says, reaching out to yank it open. “Right there with you.”

  Vincent grabs a condom and tears the wrapper off. I watch h
im roll it on his thickness, biting my lip even harder while the extended seconds feel like minutes.

  He settles between my thighs again and lowers down to kiss me. “Evey…”

  “Hmm?”

  “Should I go slow?”

  My body screams no but I take a cautious pause as I flashback to the last, painful time we tried this. “Oh, maybe…”

  He kisses me harder and grunts as his hard-on presses against my entrance. His hands slide along my curves and I inhale a deep breath, twitching and throbbing all over as I wait.

  Vincent slides his cock inside and we both gasp and laugh. A relaxing chill washes over me, enveloping me with that desire I’ve always had for him. He moves slowly, taking his time working me in and out and the heat inside grows warmer with each thrust.

  “Oh, wow…” I sigh.

  “What?” he smiles.

  “I’d forgotten how intense this feels after getting kidnapped.” A wave of pleasure jolts my spine. “Oh, god…”

  Vincent maintains his pace, pumping and grinding me as my body turns to jelly. “While I’d prefer it if you stopped getting kidnapped…” he jokes, “I love the look on your face right now.”

  He goes deeper and I moan against his mouth.

  “Shh,” he says, lips curling.

  He takes hold of my thighs and moves my legs around his waist. I lock my ankles together behind him and he fucks me a little faster.

  My back arches off the bed as I mewl beneath him. His kiss falls to my rising chest. Every touch, every move he makes inside of me. It all blends together in me, making me feel more loved and wanted than ever before.

  “Evey…” he groans. Beads of sweat drip from his brow onto my skin and I shiver to my core and back. “You feel so amazing.”

  I watch as his stiff cock pumps in and out of me. The sight drives me crazy and I fall back in time to the first moments on his bed. Pulse racing. Bodies quivering. Nothing else in the world mattered but the very experience of each other. And now, after everything we’ve done, everything we’ve accomplished and been through, it’s still the same feeling.

  Vincent Silva. My partner and lover. My son’s father. My husband for all time.

  I lock my lips on his as climax tears me apart. My body clenches, muscles throbbing through pleasure and pain, but I don’t want to rest. I don’t want to close my eyes and let this moment drift away.