Worth It (42 page)

“There’s my girl,” I tell him, pointing my finger. “She’s in the blue dress on the dance floor.”

He studies her for a minute, and as I watch his jaw harden, it makes me uneasy.

“You know her?” I ask him again, my shoulders growing tight.

He seems to break out of whatever mood swing he was in, and he turns back to me. “Nah, man, but she’s a little hottie.”

The tension eases out of my body, and I smile. “Yeah, she is.”

“I should get back to work. We should hang out sometime, so I can meet her.”

I don’t want to be friends with him or let him anywhere near Anna, but I lie and agree anyway. “Sounds good. I’ll see you around,” I say to his quickly retreating back.

He turns and walks backward. “Definitely.” He smiles and turns back to walk into the kitchen.

That was kind of bizarre, but he’s always been a little odd. Maybe I’m just drunker than I thought.
Whatever.

I shrug off thoughts of him and return to my dancing babe. From behind her, I wrap my arms around her and move my hips with hers. She doesn’t miss a beat when she turns her head to smile up at me as she wraps her arms around my neck.

Right here, with her in my arms, is the best place on Earth. I’m hers, and she’s mine—always.

I’m supposed to be doing fucking dishes or some other stupid shit, but instead, the wheels in my head are turning, and my anger is rising.
That little fucking whore.
Savannah is
my
toy. How dare she spread her legs for someone else, especially for such an emotional pussy who spouts shit about falling in
love
. Love doesn’t exist. That was something my foster father told me after he taught me how to fuck one of the foster girls when I was twelve. He was a great mentor up until he got arrested, and my aunt took me in.

Jed is not a pussy on the outside though. He’s a fucking linebacker, and he could probably kick my ass in a fair fight. The key word there is
fair
. I never enter a fight I can’t win.

I’m going to get my Savannah back underneath me, but it’s going to take some planning.

Fuck!
I can’t believe that little bitch. She’s going to be punished for straying from me. I know it’s been a while, but when I told her if she
ever
fucked someone else, then she was going to pay, I meant it.

My first thought when I wake up alone on Christmas morning is that I never want to do it again. Anna has been spending most nights here, but last night, she stayed home, so she could spend Christmas morning with her family. I understand, but I can’t say that I like it. I want to feel her pressed up against me every morning.

When the fuck did I turn into such a girl?

I sigh heavily and sit up in my bed—alone.

She’s coming over later this morning, and then we’ll exchange gifts before heading over to my family’s house for an early Christmas dinner. Afterward, we’re going to her parents’ place for dessert. It’ll be the first time she meets my eccentric extended family and the first time I’ll meet hers. She warned me that they’re kind of crazy, but aren’t all families?

As usual, I swing open my door before the knock sounds. I grab Anna around the waist and pull her to me, so I can kiss those lips. And also like usual, she wraps her arms around my neck and returns my kiss. I set her down to close the door, and when I turn to see her pulling off her coat, my eyes travel over her body encased in a red sweater dress that hugs her every curve. The dress stops a couple of inches above the knee, revealing her toned long legs and strappy silver high heels. I don’t know shoes, but to me, they scream,
Fuck me
, and make me want to do just that while she’s wearing nothing but them.

I pull her back to me. “I don’t think you can wear that today,” I murmur in her ear.

“Does it look that bad?” she whispers in a panicked voice. “I wanted to look nice for your family.”

I chuckle, and then I pull her earlobe into my mouth and nibble on it. “No, it looks that good. You look edible, and I’m going to be having thoughts of eating you all day instead of Christmas dinner,” I whisper before pulling back a little so that I can kiss her again.

She buries her fingers in my hair. “Thank you,” she mumbles against my lips.

I love that she’s getting better at accepting compliments. She’s been going to therapy for only a few weeks, and I can already see a little difference. I love watching her come out of herself.

Taking her hand, I bring her over to the couch.

“Here, sit down. I’m going to go and get your present,” I tell her. I give those soft red lips a quick kiss.

She laughs and walks over to her purse that she must have put on the table before she took off her coat. “Let me grab yours then, too, and I’ll meet you back over here.”

“Sounds good. Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure,” she says.

I head to the bedroom thinking that I fucking love my life. I have a smart, sexy, and wonderful woman, a good job, and family and friends I care about. All I need now is a house and eventually a ring on this girl’s finger.
One step at a time though.

I grab her gift, tuck it into my back pocket, and then head to the kitchen to make my woman her cup of coffee before going back into the living room.

“Here you go, baby.” I set the coffee cup down on the table, and I can’t resist the temptation to kiss her quickly one more time. I pull the gift out of my pocket, sit down, and hand it to her.

She begins to unwrap the red Christmas paper to reveal a black jewelry box. She peeks up at me and bites her bottom lip, and then she looks back down and slowly lifts the lid.

Nestled in the box is a twenty-four karat white gold necklace with a ruby in the shape of an apple and a half carat diamond leaf. I spent hours online trying to find something unique and special. When I came across this, even though it cost a pretty penny, I knew with her teaching passion that she’d love it.

Her mouth drops open, and her eyes glass over with tears as she looks at it.

“Do you like it?”

Her eyes shoot to mine, and she launches herself at me, straddling me and crushing me in a big hug. “I fucking love it,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotion. “Thank you so much, Jed.”

I circle my arms around her waist and squeeze her back. “You’re welcome, baby. Merry Christmas,” I say softly.

She leans back and molds her lips to mine, kissing me hard. I part my lips and welcome her. With her lips on mine and her dress riding up while she straddles me, I’m getting hard. I groan and deepen the kiss, running my tongue across hers. She grips my hair and pushes herself against me.

“Baby, as much as I appreciate the gratitude, you’re going to have to get off me before I rip your panties off and bury myself in you while sitting on this couch,” I mumble. I tug on her bottom lip with my teeth. The mental image I just created for myself is not helping my, um…situation.

She leans back, and she curls her lips up slowly. “Who said that was a bad thing?”

I groan and return my mouth to hers, kissing her deeply, as I run my hands up and down her legs.
I love these fucking legs. I love this woman.
I inch my fingers up her inner leg, and I feel her shiver as I run my nail just below her pussy.

She breaks off abruptly, her breathing ragged. “I need to give you your present.”

“Mmm, I think my present is right here,” I say as I run my finger over her damp panties.

She swats at my shoulder and says, “You can have that one later.” She places a quick peck on my down turned lips. “Don’t pout. It’s my turn.” Without leaving my lap, she reaches over, grabs an envelope off the coffee table, and hands it to me. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

I smile as I tear open the envelope and peer inside. I reach in and pull out two concert tickets. My eyes zero in on the name. “I fucking love Mötley Crüe! Oh, this is awesome! Thank you, baby!” I shout and pull her in for a kiss. “You’re the best. I can’t believe you remembered.”

“You’re not the only one with a good memory.” She grins against my mouth. “I take it you like your gift.”

“Only a little bit,” I say and kiss her again.

I think I need my other present, the one sitting on my lap and sucking on my lip, now rather than later. The family can wait an extra hour.

“Would you relax?” Jed tries to calm me for the millionth time as he places his hand on my bouncing knee. “They’ll love you just as much as my family and I do.”

I nod in response, but my anxiety isn’t calmed. I’m meeting everyone.
Everyone!
From his eighteen-month-old cousin to his ninety-four-year-old great-grandmother. There’s bound to be someone in that group of people who won’t like me or will think I’m not good enough for Jed. Part of my therapy has been to be happy with myself and not care what others think, but old habits die hard.

“I should probably warn you that they’re a little…excitable. That, and my Uncle Sal…”

I glance in Jed’s direction.

“He can be a little flirty sometimes, so try not to let it bother you too much.”

I shrug. “With what you’re going to see at my house tonight, a flirty uncle is a walk in the park. I’ll be fine.”

He smirks. “Okay, baby. Just let me know if he gets to be too much.”

“Okay.” I smile over at my handsome boyfriend.
God, I love him.