Page 35 of Down & Dirty (Holden Cove #1)

CHAPTER 35

CORY

“ I want this one,” Micah said, tugging on the display of pajamas in front of me.

I fished the hanger off the rack and held it up. “You want this one?” I asked, looking between him and the Wonder Woman sleep set. It had a red cape attached with Velcro at the shoulders and a pink glitter W on the chest.

“Yeah,” he replied eagerly, bouncing on his toes.

“Okay, that’s the one then,” I said, tossing it into the cart.

When Micah had spilled finger paint all over his pajamas that morning, I’d volunteered to bring him to get a fresh set. But I was a sucker for his big round eyes and even in his little kid mind, I think he knew he had me by the balls. We’d been in the store for barely fifteen minutes and had already amassed quite a haul. Sky was back at the house working on the Christmas eve roast with Jacob, so there was no one to stop me.

“Momma loves these,” he said, streaking his chubby little fingers across the display of perfumes we were walking past.

“She does, doesn’t she?” I agreed, my mind drifting to a vision of Sky’s neck, head tilted back as I drank in one of the many scents she wore. “Should we get her another one?”

It was Christmas, after all, and half the cart was stuff Micah had po inted out that his mother liked. Spoiling the two of them had become a favorite pastime of mine, even if it often got dirty looks from Sky. She worried I was going overboard. But I was just getting started.

Things with my sponsors were better than ever, and Bruce had just inked another extension on my Harmsch watch contract. The press had eaten up the news of our marriage with more enthusiasm than any of us expected. But maybe I should have; Skylar was unlike anyone I’d ever met, let alone been linked to. How could they not have been as captivated as I was?

“I like this one,” Micah said, picking up a small red-capped bottle. I gave it a sniff and shrugged; it actually smelled pretty nice. “Good call, my man. Let’s get it.”

I grabbed an unopened box and tossed it onto the pile, steering us toward the checkout. I was going to have to sneak this stuff into the house without Sky seeing so Micah could give it to her Christmas morning.

“Do you think Santa will find me?” he asked nervously when we got in line. “I’m not home or at Grumpy and Grammie’s house. What if he doesn’t know where I am?”

I was the reason he wasn’t in either of the two places he felt most comfortable, so I thought for a second before I replied. I wanted Micah to like being in Maine just as much as I wanted him to like being around me.

“He knows if you’ve been good all year long, right?” He nodded up at me. “Which means he can follow along with you to all the places you go all year.” He nodded again, the worry lingering. “So he always knows where you are, Micah. He can’t lose you. He knows where every one of us is, every minute of the day. Especially on Christmas morning.”

He took that in, his lips rolling inward as he thought about it. He looked just like his mother, puzzling things out in his mind before he finally nodded one more time.

“He knew about the time I spilled jam all over my sheets and didn’t tell Momma for a week. ”

My attempt to stifle a laugh failed, especially when the older woman ahead of us in line snorted loudly when she overhead.

“I bet that made a real mess,” I said, brushing his curly hair from his forehead.

He giggled. “I had sticky feet every day.”

“That sounds disgusting.”

He laughed harder. “It was dis . . . gusting.”

Damn, this kid was cute.

It had been a long time since Christmas morning in the Ellis house had been anything but a subdued, quiet affair. Coffee and store-bought muffins were replaced by hot cocoa and homemade pancakes, chocolate chips and blueberries tumbling to the floor as laughter rang through the still-dim morning.

“You sure you don’t want any help in there?” Skylar asked, craning her head back for a view through the doorway from her spot on the couch.

“No, we’re all set,” Jacob chuckled, working as quickly as he could to contain the mess Micah was making.

She turned back to me, a doubtful smile on her face. “He’s in his element right now.”

“Micah or Jake?” I laughed, taking a sip of my coffee.

She considered that before shrugging. “Both.”

“Yeah, they suit each other well.”

I’d seen my father take to Micah like he was one of his own. After my mother’s accident, Jacob had gone down a dark hole. It wasn’t something I could blame him for anymore. But back then I did. Seeing him now with Micah soothed a little of that ache. He’d missed out on our childhoods as much as we did. I understood that now.

I also understood what had driven him to fall apart, even when his kids needed him. My gaze drifted over Skylar’s gorgeous face, the sparkle in her eye, the lushness of her smile. I’d never needed anyone the way I needed her. She was my air. I’d suffocate if I ever lost her. So, I got it now. My father had done the best he could without my mom. It took Skylar to help me see that.

“He really likes it here,” she said, her eyes on the fire as she wrapped her hands around her mug.

“Maine is a fun place to grow up. Cold, though. Sort of sleepy.”

She slanted her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen it in summer yet, but something tells me having four seasons is pretty amazing.” She leveled me with a warm grin. “And what you call sleepy, I call charming. Safe. Friendly.”

“We should plan a week or two here in the summer. Micah would love the lake.”

“ I would love the lake,” she said, swatting my arm playfully.

I snatched her hand and brought it to my lips. “I would love you in a bikini .”

She rolled her eyes, but then she bit her lip and I knew exactly what she was picturing. Me tugging that bikini off and fucking her good and hard. Crickets and motorboats, and her moaning my name.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she warned, as if she hadn’t started it.

“Impossible, gorgeous. This is just my face.”

She leaned closer, cupping my jaw and stroking her thumb over my lips. “And what a face it is.” She kissed me, sweet and soft, pulling back with a sigh as she looked into my eyes. “Thank you for bringing us here.”

“Merry Christmas, baby.”

After the mayhem of the morning, it was finally quiet. Mack and Jacob were in front of the fire talking about the football tripleheader, and Micah had crashed early, a sack of potatoes in my arms w hen I’d carried him up to the home-gym-turned-back-into-guest room just for him.

I was sitting on the floor at the foot of my bed, waiting for Skylar to come back from tucking him in. She quirked an eyebrow my way, but was quick to join me.

“What’s up, handsome?”

I swallowed. “I’ve got one more gift for you.” Part of me expected another stern glare; her argument that I’d gone overboard already ringing in my ears. But that wasn’t the look she gave me.

“I have one more for you, too,” she said, scurrying over to her bag.

My breath caught at the sweetness in her eyes.

“You first,” I said in a rush, holding out her present.

She took it gingerly, turning it over in her hands. It was just a slim thing, nothing particularly special. But as she ripped the paper my heart started to hammer in my chest, a percussive beat I’d gotten used to around her. It never beat like that for anything or anyone else.

“Oh, wow,” her eyes darted up to me. “ Cory .”

“You probably already know all of them by heart,” I laughed, looking down at the small book of Mary Oliver poetry in her hands. “But just in case.”

She flipped through the pages, her fingers stroking reverently across the pages. “I don’t. I don’t know any of them.” She swallowed thickly, her eyes finding mine again. “Thank you.”

“You have that quote in your bedroom, back in Sacramento, the one wild life or something,” I went on, explaining as if she didn’t know. “But I didn’t see any of her books on your shelf, so I thought you might like this.”

She put her hand on my arm, her eyes watery. “I do. It’s perfect.” She thumbed through it for another minute, seemingly lost in the words, before she sniffed and shook out her shoulders.

“Your turn.”

She set a flat square box in my palm, a simple red ribbon tied around it. I could feel her eyes on me as I tugged the ribbon off the first corner, and then the second, setting it on my lap. I glanced quickly up at her, distracted by the dent her teeth were leaving in her bottom lip.

“Open it,” she pressed, shifting closer.

I lifted the lid, tucking my finger under the flap of tissue paper and folding it back to reveal what looked like a silver pocket watch. I smiled up at her, catching a mischievous glint in her eye.

“It’s not what you think.”

I turned back to the box, carefully removing it, the weighty metal cold in my hand. With a push of the clasp, it hinged open.

“A compass,” I breathed, my heart surging at the surprise. The antique face sat behind a flickering needle as it swiveled and spun, the re-tipped point finding north.

“Flip it over,” she whispered, drawing my eyes back up to hers. They were filled with so much emotion, I struggled to look down again. But when I did, I found an inscription carved into the back.

If light is in your heart, you will find your way home. – Rumi

“ Skylar . . .”

“You’ve been all over for so long. On the road most of your life. But home isn’t someplace you can lose. It’s with you.”

I shook my head, closing the compass inside my grasp. “No, it’s with you,” I whispered, turning to pull her into my lap. “It’s with you and Micah. You are my home now, baby.” I swallowed, searching her eyes. “I’m in love with you, Skylar. I’m so fucking in love with you.”

My arms shook where I held her, and the water brimming in her eyes spilled over. “I love you too, Cory.” She closed her arms around my neck, squeezing so tight I could hardly breathe. “I’ve never felt like this.”

“Me either, baby,” I said, my lips against her skin, kissing her neck. “But I am so damn grateful I found you.”

She leaned back, her lopsided smile undoing me even more as I wiped away the tears streaking down her cheeks .

“I found you first.”

I huffed out a laugh, loving that she had to argue with me. “How do you figure?”

“ I found you at that bar.”

My gaze rose to the ceiling, memories of that night drifting over me. The sparkle in her eye, the way her hand had fit so small and soft inside mine when we danced, the feel of her in my arms when I carried her to bed. Everything had started that night.

“I guess you’re right,” I admitted, nodding as her smile widened and she bobbed her head arrogantly.

“That’s right. Can I get that on tape? I’m not sure I’ve ever heard you say that before.”

She was laughing hard, really proud of herself for that one. But I was laughing right along with her. Because getting ribbed by my wife was better than money, better than press, better than winning any race. Skylar could mock me forever, and I’d be happy. In fact, that was my plan.