“Why don’t you have a seat?” Knox reached out from his spot on the big armchair, grabbed me, and pulled me onto his lap. My white teddy flew up as I fell back onto him. Before I could straighten it out, Knox had one large arm clamped around my waist. My heart pounded in my chest. It was always such a turn-on when my guys manhandled me like this. They could be so kind and generous and loving, but I also liked it when they teased me and couldn’t keep their hands off me.
Knox ran his thumb along the satin lingerie and offered me his glass of champagne. Austin came over as I took a long sip.
“Nice view,” he observed, and I grinned. The only thing I had on under the teddy—which had ridden up when Knox grabbed me—was a garter belt and white thigh-high stockings. “You look like a naughty nurse.”
I laughed because when I unwrapped the teddy at Christmas last week, my first thought was that perhaps the teddy, garter belt, and stockings had come from a naughty nurse costume. It was just one of the weird and wonderful presents Santa—and my four handsome men—had gotten me.
It was hard to believe that just two months ago at the book signing, I’d thought I wouldn’t be sharing any holidays with all my guys together. But we’d had Thanksgiving, Christmas, and now New Year’s Eve. And there would be more holidays in the coming year—if we had time. Lately, all our free time had been devoted to getting our business up and running. That’s why it felt so good to let loose and have fun with the guys tonight.
Tonio pulled a chair over and sat down next to me. I wiggled around on Knox’s lap until my feet hung over the arm of the chair. Tonio obligingly picked up my foot and rested it in his lap. Then he attacked the instep with his strong thumbs. “Some people spend a cold winter night gathered around the fireplace,” he said. “We gather around an Emma.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” I said with a grin. Knox was cradling me in his arms and giving me champagne. Tonio was rubbing my foot. Austin sat in front of me, staring at my stocking-covered legs with a glint in his eyes. The only one missing was Denver, but a moment later, he appeared, settling down on the arm of the chair next to me and stroking my hair.
“I could get used to this,” I moaned. All of them were touching some part of me now.
“You are used to this,” Tonio said.
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you calling me spoiled?” I totally was, but I didn’t want to admit it to him.
He grinned. “Not spoiled… but sort of like a pampered pet.”
“I’m not a pet!”
“You sure like being petted.” Austin said, sliding a hand up and down my thigh.
“True. I’ll allow that.”
Tonio frowned at me. “Are you getting drunk?”
“No. Not yet. But it’s not like we have to drive anywhere.”
“True,” Denver said. “But there’s something we’d like to do, and you’ll need to be sober for it.”
“Does it involve having to get up?”
“No,” Denver said. “Stay right there.”
He walked out of sight, and I basked in the love and attention from the rest of my guys. They looked so handsome, with their sculpted muscles and gleaming skin. I really didn’t know how I’d gotten this lucky.
“Here you go.” Denver put a box wrapped in silver paper on my lap. Tonio let go of my foot, and Knox shifted uneasily under me. Even Austin sat back, watching me intently. Somehow, the mood had shifted from leisurely and playful to something different.
“What’s this?”
“A present that didn’t make it under the tree,” Knox said.
“What’s inside?”
“Apparently, she’s forgotten how presents work,” Tonio said.
But Austin gave me an actual answer. “It’s an addition to your New Year’s Eve outfit… if you want it.”
Suddenly, I wondered if this really was part of a naughty nurse costume. “Is it a hat?”
Knox sucked in a breath, and the other three looked at me sharply.
Finally, Denver said, “Of a sort.”
This was getting strange. I knew my guys, and they were on edge about something. “Should I open it?”
Denver looked at the others and the nodded. “Yes.”
I smoothed down the skirt of my teddy and sat up straighter. Whatever was going on, it seemed too serious to be sprawled across Knox’s lap.
The box was feather light, and the lid lifted off easily. Someone had wrapped the two parts of the box separately. Inside was a great deal of a soft, white material. I pushed it aside, thinking that the present might be underneath it, when I suddenly realized what it was.
A veil.
My mother’s veil.
I lifted it out carefully, letting the light fabric glide through my fingers. I’d given this connection to my mother away when I thought all hope of a happy relationship was gone. Now the veil had returned to me when I was happier than I’d ever dreamed of. “Where did you get this?” My voice was barely a whisper, but Knox heard.