The Christmas He Loved Her (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 2)

Jake turned onto Crystal Lake Road. “So what’s going on in your New York world these days?”

Mac shrugged. “Same old. I made partner, but I think you already know that. Sold the condo I was in and bought a brownstone on the Lower East Side. It’s a fixer-upper, but it gives me something to do.”

“What about that woman—Tiffany I think was her name?”

“She did what they all do.”

“And what’s that, exactly?” Jake pulled into Raine’s driveway and glanced up at the carriage house. The outside lights were on, but the house was in darkness.

“Got way too serious even after I laid out the ground rules. Too bad, because she was good in bed.”

“You have ground rules?”

“You bet your ass I do, I need them. And even then, clearly they don’t work. Hell, Tiff got pissed because I wouldn’t spend the night at her apartment, but shit, why would I do that? I’ve got a perfectly fine king-size bed at my own place and complete silence in the morning. I can get up and work out, scratch my ass if I want to. I can have my coffee and read the paper in peace. No listening to her natter on about Gucci bags and Manolos. What the fuck is a Manolo, anyway?”

“You’ve got it rough.” Jake knew his friend would never change. The guy was a commitmentphobe, but considering he grew up in a house with a father who used everyone in his family as punching bags, sadly, it wasn’t surprising.

Mac opened the door and got out of the car. “I knew when she started talking about the holidays and hinting at spending it together in fucking Mexico or the Bahamas, she needed to go.”

“Yeah, because a vacation in paradise with a warm, willing woman is so much crappier than spending the holidays with your fucked-up family.”

Mac shrugged and hopped up the steps onto Raine’s porch. “At least my fucked-up family is mine, and we all know where we stand with each other.” He grinned and reached beneath the loose floorboard beside the empty pot just under the window and grabbed the key. “Besides, what’s a holiday without a dustup at the Draper place?”

Jake followed Mac inside and paused. The place hadn’t been lived in for days, and he felt it. There were no Christmas decorations, no cards, no tree…there was nothing. But that was because the one person who made everything seem alive wasn’t here. She was waiting for him at the cottage and it was enough to kick him in the ass.

Okay, where was the damn chew toy?

“Are you going to tuck me into bed too?”

“What?” Jake doffed his boots and trudged into the family room. “No, Raine wants Gibson’s toy.”

“Gibson?”

“The dog.”

“Oh, forgot about him. All right, I’m gonna crash in the back bedroom. See you tomorrow night?” Mac tugged at his leather jacket and ran his fingers through the mess of blond hair at his temple. His buddy looked tired and more than a little lost.

Jake nodded. “Yep, after church, my parents’ place.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mac replied as he headed down the hall. “Besides, you promised an introduction to some hot blonde?”

“She’s off-limits, my friend,” Jake shot back as he entered the family room.

“Whatever,” Mac shouted back.

Jake shook his head and grinned. Mac would never change. He saw every woman he met as a challenge, and once he conquered them, he was done.

First off, Lily wasn’t the type to be conquered, and second, the two of them together would never work. They were too similar, too damaged and too broken, and the last thing he needed was to have two of his best friends at each other’s throat.

Jake spied the chew toy almost immediately, tucked between the sofa and a magazine basket in the corner. He grabbed it and was about to leave, anxious to get back to Raine, when he heard Mac swear, followed by a loud crash and then more swearing.

What the hell?

He strode down the hall toward the sliver of light that fell from the spare bedroom—just past Raine’s—and pushed the door all the way open.

Mac stood in the middle of the room, his jacket on the floor as he cursed and rubbed his knee. The cursing stopped almost as soon as Jake entered.

“Jake, what is all this?”