Loving Kringle

“Oh god, I am just so happy to welcome you into our family. I always wanted daughters,” Selma gushes before pulling us into a hug. She is a wonderful lady, and I am starting to see why Nick turned out the way he did. Who knows why Ian is the way he is because his brother sure isn't anything like him?

After I pull myself together, we make our way back to the guys when Ian's eyes land on my still healing black eye, I cringe a little on the inside. It's bad enough that I have been crying now he gets to see the evidence of the last time my mother will ever touch me. I look like I'm a weak ass bitch when I am anything but.

So I choose to ignore him for the rest of the time we are at the restaurant. I learned a long time ago the best way to keep people at a distance is to never let them see all your cards and he has already seen too much of mine.

Shit. I am already in too deep.Chapter 1Ian KringleTwo Years LaterTwo years ago my whole life changed and it's been hell on earth waiting patiently, or rather impatiently, for my girl to grow up. I’ve felt like a fucking creep, but I can't help the way I feel about her. She has captured my heart and I am not sure she even knows it, but she will. By God, she will.

When my brother said he was marrying a girl he’d known for less than two days, I balked. Surely, she was like every woman I’d ever known. After him for his money, but he assured me she wasn’t and once I met her, I knew that to be true. I was in Portugal for their week-long whirlwind courtship but thankfully I made it back in time for my older brother's wedding.

As the CFO of Kringle Worldwide Health Subsidiaries, I had to attend to an urgent accounting error there. When I walked into the judge's chambers, I was struck by the little beauty sitting next to another girl. I never prayed harder that she wasn't the girl my brother chose to be his. Thankfully, he introduced the other girl as Kristina. Then I was introduced to Deanna.

Deanna Bell is the girl who will be my downfall and my eternity.

At first, I thought it was because I hadn't been with a woman in years, damn near eleven, but it was so much more than that. I didn't know I was capable of such feelings, to be honest. Over lunch, I put my foot in it and she wouldn't speak to me again for the rest of that meal. But when she came back from the bathroom, I could tell she had been crying due to my insensitive comments, but more than that, her makeup had come off from under her eyes.

She was sporting a hell of a black eye. Who the fuck was hitting this ethereal beauty? I vowed to protect her even though she wasn't mine yet. And that's exactly what I have done. While Nicolas and Kristina were in Chile on their honeymoon, they asked Deanna and me to look after baby Kayleigh, who would become our niece in less than eight weeks. We agreed and since we were both going, I offered to pick her up from my parent’s house and take her out to the hospital every day. I honestly didn't think she'd agree since Nicolas just bought her a car, but she did.

My mom had told me a little about their past, but I wanted Deanna to trust me enough to lay it all at my feet. I also hope she can forgive me for missing her eighteenth birthday yesterday, but it couldn't be helped. I was needed overseas. Someone is stealing money from our hospital in Portugal. It's going to be an arduous task to determine the culprit, but I hope to bring Deanna with me when I go back in the spring. She'll be graduated by then.

Over the last two years, I stayed away from her. I couldn’t trust myself. While I did come to visit for Klaire’s birth and then the girl’s birthdays as well Christmas, but I kept my distance from Deanna. I had to. She tempted me much too much. While I am still bowled over by her beauty, I was also blown away by her grace, her kind heart, and her generosity.

Honestly, I could go on, but I am too anxious to see her, to claim her. I pull into my brother's Long Island mansion, grab the gifts I brought with me, and book it inside. In the living room, I see Kayleigh and Klaire standing in front of the TV watching Rudolph. Their parents are nowhere to be found. I see Deanna, ass in the air, cleaning up something off the floor. Her denim-clad ass is a sight to behold. I clear my throat to get her attention. She startles but when she sees that it's me, she grins and drops her paper towels. Moving to her, I sweep her up in a hug, groaning when the scent of her hits me.