“Yep.” She nodded and took my hand. “Only because you won’t stay here with me.”
God, I’m tempted—believe me.
I led Elly to the elevator, and we ended up making out all the way to the bottom floor. Thankfully, there was nobody waiting on the elevator when we arrived because she had her hand in a very inappropriate place. I had to do a bit of a waddle when I stepped out of the elevator just to make sure that my erection wasn’t pitching a tent in my pants. It remembered what could come after a little fondling, that was for sure—I just had to convince it that what we needed to take care of was more important than the soft, wet paradise it got to experience the previous night. My dick definitely wanted me to forget all about everything else.
“You’re not going to tell me where we’re going?” Elly looked over at me when we made it to the car.
“Nah.” I shook my head back and forth. “I think it’s better if I just surprise you.”
“Hmm.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Can I look in the bag?”
“No.” I shook my head again. “That’s a surprise too.”
“There are a lot of surprises tonight…” She tilted her head in disappointment. “I’m starting to get worried. You’re not going to take me to some kind of Christmas costume party, are you?”
“Not exactly.” I laughed under my breath.
“Good, because I don’t think I’m going to fit in—at best, I could pass as a big fan of Christmas with this shirt. I just don’t think I could play the part…” She snickered and looked out the window.
“You’ll be fine. You don’t even have to participate unless you want to.” I waved off her comical concern. “This is just something I do every year. I almost retracted my invitation because I was worried you wouldn’t be that excited about it.”
“Nah, I meant what I said.” She turned back towards me and put her hand on my leg. “If I get to spend time with you, I don’t mind a few holiday festivities.”
“Good.” I nodded. “I hope you still feel that way when we arrive.”
There was a little teasing while I drove, but we kept it to a minimum. The last thing I wanted to do was have an accident that would be difficult to explain. There was some light snow on the road, but the salt trucks were working overtime, so there would have been no excuse for taking a sharp left turn into the sidewalk. I would have to explain myself once we arrived at our destination—possibly when we got closer—but I did want to keep it a surprise for as long as I could. It wasn’t likely to be anything special to Elly, but it meant the world to me. I definitely didn’t want her to look at my outfit before we got there. That would have sent up a few alarm bells and triggered every bit of holiday hatred she could muster.
Although I’m starting to really think she’s lost that frostbite she used to have. The wreath was forced, but the Christmas shirt wasn’t…
Chapter Twenty-One
Elly
I really had no idea where we were going. Ian was being mysterious, which would have been sexy if I wasn’t already aware that we were doing something related to the holiday season. I was being honest when I told him that I just wanted to spend time with him. I would have even stood outside a store and rang a bell for the Salvation Army if he asked—I might have even turned into one of those vicious people that stared shoppers down until they paid my toll. I had certainly been subjected to it enough to know the routine. All I had to do was ring the bell so hard that they looked at me, then give them the glare that told them they were going to be on every naughty list imaginable if they didn’t drop some dollars in my bucket.
Your holiday guilt trip—starring Elly-nezer Scrooge.
“Uh…” I looked at Ian with a hint of concern on my face when we made a turn with only one destination—a hospital. “Hey, what’s going on here?”
“Almost there.” He looked at me and smiled.
“I’m pretty sure neither of us are sick.” My concer
n grew. “And if you’re going to give me a blood test this early in our relationship, I may need to voice a couple of concerns.”
“Neither of us is getting poked with a needle.” He chuckled under his breath.
“Okay, you gotta tell me what is going on.” I tilted my head inquisitively when we pulled into the parking lot.
“Do you see that truck?” He pointed to a rather large box truck that was parked by the entrance of the hospital.
“Yeah.” I nodded in confirmation.
“That is full of presents.” He smiled. “For all of the patients that are spending the holidays in the hospital instead of with their families.”
“Seriously?” My eyes opened wide in surprise.
“Yes, my company does this every year.” He nodded and pulled the car into a parking space. “A couple of years after I started Alexander Software, one of my employees got really sick right before Christmas, and some people at the office came up with this as a way to sort of bring the holiday to him.”