16. Christmas Tree Farm

Christmas Tree Farm

Lincoln

28 Days Until New Year’s Eve

I was angry, beyond angry. I barely managed not to slam my mug down on the counter and shatter it. Grant raised his eyebrows at me as he filled my mug. We hadn’t gotten home until close to five in the morning, and it was only eight now. I was still tired and pissed. We stood Nova up. Maybe not intentionally, but it happened.

“This is why relationships don’t work for us,” Grant stated as Ben walked in looking gloomy. “We don’t have the time, and things come up at the drop of a hat that we can’t ignore.”

“I told her we would be over for dinner,” Ben said. “She cooked for us, and we didn’t show.”

“I knew you two were getting too close to her,” Grant said. I scoffed as he continued speaking as if he wasn’t lost in Nova’s orbit. “You need to remember that this is temporary. It is a business contract, nothing more.”

“Bullshit,” I replied. “You tell yourself whatever you need to not feel as shitty about last night as we do, but I still call bullshit.” I gulped my coffee while Ben nodded in agreement.

“Who had his dick in her yesterday?” Ben asked. “You’re just as hooked on her as we are. You’re just too scared to admit it.”

“I’m not scared,” Grant growled. “The fact of the matter is, we aren’t able to maintain a long-term relationship with anyone.”

“I refuse to believe that,” I argued. “We have to be better. For Nova. Hell, for us. Other people can balance their work and personal lives, why can’t we?”

“He has a point,” Ben said.

“We busted our asses to grow Triple Tech to where it is today, and you want to throw it away for some woman?” Grant asked incredulously.

“We didn’t say that,” Ben replied calmly. “We said we want a healthier life/work balance.”

“And she isn’t ‘some woman,’” I growled. “She is the woman. The only woman. I know it, Ben knows it, and I think somewhere deep inside, past the stubborn muleheadedness, you know it too.”

“I don’t know what I know anymore,” he sighed, “except we have an apology to make.”

We finished our coffee, got ready, and then went to Icing. Stef was behind the counter as usual when we walked in, except this time, she glared daggers at us.

“I don’t know what you did to her,” she hissed as we walked by her to go to the kitchen, “but you had better fix it.” She was only a high schooler, but I can honestly say she terrified the hell out of me.

We walked into the kitchen, and the only indication Nova gave that she saw us come in was a brief pause in her movement. She was decorating cupcakes, and I could tell that she was upset.

“Hey, Sugar,” I said tentatively as we approached her.

“Good morning,” she replied coolly, making me wince. I had grown used to her almost shy, blushing greetings whenever she saw us. I looked at Ben and nodded toward her for him to try.

“Listen, baby. About last night,” he started.

“No explanation necessary,” she said, cutting him off. “A heads up would have been nice since I waited three hours for you to show, but I don’t need your explanations. I’m busy. We will have to talk another time.” Even Grant winced at her tone this time.

“Can we see you later, then? After work? You usually leave by three, right?” Grant asked.

“I’m not sure,” she replied stiffly. “Are you sure you remember how to get to my house?”

“Cute,” I replied. “We’ll be waiting for you to get home. Then maybe you will let us explain.”

“Listen,” she said, finally putting down the damn piping bag and looking at us. I almost wish she hadn’t because behind the calm veneer she was projecting was an ocean of hurt. And we put it there. How fucking hard would it have been for one of us to call or text her? God, we fucking suck. “I understand you are busy men. But my time is valuable, too. Maybe you shouldn’t make plans you aren’t capable of keeping. Last night fell outside our contract’s purview, so you weren’t obligated to show up. If you could just let me know you can’t make our plans in the future, I would appreciate it.”

“We’re going to show up this time,” I told her. “Promise.”

“You’ll understand if I don’t hold my breath.” Fuck she wasn’t holding her punches, and we deserved every one of them. She picked the piping bag up, silently dismissing us, so we left the store.

“We need to figure out how to make it up to her. She isn’t just pissed, she’s hurt,” Ben said when we walked outside.

“I know. I feel like an even bigger asshole now,” I replied.

“So how do we fix it?” Ben asked.

“I think I have an idea,” Grant answered. “Come on, we need to do a little research before this afternoon.”

We were waiting on her doorstep when Nova pulled into her driveway later that afternoon. She looked surprised to see us but was still guarded.

“You’re actually here,” she commented as she unlocked her door. We followed her inside, and there was an awkward silence before Ben launched into our apology.

“Nova, we had every intention of coming over last night, and I’m sorry that we didn’t. We had a problem with a large shipment to Japan that was held up in customs, and it was all hands on deck to get the products through before they shipped them back to America. Still, that isn’t an excuse for not letting you know that we wouldn’t be able to make it.”

“We fucked up,” I said bluntly, making the corner of her mouth twitch slightly. “We aren’t used to worrying about anything outside of our company and each other, but we want to be better. We will be better because I don’t want to live like that anymore. You’re important to us, and it won’t happen again.”

Her eyes shifted to Grant. I knew he wouldn’t apologize or make promises, not after Ben and I had covered everything already, and I hoped she didn’t need a third apology because it wouldn’t happen.

“To make up for our oversight,” Grant said, “we’re taking you on a surprise outing. You’ll probably want to shower first.”

Her eyes sparkled with interest as a small smile spread across her face. “What should I wear?”

“You get in the shower. We’ll pick out your clothes,” I replied. We followed Nova into her bedroom, and while she went into the bathroom to shower quickly, I started going through her drawers. I grinned at my brothers as I pulled a lacy scrap of fabric from her underwear drawer. I found the matching bra and set it on the bed. “Done,” I announced.

“She needs more than that,” Grant replied, rolling his eyes. He entered her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt. Ben found socks and a pair of boots and set those out as well.

“There,” he said. “Now we’re done.”

I flopped onto her bed to wait for her to come back out. Ben sat on the edge of the bed, and Grant leaned against the doorframe. The water shut off, and we perked up a little in anticipation. The door opened, and a small cloud of steam poured out, followed by Nova wrapped in a fluffy pink towel. Drops of water beaded on her skin before gravity took over and caused them to drip down. I felt my dick stir to life in my pants at the sight of her.

“You know,” I said, sliding off the bed and sauntering over to her, “we could just stay in instead of going out. I can think of plenty of fun things to do inside.” I started tugging at her towel playfully while I bent down to lick water from her shoulder. “You wouldn’t even have to get dressed.”

“Oh, no,” Nova laughed as she squirmed away from me. “You had your chance to stay in last night and stayed away instead. Today, we’re going out.” She started shoving me toward the door and veered off to grab Ben and pull him off her bed. “Out! I need to get dressed, and if you stay here while I do, we’ll never leave this room.”

“Is that supposed to be a bad thing?” Ben asked.

“Out!”

Big fat snowflakes started falling when we stepped out of Nova’s house. “Dibs on the backseat with Nova!” I yelled as soon as we were outside.

“Dammit!” Grant complained. “I was just about to say that.”

“You snooze, you lose,” I laughed as I held the back door open for her. Nova climbed in the Jeep, and I slid beside her while Grant and Ben sat up front.

“So where are we going?” Nova asked as Ben pulled away from her house.

“It’s a surprise,” Grant replied, a teasing lilt to his voice. I didn’t know about Nova, but I got whiplash from Grant’s attitude shifts. Knowing my brother as well as I did, his behavior showed me how conflicted he was about his feelings for Nova.

“I had better distract you so that you don’t figure out where we’re going,” I told her. I pulled her into my lap, and when she tried to protest, I covered her mouth with mine. As my tongue twisted with hers, my fingers were busy with the buttons on her shirt. I didn’t break the kiss until I had her shirt spread open. Pulling her closer, I bent my head to capture a taut nipple with my teeth, moving my tongue against the imprisoned bud through the sheer lace.

Nova moaned as she arched her back to give me better access. Grant twisted around in his seat at the sound.

“You couldn’t have sat on the other side of the car so that I could watch?” He grumbled.

“There’s room in this backseat for another,” I suggested as I moved to Nova’s other nipple.

“Don’t you dare!” Ben growled as Grant twisted to climb into the backseat. “I’m serious. I’ll pull over and make you two sit in the back alone. Linc, knock it off!”

I sighed with defeat. I knew that tone, and Ben could be a royal pain in the ass when he sounded like that. I did not doubt that he would pull over and refuse to drive until Nova was sitting up front with him and out of our reach. At least this way, I could still snuggle with her. “You’re a real pest sometimes, you know that?” I said to him as I rebuttoned Nova’s shirt. “Sorry, Sugar. My brother is being a real cock block right now. Any frustration you’re feeling can be directed toward him.” I moved Nova off of my lap and onto the seat beside me. I threw my arm around her and pulled her into my side before she could scoot to the other side of the car.

A comfortable silence fell over the car as we drove. Nova perked up when Ben slowed and turned onto a gravel road. We had thoroughly researched this place, and I hoped she hadn’t been here before. When Nova didn’t indicate recognition of where we were, I knew she hadn’t. The Christmas trees of all sizes surrounding either side of the road should have tipped her off to what we were doing, but it wasn’t until the road opened up to a large lot that she squealed with glee.

“Are we getting a Christmas tree?” Nova asked excitedly.

“Surprise, Sugar,” I replied.

“We thought we owed you a big Christmas tradition after standing you up,” Grant told her. I smirked to myself at the smile on his face at her excitement. He could say this was just business until he was blue. The only person he was fooling was himself.