Alex froze. What the hell? There was no way she could endure another kiss from Justin. The other day when they were shopping, it was one thing to make Brian jealous. But she couldn’t possibly kiss him just because. Her heart couldn’t take it. Neither could her libido. Incinerating in the Morrison home was not a way to impress, for sure.
Justin shifted from foot to foot. Then leaned in and gave Alex a kiss on the cheek. “Grandma, is there mistletoe all over this house?”
Grandma Lucy giggled. “Just because your grandfather is long gone doesn’t mean I can’t feel the romantic spirit of Christmas.”
“I never thought of Christmas as particularly romantic,” Alex said.
Grandma Lucy patted her hand. “That’s because you never had someone special to spend it with. Now you have my grandson. And, Justin, if you hope to keep a woman, you have to kiss her better than that. Do it again and this time put your back into it.”
Alex couldn’t help it. She sputtered, and the laugh broke free, echoing around the expanse of the high-ceilinged foyer. Yeah, you keep laughing—he’s about to kiss you in a minute, and you two need to make it look real. Damn. She turned to face Justin and licked her lips. His gaze was pinned to her tongue as if his entire focus was on how she might taste. When Justin leaned over, he gently mouthed, Make it look real. And Alex swallowed hard.
When his lips brushed over hers and his hands moved around her waist to pull her close, her mind reeled. As the blood rushed in her skull, her knees felt too weak to support her weight. Right there in the front of Justin’s grandmother, Alex was melting. Into a pool of hormones and need and—But before she could even settle in and enjoy herself, it was over too soon. He pulled back and then brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. All Alex could do was blink in confusion and wonder and—Oh right. Grandma Lucy was saying something to her.
“Now, see, that was a kiss. Justin, honey, you better learn to do that all the time if you’re to keep this beauty.”
“Grandma, no antics. Alex is shy. She doesn’t like flaunting our relationship in front of everyone.”
Yes. That was exactly what they’d discussed. Alex wanting to keep her private life private. As a reason for not showing too much affection to each other. But screw that plan. Alex was now all about demonstrating passion. She might slip Grandma Lucy a five under the table to suggest that she kiss Justin again.
Grandma Lucy just shook her head. “Nonsense. When you love your man, don’t you worry about who’s watching you. Love with your whole heart, honey. Now, you two get upstairs, freshen up and come to the kitchen.”
Justin groaned. “Grandma, I thought the whole point was you were supposed to be relaxing.”
“Oh good Lord, boy, you talk too much, and you worry even more. I have help in the kitchen. I’m just there to supervise, and eat chocolate-chip cookies.”
Justin’s stomach rumbled. Alex shook her head. The man could literally be controlled by his food. “Chocolate-chip cookies?”
Grandma Lucy grinned as she went down the hall. “You two just get settled, then come on down. You can have as many as you can eat.”
Justin took Alex’s hand and squeezed gently. “I’m sorry. My family can be—”
“It’s not your fault. But you know what? I like your grandma. She’s fun.”
“Yeah, but you have a lot of other things to handle. My crazy relatives are not what you should be dealing with right now.”
“It’s fine. So what are we doing with our shared-room situation?”
“Don’t worry about it. From what I remember, that room’s a decent size since it was originally designed as a suite. We’ve got plenty of space and I’ll sleep on the pullout couch.” They reached their room door and found their bags neatly stacked outside. Perfect.
She turned the knob and pushed to open the door, then froze in the doorway. Behind her, Justin groaned. “Alex, what are you doing?”
“Justin, you need to see this.”
Justin leaned around her and peered into the room. There was an enormous king-size bed against the far wall, and a sitting area for reading. The bright, bold colors spoke to her. She loved everything in it. Except for the one little problem. That couch that Justin had been talking about, it was gone. And the floors were not carpeted; they were hardwood. It looked like she and Justin would probably be sharing a bed tonight.
Justin stewed all the way through dinner. As his grandmother chatted excitedly with Alex, and the rest of his family asked her about her paintings, her career and her upcoming gallery show, he was too busy trying to think of a way out of this predicament.
Martin leaned over. “What’s got your panties in a twist?”
“For once in your life, Martin, shut the hell up,” Justin muttered.
Grandma Lucy looked up. “Justin, honey, are you okay? You barely touched your roast.”
Alex was quick on the defense. They’d been covering each other’s asses for so long, she knew exactly when he needed her. “Um, Grandma Lucy, we did have a really big lunch. And you know Justin when he sees something he wants—he has to have more than one helping.”
Justin bit back a groan. For once, Alex was not helping the situation.
Martin chuckled next to him. “I’m the same way,” he said to Alex with a smirk. Then when no one was listening, he leaned over to Justin. “I think now that I’ve gotten to know Alex, I can see the temptation to go back for seconds on that.”
Justin knew Martin was deliberately attempting to get under his skin. He would not bite. He would not bite. He could not bite. But damned if he didn’t want to hit that smug expression off his cousin’s face.
Across the table, Martin’s parents chatted amicably with Alex. And interestingly enough, not one of them commented on the fact that she wasn’t the usual socialite blonde that they would’ve expected. Thank God for small favors. Although, his aunt and uncle did occasionally toss out some privileged comment about who would dare send their child to public school, and boarding school was really best for children. Alex just ignored their pretentiousness.
His cousins Jason and Mack wouldn’t be in town until tomorrow, so at least tonight’s dinner was a small group. He didn’t have to pretend for too many people.
He was so good at putting on a show. Depending on the situation. In particular with his family. He deliberately wore that air of being unfazed. He was really good at that one. He’d been practicing it for years. And he was exactly who they needed him to be. The loser underdog. He knew some of the relatives disregarded his father’s marriage, and in turn he felt their attitude toward him was dismissive. Which was fine by him because his boutique hotel was already in the black. He was proving them wrong. Just by existing. Just by having tried and not crumbling under the pressure.
After the plates were clear of the dinner, Scotch was passed around, along with the bread pudding. Alex yawned next to him, which caught his grandmother’s attention. “Alex, honey, you look exhausted. Given that you and Justin were traveling from San Diego, then had to contend with the traffic and the ferry, why don’t you two get up to bed? I’m headed in that direction myself. Doctor’s orders and all that. Can you imagine she told me I need to be in bed by nine every night?” Grandma Lucy shook her head.
Alex