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“Store’s great, parents are great, but we’re getting sidetracked. Presents, presents, then catch up, okay?”
Hayden put his newly emptied hands up in surrender, “Okay, okay, far be it from me to complain about that.”
I bounced over, sitting on the ottoman from the sectional and grabbing Hayden’s first present from under the tree.
“Here, this one first.”
Hayden set on the floor next to the tree, facing me an arm’s length away. He felt the package and laughed.
“A book?! I never would have guessed.”
I rolled my eyes. “Just open it.”
He ripped the paper with a satisfying tear. His eyes opened wide.
“The Mark Hamill memoir? And it’s signed? But this isn’t out for another three weeks?”
I waggled my eyebrows. “Bookish girlfriend perks. Though if you ever tell Penguin Random House you got it this early, I’ll have to kill you.”
Hayden started leafing through the pages, muttering “deal” distractedly. I let him go for another few seconds before clearing my throat.
“Right, right,” Hayden shook his head. “Presents, presents, catch up, and then reading. Hmm, I was going to do this one last… but I think I’ll give it to you now.”
Hayden pulled a small bag out of where it was nestled in the tissue paper of one of the larger bags and handed it to me.
I took it from his outstretched hand and raised an eyebrow.
“Hayden Andrew, this looks like it broke our predetermined price limit.”
Hayden shrugged. “Guilty. I only have a CIO salary for so much longer, and I wanted to spoil you a bit.”
I rolled my eyes since his salary would drop from outrageous to simply extravagant, but pulled a small box out of the bag all the same. Taking off the lid, I raised my hand to my lips in a gasp.
“Hayden, it’s gorgeous.”
Nestled on a cotton backing was a necklace. The wire charm was twisted into the shape of a book. It was simple, very much my style, but held so much meaning, not only in the design, but in the thoughtful man who gave it to me.
He looked at me with a burning intensity in his eyes.
“I commissioned a jewelry maker at the Christmas market near Duncan’s rented apartment to make it for you. I figured if I got you something with diamonds or gems on it, you’d only wear it on special occasions, and I wanted to get you something you’d wear daily, so you’d have a piece of me close to your heart. Because my heart is yours, but I know your heart belongs to books, as well as to me. This way, they can be closer than ever.”
I put the lid carefully back on the box and set it next to me on the ottoman.
Hayden pursed his lips in confusion. “You’re not going to put it on?”
“Oh, I will. There are just some other things I want to take off first.”
At that, I moved off the ottoman and joined Hayden on the floor, straddling his lap. His hands found their way under my skirt to grasp my ass, his finger tucking into the bottom edges of my panties.
“So, we’re moving on to the presents part of the evening, are we?” he sassed, his eyes lighting up with that cocky charm that bowled me over—almost literally—from the first day we met.
“Who needs a list, anyway?” I said before slamming my mouth on his.
This kiss was nothing like the one we shared at the door. This one was full of the passion and heat we had kept pent up over the past few weeks. Hayden groaned into my mouth, his fingers flexing to grasp more of my ass, his fingers sliding under the fabric covering it and toward my center. One finger trailed down the seam of my ass, circling around the puckered hole briefly, causing my hips to thrust up.
Hayden pulled back to give me a questioning look.
“I mean, I’m not not into it. But I have other things in mind for tonight.”
