Apparently, her ex was not pleased about our new relationship.

  His words were seething as he spat out, "You swore to me. You swore to me there was nothing between you two."

  Alex shrugged, giving me that sweet smile again, and I couldn't help myself, I squeezed her into my side. I needed more of her. I wanted to hold her closer.

  "What I do with my love life is no longer any of your concern. Now if you'll excuse me, Jensen and I have somewhere to be."

  As we walked away, I felt her muscles relax marginally. Brian was such a jerk. He'd always treated her like he should be the primary in the relationship. "You okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine. He's just a blowhard. Besides, that was totally worth the look on his face."

  Her grin was friendly and bright, and I wanted to kiss her again. But that was not going to happen. A simple kiss from her had felt better than anything I'd had with anybody in months, maybe years.

  Didn't matter. I was not going there… All I had to do for the week we'd be away was not kiss her again. It couldn't be that hard to do, could it? I hoped not. "Yeah, that was totally worth the look on his face."

  Chapter 8

  Alex

  "Are you okay with this?"

  As the wind blew my hair around my face, I tucked the errant strands behind my ears. I’d opted for a straight look today, figuring I didn't want to scare the Morrisons with my wild curls just yet. Come Christmas Day, I'd introduce the full Afro. "Yeah, fine. Just trying to settle in as Jensen Morrison's girlfriend."

  Jensen laughed. "You realize you're closer to me than any other girlfriend I've ever had in my life, right?"

  I chewed my lip. That was not exactly what I wanted to hear. But whatever. It was too late to back out now. I could do this. Besides, if push came to shove, I could always call Cassie for an SOS. An emergency that required me to come home. "You realize that's not promising to me, right?"

  Jensen laughed. “Well, it's the truth. We Morrison men can be hell on women."

  “Why do I have a feeling that's more about you than being a Morrison?"

  He grinned. “Because you know me."

  That stupid grin got me every time. The butterflies flapped their wings low in my belly, and I knew I’d do anything to see that expression again. Yeah, I needed help.

  We pulled up to the ferry terminal, and I couldn't help but be struck by the sheer beauty of it. Granted, we lived in San Diego, so a picturesque sunset over a marina was nothing new, but Catalina certainly was beautiful.

  Jensen helped me with our bags, and I had no choice but to follow him outside. I expected to see someone. Family, even Grandma Lucy. From what I'd heard about the old lady, she'd have fought tooth and nail to meet Jensen at the ferry stop. But there was no one there save a single chauffeur, holding up a sign that said Morrison. Seriously? Not one person in his family could be bothered to drive over and pick us up? Okay, then. I needed to do a quick mental recalculation on his family and what it meant. Norman Rockwell would not have painted this family.

  As if Jensen could read my thoughts, which, hello, scary, he said, “Don't bother being surprised that no one came here to meet us. I'm not."

  That single line told me everything I needed to know. No one besides his grandmother was looking forward to Jensen coming home. And no one in the family except her was deserving of his love and affection. I would just have to take over the caring duties then.

  The car wound around the island, driving along the coast before finally pulling up to the Morrison estate, which sat behind the Morrison Hotel and had a 1930s F. Scott Fitzgerald glamour to it. Jensen opened the door for me, "The palace awaits m’lady."

  The front door opened, and I plastered what I hoped was a winning smile on my face.

  Out walked a man who could've easily been Jensen's brother. Their frames were similar, and while their eyes were the same shade of brown, Jensen's always looked warm like melting chocolate, but this guy's eyes were flinty, dark, and cold.

  "Well, I would say the prodigal son has returned, but no one wanted you home."

  I scowled at the guy. I was trying to be on my best behavior and waited for Jensen to say something. Even better, to knock the guy on his ass. But my best friend did nothing but clench his jaw and ignore the comment.

  Well, I couldn't stand for that. "Jensen, sweetheart, who's this asshole?"

  The other man cocked his head. "Well, this one is feisty. I do like feisty. Pretty too. Sweetheart, are you sure you're supposed to be with this guy? I've got more money, and I’m better looking too. I'm Martin."

  I twitched with the desire to slap him. God, if only Jensen would let me slap him. Jensen grabbed the last of the bags from the chauffeur and tipped him. Before I could open my mouth, he leaned down and whispered, "Remember, we’re here for Grandma Lucy. Ignore him. Otherwise, you're only succeeding in giving him what he wants."

  The problem was that ignoring idiots was not my strong suit, except for Brian. Damn. My big mouth was why Jensen liked me. It was also why a lot of other people didn't.

  Remember, you came for him.

  I sighed. I had come for him. So I'd have to play his way. "I'm Alex, Jensen's girlfriend."

  I would just totally ignore that happy buzzing feeling those words gave me.

  Martin grinned at me. It was really more leer than grin. "I'm Martin, and I'm CEO of Morrison Hotels." He said it like he was announcing at some grand ball. I didn't have the heart to tell him he should wait for someone else to announce him first.

  "Well, you must be very proud of yourself." It was the nicest thing I could think of to say. Because what I really wanted to say was high on the inappropriate list.

  Behind Martin, someone put a hand on his arm and tapped him out of the way. When he stumbled to the side, a diminutive woman with a shock of white hair, aviator sunglasses, and a wide grin said, "I've been waiting for you two to show up." Considering she'd been in the hospital, Grandma Lucy was spry enough to stride over to her grandson and wrap her thin arms around him, squeezing tight.

  Now that was what I wanted from his family. The love and devotion was clear and glowing on Lucy's face. The old woman stepped back and took a proper look at her grandson. "You look like you haven't been sleeping. I certainly hope it's not because you're worried about me," she said to him.

  Jensen shifted on his feet and avoided her gaze. "It's good to see you Grandma. This is Alex."

  Grandma Lucy turned and scrutinized me. "I do like it when my grandson exceeds expectations." She reached out and gave me a tight hug.

  Damn. Wasn't this woman supposed to be sick?

  Grandma Lucy stepped back and nodded her approval. "Oh yes, you'll do just fine." Then she turned to her grandson. "Alex? Haven't you been telling me for years about your best friend, Alex?"

  Jensen scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, well, Alex is my best friend. She's just also my girlfriend."

  Grandma Lucy nodded. “I approve. Now let's get on inside. There's cooking to be done and rooms to be assigned. Martin, stop standing around and come get their bags. Take them up to their rooms."

  Martin sputtered. "But we have valets for that."

  Grandma Lucy leveled a look on her other grandson that made him jump. Martin hopped to and took the bags from Jensen. She gave Martin a satisfied nod as he lugged them inside. She leaned in and whispered to me, "Sometimes you just need to know how to handle men."

  I fought a grin. I liked Grandma Lucy. Maybe this Christmas wasn't going to be so terrible after all.

  "Now Jensen, I put you and Alex in the blue room. It’s south facing, so you'll get plenty of light. And you'll be able to see the shore from there."

  I frowned. The blue room? As in one room? "Uhm, Miss Lucy. I know how traditional you must be, and I wouldn't dream of spending the night in the same room as Jensen." I sent Jensen a beseeching glance, silently pleading with him to do something. Jensen, come on. Come through for me.

  Jensen shook his head. "Grandma Lucy. Since when have you been down for cohabitation? With Martin's girlfriend, you railed and railed about how that was so inappropriate under your roof. Now you're sticking me and Alex in the same room?"

  Grandma Lucy just waved him off. "I was saying that because I didn't like the girl. She was a gold-digging wh—"

  "Grandma Lucy," he said with the faintest hint of warning in his voice.

  His grandmother shrugged then took my hand. "Well, I call a spade a spade. And that's what she was. And that's why I didn't want her digging her claws into my grandson. But of course Martin doesn't listen to me. And that, one day, will bite him in the ass." She led me to the doorway and then went ahead of me. When Jensen followed, his grandmother turned around and smiled at both of us. "Go on now, Jensen, kiss your girlfriend."

  I froze. What the hell? There was no way I could endure another kiss from Jensen. The other day when we were shopping, it was one thing to endure it to make Brian jealous. But I couldn't possibly kiss him just because. My heart couldn't take it. Neither could my libido. Incinerating on the doorstep was not a way to impress for sure.

  Jensen shifted from foot to foot. Then leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Grandma, is there mistletoe all over this house?"

  Grandma Lucy giggled. "Just because your grandfather is long gone, it doesn't mean I can't feel the romantic spirit of Christmas."

  "I never thought of Christmas as particularly romantic," I said.

  Grandma Lucy patted my hand. "That's because you never had someone special to spend it with. Now you have my grandson. And Jensen, 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."

  I couldn't help it. I sputtered and the laugh broke free, echoing around the expanse of foyer.

  Yeah, you keep laughing, he's about to kiss you in a minute, and you two need to make it look real.

  Damn. I turned to face Jensen and licked my lips. His gaze pinned to my tongue as if his entire focus was on how I might taste. When Jensen leaned over, he gently mouthed, "Make it look real." And I swallowed hard.

  When his lips brushed over mine and his hands moved around my waist to pull me close, my mind reeled. As the blood rushed in my skull, my knees felt too weak to support my weight. Right there in the front entrance to the Morrison estate, I was melting into a pool of hormones and need, but before I could even settle in and enjoy myself, it was over too soon. He pulled back and then brushed his thumb over my bottom lip. All I could do was blink in confusion and wonder. Oh, right. Grandma Lucy was saying something to me.

  "Now see, that was a kiss. Jensen, 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's exactly what we discussed. Me wanting to keep my private life private was a way to keep from showing too much affection to each other. But screw that plan. I was now all about demonstrating passion. I might slip Grandma Lucy a five under the table to suggest that I kiss Jensen 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."

  Jensen 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.”

  Jensen's stomach rumbled, and I shook my 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, and you can have as many as you can eat."

  Jensen took my 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 about our shared-room situation?"

  "Don't worry about it. From what I remember, that room has a decent-size pullout couch. It was originally designed as a suite. We've got plenty of room for me to sleep on the couch.” We reached our door and found our bags neatly stacked outside. Perfect.

  I turned the knob and pushed open the door then froze in the doorway. Behind me, Jensen groaned. "Alex, what are you doing?"

  "Jensen, you need to see this."

  Jensen leaned around me 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 me. I loved everything in it. Except for one little problem. That couch that Jensen had been talking about was gone. And the floors were not carpeted, they were hardwood. It looked like Jensen and I would probably be sharing a bed while we were there.

  Chapter 9

  Jensen

  I stewed all the way through dinner. As my grandmother chatted excitedly with Alex, and the rest of my family asked her about her paintings, her career, and her upcoming gallery show, I 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," I muttered.

  Grandma Lucy looked up. "Jensen, honey, are you okay? You barely touched your roast."

  Alex was quick on the defense. We'd been covering each other's asses for so long she knew exactly when I needed her. "Um, Grandma Lucy, we did have a really big lunch. And you know Jensen. When he sees something he wants, he has to have more than one helping."

  I bit back a groan. For once, Alex was not helping the situation.

  Martin chuckled next to me. "I'm the same way," he said to Alex with a smirk. Then when no one was listening, he leaned over to me. "I think now that I've gotten to know Alex, I might go back for seconds on that."

  I knew Martin was deliberately attempting to get under my skin. I would not bite. I could not bite. But damned if I didn't want to knock that smug expression off my 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, my aunt and uncle did occasionally toss out some privileged comment about who would dare send their child to public school and how boarding school was really best for children. Alex just ignored their pretentiousness.

  My other cousins, Jason and Mack, wouldn't be in town until tomorrow, so at least tonight's dinner was a small group. I didn't have to pretend for too many people.

  I was so good at putting on the show, depending on what was needed for the time. In particular with my family, I deliberately put on that air that indicated I wasn’t fazed. I was good at that one. I'd been practicing it for years. And I was exactly who they needed me to be. The loser underdog.

  Which was fine by me because my boutique hotel was already in the black. I was already proving them wrong. Just by existing. Just by having tried and not crumbling under the pressure.

  After the dinner plates were cleared, Scotch was passed around along with the bread pudding, Alex yawned next to me and covered what she could, but my grandmother was quick to notice. "Alex, honey, you look exhausted. Given that you and Jensen 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 laughed. "Yeah, with this gallery opening, I've been burning the candle at both ends. I need to do some hard-core relaxing.”

  Martin was there with a comeback. "I can help you relax." And just when I was about to stand and knock him flat on his ass, he added, "There’s a lot of sightseeing to do on the island, all very chill. I can make sure you have the best tour of the city." He flashed me a grin. The jerk was doing it on purpose.

  With our good nights said, I had no option but to follow Alex up the stairs. The staircase wound from the south around to the east in a gentle curve until we reached the top. With every step Alex took, her heels clacked against the granite. It was funny; I'd never imagined myself coming home, and never with Alex. But somehow we both looked like we belonged. Usually Alex was in something casual, but in her classic A-line dress and her stilettos, she looked the part.

  More than you do.

  I shoved that errant thought to the back of my head. I didn't have time for that right now. Right now, I needed to figure out how I was going to sleep in the same room as Alex for several days and keep my hands to myself.

  This should all have been easy. But instead, we were facing the dilemma of, hey where can we sleep? If I didn't know better, I would've sworn my grandmother did this on purpose.

  When we reached the threshold, Alex put her hand on my arm. "Look, before you start saying crazy things and offering to sleep sitting up on the chair or on the hard floor, we'll just share the bed, okay?”

  My dick twitched as if to say, Hell yes, I'm so down with that plan. I cleared my throat. "I'm not sure that's the best idea."

  Alex's brows furrowed. "Why not? We’ve passed out on the couch together a hundred times. This is no different. It's totally fine. Unless of course you sleep naked?"

  Yes, that was one problem. I usually did sleep naked. But I could toss on pajama bottoms. Although, what if I couldn't resist giving into that crackle between us? "Why? Do you want me to sleep naked?"

  Even under the soft brown of her skin, I saw her cheeks flush pink. "I— You can sleep how you like, but I'm sure me sleeping naked would only make you uncomfortable. So I’ll ask you not to do the same."