A Christmas Collin (Bringing Home Trouble)

Chapter 6

6

COLLIN

D amn right, it's the Wright spot. And it belongs to me.

I stroke in and out of Danielle like I'm never going to get the opportunity ever again. Truthfully, I'm not sure I will. The last memory of us has to leave a mark, make an impact so she remembers that I'm the one who made her feel this way. Brand her in a way that she’ll always yearn for me and long for my cock.

A knot twists in my gut as I feel the end coming. I can barely wrap my mind around letting this go, but my body betrays me, delivering my climax. I move to pull out of her, but Danielle grips my back to hold me inside of her.

Oh, fuck.

The last pulse of my cock inside of her drains the last of my energy, and I slump beside her on the bed, trying to catch my breath.

"That's the and stuff I was talking about, Collin."

Her fingers running down my chest sends a tremor down to my crotch, making me itch to be inside her again. "Did we make rules about sex?"

"No, but we should," she says with a yawn. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow, we'll make rules that we can follow for the next few days."

I would debate her on the silliness of that, but the sound of her sleeping against me brings a smile to my face. As a teen, I dreamed about kissing her senseless and making love to her in this bedroom. I never thought it would ever happen, but here we are.

I pull her in close, and sleep soon finds me, too.

The bright morning sun wakes me a few hours later, with scents of breakfast wafting into the room. I turn over to see the bed empty, but my clothes are folded neatly at the foot. The pillow beside me still holds Danielle's aroma—soft and tropical. I inhale it deeply and catch a whiff of myself.

A shower is the first order of business, and luckily enough, Danielle left a few linens on top of her dresser for me.

The room holds memories, and after last night, the memories have me in it, inside of her. There’s no way she’ll step inside this room and not think of me. The door pushes open a few moments after I get out of the shower and return to her room. She steps inside and climbs onto the bed beside me.

"Good morning." Her lips are soft as they press against mine, and my cock roars to attention. "Thank you for last night."

"Don't thank me, Jelly Bean. I like taking care of you. It's only right."

She kisses me again and pulls back. "What time does your shop open? Do you still want me to bring my car by? What about our coaching session? I want to help you get over whatever you're afraid of."

"Back to this pinball mode of conversation, I see."

She squeals when I embrace her and pull her on top of me. We wrestle a bit until I pin her underneath me, her hair fanning around her beautiful face, the room filling with her giggles. Locking my hands around her wrists above her head, I dip down to steal a kiss.

The warmth of Danielle's kiss is enough to get me even harder and ready to go. There's a hint of maple syrup on her tongue, and she moans under me. I'm more than primed for another round if that's what she wants.

However, the sound of her sister interrupts us. "Eww, guys, enough. You don't have to act like fucking newlyweds. Pancakes are ready. You'd better hurry before Josh scarfs them all down. And, if you're free later, I'm meeting Jake at the bar. It's karaoke night for folks like us whose mothers don't want them messing with the food preparation."

I shift to give Danielle room to maneuver. Turning her head to face the door, she tells Evelyn, "Fine, get out."

Her sister walks away, shutting the door behind her.

"That's my cue, Jelly Bean," I say, swiping a lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm going to open the shop, and you bring that car right in. All right?"

"Yes, Collin. I'm going to bring it directly to you, and then we can?—"

"Then you're going to let me take you to lunch and maybe buy cake and other foods for later.”

Danielle's gorgeous hazel eyes widen. "Absolutely not. Mom wouldn’t like that. She’d think you didn’t like what she made last night."

I laugh. "Fine. How about a wreath, then? I want to do something nice for you guys for taking me in. And before you tell me I don't have to, let me. I'd be spending this week alone mostly, and your family's opened their home up to me once again, Jelly Bean. Let me."

We get off the bed, my eyes reluctantly lingering on it. Flashes of last night—the way she responds to me, takes all of me, and comes all over me—make me want to have another go, but I stop myself. There will be a next time. I’ll make sure of it.

As soon as I get downstairs, Mrs. Brogan's hurrying toward me.

"Oh, Collin, good morning. Are you staying for breakfast? There's pancakes and some bacon. I can make sausage, eggs, waffles, breakfast potatoes?—"

"Mrs. Brogan," I stop her gently with a smile. "I'm fine. I swear. I need to open up the shop to get Danielle's car on the lift. I'll be back later tonight for that dinner."

Danielle smiles but isn't paying attention as she pulls the sofa cushions up. "Yeah, Mom. Collin will be back for dinner. Ev said something about karaoke at the bar tonight, so we’d come home after. Have you seen my keys?"

"Um, no, hun," Mrs. Brogan replies. "Josh slept on that couch. If your keys were in it somewhere, then he probably moved them. Collin, are you sure I can't get you anything to eat?"

I peek over her shoulder to see a mound of pancakes on the table. Josh forks a few onto his plate while guzzling a beer. I'm ready to grab a few but decide against it since Josh looks like he'd throw a punch if I tried.

"I think Josh needs that more than me right now. Don't worry about it. I'll take Danielle out for breakfast."

"As soon as I find my keys," Danielle murmurs.

"Oh, these?" Josh fishes a pair of keys out of his pocket as he drizzles syrup on his next stack. He tosses them through the air, giving me a split second to catch them before they hit Danielle. "Nice one, Leftie."

"Don't call him that," Danielle hisses.

I pass her the keys, and she follows me outside. The pleasure of having Danielle fight for me. Now, possessive feelings curl in my gut. God, this woman. Everything she does turns me on and makes me happy we reconnected.

My tow truck sticks out like a sore thumb on the street, but it gets me where I need to be.

"Ignore him, Jelly Bean. He's only doing that because he knows it gets under your skin."

She loops her arms through mine and kisses my bicep. "I hate that he doesn't get it."

"It means the world to me that you're the one of the only people that does." Turning to face her, I kiss her tenderly, languid this time, and we head off to start our day.

We're only a few blocks away from the shop when I see Danielle's car stutter to a smokey stop. Fuck. What now? The shit wasn't that bad when I topped off the oil yesterday.

I get out to meet her in front of the car. We both fan the smoke away from her hood and open it.

"I'll get it hitched up and pull it the rest of the way to the shop."

"I can't afford this, Collin."

"Jelly Bean, I know how hard it is to trust people. Believe me, I do. I spent my entire childhood avoiding it, but when I tell you I'm going to take care of it, let me take care of it. Wait until I don't before you believe I won't."

She nods, letting out a sigh of relief. After towing her car into my shop, I run a diagnostic and flush her system. She watches, her arms folded across her chest, slowly pacing back and forth.

"Jelly Bean, I thought I told you not to let anyone else touch this car until I got it up on this lift."

"I didn't. I mean, I haven't." She shakes her head, pure confusion on her face.

"Well, there's brake fluid in your oil pan," I tell her. "I sure as shit ain't put that in there. The color and consistency says it's new."

"Hold on," she says, pulling out her phone. The call only lasts a few minutes before she shoves it back into her pocket. "Josh poured in the wrong fluid. He got the bright idea last night."

"He was plastered last night."

"Yeah, and poured the wrong fluid in the wrong hole. Is this going to cost extra? How am I going to drive back to D.C.? He said he's sorry and will pay for the new oil and system flush."

I come out from under her car, shaking my head. "I'll fix it. You, on the other hand, broke the rules, Jelly Bean."

The dark promise in my voice isn't lost on her, and she perks up like the good girl she is, her eyes flaring with desire.

She grins, scanning the shop. "We never said what the punishment was for breaking the rules."

"I have a feeling I can come up with something."