A Hot Holiday Collection

Chapter 6

6

SAWYER

I ’d stood in the doorway to Katie’s room for a minute before knocking. Just watching her and admiring how fucking gorgeous she was. She was zipping up a little suitcase when I finally rapped my knuckles on the doorjamb, and she looked up, then beamed at me. Like my own personal sun.

Warmth exploded in my chest. I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve such an amazing woman. The truth was, I didn’t deserve her, but I was keeping her anyway.

Once she confirmed she was ready to go, I linked our hands and led her out to my car. After helping her in, I leaned over her to buckle the seat belt and paused to drink from her plump lips. Only after I’d fumbled with it a few times did I pull back to click the belt in place.

“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked after I’d gotten settled and was maneuvering the car away from the sorority house.

“Nope.” I let the P pop and winked at her. “It’s a surprise.” On the way back to campus, I’d made a last-minute decision. Before we headed to a hotel for the weekend, I wanted to show her the project I’d been working on just for her.

Katie flopped back against her seat with a huff, making me grin. Especially when she giggled and reached across the console to lace our fingers together.

“I actually love surprises,” she said with a bright smile.

I squeezed her hand gently. “I know.”

We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, and with every mile that drew us closer to our destination, I knew I’d made the right decision.

Eventually, I turned the car onto a tree-lined street with a mixture of colonial-era homes.

“Wow,” Katie breathed as we passed each beautiful house. “These are gorgeous. I’ve always loved houses from this era. I even follow a Facebook page all about older homes.”

I was well aware of that fact. Her social media and I had become very well acquainted over the time Katie and I had been apart. It was partly to help with my surprise but also because it was pretty much the only connection I’d had with her beyond texting. And, okay…it also helped me keep tabs on her. To make sure she was safe. And that no other fuckers were sniffing around her.

“I thought you might like to see my newest project.”

Katie bounced a little in her seat, and I smiled at her adorable enthusiasm. “Yes!” Then she went quiet, and I glanced her way to see her watching me thoughtfully and chewing on her lip.

“Stop abusing your lips, baby. I’m the only one who gets to do that.”

Katie rolled her eyes, but they crinkled at the corners, dancing with amusement as she did what I asked.

“Tell me,” I coaxed when she didn’t come right out and say what was on her mind.

“What if Jesse is there?”

I frowned for a moment, a spark of irritation flaring at the reminder that she’d requested we keep our relationship quiet for the moment. However, I pushed it away because her reasons had not been without merit, and I’d already agreed to it.

“This one is personal,” I explained. “I bought it on my own and have different plans for it.”

“Different?”

I didn’t answer because we’d reached our destination. The driveway and garage were in the back, but I wanted Katie to get the full effect first, so I pulled up to the curb in front of the house and shut off the car. I jumped out and rounded the trunk to open her door and help her out. She gasped as she looked up at the picturesque, eighteenth-century, colonial-style home, surrounded by a large yard with several old trees. In the warmer months, it was all green and lush. A stone walkway split the grassy area and led up to the three-story house. It was rectangular with high-peaked roofs and was painted white with black shutters. A deep red door was located in the center, and there were four tall windows reflected perfectly on either side. The porch was boxed in by six pillars. Three more rectangular windows were above it, then an arched set on the top floor. Each side had a dormer window and a large end chimney done in brick.

“This is gorgeous, Sawyer,” she breathed. “I don’t know what it looked like when you bought the place, but it’s amazing now. I can’t imagine you’ll have any trouble selling this house to some lucky family.”

The wistful note in her tone made me smile, and I curled my arm around her shoulders, bringing her in close so I could kiss the top of her head.

“You like it, huh?”

She was quiet for a moment, then she glanced up at me through her lashes with pink blooming on her cheeks. “It’s exactly the kind of house I always dreamed of raising my family in.”

I knew that already but chose to save that information for later. “Let me show you around the inside, then I’ll tell you about my plans for the place. I’ll show you the before pictures from each room, and I was hoping you might have some ideas on how we should decorate.”

Katie’s smile turned bright, and she bounced on her toes excitedly. “Fun!”

She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me up the walkway. I laughed and quickly unlocked the door, then stood back to allow her to enter first. As she walked into the entry and gazed around, her eyes were wide and round. “I feel like I just stepped into the past.”

After shutting the door behind us, I wrapped my arms around her from behind and rested my chin on the top of her head. “The previous owners hadn’t lived here in decades, never updated anything, and they’d let it fall into disrepair. However, it looked much worse than it actually was, so I managed to snatch the house for around a hundred grand less than it was worth.”

“Holy cow. That’s incredible.”

It had been a huge stroke of luck that I’d even stumbled across the home and had it independently inspected. The owners had gotten to the point where they just wanted it gone, so I’d even managed to wrangle a few repairs out of them before closing. The house had ended up being a fucking steal, but I would have paid the price multiple times over just to make one of my woman’s dreams come true.

I threaded our fingers together and did as I’d said, taking her through the house room by room. We looked at the photos and talked about what was left to be done before the project was completed.

“Will you have the house staged before you sell it?” Katie asked as she wandered through a small room connected to the master bedroom.

“Perhaps. I was hoping you’d be willing to help with the interior design.”

She tossed me a smile and nodded before wandering over to one of the windows that looked out over the backyard—complete with a playset that was similar to one she’d pinned on one of her Pinterest boards.

“I’d love to.”

I followed her and put my hands on her shoulders, turning her around to face me. “There’s just one thing.”

“Oh?”

“I have no intention of selling this house.”

Katie’s brow furrowed. “You want to rent it? That’s a big risk, considering how beautiful the house is now. You might not be able to sell it for as much down the road.”

I captured her chin and raised her face so I could stare into her beautiful brown eyes. “I’ve clearly been too subtle if you still haven’t figured out what my plans are. I’m keeping this home, baby. No renters.”

“You’re going to live here?” she asked with surprise.

I shook my head, then kissed her softly before answering. “ We are going to live here, baby. I bought and restored this house for you. Only you.”

Her mouth formed an O, and her eyes scanned my features, probably searching for any indication that I wasn’t serious. “This is my dream home. How did you…?” She trailed off, her expression still confused.

I grinned and winked at her. “The reason it looks like your dream home is because I did a little stalking,” I admitted. “However, I didn’t do much with the inside because I wanted you to be able to do whatever you wanted. To make it ours.”

Her eyes misted and her mouth spread into a gorgeous smile. But before she could say anything, we were startled by the sound of the front door opening and being slammed shut.

I frowned, wondering who the hell would just barge into another person’s home. “Stay here, baby. I’ll go see what’s going on.” I didn’t wait for her to respond before I was striding across the room and out into the hallway. When I jogged halfway down the stairs, I spotted Jesse in the foyer and froze.

Fuck. Katie was going to flip her shit if I didn’t get her brother out of here before he saw her.

I wasn’t sure how the hell he even knew about the place.

Jesse turned around right then and saw me, so I schooled my expression, putting on a neutral smile as I finished descending the stairs. “Hey, Jesse,” I greeted. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Clearly,” he drawled as he crossed his arms over his chest. “I asked Georgia about your schedule today, and she said you’d taken the day off. Probably to work on your house…” He raised an eyebrow, but his expression suggested he was amused rather than upset. “Want to tell me why you were keeping this place a secret?”

“No secret,” I muttered. “It’s just a personal project.”

Jesse smiled and cocked his head to the side, studying me. “You moving out, bro?”

I didn’t know quite what to say, so I just nodded.

He glanced around before smirking at me. “Well, you picked a great place. It looks fantastic. Not sure how you pulled this off without my skills and expertise.”

I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips. “Yeah, I was lost without you, but I managed somehow.”

Jesse laughed and walked over to clap a hand on my shoulder. “It’s a flipping miracle.” He snorted at his joke, and I shook my head in exasperation.

“It’s no surprise you never pick up women when your jokes are so lame.”

“Hey.” He placed his hand over his heart dramatically, his expression turning comically offended. “If I was interested in impressing a woman right now, my sparkling personality and clever jokes would have them lining up to be with me.”

“Delusional.”

Jesse eyed me for a second before snorting. “What would you know about it?” he teased. “When’s the last time you had a date?”

I pressed my lips together to keep from blurting out that my love life was perfect.

“Gotta say,” Jesse continued with a grin. “I always assumed your next move would be to a penthouse or something.” Suddenly, his expression turned to shock, and he asked, “Holy fuck. Is this about a woman? You’re moving in with someone?”

Damn, he knew me too well. “Yes.”

He waited, but I remained silent, not offering any more than that. He looked a little hurt when he spoke again. “Why keep this”—he gestured all around—“and her, a secret? Did you think I wouldn’t be supportive?”

Jesse and I had been best friends for a long time. He was more like a brother. I hated the idea that he would think I didn’t trust him or feel I couldn’t share these things with him. But saying any more might give away the fact that I was in love with his little sister.

“I was going to tell you soon. I just wanted her to be the first one to know about the house. And I was being rather selfish about her, not ready to share,” I admitted honestly.

He chewed on that for a few seconds, then shrugged. “I suppose that makes sense. But you know me better than to think I would try to steal your girl.”

That never entered my mind, dude .

“Who is she? Do I know her?”

I’d told Katie we could keep our relationship quiet for a short time, but I’d also explicitly said that I would not lie to her brother. And she’d accepted my condition. With him outright asking me, I had no choice but to come clean.

“It’s Katie,” I sighed.

“Katie who?” He looked genuinely confused, and I was a little annoyed that he hadn’t even considered I might be talking about his sister. Especially because I knew him well enough to know he thought she was too young to be in a serious relationship. He still saw her as a rebellious teenager who needed him to watch over her.

“Your sister,” I clarified. “Katie. This is all for her.”

Jesse’s expression was shocked for a minute, then it darkened, and his brow furrowed. “You better be fucking joking, Ward.”

“You seriously think I would joke about this?” I asked incredulously.

His whole face turned beet red, and his hands clenched at his sides. “Don’t go anywhere near my sister, Sawyer Ward. Don’t breathe a word about this to her. Or I will kick your ass.”

I sighed and ran a hand over my hair. “She already knows, Jesse. We’re together.”

“I’m going to kill you!” he shouted right before he charged at me.

His first punch landed on my jaw, and my fingers instinctively curled into my palms. I held back, allowing him a couple of hits because I couldn’t really blame him for his reaction. However, after he split the skin above my eyebrow with his third punch, I was no longer in a giving mood. My fist flew toward his face just as Katie burst into the room.