The Billionaire’s Naughty List (Cam Show Crush)

10. Elliot

10

ELLIOT

Lily looks gorgeous and adorable, a combination I wouldn’t have expected. The red coat, white ski pants, the striped scarf and earmuffs. My god, she’s wearing ear muffs.

Kids wear ear muffs.

But she’s all woman. Grinning at me from across the large ski room. It’s basically a mudroom with lockers for everyone’s gear and direct access to the outdoors. In a different setting, it’d connect to the slopes. But here, it meets a freshly shoveled walkway and the forest beyond.

What’s the point of having money if you can’t spread the wealth? The local kid, who’s actually twenty-three, never minds coming out to plow or shovel for us.

Fuck. He’s only two years younger than Lily and I still think of him as a kid.

Closing my eyes, I take a steadying breath and remind myself that she’s plenty old enough to decide who and what she wants. It’s not my place to feel like a creepy old man.

How has it only been twenty-four hours since I arrived and found her in that sexy Miss Claus outfit? It feels like a year has passed with as much talking and making love as we’ve accomplished.

“Ready?”

Her voice calls me back and I find her looking at me with an expectant smirk, almost like she’s reading my mind.

“Let’s do it.”

We’re on the hunt for a Christmas tree.

Normally, we find a tree on Christmas Eve, but who could say no to her?

Not me.

I already checked on the saw. She made a thermos of hot chocolate and packed a few cookies. From the time she was little, she took care of everyone.

Maybe that’s what happens when you grow up in a houseful of men and don’t have a mother.

But I don’t want her taking care of me. The opposite. Still, I let her fuss over me, all the while, wondering how exactly we’re going to make this work.

How are her father and brothers going to take the news that we’re together? I know I told her to let me worry about it. And now I’m worrying.

But not for long.

Once the cold air hits me in the face and her gloved fingers lace with mine, I forget all about my worries and focus on her and the elusive just right evergreen.

“It’s perfect!” Lily steps back from the tree, admiring her handy work.

It only took a handful of hours to locate, cut, haul, and decorate the tree. Now it stands in front of the large windows in the great room, white lights twinkling. Shimmering ornaments grace its limbs.

I hand her a mug of hot chocolate. “Extra marshmallows.”

She beams up at me. “You’re the best.”

Then she fiddles with a silver ornament, mug in the other hand. Her nails are a cheerful red.

I sip my own cocoa as I cross to the couch facing the window. “This afternoon is straight out of a Christmas movie.”

I can already see the rest of my life unfolding before my eyes. I’m a happy yes-man, keeping his girl happy. Making her happy brings me a ridiculous amount of joy.

“You think?”

She’s still smiling and fuck if I don’t love seeing her smile. It damn near killed me to stifle her interest last year. Never again. This was the longest, loneliest, hardest year of my life and I’ll be happy to never repeat it.

Knowing she was somewhere, pulling away from me, protecting her heart, I’ve been a bear. Especially because I thought there was no hope in overcoming it.

She puts her mug on the end table and climbs on the sofa next to me, arm around my shoulders, legs in my lap. I love that she can’t stop touching me. Now that we’re started, there’s no turning this off.

“You’re perfect,” I murmur, echoing her earlier sentiment. It’s cheesy and I don’t even care.

That’s what seeing her on OnlySantas did. It unlocked this side of me and I don’t hate it.

“Stop. But don’t stop,” she says with a laugh.

“Never.”

She makes a happy sound, cuddling closer. It’s only been a few hours since I last had her, but my cock surges beneath my fly, eager for her again. I try reminding it, and myself, that we don’t need to fuck her every hour of every day.

Cuddling like this is amazing, even though I’ve never been much of a snuggler.

But having her at my side makes relaxing pleasant. Her presence is calming. Soothing.

I’ve never had this before. Not growing up on the ranch. Not while building my company. Those parts of my life were rough, harder, without much softness.

The wood in the fireplace hisses as it burns. Outside, it’s almost completely dark now, snowing hard. But inside, it’s warm and cozy, and smells like fir sap and chocolate.

She reaches up and gently presses against the side of my chin. “Sorry, just checking to make sure you’re real.”

After putting my mug next to hers, I curl a finger around a lock of her hair and give it a tiny tug. “Yep, you’re real, too.”

Her smile is a little watery, and it hits me that she really had walked away when I told her to. She respected me enough to do the hard thing. The hardest thing of all - push her feelings down and walk away.

I pull her into my lap, press a kiss to her hair and close my eyes.

She’s the perfect mix of strength and softness. Fight and surrender. Determination and acceptance.

And she picked me.

I’m a lucky bastard. And I don’t care what dragons I have to fight, I’m not going back. I can’t.

She cups my face between her hands, studying me closely. “I don’t want to ruin such a perfect moment.”

“But?”

“I’m worried what’s going to happen when the others show up.”

Right. I told her to let me worry about it, but she’s a team player.

“Do you want to wait to tell them?”

She shakes her head, eyes widening. “No. No way. Plus, I don’t think I can stop touching you that long.”

“Same.” Hell, the idea of flying back to Seattle without her by my side makes the hot chocolate curdle in my stomach. “Why don’t I tell him I’ve met someone? Break the ice, so he’ll be warned when he shows up.”

She slouches in my lap, brain going a hundred miles an hour.

Did I mention she runs our shit?

“What if he asks about your mystery woman?”

“I’ll tell him he’ll learn more when he gets here.”

She purses her lips. I cup her cheek and pull her down for a quick kiss.

“We’ve got this. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you. You’re stuck with me. He’ll just have to deal.”

“What if he’s mad?”

“Then he’s mad. I can’t control him. I wouldn’t want to.”

“I just don’t want anyone to be hurt.”

“Lily, I hurt you last year when I turned you down. Doing that hurt me too. I’ve lived in a hell of my own making. I’m not willing to do that again, not even for my best friend.”

Her smile is even more watery now, but I’m pretty sure those are happy tears.