Two Purple Gloves (A Pear Street Christmas #2)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“I’m going to pop his eyeballs, Game of Thrones style.”

HARRY

“I t’s Christmas!!” So. Fucking. Loud. “Dad, wake up! Mum, come on, get up, get up, get up!”

“Daddy?” Oscar’s voice is so much gentler than Lucas and it makes me pry my eye open to look at him. Lisa is already sat up next to me, Mary in her lap. “Daddy, are you awake?”

“Yeah, bud. I’m awake,” I croak, pulling myself up to my elbows.

“Morning, Frosty.”

“Morning, Angel.”

“Dad, come on .” Lucas tries pulling on my arm to get me out of the bed. “Auntie Rhi and Luke are already up, the twins have started opening their presents.”

“Alright, alright.” I groan as I haul myself to sit on the edge of the bed. My muscles aching like the perfectly young and fit thirty-five-year-old I am. “I’m up. Let me clean my teeth and put some clothes on…and get a coffee, then we are straight to the Christmas stockings."

I’m quick in the bathroom because I can hear the boys hounding Lisa even though I told them I was coming. I pull clothes on, wishing I could just wear sweats all day and veg out on the couch eating enough mince pies to extend my gut, but we entertain now so shirt and trousers it is.

I take Mary from Lisa’s arms and make a quick pitstop in her room that the boys are currently sleeping in to change her nappy and put her in the ridiculously cute Christmas dress Lisa bought for her. I never wanted my daughter to be dressed up in frills and bows. If she grows up wanting that stuff, fine, but when she’s a baby, I liked subtler outfits. Until she actually came along, that is. I now find myself buying the frilliest, pinkest, unicorn embellished clothes I see. She loves it and I can deny her nothing. The little red velvet dress with cream bows and tights with Christmas puddings on look fucking adorable on her.

Downstairs, Rhiannon and Luke are both nursing hot drinks while the twins are ripping paper from brightly coloured boxes of toys. “I made a large pot of coffee, should be enough for you,” Luke calls to me.

“You’re a legend,” I call back going to the kitchen and onehandedly pouring two mugs of black gold. “Lucas,” I call and my oldest comes skidding in. “Can you bring that second cup into the lounge for Mum, please. Very carefully, it’s hot.”

He picks up the mug and walks very precisely, one foot in front of the other, placing it gently down on the side table before resuming his mad running. The boys each pull their sacks—not stockings because they are hella spoilt—to a place on the sofa and start ripping into paper.

“You want to see what Santa brought you?” I ask Mary, as I sit with her on my lap and delve into the much smaller bag we have for her.

She gurgles and dribbles in response. I hand her a loosely wrapped present and watch closely while she tries to explore it. I’m able to take a healthy gulp of coffee without disrupting her and settle back in my seat watching my kids. Lisa joins us, looking gorgeous in a red velvet dress that nearly matches Mary’s.

“Merry Christmas, everyone.”

“Merry Christmas,” the room parrots and she comes to sit next to me, mug in hand.

The presents are all unwrapped in approximately ten minutes and the four of us adults watch with hearts growing three sizes as Lucas and Oscar so very patiently show the twins how to play their new boardgame.

The grandparents all join us by ten and the Partridges arrive just before eleven. Lisa goes into Martha Stewart mode, busying herself in the kitchen rustling up what I know is going to be an amazing Christmas dinner. I do my thing, entertaining guests, fetching drinks keeping the kids from killing each other when they’ve decided to stop being little angels.

My phone buzzes in my pocket and I find a quiet moment to take a look, expecting the usual season’s greetings from the office, my rugby friends, or other acquaintances but I frown when I see Lisa’s name.

WIFE: Meet me upstairs in five minutes. Our bedroom. I have a present for you. x

Hell yes . I look up ready to make my excuses, but everyone is already engaged in conversation, the kids playing with toys. So, I slip from the room and run quickly and as quietly up the stairs as I can. I contemplate stripping to my boxers to get things started but just in case I’m barking up the completely wrong tree, I decide against it.

Lisa comes into the room with a mischievous smile I feel I haven’t seen in a long time and clicks the door shut behind her. I can’t make any witty comments because she pounces, jumping up at me and wrapping her arms around my neck. The two of us fall to the bed, Lisa straddling my hips, her mouth locked on mine. I grip her lovely arse with both hands and plunge my tongue between her parted lips.

“Harry,” she moans my name, and the sound goes straight to my dick.

“Mm, my wife,” I murmur against her lips.

“Stop,” she breathes, and I do immediately.

“What’s wrong?”

She smiles and pecks my lips. “Nothing. But I want to give you your present. ”

“I thought you were.”

She smiles wide and climbs off me, heading to our walk-in wardrobe and digging around until she comes out with a square present, the exact same size and shape as the family portraits we gifted the family. I try not to frown because I don’t want her to think me ungrateful…it’s just I was hoping for a sexy present, not a family photograph with her side of the family taken by my sister.

“Oh, you got me a copy?”

Her smile hides a secret as she passes me the package. “Just open it, Frosty.”

I rip the paper to find the tissue paper Nel uses to package her framed prints. When I look at her, she urges me to continue, so I rip through the pretty pink tissue and come face to…boobs with my wife. A lot of boobs. A lot of everything. About twelve photos collaged together in a mixture of colour and black and white, all of Lisa in varying degrees of undress.

Every version of Lisa that I love is staring back at me, her shy and reverent smile as she looks off to the side, her body language says modesty, but the black lace lingerie does not . Then there’s the vixen who begs me to fuck her, seemingly naked with her hand barely covering her nipple as she gives bedroom eyes to the camera. She’s incredible. Sexy, beautiful, confident. My smile aches my cheeks when I spot the centre photo, dressed in a white negligee not too dissimilar to the one I first met her in and long, purple silk gloves to her elbows.

“Babe, these are…” I trail off because words can’t describe what these are.

“Do you like them?” I tear my eyes away from the best gift I have ever received to see Lisa looking down at me with her bottom lip being abused by her teeth. Nervously awaiting my response.

“ Like them? Babe, I love them.”

“I was uh, a little nervous having them done, but Nel was great.”

“Not reminding me that my sister took these would be really great right about now,” I grumble and then a thought hits me like a bucket of ice. “Was Jake there when you had this done?” I know he sometimes helps Nel out when her part-time assistant isn’t there.

Lisa smirks and I’m about ready to strangle my best friend before she speaks. “No, Jake wasn’t there. It was just me and Nel.” Relief floods my veins and warms me back up until her next statement. “But he did see those photos.”

“He what now?”

She giggles. “Okay so, you know when I freaked out yesterday and took everyone’s presents away?” I nod. “Well, Rhiannon had seen this present for you on our bed and brought it downstairs, mixing it in with the family gifts.”

My eyes widen. “Ooooooh.”

“Yeah,” she laughs. “We had to open up all of them to find this one and we were all looking at this when Jake came in to see if all was okay.”

“I’m going to pop his eyeballs, Game of Thrones style,” I say with a growl.

“He was quite flustered; it was very cute.” She comes to sit next to me, sighing contentedly as she rests her head in my shoulders.

“Jake isn’t cute, he’s a menace,” I argue, but I’m only joking, and she knows it. “Where am I going to put this?” I ask, holding the frame up again.

“Maybe in the hallway so everyone sees it when they visit?”

“That would be one way to off your dad early. Heart attack.”

She laughs. “I was thinking you might want it in your man-cave,” she says, referring to the little outhouse we have at the bottom of the garden.

“Babe, that’s where Jake and I play darts. This is not going anywhere he can see it.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, how about we hang it in the wardrobe behind the clothes and you can just take a peek when you want to? ”

“I’m not hiding it away,” I say, frowning. “Let’s hang it above the bed.”

She laughs, incredulously. “Harry, the kids would see it. I’m sure the boys would be deeply disturbed.”

“Oedipus would have a field day,” I muse, making her throw her head back and laugh that sexy, husky laugh that makes my heart burst every time I hear it. “How about the bathroom?” I suggest nodding at the ensuite. “The kids don’t have any reason to go in there and I can always see it when I’m in the shower.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her.

“Sounds good to me,” she giggles.

I kiss her gently but quickly let my hunger take over. Tossing the frame on the bed, I cup her jaw and feed her my tongue, taking her sweet gasps in with greedy, sucking kisses. Her fingers curl into the softness of my shirt and I slide my free hand up her thigh, annoyingly covered in tights. When I reach her hip, I grip the top of man’s worst invention and start tugging. A knock at the door has me growling in frustration as we pull away from each other.

“Uh, Lis?” Nel’s voice calls. “I’m really sorry if you guys are…oh god. Um, Rhi sent me up to ask you about the potatoes because they’re looking a little dark?”

“Shit!” Lisa jumps up and dashes to the door, swinging it open and pelting downstairs to rescue the roast potatoes.

“You need help?” I call after her.

“All good!”

There’s a moment of silence while I stay sat on my bed and Nel leans on the door frame, smirking. “Hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

I just glare at her, making her laugh. “You know, I think Jake is rubbing off on you.”

She snorts. “Your wife said the same thing.”

I scrub my hand over my face feeling tired. I’d like nothing more than to kick everyone out of my house and take my wife to bed right now, but that seems less than festive.

“You okay, big brother?” Nel looks at me with gentle concern and I give her a soft smile in response .

“Yeah, I’m good. Just tired and…” Horny. I think quick enough to trail off before that one comes out.

“It’s hard work all this entertaining,” she sighs. “I mean, I assume. I’m not the one doing it.”

“Yeah, it is,” I sigh. I catch my eye on the frame still on the bed and jerk my chin at it. “Thanks for doing that.”

“Not weirded out that your sister took sexy pictures of your wife?” She purses her lips in amusement.

“The less I think about it the better.” I nod seriously, making her huff out a small laugh. “But I mean thanks for doing that for Lisa. I feel like she needed it.”

Nel nods in understanding. “Sometimes we all need to feel good about ourselves.”

“Well, you definitely helped Lis with that.”

She preens. “It’s what I do.”