“Look outside, Lina. Do you think they can see us?”

“No.”

“What would you think if they could?”

Breathless, she rose up and braced her hands on the window, giving him deeper access to her. “I don’t care.”

Drew laid one hand on the window above her and thrust into her. “Good. Because this is just about you and me, in the dark. I want you to feel me.”

He withdrew partway, then slid back in. Her pu**y tightened and she felt every glorious inch of him. And when he reached around and found her clit, it was a burst of pleasure that made her whimper. She both hated and loved that he made her feel so needy, so desperate for this orgasm, but the feel of him, coupled with his fingers stroking her was like nothing she could do on her own.

She wanted this. With him and only him.

She arched, pushing against his cock. “More.”

He grasped her hand and dragged them both down, bending her from the waist so he could plunge deeper, never once losing the rhythm he’d found on her clit.

“You’re close,” he said. “I can feel your pu**y gripping me.”

She laid her head on her arm, her body and mind lost in the sensation of Drew driving into her, of the way his fingers danced over her sex. She immersed herself in the sounds of their lovemaking, lost herself in his warm breath on her neck, the scent of sex filling the air around them.

“Oh. Oh, Drew. I’m going to come.”

He strummed her cl*t faster. “That’s it. Squeeze my cock. Make me come with you, Lina.”

His words were the last she needed to crest the wave. She cried out and shattered, her entire body rocking as her cl**ax shook her. Drew groaned and pumped fast into her, kissing her neck as he orgasmed along with her.

Her legs were shaking. Without Drew’s tight hold on her, she wasn’t certain she could have stood upright. He pressed kisses along her shoulder and back, the aftermath just as sweet as the act itself.

When he withdrew, he turned her around and cupped her face, then kissed her, a long, slow deep kiss that curled her toes and warmed her from the inside out.

“There’s a bathroom down the hall,” she said.

She led him to the bathroom and they cleaned up and straightened their clothes. Drew hit the lights and helped her put all the clothing back on hangers and racks. Then they grabbed some water out of the refrigerator and took a seat at one of the empty tables.

She was surprised and a little touched that he dragged her chair right next to his and pulled her legs onto his lap. Some men weren’t into being close after sex.

She was learning a lot about Drew.

He looked around her studio. “You’ve made a lot of progress. Or maybe you already had all this stuff here before.”

“We had some. But we’ve been working hard the past few weeks. With Christmas coming, we’re going to be faced with some downtime. I wanted to get ahead, because we’ll be pushing full steam after the holidays.”

“What? You’re giving your people time off for the holidays? No playing Scrooge and forcing them to work in an office with no coal to heat their frozen little fingers that are stiff and sore from all that sewing?”

“Funny. Yes, they get the holidays off. I’m not that driven.”

“Yes, you are. If you had your way you’d work straight through Christmas and New Year’s. Except your mother would drive up here and have the Secret Service drag you by the hair and make you come home with her.”

She laughed at that. “You’re probably right. I might have been allowed to skip Thanksgiving with the family, but no way in hell will I be permitted to skip Christmas, too.”

“I can see that about your mom.”

“I’m sure yours is the same.”

“Actually, not so much. My parents are going on a cruise for the holidays.”

She stared at him. “Really? Where to?”

“Some Mediterranean thing or the Greek Isles or something like that. They’ve been talking about it for months. I can’t believe she convinced my dad to go.”

She crossed her arms. “Your father isn’t one for cruises?”

“It’s hard to get my dad to leave Oklahoma. But Mom has been after him to slow down and take a vacation for years. This is the year for them, and he’s the one who suggested it, surprisingly. Mom jumped all over it before he changed his mind.”

Carolina smiled. “That’s sweet. So what are you going to do for Christmas?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll hang around here, I guess. No reason to go home since no one else will be there.”

She knew she shouldn’t say anything, but it tugged at her that Drew would be spending Christmas alone. “Come home with me.”

He arched a brow. “What?”

“You heard me. Gray would love to see you, and so would my parents. Come and spend Christmas with us at the ranch.”

“Seriously. You do realize you just invited me to spend the holidays with you.”

“Yes. Well, with Gray and with the entire family. Not just with me.”

He smiled at the qualifier. “Okay.”

She wasn’t sure what can of worms she’d just opened, but the idea of Drew spending Christmas alone didn’t sit well with her.

And now he was going to spend the holidays with her. And her family.

That should be interesting.

FOURTEEN

DREW HADN’T BEEN TO GRAY’S FAMILY’S RANCH IN Oklahoma since over a year ago, in the summer, when Gray had invited him to come for a family barbecue. It had been the first time he’d seen Carolina in a long time.

She’d given him an icy chill and he’d known then she still harbored resentment over what had happened between them in college.

Now, though, it looked like things were beginning to thaw between them.

He hoped so. He liked spending time with her. She was smart and ambitious. And beautiful and sexy and different from any woman he’d been with before.

Now that he was going to be spending time with her—and with Gray—he was going to have to walk a fine line, because Gray didn’t know what had gone down between Drew and Carolina all those years ago in college. Gray didn’t know how much Drew had hurt Carolina.

And Gray sure as hell didn’t know what was going on between Carolina and him now.

He probably should have had a conversation with Carolina before he arrived at the ranch, discussed how much, if anything, to tell Gray about the two of them. Big brothers had a tendency to be overprotective toward their little sisters. And Gray of all people knew about Drew’s reputation with women. But he had to know Drew would never hurt Carolina.

Or, at least, wouldn’t hurt her again like he had before.

He dragged his fingers through his hair as he sat in the back of the car Carolina had arranged to bring him from the airport to the ranch.

The Preston Ranch name greeted him as they reached the gates. Drew took note of the black SUV parked there. They stopped and he had to give the Secret Service agent his ID before they were allowed to pass through.

Gray was outside waiting for him when the car pulled in front of the huge house.

He grinned when he got out. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Drew smiled and gave his best friend a quick hug. “Yeah, well, it’s your sister’s fault. She didn’t want me to be alone for the holidays. You know how women are about that stuff.”

“If I’d known your parents were going on a cruise, I’d have invited you myself. Come on inside.”

He thanked the driver for the ride and grabbed his bags, following Gray up the stone steps and inside. The place was just as he remembered it from the last time he’d been here—high ceilings, polished wood floors, and so many rooms a person could get lost and never find their way out.

The only difference was that now Secret Service were all over the place because Gray and Carolina’s father was the vice president of the United States.

“You can leave your bags by the stairs. Someone will take them up to your room.”

“Okay, thanks. How do you like having the suits with guns and earplugs hanging around?” Drew asked as Gray led him into the kitchen.

Gray laughed. “Hey, as long as they’re not following me around, I’m fine with it. And they keep the press away, so it works for me.”

“I’m sure it does. Where’s Evelyn?”

Gray grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and held another one up for Drew. Drew nodded, and Gray handed it to him.

“Out doing some Christmas shopping with my mom and Carolina. Carolina flew in late last night and Mom dragged her out of bed this morning to hit the city for all-day shopping.”

“Bet she loved that.”

Gray shrugged and took a swallow of beer. They took seats at the table near the back door. “I don’t know. They were going to have breakfast, then start shopping as soon as the mall opened, and according to Mom, all the way through dinner, so we aren’t supposed to expect them back until later tonight.”

Drew grimaced. “Better them than me.”

“Amen to that. How was your flight?”

“It was good. How are things with you and Evelyn?”

“Great. Adjusting to our crazy schedules, but, man, it’s going well. She’s busy as hell with my dad, of course, and we weren’t sure in the beginning how it was all going to work, but we find the time to be together.”

“I guess when you’re in love, you find a way to make it work.”

Gray grinned. “I guess so.”

“Where’s your dad?”

“In his home office, on the phone, of course. He and I had breakfast this morning that lasted all of twenty minutes before he was pulled away by a phone call.”

Drew leaned back in the chair and took a long swallow of beer. “Well, he is kind of a busy guy.”

“Yeah, he is. I’m happy for him, though, and for my mom. She’s thrilled to be able to push her literacy agenda at the national level, and my dad—well, he’s changed. A lot. Surprised the hell out of me, but he’s a much better man than he used to be.”

“I’m glad the two of you have found common ground.”

“Me, too. Life is pretty damned perfect right now. And how about you? You had a few shitty games. At least you started turning it around when you got back to the Garden.”

The one thing Drew could always count on from his friends was blunt honesty. Ever since college, when he, Gray, Garrett, and Trevor had roomed together and become friends, they’d always been honest with each other about their shortcomings, especially in sports. When they rocked it, they all gave each other pats on the back. When they sucked, they were the first to tell each other.

“Yeah, we had a lousy road trip. Being home always helps. Of course you wouldn’t know about that since you don’t really have a home base in auto racing.”

“True. So I have to be good everywhere.”

Drew laughed. “And humble, too.”

“You know it, buddy.”

They got up and headed into the living room to sip their beers and watch sports on television.

Gray’s dad finally came out and Drew got up to shake his hand.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Vice President.”

Mitchell Preston laughed. “You used to call me Mitchell, or Mr. Preston.”

“That was before the election, sir.”

“I’m not any different now, and I don’t expect you to treat me any differently, Drew. You’re a guest here for the holidays, so please relax.”

“I’ll try, sir.”

Gray rolled his eyes and nudged his dad. “I’m just going to call you Dad.”

“Funny. Is anyone hungry? Aideen said she was going to make chicken and fruit salad for lunch.”

Drew’s stomach grumbled. “That sounds great.”