She didn’t bother trying to bribe Danny, because it was pointless. All she had to do was give him one of her sweet little smiles and the man was putty in her hands. Then again, he was sure that all the sex she gave him had something to do with it.

Sex…

He should probably be concerned that he couldn’t remember the last time that he had sex, but sadly the only thing on his mind right now were those sandwiches and that bag of brownies that old bastard had stolen from him. He should go back over there and-

“Please, come with us, Duncan!” Jodi said, stretching out the please as though that would somehow make him agree to come on this asinine trip with them.

“No,” he said, taking a bite of his sandwich before he continued.

“It will be fun!”

He didn’t bother arguing with her, because she was probably right. Going snowboarding for a week would probably be a lot of fun, but right now he wasn’t in the mood for fun or to be around his family. He’d been suspended over total bullshit and all he wanted to do was to lay around, watching shitty movies, the occasional sports game, and enjoy the peace and quiet while he allowed his anger to marinate.

That was really all he wanted for Christmas.

“The temperatures dropping faster than last year,” his brother pointed out, causing Jodi to lose that smile and shoot him a frown.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, looking adorably confused while Duncan stood there, sighing with relief and mouthing, “Thank you,” to his brother for saving his ass.

“It means that they might have to call him in for duty,” Danny said, helping himself to another sandwich as Duncan did the same.

She frowned at that once again looking adorable, but not as adorable as the pain in the ass neighbor, he absently thought as he grabbed the bag of chips. “But, he’s suspended.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, shaking his head as he grabbed a can of Coke and passed it to his brother. “If they need me, I’ll get called in. It’s as simple as that,” he said with a shrug, hoping that it didn’t come to that because it would mean that the shit had hit the fan.

No matter how badly he wanted to return to work, and God, did he want to return to work, he didn’t want to do it like that. He wanted his boss to call him, apologize and tell him to get his ass back to work. Until that happened, he wasn’t planning on doing anything else but moping around the house, hanging out with his nephews in their nursery or fucking with his brothers’ heads when the mood arouse.

Since his brothers were leaving town for a week along with his nephews, it looked as though he would be spending the next week moping.

Chapter 9

Tuesday, December 1st.

“I really hate leaving you, sweetheart,” her grandfather said, sighing heavily and laying it on kind of thick, at least in her opinion he was.

But, then again, he was under the impression that he was about to get a week where he didn’t have to worry about anyone watching his salt and sugar intake. He was going to his sister’s house for their traditional family Thanksgiving meal, a tradition that had started by his parents so that they could still enjoy one of their favorite traditional meals as a family after their siblings started to move away and start families of their own.

Every year, a week or two after Thanksgiving her Great Aunts would take turns hosting a second Thanksgiving meal so that the family could get together, catch up and reminisce about the wonderful memories they had of growing up in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Last year she’d been able to go only because it had been their turn to host the dinner. This year, Aunt Betty was hosting the dinner, a real pushover and someone that her grandfather fully expected to spoil him.

Sadly, what her grandfather hadn’t counted on was Aunt Betty’s desperation to get her hands on Necie’s recipe for Boston crème pie, something that she’d been refusing to share for years, but now, she didn’t have much of a choice if she wanted to keep her grandfather out of the hospital.

They’d worked out a deal, Aunt Betty and her, Aunt Betty would make sure that her brother stuck to his diet whether he wanted to or not, and Necie would give Aunt Betty the recipe that she’d been coveting for more than a decade. The only one that wasn’t in on their plan was the large man trying to bite back a triumphant smile.

She considered telling him that all those cupcakes and pies that she’d baked especially for this gathering were low fat and sugar free, but why ruin the surprise? He’d find out soon enough and by the time that he did, he’d be more than a five-hour drive away. She was sure that once he figured it out that he would call her and share his thoughts about her sneaky plans to ruin his vacation. Ah, something to look forward to, she thought with a smile as she gave him one last hug.

“We could close down the shop and you could come with me,” he suggested as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and a kiss on her cheek when they both knew that it was impossible. They had too many employees counting on them, not to mention all the loyal customers that counted on them to provide them with fresh muffins, donuts and hot coffee in the morning to help start their day.

“You know that I can’t,” she said, appreciating the offer.

“You’ll take it easy?” he asked as he released her, but they both knew it was more of a reminder that he’d put her over his knee and spank her into the next century if she didn’t take it easy, something that she may have a problem with, what with being a workaholic and all.

“I promise,” she said truthfully since she planned on taking it easy and working her regular hours even though she knew that she would probably end up working double shifts and over doing it.

“Good,” he said, leaning down and giving her another kiss on the cheek before he said one final goodbye, got into his SUV and drove away, leaving her standing on the front porch with only the motion lights to help her see through the early dark morning.