“You never told me exactly how that punishment would work.” She’d moved closer, talking to him in her fuck-me voice, right next to his ear. “I might like it.”
Okay . . . the party had been a great idea, and it had made his woman happy, but he was ready to take her home now. “I’ll show you when we get home.” Thank God all of his siblings had their own places.
“Hope apologized. Poor thing. She was mortified when she heard what happened. You shouldn’t have told her,” Emily scolded lightly. “I like her. I like all of your family.”
“It seems strange, all of us together again.” Grady wrapped his arms around Emily’s waist. “I missed them.”
“Maybe they can stay for a while,” Emily said hopefully.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Grady warned her with a frown. “It’s a miracle that we’re just all in the same place right now.”
“One minute to midnight,” a happy male voice pronounced loudly, making himself heard over the music.
Grady snagged two glasses of champagne from a nearby table and brought one to Emily. His siblings, Jason, and Emily’s parents all gathered around them, and Grady’s heart felt as full as it could possibly get. He was here with the woman he loved, all of their family around them. It just didn’t get any better than this.
“I can’t wait until later,” Emily whispered into his ear in sultry voice.
Okay . . . maybe it could get better later, but he was still pretty damned contented.
“Are you tipsy?” he asked Emily with a smile. She’d told him earlier that she got a little wild when she drank, so he’d made damn sure her glass was full all evening.
“Maybe just a tiny bit,” she admitted, holding up her index and thumb with a fair amount of space in between.
“Five.”
“Four.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
The entire hall exploded with cheers, the New Year being properly greeted by the people of Amesport.
After Emily had hugged everyone in the family and bussed them all on the cheek, she grabbed Grady’s hand and tugged him onto the dance floor. “Dance with me,” she insisted, throwing her slightly intoxicated self into his arms without inhibition.
Grady swooped her up into his arms, letting her feet float slowly back down to the floor. “Happy New Year, angel.”
“Happy New Year, love,” she answered, her eyes glowing with happiness. “Tell me your New Year’s wishes and I’ll make them all come true,” she told him with conviction.
Grady smiled down at her. “I wish that you would love me forever.”
She smacked him playfully on the arm before letting him swing her into a dance to “Auld Lang Syne.” “You already have that. Think of something else.”
“Impossible, angel. You already made anything I could wish for come true.”
Her eyes started to shine with unshed tears. “I love you, Grady.”
He pulled her closer and whispered into her ear, “I love you too. Thank you for giving me back the holidays. What’s your New Year’s wish?” He wanted desperately to give Emily anything she wished for and more.
“I wish that you would kiss me,” she answered simply.
“I’m a billionaire, and that’s the only thing you wish for?” He smirked, but his heart was secretly singing.
“It’s what I want. You told me you’d try to give me anything I wanted,” she told him in a mischievous voice, tossing his own words back at him.
“Anything you want, sweetheart,” he answered, his voice amused.
Two seconds later, Grady had Emily bent over his arm, and he made damn sure that he gave her the sweetest, most passionate New Year’s kiss she’d ever had.
~THE END~