Drew settled back to watch the family open their gifts, then was surprised when Mrs. Preston handed one to him.
“For me?”
She smiled at him. “Of course.”
He opened it up, and there was a framed photograph of him scoring a goal in a game against New Jersey. It was a great shot, too, with his stick in forward motion right at the net.
He stood and hugged her, then shook the vice president’s hand. “Thank you for this. It means a lot to me.”
“I’m so glad you like it,” Mrs. Preston said.
Evelyn and Gray had given him something, too. A mug with a hockey stick that said, “I have a big, hard stick and I know what to do with it.” He laughed out loud.
“This is perfect.”
“Evelyn picked it out,” Gray said.
Evelyn grinned. “It seemed appropriate for you.”
When Gray gave her a look, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. “That’s not at all what I meant.”
And then everyone laughed.
He’d brought gifts for all of them, too, though considering what went down this morning, he wasn’t sure the gift he’d gotten for Carolina was going to go over all that well with Gray. But he’d found it and he thought it suited her, so he handed it to her.
She was sitting on the floor in front of the tree, so while everyone else was busy, he sat next to her and handed her the box.
She looked up at him. “You got me a gift?”
“Yeah. It’s nothing special.”
She opened the box. Inside, a single silver chain. He wasn’t even sure she’d like it since she typically wore no jewelry.
He leaned in closer. “I know you don’t wear jewelry, but I love your neck, and when I saw this, I pictured it around your throat.”
Carolina took a deep breath and fingered the chain in the box. She lifted her gaze to his. “It’s lovely. It’s perfect. Thank you.”
She pulled the chain out, then lifted her hair. “Would you mind?”
He undid the clasp, then fastened the chain around her neck. He leaned in and whispered to her. “Now, when you wear it, you can think about me.”
She turned to face him. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
But her gaze drifted, and Drew looked to see Gray staring at them. “Later.”
She reached under the tree and handed him a box. “This is for you.”
He opened the box and inside was a pair of boxer briefs with the Carolina Designs logo.
“My first pair. And a part of me that I want touching you,” she said, her voice low and soft.
He smiled at her. “Believe me, I’ll definitely be thinking about you when I’m wearing them. Thank you.”
“And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. A photo shoot for the underwear line. On the ice.”
He cocked a brow. “What? You want to make my balls shrivel up like walnuts?”
She laughed. “I haven’t even mentioned making it look like you’re sweating, so we’d have to pour water over you.”
He rolled his eyes. “There are ways to make me actually sweat, you know.”
“Obviously we’re going to have to talk about this another time.”
“Obviously.”
After they finished opening gifts, everyone dressed for church. Drew wasn’t much of a churchgoer, though he typically went with his parents on Christmas, so it was fine going with the Preston family.
The media was in attendance again today, and the church was packed. He sat next to Carolina, trying not to hold her hand as they listened to the minister talk about new beginnings.
A lot like Carolina and him. Their relationship had started out as a disaster, and she’d harbored a grudge for a long time. But the ice between them had slowly been melting. So maybe this was a new beginning for them. He’d enjoyed spending the holiday with her and her family, and, despite Gray’s misgivings, he thought he was good for her. She worked too hard, and the one thing Drew liked to do was take some time to relax and play.
Even Gray had to see the benefit in that, and maybe before he left tonight he needed to have another conversation with Gray and talk about the good things he could bring to a relationship with Carolina.
After church and more media time, they headed back to the house, where the staff had cooked up an amazing turkey dinner.
Drew’s eyes bugged out at all the food. Turkey, ham, and more side dishes than he could put on his plate.
And then there was wine.
“When’s your next game, Drew?” the vice president asked.
“Monday. But I head back tomorrow for practice.”
Mitchell Preston nodded. “As do I. Not for practice, of course, but there’s a lot to be done and the time off is always brief.”
“Unfortunately,” Mrs. Preston said, laying her hand on her husband’s arm.
“At least we’ll have a little more time off for New Year’s,” Mr. Preston said.
“Will you be back here?” Drew asked.
The vice president shook his head. “No, we’ll be taking in New Year’s in D.C. Gray, will you and Evelyn be there?”
Gray shook his head. “We’re heading to the house in Daytona for New Year’s Eve. Some alone time for the two of us.”
Evelyn smiled at Gray.
Mrs. Preston nodded. “Understandable. You two don’t get nearly enough of that, and soon enough Gray will be gearing up for racing season to start again.”
Evelyn sighed. “That’s true. And it seems as if it just ended.”
“But we still have time before that revs up in full, so we’ll take advantage while we can.”
“And speaking of those wedding plans . . .”
Evelyn looked at Mrs. Preston. “We’re working on it.”
“And yes, Mom, we’re working on setting a date. Just haven’t pinned one down yet,” Gray said.
“As busy as both of you are, I want that to happen sooner rather than later. How will I ever get grandchildren?”
“We’re practicing for that,” Gray said.
The vice president laughed and Mrs. Preston shook her head.
“I promise, Mom. We’re getting married next year.”
She frowned. “That doesn’t give me much time.”
“Oh, please. Loretta Preston can put together a wedding in a month if she needs to. You’re a woman who makes things happen.”
Drew listened to all this back-and-forth with a smile on his face. He’d always liked Gray’s mom, and having Gray and his dad get along so well had to be such a relief for Gray. All through college there had been such tension between them.
Now his life was settled. He had a woman he loved and his family was whole again. He was happy and in love and looking forward to a secure future.
In the meantime, Drew had spent a lot of years wandering aimlessly, dating women who definitely weren’t the settling-down type.
Until . . . recently.
Though Carolina wasn’t ready to settle down, not with what she had going on in her life right now.
He shifted his gaze toward her. She was smiling as she listened to Gray and Evelyn talk wedding plans. He wondered what she thought about that, about where her life was. Did she even compare them, or was she satisfied and thinking only about her fashion line?
He knew it was her priority, that her career was the number one thing in her life.
And where did he fit into all that?
Maybe he didn’t fit in at all, and he was just someone she fucked to ease the tension.
He sure as hell had used women in his past to ease the tension from his job, and then thought nothing about letting them go.
Why did he even care? They were just having fun, right?
AFTER LUNCH, CAROLINA TOOK HER GIFTS UP TO HER room, needing a few minutes of quiet time. It had been nonstop motion after rocketing out of bed this morning.
She needed to pack. She’d head back to New York tomorrow morning, back to the frenetic pace of work and deadlines. This had been a relaxing interlude, and she was grateful to have been able to spend time with her family, because it would likely be the last bit of relaxation she’d have before Fashion Week.