A fit of laughter erupted behind him, and Kaleb turned to see Sawyer nearly rolling on the ground, Zane moving in behind him with a satisfied grin on his face.

Fuck.

Ok, so maybe he should’ve plugged the damn things up to see if they worked first.

“How many strands are out this time?” Ethan called as he made his way around from the side of the house.

“Looks like half of them. That’s better than last year, right?” Braydon answered, moving out from under the porch to stand beside Sawyer.

Kaleb stared up at the roofline, smiling. This he could fix, just like he did every year. Then again, he didn’t mind entertaining his brothers, and they’d come to expect him to put the lights up half lit anyway.

“I’m ready for any one of you assholes to volunteer to do this anytime you’d like,” Kaleb retorted, trying to conceal his own amusement.

About that time, Beau, Travis and Gage made their appearance from around the back of the house with Curtis not far behind. Another round of laughter along with some snide comments about consistency. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

“Get me a strand that works, would ya?” Kaleb called out to anyone who was willing to listen. The twins were the first to move, but that didn’t surprise him, those boys had more energy than the crowded toy aisle at Walmart before Christmas.

After fifteen minutes and a round of this is how it should be done’s later, Kaleb was once again climbing down the ladder.

“You did good, boy,” Curtis said approvingly, slapping Kaleb on the back.

“Thanks,” he told his father. “Next year, get one of them to do the hard stuff, would ya?”

Curtis laughed, knowing that ever since Kaleb had been old enough to climb a ladder, he’d been the one to vie for the opportunity to hang the Christmas lights. This year was no different.

That thought had his mind wandering to his own house. How in the world was he going to hang lights on it? Perusing the faces of his brothers and their friends, Kaleb grinned. He’d have to come up with a plan because if he knew his wife, and he certainly did, she was going to want to outdo the rest of the neighborhood when it came to her decorations.

Speaking of his wife…

Zoey came strolling across the front yard, a beaming smile on her face. She didn’t stop until she was pressed up against his side, her arm around his lower back as she stared up at the lights. Since the days were shorter, it was dark enough that the reds and greens and yellows lit up the roofline and twinkled nicely in the darkness.

“Very nice,” she said with the same approval in her tone as his father had.

“Yeah?” Leaning down he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Think you might want to reward me later?” he asked, making sure to keep his voice low enough that the others couldn’t hear.

“Hmmm, that depends,” she answered quickly.

“On?”

“How good you can be later?”

Kaleb chuckled, pulling Zoey closer against his side. The woman sure knew how to keep him in line.

♀♂

Zoey

Standing in the front yard of her in-laws house, the festive holiday decorations the only light to see by, Zoey felt a sense of enlightenment. Things were good in her world. This was her family, and even listening to seven grown men fuss for hours about doing work that they hadn’t even had to be asked to do, this was one of those days she was thankful for. Thanksgiving was certainly a fitting name for the holiday.

Although her father had refused to come to dinner, using the excuse that he wasn’t up to being around people, Zoey knew she would get to spend some time with him soon when she took the leftovers that Lorrie had packaged up over to his little guest house.

And then, after they spent some time together, she’d have Kaleb all to herself for the night.

“Are you cold?” Kaleb asked, chafing her arm with his hand as he cuddled her closer to his side.

The night was brisk, but not unbearable and being seven months pregnant, she actually welcomed the change in weather. Seemed hot flashes – or the pregnancy equivalent – were something to be dealt with so she’d take the relief any way she could get it. “Nope, I’m good,” she reassured him.

“What’s left to do?” Kaleb called out to the men standing around.

“Go home,” Zane answered.

Based on the way V was watching him, Zoey knew her best friend was eager to take him home. Not that she could blame them. She was actually quite interested in getting back to her house as well. Some quiet time with her husband sounded like heaven at the moment.

“Grab the empty boxes and let’s get them back up to the attic,” Travis instructed, ever the drill sergeant.

“Yes, sir,” Brendon said with a salute.

Travis brushed him off and moved to grab one of the boxes as Gage, Beau, Sawyer and Curtis all fell into step alongside him.

“So, when are y’all coming to my house to do the same thing?” Kaleb asked, sliding his hand into Zoey’s.

Looking up at her husband, she smiled. As they fell into step with the other, she said, “I’ll make chili and cornbread if y’all will say yes.”

To her surprise, despite the enormous dinner they’d finished a short while ago, all of the men within earshot agreed. Of course they did. They were men. The best way to get them to do what you wanted was to bribe them with a home cooked meal.

“Deal. When?” Sawyer asked, stopping to allow Zoey and Kaleb to catch up.

“This weekend?” Kaleb asked.

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll bring the beer if your woman’s got the chili.”

When they made their way back inside the house, they were greeted by a rumble of conversation as everyone said their goodbyes.

“Thank you so much for dinner,” Zoey told Lorrie as the older woman pulled her in for a squeeze.

“My pleasure, honey,” Lorrie replied. “And don’t forget to tell your father he doesn’t have a choice for Christmas. I’ll come over and pull him out of his house myself if I have to.”

“She’ll do it, too,” Curtis groaned as he patted Zoey’s shoulder. He was careful with her, and he claimed it was because she was fragile in her pregnant state, but she knew Curtis didn’t know what to do with girls, considering he’d raised seven strapping boys.

“Oh, I know she will,” Zoey told him. “But don’t you worry, I’ll bring him this,” she said as she held up a large Tupperware container, “and I’ll tell him at the same time. He won’t be able to refuse.”

“We’re looking forward to it,” Lorrie said with a smile. “If you need anything at all, just give me a call.”

“Absolutely. And the same goes with y’all,” she reminded them. “Oh, and one more thing,” Zoey added. “Do you mind if I help with Christmas dinner? I’m not the best cook in the world, but I’d love to come over and help.”

The way Lorrie’s crystal blue eyes brightened had tears forming in Zoey’s eyes. Damned pregnancy hormones.

“Honey, I’d love that.” Before Zoey knew what was happening, Lorrie threw her arms around her, pulling her close once more.

Refusing to cry, because, well, because she would look like an overemotional wreck, Zoey took a step back and grabbed Kaleb’s hand. “All right, well, I’ve got to get him home so he can figure out how to put my Christmas decorations up.”

And just like she expected, Kaleb groaned.

Little did he know, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve. There was something to be said about bribing a man to do the hard work. And with him, she knew food wasn’t the easiest way to get him to comply.

Chapter Three

♂♀

Zane

“What’d you think?” Zane asked after he and V had jumped in his Jeep for the short ride back to their house situated on his parents’ land.

“About what?”

“The tree. Good grief, woman. What’ve you been doing all day?” He laughed.

Pulling up close to the house, Zane parked and then hopped out. He was in a hurry to get inside, but it didn’t have anything to do with the temperature. The weather was surprisingly mild for November, but then again, this was Texas, so cold weather didn’t normally infiltrate their neck of the woods until a little later in the year.

“Awww, did you need a pat on the back, Zane Walker? Or maybe a cookie for being such a good boy?” V teased as they made their way up the steps.

Pushing open the door, he rushed her inside as she stared back at him like he was crazy.

And he was.

Crazy mad with lust.

Watching her all day, unable to run his hands all over her sweet body but wanting to sneak her off and make her scream his name had been pure and utter hell.

Looking at V, he kept his expression serious as he said, “I’ll take the cookie.”

Shutting the door behind him, Zane stalked her farther into the house, his body humming with the need to get inside of her. He would’ve thought that the more time that passed, his craving for her would subside. Quite the opposite actually. Zane found that every single day he wanted her with a renewed hunger.

“What are you doing?” she asked, her eyes wide, a knowing smile on her lips.

“I’m pretty sure you just promised me a cookie,” he said, pursuing her across the main living area. “And I automatically assumed that cookie was a code word for…” He let the sentence hang, she could fill in the blanks.

V continued walking backward until her butt ran smack into the pool table in the far corner of the wide open space.

“Mmmm,” she moaned when he trapped her between his body and the unmoving pool table. He pressed up against her, their bodies touching knee to chest, his cock heavy and aching as he ground himself intimately between her thighs. “Why does it always lead right back to this pool table?”