Ian unwrapped it, pulled out a bottle of Four Roses single barrel bourbon, and grinned. “Lingerie and liquor. The jolly fat guy sure knows how to party.”
“There are glasses too,” Kate said.
He pulled out one of the rocks glasses and then leaned over to kiss her. “Thank you. This is the perfect gift, and I think Santa would want me to start enjoying it right now.”
He went into the kitchen and returned with the bourbon and a glass of wine for Kate. After throwing another log on the fire, he sat down next to her. Drinks in hand, they snuggled together on the couch.
“What are your mom and dad doing tonight?” Ian asked. Kate’s parents had arrived that afternoon and were staying at a hotel downtown. Kate and Ian were going to join them for dinner on Christmas Day. Their relationship was still fairly new, and Kate didn’t want Ian to feel pressured in any way. But when she’d extended the invitation, he’d said yes immediately and told her he was looking forward to meeting them.
“If he can’t be in his own home on Christmas Eve, my dad would prefer to spend it in a steakhouse with my mother, sipping whiskey. I do not begrudge him that desire. They had a seven-o’clock reservation at Manny’s.”
“Well then, your dad and I have something in common already. We’re both spending Christmas Eve with Watts women and whiskey.” He took a drink and set the glass on the coffee table.
“How is it?”
“Excellent. You chose well.” He kissed her, and Kate found the combination of his warm mouth and the smoky yet buttery flavor of the bourbon highly arousing.
When they’d finished their drinks, he went to the kitchen to refill them, and she slipped into the bedroom. She put on the bustier, zipping it up the side and admiring what it did for her cleavage. Kate thought she might be in danger of spilling out the top, but the ribbing kept everything in place. She stepped into the thong and then reached into her closet for her black stilettos. Her long limbs and full breasts were made for lingerie, and she felt sexy and bold.
Ian was going to combust.
She walked into the living room and watched his face as he took in the sight of her. He’d been in the process of raising his glass to take a drink, but he paused and stared. “Wow.”
“I was dying to try it on.”
“I’d say it fits perfectly.”
She walked toward him, and he didn’t stop looking at her even when he finally brought the glass to his lips.
“I need you to lace me up.” She sat down on the couch and turned so that her back was to him. He ran his hands through her hair, gathered it, and laid it over her shoulder. She took another drink from her wineglass while he cinched the ribbons tight and placed a kiss on the back of her neck.
Leaning back on the couch, drink in hand, he watched closely as she made several trips across the room, chest out, hips swaying, one hand trailing along her neck and collarbone. Kate grinned when her back was to him because he appeared to be in some kind of trance. Men were so visual, and she had a hunch that while Ian took immense pleasure in seeing her naked, there was something about seeing her half-naked that really turned him on. She made a few more passes in front of the couch, reveling in the way he never took his eyes off her.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“I’m incapable of forming coherent thoughts because all the blood has rushed from my brain to a different part of my body. I’ve never seen anything so hot.”
She sat down beside him and took a sip of her wine while he unlaced her. He reached around and cupped her breasts, squeezing them. Sighing, she leaned back and twisted her neck to kiss him. “Think you can handle the babydoll?” she asked with a mischievous smile.
“Only one way to find out.”