The Naughty List (5 page)

She
lay there and let him take care of her. He kissed her wrists and rubbed away
the slight red marks left on her skin. She watched him as he walked around to
the bathroom and came back with a wet cloth. She sat up, taking it from him.
She moved to stand. Dealing with the clean up in front of him felt too awkward.
She went to the bathroom while he worked on the sheets. When she returned he
had a fresh pair of sheets already on the bed.

“Why
do you always change the sheets after sex?”

He
glanced over at her. “I normally sleep in fresh sheets every night. It’s a
quirk I have. I figured I could just wait to change the sheets after sex so
they’re still fresh.”

She
shook her head. He had weird quirks all right, but she liked them. She liked
him
a lot.

They
settled in bed and she pulled his arm over her stomach. He kissed her shoulder
before reaching for the remote. It was Christmas and he had a right to watch
the holiday movies all he wanted. She closed her eyes and snuggled into his
warmth. She had the right to sleep through it.

Chapter Six

Scott
woke up on Christmas morning with Piper’s warm body wrapped around his. He
closed his eyes and pulled her closer, pressing his lips to her forehead.
Piper’s eyes fluttered open and she groaned, burrowing deeper against his side.
He smiled and rubbed her back.

“Merry
Christmas.” He kissed the top of her head. “Do you want to open your presents?”

She
rolled to her back and stretched. “I know I said wake me up with your cock, but
I really need some coffee this morning. Last night was intense.”

He
laughed. “A real present. Wrapped and everything. I bought it for you.”

She
pushed up on her elbows staring at him. “You got me a gift? Like something
other than a bonus check?”

“Yes.”
He brushed his finger along her cheek. “The bonus check was from the company.
This is from me.”

She
licked her lips. “I didn’t get you anything.”

He
leaned in and kissed her. “Honey, gift giving isn’t quid pro quo.”

He
moved from the bed and stood, stretching. He reached for his underwear on the
floor and pulled them on knowing she watched his ass the entire time. He turned
toward her.

“Stay
there.”

She
chewed on her lower lip. “Okay.”

He
left the bedroom and went to the living room to find the presents he bought
her. He’d gotten a bit of info from Roger about what she wanted and had his
assistant go shopping for him. He did, however, stop at Cartier himself. It
made him nervous, but he was assured by at least seven people that she’d like the
gift he purchased.

He
looped the several bags his assistant had collected during her shopping spree
on his arms and carried them back to the bedroom. Piper’s eyes widened as he
sat them next to the bed beside her.

“Have
at it.”

She
tucked the blankets at her armpits and reached for the Burberry bag first. He
didn’t have time to actually wrap them so he made sure his assistant had the
stores wrap everything.

“Oh,
wow.” She pulled out a garment bag and undid it. Inside was the trench coat she
wanted. A smaller box contained the wool scarf she wanted as well. She glanced
up at him. “You spent too much on this stuff.”

He
sat at the end of the bed. “You haven’t even opened all of them yet.”
 

She
set the garment bag aside and reached for the Louis Vuitton bag. He’d gotten
her the bag she wanted in the color she wanted thanks to Roger’s informative
conversation with his assistant. Piper slid the box out of the bag and undid
it, pulling the dust cover out. The bag was neatly inside and she barely
contained her excitement.

“You
got the color and the bag.” She glanced over at him. “How did you know?”

“I
have spies.”

She
laughed. “I was going to use my bonus check to get this bag. I can’t believe
you got it for me.”

He
smiled at her. “You’re still not done.”

She
sat that package to the side and dug into the Louboutin bag. His assistant had
bought four different pairs of shoes for her in all the styles she wanted. She
shook her head.

“I
can’t believe you bought me all of this.” She glanced up at him. “Why?”

He
didn’t know how to answer that question. He had money and invested it wisely.
He’d bought gifts for his family and shipped them back home. It just made sense
that he buy Piper what she wanted. He didn’t know why, but it felt right.

“I
don’t know.” He stared at her. “You deserve the best. You deserve everything
you want. Yeah, this stuff cost money, but you’re worth it. This and so much
more.”

 
She moved so that she could kiss him. “You
gave Jerica your credit card again, didn’t you?”

He
smiled. “Yes. But I gave her a list too.”

She
smiled and reached for another bag. He’d gotten her dresses and shoes. She
opened a few more purses that she loved until she finally reached the end of
the gifts. Scott stood and went to the dresser where he’d put the Cartier gift.
He took it from the drawer and turned to give it to her.

She
stared at the bag. “Oh, my goodness. What is in that?”

He
held it out. “Open it.”

She
shook her head. “No. That’s is definitely too expensive. What the hell, Scott?”

He
sidestepped the mess she’d made and scooted stuff from the bed so he could sit
again. “Open it.”

She
took it and stared at him. “I didn’t buy you anything.”

“I
have all I need.” He leaned back. “Open it. It’s the only thing I shopped for
myself.”

She
arched an eyebrow. “You went to Cartier?”

“I
did.” He smiled. “They tried to get me to buy you an engagement ring but I said
no. It’s a little pretentious to think you’d marry me after one weekend of
incredibly hot sex. Open it.”

She
reached in the bag and pulled out the long box. When she opened it, she gasped.
He’d bought her a diamond pendant necklace that he knew would be beautiful
around her neck. She stared at it for a long time.

“Do
you like it?”

She
shook her head. “You really spent too much money on me.”

He
kissed her arm. “I already told you that you’re worth it. Come here. Let me put
it on you.”

She
handed it to him and combed her hair aside. He pulled it out of the box and
draped it around her neck. “You’re beautiful.” He kissed her shoulder.
“Everything about you.”

She
smiled, turning toward him. He liked the idea of spoiling her. If he had the
money, why not spend it on what he wanted? Piper scooted her stuff aside and
moved so that she straddled him, naked. She kissed him, a soft tender press of
her lips against his. He held her against him as his tongue slid along hers.
When she pulled away, she hugged him, resting her head against his shoulder.

“I’m
going to need to land another new account to pay for all of this stuff.”

He
laughed. “I promise I can afford all of it.”

He
smoothed his hand along her back. He didn’t know about her, but it was the best
Christmas he’d ever experienced. And maybe, just maybe, it’d get a little better
as the day went on.

“I
also have something else I want to do with you today. It’s a bit of a
tradition.”

She
sat back and stared into his eyes. “What?”

“I
always spend Christmas Day at the homeless shelter. I want you to go with me.
Help me serve them dinner.”

She
played with the hair at the nape of his neck. “I’d love to do that with you.”

He
smiled, feeling happier than ever. “Let’s get a shower.”

****

The
homeless shelter that Scott volunteered at was a true asset to the city. Piper
listened to all that they did to help people find jobs and homes. They offered
shelter, showers, food and medical care to those that needed it the most. After
just being there for an hour she was so happy that she’d come. Scott worked in
the kitchen preparing meals while Piper sat down with the people, talking to
them and playing with the kids. She was a pretty selfish person to hate
Christmas all this time and these people didn’t have anything.

“Look,
Betsy. You’ve got some competition. This is, Piper, Scott’s girlfriend.”

Piper
glanced toward the woman they called Betsy. Betsy smiled and stuck out her
hand. “I’m heartbroken but you look nice enough. Nice to meet you.”

“Nice
to meet you too.”

Betsy
was one of the regulars, Piper had come to learn. She knew Scott from all his
volunteering at the shelter. Piper learned a lot about Scott. Betsy had told
about him buying extra food so that the shelter didn’t have to turn people
away. On the particularly cold nights, he’d rent a hotel room across the street
for the overflow of people at the shelter. He sat and chatted with the people,
which was something she realized they enjoyed more than anything.

“He
doesn’t make you feel invisible. He makes you feel important, like you matter
even though you have nothing to your name and not much hope for it changing.”

Piper
rubbed her back as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Can I ask what happened?”

Betsy
swiped her tears. “It’s the story of a lot of people. I lost my job. I worked
for a good company that just found financial troubles. I made a good wage too.
Best wage I’d had in my adult life. I got laid off right before Christmas. They
gave me severance pay that barely covered my rent and I was forced to move. I
had my sister’s kid living with me because she was in rehab and I didn’t want my
niece going into the system. I couldn’t find work after that. I worked retail.
I worked in restaurants. I still work in restaurants but I lost my home. I
thought I could get something cheaper but I had some trouble with the bank
loaning me any money after my home was foreclosed. I tried finding a place to
rent but my monthly income barely makes up the price for rent. I wouldn’t have
any money for food or utilities.” Betsy shrugged. “I try. It’s not like I
don’t. Most of the people in here do try. Some people give homelessness a bad
stigma, but there are a lot of good people that try and try, but it’s never
good enough.”

Piper
listened to her, her heart aching for the woman. “What did you do at your
former job?”

“I
was a receptionist. I made twenty dollars an hour. I had a good apartment.
Maybe not what most people think of in the city, but it was mine.” Betsy
shrugged. “It’s neither here nor there anymore. I’m working and saving. It
might take me a lifetime to get to where I was but I’m doing the best I can with
what I’ve got.”

Piper
excused herself and made her way to the back. Scott saw her and moved away.
“Hey. You okay?”

She
shook her head. “These people…I wasn’t prepared for the stories. Betsy is
killing me. I got all this expensive stuff for Christmas and she’s saving her
salary to try and get her home back. My stuff could rent her an apartment for a
few months.”

Scott
pulled her against him and kissed her temple. “What do you want to do?”

“I
want you to give her a job.” Tears filled her eyes.

He
nodded. “You can do whatever you want, but what about the others? I’m not
knocking your generosity in helping Betsy, but I can’t give a job to everyone
here. I can’t give a home to everyone here.” He lifted her chin up so he could
look into her eyes. “Everyone has a story. Some of them are heart wrenching and
I have caved. I’m not going to lie. A single mom comes in with a hungry baby
and you’d have to be some kind of heartless demon to turn them away. I’ve tried
to do a little more than normal for some, and while I have the best of
intentions, at the same time they need to stand on their own two feet. Money
doesn’t always solve everything. So instead, I sit and I talk with them. I’m
their friend.”

She
chewed on her lip. “I wasn’t prepared for this.”

He
leaned in and kissed her. “I’m sorry. Do you want to go home?”

She
shook her head. “No.” She sniffled. “Betsy told me that she was heartbroken
that I was your girlfriend. She said I seemed nice enough, though.”

He
smiled. “I think you’re nice enough.” He leaned in and kissed her ear. “Even if
you’re naughty.”

She
laughed. They parted ways and she went to mingle with more of the people. While
the stories were heartbreaking, she understood where he came from. He’d done
this more than she had, and he understood it better, she supposed.

They
served Christmas dinner to over six hundred people and Piper couldn’t have
imagined a better place to spend Christmas. They stayed well into the night and
helped to clean up while the residents went to the dorms. When they were
through Scott walked out with her, hand in hand to his car. He drove back to
his apartment with her hand in his lap. After he parked, Scott leaned over and
kissed her.

“You
okay?”

“I’m
great.” She smiled.

He
got out of the car and went around to help her. The walked into his building
together and took the elevator. She leaned against him, laying her head on his
shoulder. A huge part of her felt so bad for not getting him something for
Christmas. He could say whatever he wanted but she didn’t like that.

“What
do you want for Christmas?”

They
walked into his apartment and he closed the door behind them. “I have all I
want.”

“There
has to be something.”

“Nope.”
Scott pulled her to him. “You’re all I want.”

She
wrapped her arms around his neck. “Did you know I’d sign that contract?”

He
grinned. “I had an inclination.”

“What
if I didn’t? You bought all of this stuff for me and I could have said no.”

“I
bought all this stuff for you because I wanted to. There were no conditions.
You wanted it and I bought it. You deserve every bit of it and more.”