A Merry Little Christmas by Melanie Schuster Read Free Book Online

was probably time he remembered that. Besides, he wouldn’t have wanted anything bad to happen to her.
    “I understand what you’re saying, but believe me, Adam, she gets me as good as I get her. I admit it I used to like to get her going by calling her Evilene, but she just turned the tables on me and started calling me SpongeBob. And she doesn’t just call me SpongeBob—I have a SpongeBob bumper sticker on my Jag that I certainly didn’t authorize, not to mention about a thousand SpongeBob toys she gives to the kids to give to me. She told them how much their Uncle Donnie loves that stupid cartoon, and bless their little hearts, they believed her. She actually sent a singing, dancing SpongeBob telegram to the office one day. That was real jolly,” he said with a laugh. “And on top of everything else, she manages to put a SpongeBob sticker on me every time we’re within twenty feet of each other. As a matter of fact, check me out,” he said, jumping to his feet.   He turned around slowly and heard Adam’s shout of laughter. There was indeed a small sticker, bearing the guilelessly smiling cartoon character, stuck discreetly on his left shoulder.
    “She’s good, man. Really good,” said Adam in a voice of admiration. “Maybe you should think about getting with her since you both share the same warped sense of humor.”
    Donnie reached for the sticker, and then looked at his brother as though he’d lost his mind. S urveying the array of ingredients on the long counter, he asked what Adam was preparing; Adam liked to cook, but he generally didn’t go for elaborate meals, and this one looked like it required everything but the kitchen sink.
    “Alicia’s coming over and she’s making paella. If you behave yourself she might let you stay,” Adam replied. Alicia Fuentes was Adam’s business partner and best friend. They were both architects who not only designed new buildings, but had a passion for reclaiming neglected and abandoned structures. They had been friends since college and enjoyed an exceptionally close personal, as well as a working, relationship.
    “So, Adam, when are you going to admit that Alicia is the only woman in the world for you? When are y’all gonna take it to the next level?” Donnie drawled.
    Adam stroked his thick mustache with a forefinger and fixed his brother with an icy stare. He was an extremely private person when it came to his love life and he didn’t appreciate inquisition, even from a family member. “You’re my brother and I love you. I may even like you, but Alicia is not a topic for discussion now or ever. Got it?”
    Donnie was saved from answering by three short chimes, which meant Alicia was at the door; they didn’t have to answer it, as she had her own key, just like Adam had a key to her place. In seconds a tall, shapely woman carrying two shopping bags joined the two men. Donnie took her coat while Adam divested her of the bags. “Hi, Donnie!” she said cheerfully. “Are you staying for dinner?” She accompanied the words with a brief kiss on his cheek.
    “Yes, if I’m invited. I love anything you cook, Alicia, you know that.” She’d learned to cook from her African-Am erican mother and Cuban father.  Thanks to them, Alicia had a grasp of cooking that rivaled that of a Cordon Bleu trained chef. While watching Alicia wash her hands and Adam empty the shopping bags, Donnie remembered that Angelique hadn’t given him a gift from his sister; she had told him she’d planned to drop it off at his house, but, since he was being snippy, he could instead pick it up at the open house she and Paris were having the day after New Year’s.
    Alicia looked up to find him with a dazed look on his face, and playfully snapped a dish towel at him. “Hey, you. If you eat, you work. Put on the Buena Vista Social Club CD and an apron. How are you at scrubbing mussels?”
    Soon the lilting sounds of Cuban music filled the loft and the three of them were busy putting