by Jackie Lau
But now I’m thirty, and a new year is about to begin, and I’ve been decidedly not single for the past week. Wes and I have spent every night together—some at my house, some at his Baldwin Village apartment—and it’s been incredible.
My new boyfriend is perfect for me.
I’m only just starting to wrap my mind around the fact that this gorgeous man has loved me from afar for as long as we’ve known each other. The immensity of it, like the size of the dinosaurs, is still hard to grasp.
Although I’m an expert, of sorts, in finding love online, I found it the good old-fashioned way: I met a boy at school when I knocked him on his ass, and I proceeded to spend the next twelve years blind to how good we could be together, even as we stayed friends.
Now, I feel like I’m wrapped in the softest, warmest blanket, and it will always be there to protect me from the cold.
We haven’t been together long, but we’re building our relationship from a strong foundation—unlike our gingerbread house—and I know it will last.
Wes hands Eugene a key lime pie we bought at Happy As Pie. We’d planned to do some baking for the party, but we ended up spending all afternoon in bed. Funny how that happened.
Wes leads me to the kitchen, pours me a Coke and himself some alcoholic punch, and we clink our glasses together.
“I like your headband.” He winks at me.
“I like yours, too.”
“You used to wear headbands all the time in school. I remember that.”
“I did, but a lot has changed in the past twelve years.”
Not the way he feels about me, though. When I think of the man in my life, I’m positively giddy, which isn’t something I usually feel.
We spend the party talking to new friends and old, but never leaving each other’s sides. At midnight, Wes gives me the greatest kiss a woman could ask for.
“I love you,” I whisper, “and I can’t wait to go home and get you naked.”
“I love you, too. Let’s get out of here soon, okay?”
And that’s how our new year together begins.
There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to be one very special year.
Thank You!
Thank you for reading One Bed for Christmas!
Want to read more about Baldwin Village? The series continues with The Ultimate Pi Day Party, which revolves around Happy As Pie. Caitlin and Wes appear briefly, too.
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About the Author
Jackie Lau decided she wanted to be a writer when she was in grade two, sometime between writing “The Heart That Got Lost” and “The Land of Shapes.” She later studied engineering and worked as a geophysicist before turning to writing romance novels. Jackie lives in Toronto with her husband, and despite living in Canada her whole life, she hates winter. When she’s not writing, she enjoys gelato, gourmet donuts, cooking, hiking, and reading on the balcony when it’s raining.
Find out more at jackielaubooks.com.
Also by Jackie Lau
Kwan Sisters Series
Grumpy Fake Boyfriend
Mr. Hotshot CEO
Chin-Williams Series
Not Another Family Wedding
He’s Not My Boyfriend
Baldwin Village Series
One Bed for Christmas (prequel novella)
The Ultimate Pi Day Party (March 2019)
Ice Cream Lover (May 2019)
Man vs. Durian (later in 2019)