Jax shook the present. “Hmm. Whatever could it be?”
“Open it!” Mimi said, bouncing on the couch with excitement.
He tore the paper like the Hulk, sending Mimi into a fit of giggles.
That sound. The huge grin on Jax’s face. This was how our family was supposed to be, cuddled up together in our robes and laughing. This was the best Christmas present ever. Did I really need a ring to make it better? No. I sent a silent thank-you to the universe that we’d finally ended up here.
“Uh, Luce?”
I glanced over at Jax’s very handsome, very confused face as he dangled a key between us.
“My gift to you requires us to take a little field trip. No, you don’t have to get dressed.” I stood and took Jax’s left hand. “Help him up, Meems.”
Linking hands, the three of us took the elevator down to the eleventh floor in silence, which was a feat for our daughter. We stopped in front of our old apartment and I said, “Go on in.”
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be silly, Daddy.”
“Yeah, Daddy-o, don’t be silly.”
Jax gave me a smacking kiss before he opened the door.
The apartment had been emptied.
But I’d brought two items into the empty space.
Jax looked at the Borderlands sign sitting on the plain metal desk, and then back at me. “What’s this?”
“Your new office. Or it will be once it’s designed to your specs. I’ve already talked to Walker. He’s eager to make up for mishandling the bar remodel, and he’s agreed to finish this in a timely fashion.” I moved in and wrapped my arms around his waist. “You need an office of your own, Jax. But it doesn’t need to be in the bar, or at the ice rink, or at the bowling alley, or even next to your manager’s. This apartment is empty, and the elevator is coded to this floor. If you feel like you need to work in the evening, you don’t have to go far. There’s space for a small conference room if you want one, and you’ll have a dedicated area to display your sports accolades. You can even have video camera surveillance routed here once the computer system is running, so you can keep an eye on your businesses and employees without having to be right there. Plus, you’ll have a private bathroom, just like all the bigwig Lund executives at LI do.” I pointed to the sign. “All you have to do is look at that and you’ll know you’re in your happy place. And if you need further assurance, hop on the elevator and you’re home with us.”
“Lucy. I . . .”
I’d never seen him at such a loss for words.
Mimi started skipping around with her doll, chattering away to it, giving us privacy.
“Did I overstep my bounds?”
“Never. I’m just so floored that I don’t know what to say. This is the perfect solution. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it.”
“Because you’ve already got enough going on. And Walker is giving me the discount he promised you, which is the only way I can afford to do this for you.”
“Thank you.” He rested his forehead to mine. “You really knocked my Christmas gift outta the park. Now my gift to you seems lame in comparison.”
“I’m sure—” was all I got out before Jax’s mouth landed on mine.
He kissed me with the mix of sweetness and passion that lit me up like a Christmas tree.
This was one of his I’m-in-charge kisses, forcing me to be patient.
This was one of his seduce-you-now, conquer-you-later kisses.
This kiss filled me with his love until I was overflowing with it.
I poured it right back into him.
“Are you still kissing?” Mimi said with a put-upon sigh. “Come on. Mommy still needs to open her present.”
“Okay, kiddo, let’s go.”
My gift from Jax was a gorgeous necklace, five different-colored sapphires in five different shapes—an orange rectangle, a green circle, a pink diamond, a purple square and a blue oval—spaced on a platinum chain.
“I helped pick it out,” Mimi said proudly.
“You did great, because it’s perfect. I love it. Thank you.”
“You’re sure?” he asked anxiously.
“The presents are just icing. Us being together, that’s the real gift, Jax.”
“You always say the perfect thing.”
* * *
• • •
Hours later, after we’d made the rounds to family and friends, Jax and I were sprawled in our bed, naked and panting after he’d “gifted” me with two orgasms to cap off my perfect Christmas.
He kissed my shoulder and said, “Baby, you asleep?”
“Yes. Santa is only supposed to come once a year and you’ve already doubled that in one night, so hands off, big guy.”
“I’ve always been an overachiever.” His gentle fingers pushed my hair out of my face, and he leaned down to peer into my eyes.
My eyes narrowed at him. “What?”
“I promised Mimi I wouldn’t tell you this until Christmas was over because she didn’t want you to be mad at her. It’s twelve thirty, so technically, Christmas is over . . .”
“Tell me.”
“When she moved her hockey bag out of your car into mine, she spilled her orange Creamsicle shake all over the floor and the back seat of your car,” he said in a rush.
“When did this happen?”
“Yesterday morning after she and I finished running errands.”
My mouth dropped open. “There’s been ice cream sinking into the interior of my car for a day and a half and you’re just telling me now? Do you know how much a sour milk product reeks?” I paused. “Is that why you insisted on taking your car today when we went to spread Christmas cheer?”
“Yeah.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. We did get most of the mess cleaned up right after it happened. Anyway, I kept my promise to her and now you know.”
“I know what I’ll be doing first thing tomorrow morning,” I grumbled.
“I can take it and get it detailed for you, if that’ll put a smile on this beautiful face.”
“Nope.” I poked him in the chest. “You promised Mimi you’d play with her new toys tomorrow, buddy.”
“All day?”
“All day and all night, probably. The girl’s got stamina.”
“Mmm. So do I.” He planted kisses down my spine. “You can stay just like that, all sexy and sleepy, and I’ll do all the work.”
* * *
• • •
For five seconds, the next morning, after seeing the enormous stain in the back seat—orange food dye was nearly impossible to remove—I considered selling my car rather than having it detailed. But my frugal side won out and I drove to the super deluxe car wash closest to our apartment.
With an hour to kill, I grabbed a magazine and a Diet Mountain Dew. The lobby was completely empty—not a surprise since it was only nine a.m. the day after Christmas. Thankful for the quiet time, I settled in.
My alone time lasted about ten minutes. The door banged open, and I heard a man yakking on his cell phone at a thousand decibels, but I couldn’t see him.
The sound of his voice made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“Yeah? Well you suggested it when I told you money was no object, and I think she’s really unhappy with it.” Pause. “Why? Because she gave me a thoughtful, personal, perfect gift and all she got from me was a crappy Cartier necklace.”
I rolled my eyes. Crappy Cartier? I don’t think so.
“What the gift said was that I don’t listen to her. I didn’t get her what she really wanted. She tried to hide her disappointment, but damn, I don’t think she realizes that those beautiful brown eyes of hers reveal every emotion.”
I kept my head down, playing along as he recreated the scene.
Annoying man on his
cell phone?
Check.
Annoying man pacing around me?
Check.
From the reflection in the glass that allowed customers to see their cars going through the automated portion of the car wash, I watched every inch of his six-foot-four frame pacing, those long, muscled arms gesturing wildly.
He couldn’t see me smiling at him, as his head was down and his baseball cap put his face in shadow. Not that he’d looked my way even one time to see if his loud, one-sided conversation might be bothering me.
Because it was bothering me that he thought I hadn’t liked his beautiful gift to me.
He stopped moving. “Fine. You think it’s stupid as shit I’m doing this, but I want her to know her worth to me.” Pause. “Look. I’m done with this convo. I’ll call you later, bro. Bye.”
My heart threatened to beat out of my chest when he stopped in front of me, but I nonchalantly flipped through a couple of magazine pages.
Then he plopped down on the bench directly across from me. I felt his gaze moving up my legs from my heeled suede boots to where the hem of my wool skirt ended above my knees.
“Ever have one of those days?” he asked me.
“One of those days where you’re enjoying a rare moment of quiet and some rude guy destroys it with an obnoxiously loud phone conversation? Why yes, ironically enough, I am having one of those days right now.”
Silence.
Then he laughed. A deep rumble of amusement that had me glancing up at him.
Our eyes met.
That punch of lust hit me like it always did.
“Jax. What are you doing here?”
He leaned in, resting his forearms on his knees. “Making conversation with the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Do you know what today is?”
“No clue, dude.”
“In Canada, it’s ‘Boxing Day,’ which I never understood. Why would the day after Christmas be devoted to a sport where guys beat the crap out of each other? I always thought it’d be more appropriate if they called it ‘Hockey Day’ because . . . well . . . Canada and hockey, aay.”
I snickered.
“Anyway, my Canadian teammates cleared up the ‘Boxing Day’ confusion for me. Boxing Day is when you box up leftovers from your Christmas feast and share them with the less fortunate.” His eyes searched mine. “Did you know that’s what it meant?”
“Nope. I took it literally too.”
“Good. Because I have something in a box for you . . . but it’s not leftovers.”
I forgot how to breathe when Jax shifted and dropped to one knee in front of me.
Then a brown velvet box appeared in his palm. He studied my face with wonder and devotion. “Lucy Quade, I love you. I’ve always loved you. Getting a second chance with you is more than I deserve, and I’ll devote my days to making your life as full and happy as you’ve made mine. Every day with you is better than the day before. I want a lifetime of that, with you by my side as my wife. So will you marry me?” He lifted the lid on the box.
I leaned in to get a closer look, but my eyes were already swimming with tears.
Jax plucked the ring out and gently took my left hand. He kissed my ring finger before he slid the ring on.
The stone in the ring was so big I swear it threw prisms across Jax’s face as I lifted the ring up to look at it closer.
“Holy crap, Jax, it’s huge.”
“I’ve been waiting a long time to hear you say that, my Lucy Q.” He laughed when I whapped him on the biceps.
I turned the ring, this way and that, absolutely mesmerized by the extreme sparkles coming from a singular stone. “I’ve never seen a diamond cut into this shape.”
“I dealt with a bunch of jewelers before the guy found this one. I wanted simple, and classy, a huge heart with the highest level of clarity so it perfectly matched how I see . . . you.”
“You’re gonna make me cry.”
“Baby, you’re gonna make me cry if you don’t say yes.”
“Yes, I’ll marry you, you crazy annoying man.” I gave him a skeptical look. “This was a damn good setup for a proposal. How long have you planned this?”
Jax grinned. “Remember when you said you wanted things to unfold ‘organically’ between us? I knew neither of us wanted a public proposal, so I’d intended on proposing to you on Christmas Eve after Mimi had gone to bed and it was just the two of us. But after that spill, I realized I could use that to my advantage. You’re a creature of habit; I knew you’d come here, so I called and rented the place for an hour.”
“You just rented it? You didn’t buy it?”
“Smartass. I don’t buy everything.”
I set my hand—left hand, of course, so I could admire my new sparkling heart-shaped engagement ring that had to be at least ten carats—on his chest. “I love that you thought of this and I love you, Jaxson Lund.” Then I kissed him with more passion than I usually did in public.
Jax groaned against my lips. “Let’s go home and celebrate. Naked.”
Guilt swamped me: I realized I hadn’t thought about Mimi at all. “Where’s—”
“Mimi is with my folks.”
“Did she know you were going to propose?”
“No one did. This belongs to us.” He grimaced. “Gotta move these creaky old hockey player knees.” He stood and sat next to me. “Can this be a super short engagement?”
“How short?”
“Are you busy this afternoon?”
My first reaction after laughing was to argue with him that we couldn’t possibly get married today . . . but I realized I never wanted the pomp and circumstance, I just wanted him. And that’s precisely what he’d offered. “I went on a date with you thirty minutes after we met. In keeping with tradition, getting married half an hour after you proposed is so—”
“Us,” he finished.
This man.
Then Jax kissed me in that cajoling way I couldn’t resist. I’d already made up my mind, but I let him “convince” me a little longer.
“So what do you say?”
“I say yes.”
Epilogue
JAX
A finger poked me in the side, startling me. I jolted awake and cast a bleary eye on my daughter.
“Daddy. Come on. Mommy said it’s time.”
I noticed Lucy’s side of the bed was empty. Whoa. I hadn’t heard her get up. It hadn’t been that long ago we’d gone to bed.
“Where is she?”
“Waiting for us.” Mimi bounced up and down. “Hurry up! This is so exciting!”
At least this wasn’t happening in the middle of the damn night. “I’m coming. Give me a minute.”
She harrumphed and skipped out of the room.
Yawning, I dressed in the sweats and T-shirt I’d only taken off an hour before. Maybe it was selfish to hope this didn’t last long, but damn, I was so freaking tired, I couldn’t wait to crawl back in bed and sleep.
I wandered down the hallway and paused in the doorway to the theater room.
The buttery scent of popcorn wafted out. Lucy had also lined up chips and dip, cans of energy drinks, cookies and red licorice. I grinned. She’d picked up on hockey players’ superstitions pretty damn fast; we’d had the same exact snacks every time the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team played. I loved that she’d become so invested in the sport and the players on her own—no prompting from me—but Mimi’s obsession had a lot to do with it.
My heart damn near burst in my chest when my wife turned and looked at me, giving me that beautiful smile that belonged solely to me.
Her smile faded and she scowled. “Jaxson Lund. You get back there and put on your U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey team jersey now, before the final game starts!”
Maybe she was taking the superstition thing too far? The en
tire Lund family—including the babies—had worn the same lucky Vikings jerseys after the “Minnesota Miracle” game that had clinched the NFC divisional title against the Saints, only to have the Vikings lose the NFC championship game to the Eagles the following week. We all still moped about the lost opportunity to play the Super Bowl in our home stadium.
“Daddy, go! Gabi got these for us special and we have to wear them for every game!”
Two against one. “I’m going.”
We settled in to watch the USA versus Canada in the gold medal game. Lucy had a bunch of questions, which I mostly answered, but Mimi chimed in before I could on about half of them. The kid was a sponge, and a natural athlete who worked hard at improving her skills. Even if she decided not to pursue more competitive hockey, we liked watching college and NHL games together.
Mimi and Lucy screamed themselves hoarse during the game. The shoot-out finish where the USA beat the Canadians 3 to 2 was one of the best hockey games I’d ever seen.
But as I watched my wife and daughter hugging each other, chanting, “USA, USA,” I knew my life was pretty damn sweet. Hockey would always be part of it, but not the most important part.
As they’d wound down the celebration, Gabi sent us a text—a picture of her with the team and their shiny gold medals—and Mimi lost her mind. The kid bounced off the walls for the next hour before we finally tucked her in bed.
Lucy sent Mimi a soft look before she quietly closed the door to her bedroom. “Do you think tonight will be a defining moment in her life?”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. “Maybe. But she also mentioned that she and Calder might pair up and start training to become ice dancers after that Olympic competition ended. And I know you heard her comment about practicing bowling so she could join the national junior league bowling team.”
Lucy sighed. “Too many ambitions, and she’s good at anything she sets her mind to. She gets that from you.”
“I think in the long run, the defining moment in her life will be when we became a family and she realized she’ll have our love and support together no matter what she chooses to do.”
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