Fake Fiance Christmas Collection: Countdown to Christmas

by Taylor Hart

  Augusta shook her head, trying to step around Ty. “Jason, I’m sorry. Just put the gun down and let’s talk.”

  Jason shook the gun again. “You never think about that night, do you? Our night?”

  Ocean snarled, and he knew that before this was over, he would smash out the guy’s teeth.

  Tears filled Augusta’s eyes. “The night you roofied me?”

  “I didn’t roofie you!” Jason cursed, his eyes wide and deranged. “How many times do I have to tell you? I didn’t do anything but help you home!”

  Ty broke away from his brothers. He put his hands up as he moved toward Jason. “Dude, shoot me. I’m dying anyway.”

  Jason pointed the gun at Ty.

  “I mean it, go ahead. You’d be doing me a favor. Do you want to know what happens to people with ALS?”

  Jason hesitated, giving him a curious look. “You’re the one with the disease?”

  Ty stood right in front of him, the gun at his chest. He put his hand on the barrel. “The muscles in my whole body will wither and die until I’m trapped in here—” He tapped his head. “—unable to even talk. You know Stephen Hawking, the guy in the wheelchair with the robot voice? That’s what I have to look forward to in the future.” Ty got right in Jason’s face and put his hand over the gun. “So do it!” he shouted, still holding the gun to his chest.

  Suddenly, Jason let go of the gun and started crying, hunching over.

  Ty calmly grasped the gun’s handle and engaged the safety, hands steady as a rock.

  Boston moved next to Jason, who had collapsed to the floor. “What should we do with this clown?” he asked Ocean, a foot on Jason’s back.

  Dax and Ziggy flanked Ty, throwing their arms around him in a bear hug.

  Ocean grabbed Augusta, who was covering her face and crying.

  Ellen stood next to Peter near the stage, her face white. A couple of homeless people still lingered near them, but most had fled.

  “Jason,” Augusta said, crying harder.

  A cop rushed in, gun in hand.

  Jason looked at her, then started to struggle. “I never meant it all to be this way. I just want you. I have to have you.”

  “Stay down!” the officer shouted, aiming the gun at Jason.

  Ocean wanted to take the punk’s head and slam it into the ground.

  But Boston helped him out by stomping his foot down hard on Jason’s back.

  Jason cried out.

  “Don’t worry, officer. I got him.” Boston flashed a cocky grin.

  Ocean took Augusta’s hand and gently began backing her away.

  Her whole body shook. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  He pulled her close, holding her against him. “Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

  His whole family surrounded them, and he was glad for the support. The adrenaline aftershock of what had just happened hit him.

  His mother rushed into the group, reaching for Ty. “Don’t ever do that again!” she scolded, her voice breaking.

  Ocean turned to his youngest brother and reached for his hand. “That was totally brave and totally stupid.”

  Ty looked cool as a cucumber as he wrapped an arm around Luna’s waist. “Hey, if I’m dying anyway, I might as well be a total fighter, right?”

  They all laughed.

  Ty turned to Augusta. “I’m not really sure about what just happened, but I’m pretty sure my brother is completely in love with you. So, are you marrying him or what?”

  Ocean wanted to kill his brother, but he was right. He wanted Augusta more than anything. He looked at her. “So just making sure, will you marry me?”

  She let out a light laugh through her tears. “Yes!”

  “Whoo!” Ty called out while the other brothers laughed and Ocean’s mother hugged them all.

  Epilogue

  In the spirit of Ty’s “no regrets” motto, Augusta and Ocean decided to get married ASAP, on the twenty-eighth of December.

  It’d been a crazy week of planning, but Larissa had been all in, bossing all of her sisters around. Ocean flew them all out as a present to Augusta, and to help prepare for the beachside sunset wedding.

  Now she stood inside Ocean’s home, getting ready to walk down a red carpet. Her brother-in-law, Dave, beamed and held his arm out to escort her. She’d asked him to do the honors of giving her away. He had always been so good to her and her sisters, so it seemed fitting.

  The music changed to the wedding march. “You ready?” Dave asked her.

  Nervous butterflies coursed through her stomach. She was marrying Ocean Brady, a famous football player, a guy she’d been fake engaged to, who she’d known only a couple of weeks. With a bubbly laugh, she exclaimed, “I can’t believe this.”

  Dave put his arm down. “You have to believe it, because it’s real.”

  She smiled. Getting to know Ocean had been the best experience of her life. He’d helped her see, in so many ways, that it was okay to speak up for herself, too.

  The night the cops took Jason away, she and Ocean had gone to the station and he’d sat with her while she’d filed an official report about the roofie night. Granted, it probably wouldn’t hold up in court because it’d been so long, but the incident was on file now. That mattered to her on a very personal level. Even if nothing came of it, she was proud that she’d stood up for herself.

  She’d also had an opportunity to witness Ocean in action, watching his game over Christmas and cheering for him from the VIP box. Of course, Larissa and Dave and her sisters had always been there with her, rallying and cheering and living it up.

  She’d gotten to know his mother better, too. To Ellen’s delight, Augusta’s sisters loved crafts. When they weren’t planning the wedding or watching football games, they spent hours talking and crafting with her. Truly, the two families benefited from joining together.

  She nodded to Dave. “I’m ready.”

  Her brother-in-law grinned and opened the door.

  As she walked down the steps and onto the red carpet, the first thing that struck her was the beauty of it all. Chairs were set out in neat rows, and the flowers and streamers near the podium for the preacher made everything look festive. Larissa had really outdone herself with the decorations.

  Ocean stood at the end of the carpet, a wide grin on his face. His brothers were all lined up next to him. Larissa and their other sisters were lined up on the other side, beaming.

  Augusta wished her father could be here. Then a surge of warmth rushed through her and she knew he was here, even if she couldn’t see him.

  She focused on the amazing crystal-blue eyes of the man she loved. When she arrived, Dave put her hand in Ocean’s.

  Ocean kissed the back of her hand. “Half a kiss,” he whispered.

  She couldn’t stop the giggle. For the past couple of days, she’d been batting him away constantly, telling him they needed to wait to kiss so much. But he wouldn’t hear of it, kissing her all the time. She loved it.

  They’d waited for everything else, and she felt a bit dizzy thinking of how wonderful it would be to be with Ocean, tonight and always.

  The preacher conducted the ceremony, and at the end, Ocean took her into his arms, dipping her back for a long and thorough kiss. Everyone cheered.

  “I want you, for real, for the rest of my life,” she said, pressing her forehead against his.

  He laughed. “Then that’s what you’ll get. For real. Forever.”

  They kissed again, and the famous Brady brothers song came on. Ocean groaned, but Ty already had a microphone, and Augusta laughed as she watched his brothers perform.

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  Oof!” She slammed into something hard and large. Bouncing back, she hit the pavement on her rear, pain radiating up her backside and her phone skittering away underneath a parked car. Glancing up, way up, she saw a man towering over her. The sun was bright reflecting off the snow, so she couldn’t quite make out his face, but his body was tall, lean, and beautifully muscled under a fitted long-sleeved shirt.

  “Faith?” he asked.

  Her stomach did a funny flip-flop it hadn’t done in years. When that voice said her name, she found herself diving back into dreams she’d long since stored and tried to forget. Those dreams were nothing like reality, as she’d buried her husband Blaine a year ago. Her life for over ten years now was far removed from Jag’s deep, husky, beautiful voice saying her name.

  The man bent down low and swept her off the ground. Thankfully, her thick coat dampened the impact, but excitement and heat still shot through her as she was lifted face to chest with the man who dominated her night dreams, no matter how many times she’d prayed to stop dreaming about him. If she had any money, she’d hire a therapist or voodoo witch doctor to exorcise him from her memory.

  “Faith,” he repeated, saying the name this time almost reverently. Jag’s handsome face looked all lit up. He appeared for all the world like the boy she used to adore, grown into an irresistible man with hard lines and firm muscles and yet a softness in his eyes as he gazed at her.

  He lifted her off her feet, without her permission—and much to her body’s happiness—and swung her around like he used to do. Setting her back down, he was still grinning at her. “Faith.” How many times could he say her name in different ways? This time it was a husky groan. She knew exactly what was coming when he said her name in that way, and she wanted him to capture her lips more than she wanted her swim team to win state this year.

  He bent down close, his blue eyes taking her in as if she were his entire world. His muscular body surrounded her, and for the first time in years, she felt safe. Any moment now their lips would connect, washing away all the pain and misery she’d been through these past ten years disappear, and Jag would make everything right in her world.

  “And who is this?” a snarky voice asked from his side.

  Jag wrapped Faith tight and turned her, as if to shelter her from the woman standing next to them. Faith peeked over his muscular arm to see a gorgeous redhead in a tight business suit that pushed her well-endowed front out for the world to enjoy. Faith worried that the woman would get frostbite on her beautiful front alignment. It was chilly out here.

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  The Christmas Girlfriend

  A Return to Snow Valley

  Chapter 1

  Michael Hamilton, Jr.—Mike to his friends—stood in the Billings airport four days before Christmas. Actually, considering his mother’s and sister’s excitement over Lacey getting married on Christmas Eve, he should really be saying it was three days before Lacey’s wedding.

  He couldn’t say he shared their enthusiasm for the wedding. The only thing he was excited about was seeing his family. It’d been six months since he’d been home because he was in his first year of an MBA program at Harvard, much to his father’s approval. Even though he didn’t love Boston or the program, he was proud that he’d been selected.

  His phone buzzed, and he braced himself as he answered it. It was showtime. “Think of the devil, and he shall call.”

  His father laughed. “Hey, you’re on the ground, then?”

  “Yep.”

  “Ready for the wedding?”

  Mike thought about all the prep that needed to be done. “Nope.”

  “I can honestly say I’m glad to have backup.”

  “I bet you are.” Mike grimaced, imagining how unbearable it would be.

  “Yeah, it’s getting dicey around here with the womenfolk, just to warn you.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “So how is Ann doing?”

  Every part of Mike froze. His girlfriend had broken up with him two weeks ago, and it was still fresh. He’d decided to wait to break the news until after the wedding so he wouldn’t have to hear everyone in town comment about it. He’d put his parents off, not telling them about the breakup either. Not wanting to sound pathetic. “Ah, she ended up having to go home for Christmas.” That was true, at least.

  His father tsked his tongue. “Really? Too bad. I would have liked to meet her.”

  A flutter of angst wove through Mike’s gut. He never liked lying to his father.

  “Fair warning: Nellie Bells has been asking about you at the flower shop.”

  He cringed at the thought of his ex-girlfriend. “Great.”

  “Yeah, she’s persistent.”

  Mike didn’t want to talk about Nellie. “So you left the truck, right?”

  “In the lower parking lot.” He cleared his throat. “It’s snowing really hard right now, and I’m worried about you being able to get home tonight.”

  Honestly, Mike hadn’t even noticed the thick blizzard outside. He turned to a window and peered out. “Montana never disappoints.”

  “I know.”

  The carousel for the luggage started turning, and Mike saw that his bags were the first ones off, and he snatched each one before it could pass by. “Don’t worry about it, Dad. I have four-wheel drive, and if it’s too bad, I’ll just stay the night here.”

  His father sighed. “Okay. I do need you to check the storage units, because we’re going to be headed back down there on the twenty-sixth with all of the toys from the toy drive.”

  “Right.” Mike smiled. The toy drive was the only part he was looking forward to.

  “Be safe,” his father said.

  Mike walked out of the terminal and rushed across the street, heading for the parking lot. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours, Dad. Don’t worry.”

  “Love you.”

  “Love you too.” Mike ended the call and surveyed the sky. Yep, snow galore. He picked up his pace to a jog. He wanted to make it out to Snow Valley tonight.

  Chapter 2

  Zoey Harper stood in the freezing cold outside of the storage unit she hadn’t been back to in six months. The storage unit held her deceased husband’s things.

  She’d never thought she would be this person. The kind of woman that got married at twenty-one to a guy she’d only known for three months. The kind to fall head over heels in love. The kind that waited in the wings as he enlisted in the army to serve his country. Yet here she was, and she was a widow.

  They had been married right before Thanksgiving, and then he’d left the next week for Afghanistan. It wasn’t even a year later that those men had shown up with the stupid flag. She squeezed her eyes shut, missing Josh all over again. Sucking in a breath, she tried to re-center herself, then opened her eyes and stared at the storage unit.

  She hadn’t been able to get rid of it her husband’s things, so she’d stored them. Too bad she couldn’t afford to pay for the storage any longer. Somehow, the letter notifying her that the storage unit was going to get rid
of her stuff, had landed beneath a pile of mail she hadn’t gone through. She’d been too busy lately, trying to juggle finals, her waitressing job, and the internship. The internship was over but she felt like she was still trying to do way too much with no help.

  Tears assaulted her, but she choked them back. Tears had never done her any good. Not when her parents had been killed in that plane crash the day after she’d graduated from high school. Not even when she’d stood over Josh’s grave and cried her eyes out. Tears didn’t help.

  The temperature felt like it was below zero with the wind chill. She needed to get those three bonds. He’d told her each was worth five hundred dollars. She had no idea if they would be worth more now—she didn’t know anything about bonds—but last night, Josh had been in her dream, and he’d told her to get them.

  She was already worried about being able to pay January’s rent, but there was also something else she’d been tossing back and forth. The Voice. There was an audition in Salt Lake on the twenty-seventh of December. Salt Lake was a long drive, roughly thirteen hours from Billings, but if she could fix her car and figure out a way to keep her waitressing job while she took the time off, she could try out. If she got it, she would take a loan, do anything, to make it work. She would live her dream!

  The bonds Josh had left her just might be the ticket. The key twisted in the lock, but it wouldn’t budge. She cursed and kicked it. Why wouldn’t it just turn?

  Sadness erupted inside of her like a geyser exploding on the National Geographic show she’d watched the other night. She thought of Josh. They’d had plans. Part of the reason he’d enlisted was because they needed the money to pay for college, to make something of themselves. She hadn’t wanted him to, had begged him not to. He’d simply held her and told her that he’d promised to take care of her and he wouldn’t let her dreams die. He’d wanted to give her the chance to become something, whether that was a nurse or a famous singer. He’d told her she could have all of it.