by Regina Cole
This was her world. Her element. Her business. And she was showing everyone who she wanted.
It damn near made his heart burst out of his chest.
“Deborah Rossman,” Allison said as Paul waved to someone who cut the music. The conversation around them stopped at the sound of Allison’s call.
At the sound of her name, Deb turned, her jeweled earrings glittering like Christmas lights with the movement.
“Oh, Allison! You came!” Deb rushed forward, all smiles. “I thought you were busy tonight.” Her gaze fell to their joined hands. “Are congratulations in order?”
“Yes, actually, they are. But not for Nate and I. We’re fine, despite your little attempt at manipulation. I’m here to issue you a verbal cease and desist.”
Deb’s smile faltered as the crowd around her began to buzz with interest. “What?”
“My clients. You’ve been poaching them.”
“Oh, no no no, you’re mistaken,” Deb laughed, her voice too high-pitched. She turned to the three men and woman she’d been talking to before Allison had interrupted. “Just a simple mistake.”
“I’ve got proof. Ed Oliver. Carol Evans. Sandringham, all of them. You’re trying to start your own business and you’re stealing my client list to do it. Which is expressly against the contract you signed.”
“No, no, it isn’t,” she said, shaking her head vehemently. “The contract said I couldn’t work for a competitor, and I’m not working for one. I am the competitor.” She smiled, as if she’d won.
Buffy squirmed in Nate’s arms, as if the tension in the room was getting to her. Nate adjusted his grip on the pup, shushing her as he watched Allison deliver the coup de grace.
“You misunderstood. The contract covered that possibility, and you’re in breach. My father wrote it, and he’s good. Very good. He’s even agreed to come out of retirement and take my case. He’s already prepping the paperwork for the lawsuit. And this will not be quiet. Everyone in Texas will know exactly what you did, and how bad you screwed up in trying to screw me over.” Allison smiled politely. “Now, it’s Christmas, the season for giving. So, consider this a Christmas gift, from me to you. Your walking papers. You’re terminated.”
And then she turned and left the room, Deb staring open-mouthed after her, Nate and Buffy following at a quick clip. She’d never dropped his hand. Not once.
Paul said goodbye with a wave, shutting the door behind them.
They walked down the driveway together, Nate gripping her hand tight. Before they could climb into the car, she turned to him and melted into his arms. “Now, where were we?”
“I think you were about to tell me why you showed up with this little girl,” Nate said, nodding toward Buffy as he held Allison close in the glow of the white Christmas lights the lit up the privacy wall behind them.
“Oh,” she said, and a becoming blush climbed her cheeks. “I thought she'd be perfect for you.”
“I don’t need a shepherd,” he said reluctantly, even as Buffy licked at his cheek. “She’ll need exercise every day. She’s so young and high energy, and with my hours…”
“I can do it. She can come with me on my morning runs.”
“So, she’s your dog?” He blinked down at Allison, a smile stretching his lips. “Congrats, she’s adorable.”
“Not exactly,” Allison said, shifting from foot to foot. Damn, she didn't act this way often. Allison was sure of almost everything. Why the hesitation?
“Oh?”
“She’s ours,” Allison blurted, looking toward the cars as if she couldn’t bear to see his face. “Mine and yours. I thought, maybe, if you wanted, we could live together. I could move in here, well, Buffy and I.”
His heart glowed, and before she could take the words back, he was kissing her.
“Yes,” he said between presses of his lips against hers. “Yes. Yes. Today. This minute. Always. Yes. I love you, Ally. I’ll love you forever.”
Her whispered reply carried his heart to heaven. “I love you too, ‘Thaniel. Merry Christmas.”
It was the merriest one he could remember, and he expected they would all be merry from now on. As long as she was by his side.
Epilogue
Four Years Later…
“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Her smile was her “people” smile. “Sure! Absolutely! You know me, life of the party.” She reached for the handle of the truck door, but the anxiety was rolling off her in big, impossible-to-miss waves.
Nate frowned. She’d been on edge for a week or more now, and each day that passed was making it more and more obvious she was up in her head about something. But try as he might, she hadn’t let him know what was up.
He didn’t like it.
Over the past several years, they’d grown closer than he’d ever thought was possible. He’d learned that Allison’s confident, take-charge manner was a front many times, but that her fake-it-‘til-you-make-it attitude had helped her become the person she was.
The person he loved.
He followed her into Sparky’s, the loud Christmas music drowned out by the chorus of shouts.
“Cowboy!”
With Allison at his side, he smiled at the Firehouse Three crew. His family.
They’d changed so much over the years. Drake and Hunter were there, each with their respective spouses, Everly sporting a fairly large baby bump, Hunter and Jesse’s son running around the dance floor while Hunter rocked the littlest one. Chaz was dancing with Payton, a big, sparkly ring on the third finger of her left hand. Ty, Reid, Kyle, Spencer, Abby, Dante, they’d all been single when he and Allison had moved in together, and look at them now. They were happy, each of them with their own significant other to love.
Of course, there’d been losses in the intervening years, some of them so poignant they still took Nate’s breath away when he remembered.
But the lesson he’d learned, the one that kept him moving forward through pain, through fear, through the fires that tested him and his Firehouse Three family day after day, was that love was what kept them alive. Love was what pulled them through danger, and agony, and loss. And love was the only thing that could be counted on at the end of the day.
“Excuse me,” a voice came through the loudspeaker then, and Nate turned. What the hell?
Allison was standing beside the deejay booth with a microphone in her hand, and the music had stopped. She smiled, and reached a hand out to him.
“Nathaniel, can you join me?”
A chorus of “oooohs” rose from the crowd, and Nate cursed low beneath his breath. Damn it. Ally was good in front of a crowd, what the hell was she doing dragging him up there? And what the hell kind of announcement could she be doing at the Firehouse Three Christmas gig?
“I wanted to do this right,” she said into the microphone, looking up into his eyes. “A long time ago, I told you that I wasn’t ready for this, that I didn’t know if I ever would be. But a lot has changed. One thing hasn’t, though, and that’s the way I feel for you. I love you, Nathaniel Abraham York.”
“Aaaw,” said Ty, and his wife elbowed him in the side. He yelped, then turned and kissed his short-haired lover.
“I love you,” Nate said, his brows lowered as he began to put two and two together. “What—”
She’d dropped to one knee, a ring box in her hand.
“Will you marry me?”
Shit. He wasn’t going to stand for this.
Ignoring the hoots and hollers of the crowd, he knelt as well, reaching into his pocket for the ring box he’d been carrying around for the last six months. He’d been waiting for the right time, just like he had with that damn letter in high school.
And, yet again, he’d waited too damn long.
“I will, if you will,” he said, opening the box and presenting it to her.
“On the count of three?”
He nodded.
“One, two…”
She didn’t get to say the last
number, because he’d grabbed her up and kissed the hell out of her before her lips could get wrapped around it.
They both knew what their answers were. No need to say it out loud.
Kisses were better than words, anyway.
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You can stay up to date on the whole
Firehouse Three crew in
Up in Flames by Sidney Bristol,
Light Up the Night by Regina Cole,
and the upcoming
Up in Smoke by Sidney Bristol.
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Sign up for Regina’s newsletter at reginacole.net and get the inside scoop on this series and other books!
Up in Flames by Sidney Bristol
He wants her . . .
Fireman Hunter Shaw is a world-class screwup. He’s got a lifetime of experience tanking every good thing that’s come his way. But when a shy, curvy brunette wins him at a charity auction to benefit a local rescue shelter, he realizes she’s got as much a way with him as with the dogs. Can he convince her he’s on her side when she’s framed for arson?
She wants control . . .
Demolition specialist Jessie Durcell is in deep trouble when someone steals her explosives. Her brothers blame her, the cops suspect her, and the only person she can turn to is her sinfully sexy one-night stand. Can she trust the tattooed fireman? He’s wooed her pack of canine miscreants and her brothers hate him. He might just be the man she needs in her corner.
A deadly arsonist wants to send Dallas UP IN FLAMES.
Light Up the Night by Regina Cole
Her attraction is undeniable…
Firefighter Drake Hammerfell knew from the first moment he saw Everly Pitts stuck in a tree rescuing a kitten that there was something about her that called to him. This girl-next-door-beauty has him snared in her web, and for the first time in years…he doesn’t want to escape. He’s willing to be patient and bide his time to win over his reluctant lover. But his new start in Dallas isn’t without complications from his past, and his profession carries with it risks that Everly isn’t prepared for. How can he promise to be everything she needs?
His magnetism is overpowering…
Everly Pitts runs an animal shelter that’s in desperate need of funds. Despite her misgivings, she can’t say no to the hunky firefighters lining up to help her cause by oiling up and taking it off for a bachelor auction. Especially him. When the ripped, four-alarm sex god Drake Hammerfell goes up for bids, she’s determined to buy back her honor after their embarrassing meeting—even if it means emptying her savings account. But what’s a girl like her supposed to do with a guy like him? She’s much better with animals than people, and yet Drake keeps coming back, wearing down her resolve until she can’t help but wonder…what if?
Together they’ll LIGHT UP THE NIGHT.
Up in Smoke by Sidney Bristol
He's always loved her...
Fireman Chaz Fairchild has always held more than brotherly affection for his former step-sister—a wild child with a nose for danger. When Payton shows up on his doorstep without notice, days before Christmas, he knows she’s in trouble. He’ll do anything to keep her safe, but can he protect her from his forbidden desire? Touches turn to kisses and more as Chaz does his best to show Payton he’ll put it all on the line for her.
She knows she's bad for him...
Undercover DEA Agent Payton Harris can't let anyone too close. But Chaz is her anchor, her heart, the person who keeps her going at the darkest of times—and her enemies know it. Loving him means putting him at risk, which is why she has to walk away from any chance of a future with him. But when Chaz is taken prisoner by the people she’s been hunting, Payton will have to trade herself for his safety or risk losing the one person she's ever been able to love.
Danger threatens to send this holiday UP IN SMOKE.
Also by Regina Cole
Draw Me In
Sex Becomes Her
Light Up The Night
About the Author
Regina Cole, lover of manly muscled arms, chest hair, and mini-marshmallows, has been reading romance since her early teens. While she loves reading love stories, writing them has filled a special place in her heart, and she's enjoying every minute.
When she’s not frantically pounding away at the keyboard, she can be found fishing with her family, playing with her dogs, trying out strange new recipes, or snuggling with her hubby and tiny twin boys.
Regina also writes Regency time travel and historical romance as Gina Lamm.
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Copyright © 2016 by Regina Cole.
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Copy editing by Nina S. Gooden. | www.greenteaandpinkink.com/pinkinkeditorialservices
Cover design by Charity Hendry. | www.charityhendry.com
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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Regina Cole
www.reginacole.net
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Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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Ordering Information:
Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the “Special Sales Department” at the address above.
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Light Up the Night / Regina Cole. — 1st ed.