by T. S. Joyce
“Kieran told us to be here at noon. And not to bring presents. And to wear something hideous.” She lifted her chin higher. “Two out of three isn’t bad.”
Leslie dragged her into a hug and squeezed her for a long time on the front porch. “You did good, Mom. Christmas wouldn’t be the same without you.”
When she pushed her mom back to arm’s length, her mom’s perfectly made-up red lips were trembling. “I just wanted the best for you. Because I love you.”
“I know.” Leslie jerked her chin inside toward Kieran. “He’s the best for me. Mom, I’m happy.”
She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “I suppose that’s a good thing. Your father has explained to me that sometimes money can’t buy you happiness.”
Leslie laughed and pointed at her. “You need a shot.”
“A shot of what?” her mother asked primly.
“Your other daughters brought cheap tequila.”
“Heathens,” she murmured under her breath, but Leslie didn’t miss it. Mom was smiling.
There were no fancy dinner plates or multiple salad forks. There weren’t fancy wine glasses or manners. Instead, there was chaos.
Leslie watched everyone sit down at the table and talk over each other while passing food. Burke was pouring margaritas from a blender into red Solo cups and joking with everyone. Dad was plopping mashed potatoes onto plates around him, and Braden was calling cousin Fred a doucheball from across the table. Mom was grimacing as she sipped something strong from a shot glass at the end of the table, kids were running around playing tag, and across the room in the kitchen, Kieran was watching her with a handsome smile curving his lips.
This is perfect, she mouthed to him.
And it was. It was the perfect gift. He’d gone into the Wilson den and talked to her family without her there. Whatever he had said had dragged them from their mansions and fancy clothes, swaddled them in ugly holiday sweaters, and adorned them with smiles like she’d never before seen on their faces. There were no servants making plates for them or chefs preparing the meal. There was Kieran, Burke, her dad, and Braden. Everyone had to pass their own food and pour their own drinks, and there was no stress. There was just…happy.
Kieran had changed the holidays.
Leslie dug under the tree and found the present she’d made him, then set it on his plate at the head of the table.
He frowned at it as he approached. “The otter ornament?” he teased. “Sea urchins?”
She giggled and took the seat he pulled out for her. He sat down and dragged her chair closer, then opened the small package. From the red tissue paper, he pulled out the new ornament she’d made.
The smile fell from his lips, and shock took his face as he held up the lion and lioness pair. The lion was resting his head atop the lioness’s.
He dragged his gaze away from the ornament to her. He knew what her present meant. “Really?”
She was already tearing up, and her throat was so tight she couldn’t give him a good response so she nodded and wiped her eyes before the tears hit her cheeks.
Kieran dragged her against him and kissed the top of her head three times, then nuzzled his cheek against her head.
“What does it mean?” Dad asked from the other end of the table.
Leslie cleared the emotion from her throat and spoke up. “It means he’s mine and I’m his. And soon, I will be a lion. Lioness. Girl lions are called lionesses. I Googled it. He will do the bitey-bitey and I’ll be an…enhanced…version…of my awesome self.”
Kieran’s laugh was deep and throaty as he reached back and hung the ornament from a limb on the Christmas tree. “She picked me. I already picked her from the moment I saw her, but her present means she picked me back.”
Kimberly asked, “Does that mean she won’t be so clumsy?”
“You’re going to be a lion?” Mom demanded.
“Okay, that’s way more badass than an otter,” Braden said. He lifted his red plastic glass. “To the black sheep…errr…lion…of the family. And to Kieran. Thank you for allowing us in your home and for making Christmas suck a little less this year.”
Then Kimberly smacked him, mom fainted, and Dad kept ladling gravy onto his mashed potatoes like nothing was amiss. Everyone was loud and still passing food, and it really was perfect.
She looked over at Kieran, but he was just quiet, watching her. “Your smile is back.”
She leaned into his side and rested her cheek against his chest as he slid his arm around her. “I don’t think it’ll ever go away again.”
And why would it?
She had the life that she chose. No, it wasn’t going to be perfect or even easy, but it would be a life that made sense to her.
She’d never been like her family. She’d been a mess, and now she realized that was okay. Because her mess matched Kieran’s, and if she wasn’t who she was, he wouldn’t have paid attention to her the day he answered the ad.
Neither one of them were meant for perfect.
They were built to succeed in a storm, and there was no one she would rather weather a storm with than Kieran.
And from the way he was smiling at her right now, she knew he felt the same.
Up Next from this Author
A Shifter for New Years
Burke Dunne will get his story in the second book in the Shifter for the Holidays series
Coming January 2021
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For new releases, exclusive sneak peeks, and giveaways, sign up for T. S. Joyce’s Bear Shifter Romance Newsletter HERE.
More Series by this Author
Battle of the Bulls
Two Shots Down (Book 1)
Dead of Winter (Book 2)
Quickdraw Slow Burn (Book 3)
First Time Train Wreck (Book 4)
Kaid Ranch Shifters
Steal Her Heart (Book 1)
Make Her New (Book 2)
Lift Her Up (Book 3)
Love Her Better (Book 4)
Keepers of the Swamp
Swim Deeper (Book 1)
Dig Deeper (Book 2)
Bite Deeper (Book 3)
Daughters of Beasts
Novak Grizzly (Book 1)
Beck Bear (Book 2)
Ash Bear (Book 3)
Sons of Beasts
Son of the Cursed Bear (Book 1)
Son of Kong (Book 2)
Son of the Dragon (Book 3)
Red Havoc Panthers
Red Havoc Rogue (Book 1)
Red Havoc Rebel (Book 2)
Red Havoc Bad Cat (Book 3)
Red Havoc Guardian (Book 4)
Red Havoc Bad Bear (Book 5)
Harper’s Mountains
Bloodrunner Dragon (Book 1)
Bloodrunner Bear (Book 2)
Air Ryder (Book 3)
Novak Raven (Book 4)
Blackwing Dragon (Book 5)
Kane’s Mountains
Blackwing Defender (Book 1)
Blackwing Wolf (Book 2)
Blackwing Beast (Book 3)
Bears Fur Hire
Husband Fur Hire (Book 1)
Bear Fur Hire (Book 2)
Mate Fur Hire (Book 3)
Wolf Fur Hire (Book 4)
Dawson Fur Hire (Book 5)
Chance Fur Hire (Book 6)
Saw Bears
Lumberjack Werebear (Book 1)
Woodcutter Werebear (Book 2)
Timberman Werebear (Book 3)
Sawman Werebear (Book 4)
Axman Werebear (Book 5)
Woodsman Werebear (Book 6)
Lumberman Werebear (Book 7)
Fire Bears
Bear My Soul (Book 1)
Bear the Burn (Book 2)
Bear the Heat (Book 3)
Gray Back Bears
Gray Back Bad Bear (Book 1)
Gray Back Alpha Bear (Book 2)
Gray Back Ghost Bear (Book 3)
Gray Back Broken Bear (Book 4)
Lowlander S
ilverback (Book 5)
Last Immortal Dragon (Book 6)
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About this Author
T.S. Joyce is devoted to bringing hot shifter romances to readers. Hungry alpha males are her calling card, and the wilder the men, the more she'll make them pour their hearts out. She lives in a tiny town, outside of a tiny city, and devotes her life to writing big stories. Foodie, bear whisperer, ninja, thief of tiny bottles of awesome smelling hotel shampoo, nap connoisseur, movie fanatic, and zombie slayer, and most of this bio is true.
Bear Shifters? Check
Smoldering Alpha Hotness? Double Check
Sexy Scenes? Fasten up your girdles, ladies and gents, it’s gonna to be a wild ride.
For more information about T. S. Joyce and her work, visit her website here.