by S. Layne
“I love you,” I murmur against him.
“I love you more,” he teases, and shifts his position on the bed. Then he stands up, walks us to the shower with me still clinging to him, all arms and legs wrapped around him, and sets me down on the bathroom counter. “Now we can get ready for the day.”
Which reminds me.
I smile. “Merry Christmas, Donovan.”
“Merry Christmas, Talia.” His lips seal over mine in a slow and languid kiss, and I release my hold on him to run my hands down his chest. “I love you so much.”
I catch sight of the ring and gasp, shoving it in front of my face. It’s huge. And sparkly. A great, giant diamond on a simple band. “This is beautiful,” I say in awe, tearing my gaze off my finger and meeting his eyes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Jeremiah helped pick it out.”
“You asked him?”
Donovan grins. “Of course I did. And Ben. And…” He lowers his head and slowly slides his lips over mine. My body spasms again, heating and coiling and burning for him. God, I love him. “I also got your dad’s permission.”
He pulls back, pleased with himself, and I can only thank him by dropping to my knees on the cold tile floor, opening my mouth, and sucking him inside.
He’s too much. And perfect.
And I get to spend every day showing this amazing man how much I love him.
“This has been the best Christmas I could ever imagine,” I tell everyone, raising my champagne flute high in the air. As I look around the table, I smile with tear-filled eyes as everyone does the same.
James and Laurie are sitting to my left, visiting from Ann Arbor for the dinner. Next to them are Mrs. Bartol and her husband, Harold. Donovan grins at me from the other end of the table, and filling out the other side are Ben, his new girlfriend Amanda, Jeremiah, and Jensen—who is here only because when I learned he was going to be spending the holiday alone, I insisted he come.
To my right, my dad sits in his wheelchair, not holding onto a champagne flute because he can’t grip things for too long in his hand, but it’s within his reach as soon as my toast is done.
Between a pile of Christmas presents larger than anything I’ve ever seen in my life for Ben and Jeremiah, and fixing Christmas dinner for so many people, I’ve been rushing around all day, barely able to sit and relax.
But now it’s time, and as I survey our crazy crowd of friends and family, I can’t even begin to count my blessings for what I’ve been given throughout this last year.
“Thank you, so much, to everyone for coming today. Thank you, Donovan and Jeremiah, for bringing me into your family and loving me, and thank you, Ben…for trusting us.”
He blushes slightly but nods with a small smile. His girlfriend wraps her hand over his at the table, and in front of me, Donovan laughs.
“I believe we have you to thank for all of that.”
“Potatoes-potahtoes,” I say. “Merry Christmas, everyone. Cheers!”
We clink glasses, sip champagne, and dig into an incredible Christmas ham and turkey dinner.
We’ve celebrated Christmas.
We’ve celebrated and announced our engagement.
And through the laughter and the jokes, several times, I catch Donovan’s eyes on me, watching me with a love that I can feel searing into my heart with unbridled intensity.
After clearing the plates, Laurie and I are in the middle of serving up pie for everyone when the doorbell rings.
I look at Donovan, pie spatula raised in the air. “Want me to get it?”
He slides back from his chair. “Nope,” he says, grasping my shoulders and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Get my food ready, wench.”
“Hey!” I jump when he slaps my behind and keeps walking toward the door.
“That’s some man you have there,” Laurie says, choking down laughter.
I sigh dramatically, waving my ring in the air. “And he’s all mine.”
She bumps my hip with hers and slides a clean plate in front of me. “You seem happy.”
I grin, catching a sight of James watching his wife. He hasn’t taken his eyes off her all day, and he keeps getting this goofy grin on his face. I like it. “You guys seem happy, too.”
She shrugs, look at James, and her cheeks turn hot pink. “Yes…well…we’ve had an exciting day ourselves.”
My eyes widen at her tone. I can’t help but glance down at her flat belly. “Are you?”
“No,” she whispers sheepishly. “But we decided to start trying. I think James is just anxious to get home and get to work on making one.”
I snort, shaking my head. “Men.”
“Talia? Jeremiah and Ben?” I snap my head toward Donovan’s serious voice. He’s standing in the doorway, and as if everyone suddenly senses something serious, the chatter stops. “Can you three come here, please?”
I nod, handing the spatula to Laurie. “Can you finish up?”
“Of course, get going.”
I wait for Jeremiah and Ben to reach me, and then the three of us head toward Donovan.
“Everything okay?” I ask, seeing a line deep between his brows. He looks tense, or angry. I haven’t decided. “Who’s here?”
“My mother,” he growls, low enough for only the three of us to hear him.
Jeremiah stiffens, but Donovan quickly pulls him to his side. “It’s going to be okay, trust me.” His eyes meet mine. “She wants to talk.”
“Well, by all means…” I roll my eyes but follow him. We haven’t heard from Claire for months, other than when Donovan has to see her at board meetings. A part of me isn’t surprised at all she’s here today, of all days. Why wouldn’t she want to take the opportunity to ruin someone’s Christmas when she’s most likely miserable and alone?
“Mom,” Donovan says as we reach her in the entryway, “you remember, Talia. My fiancée.”
Claire’s eyes widen at the announcement, but she recovers quickly. I scoot closer to Donovan, Jeremiah on his other side, Ben on my other side.
“Hello, Claire.”
She nods briskly, her eyes dipping to my exposed left hand before she meets my eyes. “Merry Christmas, Talia.”
“This is Ben,” Donovan says, nodding his head. “He’s a friend of ours, staying with us indefinitely.”
“Yes,” his mom says, nodding. “I heard you’ve become a foster parent. That’s…well…congratulations.”
Her voice is tight, her eyes sad, and by the way she’s wringing her hands together, I almost feel bad for her.
Almost.
“You have something you wanted to say?”
She shuffles on her feet and I bite back a smile. I’ve never seen this horrible woman looking so uncomfortable. “Yes. Well…it occurs to me that I might not have always supported you like you need a mom to do. It was only because I wanted the best for you, truly, but well…you’re old enough to make your own decisions about your life. So I plan to stay out of it from now on.”
“Do you?” Donovan doesn’t bother hiding the bite or the doubt in his tone. His shoulders are stiff, arms crossed over his chest.
He stands as protector, watching out for his family. It makes him even sexier in my eyes and I slide closer, resting my hand on his lower back.
Claire notices, her eyes pinching minutely before she nods. “I would simply like to be able to see you occasionally, and you—Jeremiah,” she says, nodding toward him. “If you’d like.”
My heart softens. Damn it. She truly does seem sincere…and it’s Christmas.
“And Talia?”
Claire nods at Donovan’s question. “Yes, of course. I’d like that, too.”
I glance at Donovan and watch as he debates whether this is a ploy, but then I decide enough is enough: she’ll show her true colors eventually, and she shouldn’t be alone.
“We’re just about ready to have dessert,” I say, stepping forward. “Would you care to join us?”
Her hands go to the tied belt at the f
ront of her coat and she begins undoing the knot. “Thank you. That’d be kind.”
“Well, it is Christmas.” I take her coat from her, spin around to see a grateful smile on Donovan’s lips, and I know I’ve done the right thing. He hates the distance with his mom, knowing she has no one else, and he hasn’t enjoyed waiting for her apology. Me making the effort speaks volumes to him, and I can see it glimmering in his eyes. “Jeremiah and Ben? Why don’t you take Claire into the kitchen, find her a chair, and get her some pie. We have dinner too, if you haven’t eaten.”
She shakes her head, a thankful smile on her own lips. “No. Thank you, pie is just fine.”
“We’ll be right there,” Donovan says as Claire passes us.
When she’s gone, he cups my cheeks with his hands and steals my breath with a kiss.
“Have I told you how amazing you are?”
I grin. “Not since I did that trick with my tongue the other day.”
Throwing his head back, he laughs and pulls me to him, wrapping his arms around me. “Thank you. For today, for yesterday, and for every day for the rest of our lives.”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “You can show me how thankful you are later.”
“Oh, I will,” he replies. “Today, tonight…tomorrow…”
“Come on.” I pull out of his embrace and tug him toward the kitchen. “We’ve got family and food waiting for us.”
“Hmm…everything I could possibly want.”
I squeeze Donovan’s hand, raise it to my lips, and with my kiss, I silently agree with him.
Thank you
To my first readers and betas, thank you so much for your insight to improving this story. Heather Carver, Amanda Maxlyn, Samien Newcomb, and Brittainy C. Cherry – I love you all!
To my favorite Bad Ass CP’s. You ladies are the absolute bestest of the best. Thanks for loving my brand of crazy.
To Shannon, my PA. Lady…I love you. You completely keep me sane and go well and above any assistant. I think you’re absolutely amazing!
Thank you to Sarah Hansen for your incredible artistic talent.
To Amy Jackson and Emily Lawrence…someday, I swear I will learn all these rules that you constantly correct me for. Thanks for making this manuscript shine.
To my readers: You’re the best. Thanks for taking a chance on me and I hope I can provide you all with many more books for years to come.
To all the blogs, especially Love Between The Sheets for your promotional help. Every review, every cover reveal, I’m amazed with your support. Thanks just isn’t enough but it’s all I have to give you.
To my husband…thank you for always being there for me to encourage me and support me, and most importantly, thanks for all the great brainstorming ideas.
About the Author
S. Layne currently lives in Minnesota with her husband and four children. When she’s not conquering mountains of laundry and fighting a war against dust bunnies and cracker crumbs, you can find her playing with her children, curled up on the couch with a good book, or on the boat with her family enjoying Minnesota’s beautiful, yet too short, summer.
She lives off her daily pot of coffee, can only write with a bowlful of Skittles nearby, and has been in love with romance novels since before she could drive herself to the library.
If you would like to know more about S. Layne, follow her here:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/slaynebooks
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Blog: http://staceylynnbooks.blogspot.com
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on the site where it was purchased.
And don’t forget to check out Stacey’s other books:
Upcoming Books ~ 2015
The Legend – fall 2015 – under Stacey Lynn
The Affair Series
Entice
Embrace
Books Written under Stacey Lynn:
The Nordic Lords Series
Point of Return
Point of Redemption
Point of Freedom
Point of Surrender
Other Books
Just One Song
Just One Week
Remembering Us
Don’t Lie To Me
Try Me – A Don’t Lie To Me Novella