One Christmas Eve

by Shannon Stacey

  In a bright red frame was a holiday scene that could have been a Christmas card. A black and white drawing of a typical lake cottage surrounded by shrubs and trees. But what brought tears to her eyes were the bright splashes of color over the pen and ink. Small multicolored blobs strung along the eaves and porch railings of the cottage like Christmas lights. Green flung on the shrubs and trees to give them color, and a wreath on the sketched lamppost. A darker blue in the sky.

  Joyous splotches of color on a crisp pen and ink background to make a beautiful and unique portrait of a holiday home.

  “Preston.” She tried to say more, but her throat was tight and if she tried harder, she was just going to burst into tears.

  “I needed to show you how beautiful we can be together. When you take that pen and ink sketch and then add the bright colors, it’s—”

  “Perfect,” she whispered. “It’s perfect.”

  “We’re perfect. Together.”

  “Did you make this?”

  “I did.” He held up his hand when her eyes widened. “I used the computer because I’m even worse at art than I am at golf, but I did make it. It took me a while to take what I saw in my mind and get it on the screen, but that’s what home looks like to me.”

  Home.

  “I love you.” He swallowed hard. “I feel like I’m just the regular, real me when I’m with you and I don’t feel like I have to...try harder to be what you want. And you are everything I could ever want. You’re more than I ever knew I wanted. You make me laugh and you make me think and feel and I just... I just love you, Zoe.”

  “I love you, too. You see me and you like me, which is important, too. I’m happy when I’m with you and I want all the strings with you.”

  “I’m here for a sexy fling with you,” he said. “But I don’t want the fling to ever stop. You should know that.”

  “A forever fling. I like that.”

  He stood and put out his hands. After carefully setting the frame on the coffee table, nestled safely in tissue paper, she took his hands and he hauled her to her feet and straight into his arms.

  “I can’t even tell you how much I’ve missed you,” he said, smiling as he looked into her eyes. “Even reading a book doesn’t work for me anymore, without you reading your book next to me. Although I probably should have come up with a more exciting example. Like how sad I was eating your cookies alone.”

  “You ate all my cookies?” She slapped his shoulder.

  “I did. But I felt bad about it.”

  “Good. And I don’t want to hear anything about needing a more exciting example. Reading next to you is one of my favorite things. I don’t know what kind of circus act the women you’ve dated before were expecting, but you excite me, Preston. Seeing you excites me. Talking to you excites me. Touching you really excites me.” She drew in a deep breath and then gave a short laugh. “Hell, even seeing your boring gray sedan excites me because it means you’re nearby. What you and I have is all I’m ever going to want.”

  He kissed her, lifting her off her feet, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was tender, full of emotion and longing, and she sighed with contentment when he lowered her to her feet again.

  “I have a present for you, too.” She nodded toward her tiny Christmas tree. “It’s under the tree.”

  His hands slid down her fuzzy penguin pajamas. “I’d rather unwrap you.”

  “Merry Christmas Eve to me,” she said, and then she laughed as he swept her into his arms.

  Epilogue

  Their next Christmas...

  Zoe stepped up behind Preston, who’d been staring at the twinkling colored lights on the Christmas tree for a solid five minutes, and looped her arm around his waist. “You need to relax. Have a cookie or something.”

  “I’ve never hosted a Christmas Eve get-together before.”

  “Noah and Carly are stopping in for a little while on the way back from his parents’ house. We’re not hosting a party.” She laughed and pressed her cheek against his back. “And they haven’t seen the living room since we painted it.”

  That made him laugh and she felt some of the tension ease out of his body. She’d teased him mercilessly when they were choosing colors for the home they’d closed on a month before Thanksgiving—a beautiful Cape within walking distance of the lake—and he’d gravitated toward the many shades of pale gray.

  She’d closed Cedar Street Books late one night, due to tourists using indecisiveness as an excuse to stay in the air conditioning, and found a huge splotch of fuchsia paint covering one of the living room walls.

  “It’s not gray,” he’d said when she stopped walking and actually dropped her phone.

  It had been awful, but he’d laughed so hard at her reaction she hadn’t even minded the many coats of primer it had taken to cover the fuchsia. She loved his laugh, and the few seconds she’d thought making fun of Preston had led to a hot pink living room had been worth it. Now the walls of their first home together were a pale gray with just a hint of icy blue brought out by the blue accent pillows on the sofa.

  And the framed art he’d given her last Christmas sat above the fireplace, between their stockings. It usually hung over their bed, but they’d decided they’d bring it out when the house was decorated for the holidays.

  Even though he’d relaxed slightly, he still felt more tense than a visit from their closest friends merited, so she moved around him so she could see his face. The brightly wrapped gift he was clutching in both hands caught her attention.

  “Who’s that for?” They had gifts for tonight, of course, but they were still under the tree. “Is it for me?”

  He nodded, but when she tried to take it from him, he didn’t let go. “I can’t figure out when to give it to you. I think now, but I’m not sure if I should wait until after Noah and Carly leave.”

  Since they’d planned to open their gifts in the morning, the curiosity got the best of her. “Definitely now.”

  Their eyes met and just as he was about to say something, the doorbell rang. She was tempted to ignore it—she really wanted to know what he was so nervous about—but he pulled the gift back. “They’re early.”

  “I’m opening that as soon as they leave,” she said as she went to open the door.

  Wind sent a flurry of snow into the foyer as Noah entered, followed by Carly. Usually chivalry won out, but he was carrying the baby seat, so he got to go first. He’d barely set the seat down before Zoe crouched to peel back the blanket he’d draped over it for the walk from the car.

  “There’s my girl,” Zoe crooned as Harper Elizabeth Stafford blinked up at her. “Auntie Zoe’s going to get you out of there so we can see your pretty Christmas dress.”

  She was aware of Preston greeting Noah and Carly and showing off their finished living room, but Harper squealed and kicked her feet and Zoe didn’t give them any attention until the baby was free of the car seat and in her arms.

  “I am totally her favorite aunt who’s actually her cousin,” she said as she joined the others in the living room.

  Noah laughed. “Give up. You’re just Auntie Zoe and the rest...she’ll probably figure it out someday.”

  They ate perfectly baked cookies—Preston had seriously upped his cooking game over the last year—and sipped spiked hot cocoa, and Zoe relaxed against Preston’s body on the couch. Normally he’d put his arm around her and hug her close, but Harper had hold of his finger and she wasn’t letting it go. Not that her totally smitten honorary uncle was making any effort to get free.

  They exchanged gifts, which included Sandra Boynton’s entire library available in board book for Harper, but it wasn’t long before Carly started getting sleepy and Noah made the call.

  “It was a long day and the little duchess isn’t sleeping through the night yet,” he said, pushing to his feet. “And tomorrow will be bus
y, too. You guys will be at Joe’s for dinner?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” Preston said. “But we’re flying to Denver the next morning to see my parents, so we won’t stay late.”

  Zoe helped Carly package Harper up for traveling, trying not to think about the packing she had left to do or the anxiety that kept creeping in. She’d already met Preston’s parents twice, since they’d be making New Hampshire part of their loops of the East Coast from now on, but she hadn’t flown in years.

  “Is Preston okay?” Carly whispered as they strapped Harper into her seat. “He didn’t seem very relaxed tonight.”

  Zoe had thought maybe she was the only one who could tell that, under the ease and laughter, there was anxiety in Preston’s eyes. “He’s been a little tense today. I don’t know. Maybe he’s afraid to fly and doesn’t want to tell me because he knows I’m nervous about it and we just won’t go.”

  “Maybe.” The guys joined them in the foyer, and after giving Zoe the opportunity for a final forehead kiss, Noah picked up Harper’s car seat.

  Once they were alone, Zoe split the remaining hot cocoa between their mugs and set them on the coffee table. After taking a seat on the sofa, she patted the seat next to her. “Okay, spill it.”

  He was standing in front of the tree again, but he turned away from the lights to look at her. “Spill what?”

  “You’re antsy tonight, and don’t even try to deny it.”

  “Maybe I should wait until tomorrow.”

  So it was about the present he’d stashed under the tree when the doorbell rang. When she’d tried to take it away from him earlier, she’d guessed by the feel of it that it was a book. Why he would be this worked up about giving a book to a woman who lived and loved books was beyond her, though.

  “Nope.” She shook her head. “Now’s good.”

  He bent down to pick up the gift and then sat down next to her on the sofa, but he took a very healthy slug of the hot cocoa before he handed it to her.

  Usually she took her time with the unwrapping part, wanting to make gifts last as long as possible, but he rubbed his palms over his pants and she was afraid he might change his mind about giving it to her.

  The paper fell away to reveal the copy of Falling for the Renegade Rancher she’d given him—the copy he’d insisted on shelving with his books when they’d made the big step to sharing shelves on a joint bookshelf. A yellow sticky note peeked out toward the back of the book.

  “If you marked a good part, it’s probably best you waited until after Noah and Carly left,” she teased.

  “It’s not a good part,” he said, giving her a nervous smile. “It’s the best part.”

  Her heart beating a little faster, she used her thumbnail to flick through the pages until she found the sticky note. And when she fully opened the book, she saw a highlighted passage.

  “I can’t live without you, darlin’. My pa used to tell me all a man needs is his honor and a good horse, but now I know all a man really needs is the love of a good woman and I ain’t never met one better than you. I love you and I want you to be my bride. Will you marry me?”

  The highlighting stopped there, which was for the best since tears were blurring her vision to the point she couldn’t read. When she’d blinked a few times and looked up at him, he was holding a diamond ring.

  “I love you, Zoe.” It was far from the first time he’d said those words to her, but tonight they seemed to come from somewhere deep in his soul, and she felt them deep in hers. “Will you marry me? Uh...darlin’?”

  She threw herself into his arms, kissing him so hard he lost his balance and fell backwards onto the sofa. She went with him, and once she was done kissing him, looked down into his eyes.

  “Yes.” She had to let go of him long enough to swipe at her eyes so her tears didn’t fall on his face. “Yes, I want to marry you.”

  She had to sit up before he could slide the ring on to her finger, and then she kissed him again.

  “I love you so much,” she said when she’d temporarily had her fill of kissing him. “This ring is gorgeous.”

  “Do you like it? I thought about getting a stone with color, but then I saw this one and it’s so classic. And it sparkles, like you.”

  “You’re going to make me cry again,” she said, and she laughed through the sniffles. “It’s perfect.”

  “Merry Christmas,” he whispered, running his thumb over her bottom lip. “Darlin’.”

  “I feel kind of bad about buying you mistletoe boxers now,” she teased. She’d also splurged on a stunning and surprisingly heavy German-made pen in a gorgeous gray enamel she’d had engraved with his initials. But she’d save that for tomorrow. “Maybe I should have gotten you a horse.”

  “We don’t really know enough about horses to pick a good horse, and I’m not sure how you’d return a bad horse.” He laughed and shook his head. “And speaking of mistletoe boxers, I let you open one gift tonight. It’s only fair that I get to open one, too.”

  “Ravished by the Renegade Estate Planner,” she said, arching an eyebrow at him. “Now there’s a book I’d read.”

  “Read?” He stood and hauled her to her feet. “We’re going to write that book. All the good parts and especially the best part—the happy ending.”

  “Merry Christmas, darlin’,” she said, putting as much drawl into it as she could before she ruined it by giggling.

  “Merry Christmas, love.”

  * * *

  To read more from Shannon Stacey, please visit www.shannonstacey.com.

  Reviews are an invaluable tool when it comes to spreading the word about great reads.

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  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to the entire Carina Press team for all the hard work you do, but a special thank-you to Kerri Buckley for helping me roll with the punches.

  About the Author

  New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily-ever-afters and driving her UTV through the mud. You can contact Shannon through her website, shannonstacey.com, visit her on Twitter at Twitter.com/shannonstacey, and on Facebook at Facebook.com/shannonstacey.authorpage, or email her at shannon@shannonstacey.com.

  To find out about other books by Shannon Stacey or to be alerted to new releases, sign up for her newsletter at bit.ly/shannonstaceynewsletter.

  Best friends. A fake relationship. And only one bed...

  Keep reading for an excerpt from One Summer Weekend, by New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey

  Chapter One

  “We’re really looking forward to finally meeting your girlfriend.”

  Noah Stafford froze in the act of shutting down his computer as one word echoed around in his head.

  Shit.

  Outside of Jim telling him the company’s accountant had embezzled all of the business profits and fled to a small island in the Caribbean, leaving them all out of work, those were the last words he wanted to hear from his boss.

  He didn’t actually have a girlfriend for Jim and his fiancée to finally meet. That was a problem.

  “We’ve heard so much about Carly,” Jim continued. “It feels like we know her already, and I think she and Emily will get along great.”

  They probably would, right up until the moment Emily said something about Carly and Noah dating and Carly laughed at her.

  Carly Randall was his best friend, and had been for their entire lives. But she was definitely not his girlfriend.

  And when the truth came out, the best boss he’d ever had—at his dream job no less—would know he’d been lying for the last six months. And then he’d be fired, t
wo months before his one-year anniversary of working with the best architectural engineer in the region.

  Jim had taken a chance on him. Noah’s degree wasn’t from a top school because he hadn’t been able to afford it, but he had the paper, talent and drive. And not having to move to a big city to make a living just made it all the sweeter. He’d worked there for barely two months before Jim put an addition on the building to give Noah his own office and started strategizing about how they were going to grow the business. Together.

  He not only had the job of his dreams but his boss’s respect and now one really stupid lie threatened everything.

  “I’m not sure she’ll be able to get the time off,” Noah said. “We’re hoping she will, but it’s a busy time of year for her with the tourists in town and all.”

  “It’s only a week and a half from now, Noah. And she works for herself, doesn’t she?”

  “Uh.” Shit. “She owns a bookstore with her cousin, but they usually both work on weekends because it’s busier.”

  Technically that was the truth, although Carly and Zoe had covered for each other in the past if one of them had something important come up. Whether Carly thought the predicament he’d put himself in was important was another thing entirely.

  If it came down to it, he could always wait until it was time and claim Carly had come down with something. Worst case scenario, he claimed they were both sick and skipped the weekend entirely.

  He didn’t really want to do that, though. Jim not only signed his paychecks, but they’d become good friends. And he liked Emily, her determination to hook him up with her sister notwithstanding.

  “I’ll remind her about it this weekend,” he promised. “I know she wants to go and she was going to talk to her cousin about getting the time off.”

  That was a flat-out lie, since she knew about the wedding but had no idea she was supposed to be his plus-one.