“Listen to me.” She placed a soft kiss on his mouth. “I have loved you since I turned fifteen and I had a crush on my big brother’s best friend long before that.”
The words washed over him, drowning out every bad memory.
He wrapped his arms around her narrow waist and pulled her body in tight against his. “Good to know.”
“You’re the one I come home to, the reason I get up and keep moving. The museum is a job and I don’t plan to give it up because I’ve wanted it for so long and am actually good at it, which is a nice combination. But if I have to fight for something in my life, I pick you. I’ll fight for you.”
Relief and happiness soared through him. She smiled and all the darkness brightened. She brushed her finger over his lips and his insides jumped to life.
But she had to know he had some ground rules. If they were moving forward, they were doing it at warp speed. “I’m not doing the dating thing again. We’ve practiced long enough. If we’re making the commitment, we need to make it.”
“Are you proposing?” The way her eyes lit up suggested she was pretty thrilled by the idea. “You better not be, because I need a ring and a full apology first for your dumb decision to scamper away from D.C. like that.”
“Scamper?” A guy had to draw the line somewhere. That word seemed like a safe place to call a halt.
“I’m still waiting for the apology.”
Part of him wasn’t sorry. They needed the shock as a couple. If he hadn’t walked away they might still be going round and round and never moving, all those doubts festering.
Not that he was going to tell her that. “I should never have left you.”
She snorted. “Damn straight.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “I was an idiot.”
“Yep.”
His fingers plowed into her hair as his lips traveled over the bridge of her nose to her cheeks. “I was devastated because I looked around and thought you didn’t need me.”
“Idiot.” There was no heat behind the word. Instead, her head fell to the side and her hand went to the back of his neck to pull him down for a hot kiss, this one longer with a touch more heat.
After what felt like forever, he pulled back and stared into those deep brown eyes. “But when I told you I’d love you forever, I meant it. Now and always. In West Virginia or Minnesota. I just need to know you’ll always come home to me.”
Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. “Oh, Austin.”
He couldn’t be derailed. He had to get it all out because once he stopped talking he’d find other things to do with his mouth. “And you need to promise that if you’re tempted to take your life somewhere else, you’ll give me the chance to come with you.”
“My home is wherever you are. Always. My heart begins and ends with you.”
He’d been dying to hear those words his whole adult life. To thank her for giving him everything, for loving him and trusting him, he treated her to another lingering kiss, this one filled with the promise of the loving to come.
After, he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed each finger. “I have another present for you.”
“The tree was pretty spectacular.”
“Are you kidding? Your inability to pick one off that damn lot was the only thing that gave me hope.”
She shrugged but her eyes sparkled with mischief. “I’m particular.”
“You were scoping me out.”
“Guilty. You do look hot in blue jeans.”
“I knew it.”
Without warning, she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Now tell me about this other gift.”
He caught her, only stumbling a second from the surprise launch. Then his arms came around her and the whole world tilted right again. “It’s a tiny box that I’ve had for months.”
Her eyes widened until they took up most of her face. “Let me see.”
“You can have it tomorrow. Christmas Day.” That was the perfect day to start building a new family. He’d propose then take her upstairs to celebrate.
She actually stuck out her lower lip. “I want it now.”
“I’ll make you a deal. You can have me now.”
She peeked around his shoulders. “The truck does have a big front seat. We could consider it a pre-holiday gift.”
As far as he was concerned, their future could start right now. “What are we waiting for?”
About the Author
Bestselling and award-winning author HelenKay Dimon spent twelve years in the most unromantic career ever—divorce lawyer. After dedicating all of that effort to helping people terminate relationships, she is thrilled to deal in happy endings and write romance novels for a living. Her books have been featured in Cosmopolitan magazine and E! Online. Even better, she hasn’t had to buy panty hose in four years.
HelenKay loves hearing from her readers. You can visit her at her website: www.helenkaydimon.com.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…Love!
A man gives the gift of trust and receives a second chance at love in return. A woman helps to heal the wounded heart of a soldier. A couple finds that true love knows no distance. And a young widow learns that there can be two great loves in a lifetime. Love, romance and passion come together in this collection of four seasonal shorts. Anthology includes:
Mistletoe and Margaritas by Shannon Stacey
A Rare Gift by Jaci Burton
It’s Not Christmas Without You by HelenKay Dimon
This Time Next Year by Alison Kent
Stories also available for purchase separately.
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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9278-3
Copyright © 2011 by HelenKay Dimon
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
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It's Not Christmas Without You (The Holloway Series) Page 10
