Christmas Is for Lovers: 6 Hot Holiday Romances

by Box Set

  She nodded just once.

  Preston released the breath he was holding, leaned his forehead against hers, and sighed. “Thank you. I promise I’ll make you happy.” He stood, pulling her into his arms. Glancing at April, he winked and mouthed, “thank you.”

  April threw her hands in the air and sighed. “It’s about damn time.”

  Chapter 29

  Holly watched as Preston and Trip finished the last board on the back porch of the small cabin he’d built for them. He’d let her help design their home from the ground up. She was so happy Tamra had accepted her into the family so easily. She thought back to how excited Clare was right from the start, bragging to all her friends how her brother was going to marry a famous clothes designer from the East Coast. They’d been even more impressed when Holly’s line of clothes had shown up at the only boutique in town , and they’d fallen in love with the clothes as much as Clare.

  Tamra hadn’t wanted them to move out. She’d told Preston it was stupid since the main house was so big. He’d gently told his mother they needed a little privacy for a while and reminded her she could practically see their cabin from hers. Holly couldn’t part with her antiques and was going to have them shipped out when the cabin was finished. She was ready for a place of their own. Clare begged her to share Hurley, asking if he could spend part of his time with her since he loved the big house. Hurley sat beside Clare with his head cocked and ears forward as if he was begging to stay as well. She’d laughed and told them both it was fine as long as Tamra didn’t mind.

  Preston stood and stretched his back, drawing her back into the moment. “Thanks for helping me finish this up, Trip. It means a lot to us.” He clasped Trip’s outstretched arm and grasped his shoulder with the other. “You’re welcome anytime.”

  “It was my pleasure. I know you and Holly are anxious to be in your own home. Having a teenager around bursting through doors doesn’t allow much privacy when you’re a newlywed.” Turning to Holly, he smiled before placing his hat back on his head. “Thanks for the lunch and the tea. It hit the spot.” He gave her hand a little squeeze. “I’m going to get home. Let me know if you need anymore help.”

  “Sure thing. Drive careful and tell Katie we said hello.” Preston placed his Stetson on his head and pulled her to his side. “Won’t be long now, darlin. I can’t wait.”

  “Neither can I.” She snuggled in closer to him as she looked up into his eyes. “I’ve never been as happy as I am now. I didn’t even know I was so lost until I found you. Thank you for not giving up on us.” She felt a tear spill over onto her cheek.

  “Hey.” He spread his legs and leaned down to wipe it away. “No tears. We found each other. You saved me, hell, you saved my entire family last Christmas. I was dreading it, and in just a few weeks, you made me fall so in love with you that it hurt. There was no way I could undo that. No matter what, I wasn’t letting you walk out on us.” He kissed her softly. “Now, come on, we need to get to Ma’s. She’s expecting us for dinner and you know how she gets if we’re late.”

  Holly laughed and caught his hand. “Boy, do I ever. I’m going to miss her cooking when we move.”

  “Trust me, you won’t. Just so you know, she’ll be expecting us to have dinner there a few days a week. You can bet she’ll use it as an excuse to come by and drop meals off for us so she can visit. You just wait and see.”

  “Maybe we’ll have to set rules for her and Clare.” She stopped with her hands on her hips, head to the side.

  Brows scrunched down, he shook his head. “Set rules?”

  Arching her brow, she turned the corners of her mouth up. “Well, it wouldn’t be very pleasant to be in the middle of making love in front of our living room fireplace and have your mom or Clare show up and catch us now, would it?”

  He tossed his head back and laughed. “Shit! Could you see Ma’s face now? You know she’ll peak through the window before she knocks. She would get a pretty hefty look at my ass if she did.”

  Holly’s hand covered her mouth. She giggled as the image formed in her mind of how Tamra’s face would look seeing that. The giggle turned into a big belly laugh when she saw the recognition of the situation on his face.

  “Yeah, we better set boundaries. I don’t want Ma seeing me doing to you what I love to do. It might be something she’s never thought of before.”

  “Preston! Your mom was married. She has three kids. You do realize she and your dad had sex, right?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t think they did the stuff we do. Come on, she’d probably be pretty grossed out by some of the stuff.” He blinked and turned the cutest shade of red. “Do you think she did?” His mouth turned down.

  “Hey. Maybe not.” She recognized his anguish. She didn’t like to think of her mother and father doing the things she was doing. Hell, she’d never done some of the things they did. Looking back on her first marriage, she realized her and her husband had been rather prudish. “Yeah, she probably didn’t.”

  “You think not?”

  “Cowboy, I’ve done things with you that I never would have dreamed about doing with Dan. Hell, I think Dan only knew how to have missionary sex. It’s all we ever did.”

  “Well, I’m glad I was able to enlighten you on new ideas.” He leaned in and kissed her. “I was a little freaked out for a minute. Kind of hard to think of your ma like that. I don’t know why. It’s kind of hypocritical, isn’t it?” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “No. I’d feel the same way about my parents being experimental.” She blushed, wondering what her two kids would think. “Come on, we can’t keep your mom waiting.” She snagged his hand and pulled him toward their truck. As soon as he started it, she turned the heater on. “It’s getting colder out. I can’t believe Christmas is almost here again.”

  “I know, and we’ll be in our own home before Christmas Eve. I can’t believe all the help we got from folks so I could get the house done. I think having you in the family helped remove some of the stigma.” His expression clouded for a moment.

  “Hey, don’t go there,” she said softly. “It’s done and over with. Only happy thoughts now.” She slid over closer and buckled in, leaning her head on his strong shoulder. “I love you.”

  “I love you too, darlin’.” He put the truck in gear and swung around to head back to the main house.

  Preston couldn’t believe how happy he was. He put his arm around Holly and pulled her closer to his side. How could one woman fill his heart with so much joy? He sure as hell wasn’t going to let anything change, if he could help it. He couldn’t wait for them to move in and fill their new home with laughter and love. Hell, maybe one day they’d have a kid of their own. He’d been so fucking nervous when her kids had flown in for the wedding. They’d been a little standoffish at first, but warmed up to Ma and Clare quickly. He was happy they had accepted him by the time they’d flown out a week later.

  Preston couldn’t believe how Trip had kept calling him Grandpa when Holly’s grandson was introduced. Everyone within earshot had laughed like hell every time Trip said it. The kid was adorable, and it made his heart ache to have one of his own with her. He sent a silent prayer that maybe one day soon, it would happen. Holly leaned forward, turned up the radio dial, and started singing along to the song blasting from the speakers. He tugged her back to him and smiled. I’m one lucky son of a bitch.

  He pulled the truck up by the back porch and cut the engine. “I probably won’t be able to get the barn in before next spring.”

  “I know. But I can hire someone to do it, if you’d let me.”

  “We’ve talked about this. I let you help with the money to get our home built because I can’t wait to get you alone, but I want to do the barn.”

  “We’re married. How many times do I have to tell you it’s our money, not mine. What I have is yours and what you have is mine. Please, stop being so bull-headed about it.” She undid her seatbelt and scooted to the passenger door. “We’ll talk about it later, I’m
starving.”

  He shook his head. He knew he was being a stubborn ass, but damn, he wanted to support her, not the other way around. He’d heard the tone in her voice. He’d drop it for now; he wasn’t going to argue in front of Ma. She’d be liable to bounce her hand off the back of his head. The three women took up for each other all the time. Maybe he was bull-headed, but he meant well. He had his pride.

  “Something smells good, Ma,” he called as they hung their coats and pulled off their boots. “Trip said to tell you hello.” They made their way into the kitchen, holding hands. He leaned over to kiss Ma’s cheek before grabbing a mug for some coffee. “House is done. I guess we’ll start moving furniture in next weekend.”

  “I’ve got the curtains almost finished up. Wait until you see them, Holly. The ones for the kitchen are too darn cute. You have an eye for choosing colors.” She reached for a hug.

  Preston leaned back against the counter watching the banter between his wife and Ma.

  Clare came bounding through the door with Hurley on her heels.

  “Whoa, why are you two in such a hurry?” Ma’s mouth was turned down so he backed up.

  “Holly look!” She waved an envelope in the air.

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s something for you from New York.”

  Preston looked at Holly. “New York? Are you expecting something from New York?”

  She shook her head.

  “Go ahead and open it.” He watched her expression when she took the envelope from Clare.

  “I’m not expecting anything,” she whispered, glancing at the envelope. “It’s from a fashion house.”

  “Do you want me to open it for you?” He set his mug on the counter and held out his hand.

  “Please.” She held it out for him to take it as she pulled out a chair and sat down. “Just read it to yourself first, okay?”

  “Sure.” He opened the envelope and scanned the letter. He raised his eyes and couldn’t help but snicker at the looks on Ma and Clare’s faces while Holly sat with her head in her hands. Clearing his throat, he started reading aloud. “Dear Miss Kane, we are pleased to let you know we’re very excited with the designs you submitted to our company. We are looking forward to meeting with you in person and seeing some of your other designs. Please, contact us so we can make arrangements with you at your earliest convenience.”

  “What?” Holly glanced up, eyes wide. She blinked and stood up, moving toward Preston. “They like my clothing line? But I didn’t even send them anything.”

  He grabbed her and gave her a huge hug. “I’m really proud of you. Maybe they saw some of your things?”

  “How? They’re in a shop in Maryland and here in Steamboat.”

  “I’m so proud of you.” Tamra rushed to give her a hug. “Someone must have seen them.”

  Preston held his hand out for Holly. “I think it’s amazing someone else noticed your clothes.”

  Clare was grinning from ear to ear. “I hope you don’t mind what I did. You look happy about it.”

  “What did you do, Clare?” Preston crossed his arms over his chest.

  “I sent some pictures of Holly’s stuff to them. I pretended to be her.” She blinked. “I knew she wouldn’t do it herself.” She held up her hands. “She’s too modest. So I took the liberty and they liked your stuff.”

  “Do you know how wrong that was on so many levels, young lady?” Tamra’s hands were planted on her hips, eyes narrowed.

  “But Mom, look how happy she is.” Clare pointed to Holly, who was leaning against Preston.

  “Holly, I’m very sorry. I will be having a talk with her.”

  Preston felt Holly shaking, her head down, her hands over her face. “Clare, do you see how upset she is?”

  Suddenly, she looked up at him, laughter tumbling out of her mouth. “Oh. My. God. Clare, a design house in New York wants to meet with me!” she squealed.

  “I know!” Clare screamed, running to throw her arms around Holly. “Are you going? My friends are going to just die. Can I go with you?”

  Preston felt his jaw drop. She was excited. How could he not know how badly she wanted this? He thought she’d be happy with her clothes in a couple of shops and being his wife. “Is this something you want?”

  “Is it something I want? I don’t know if it is or not. Preston, I never dreamed this would happen. I can’t believe it. Clare is right, I never would have done this on my own. It’s such an honor.” She threw her arms around his waist. “I’m so happy where I am right now. I don’t need this to make me happy.”

  “I don’t want you to feel like you can’t do this or shouldn’t do it. If you want it, go for it.” He pulled her close, feeling like a jerk for praying she wouldn’t want it. He didn’t want their lives to change.

  “I need some time to process.” She looked up at him, a smile spreading over her beautiful face.

  “I’m serious. If you want to explore this, I’ll support you. I’ll be fine if you want to go.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck so she could kiss him softly. “Thank you. I promise to think about it.”

  “Good. Now can we eat? I’m starving.” He gazed into her eyes and cocked his head. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “I’m an open book. You can read me later,” she whispered before wiggling out of his arms. As she turned to help his ma, she glanced over her shoulder and winked, her eyes twinkling.

  He could feel the smile spreading over his lips. Yeah, that wink was a promise for what later would hold. Life was never going to be dull with her. One thing was for sure—no matter where their lives went, they would always have each other.

  About Sharon

  National Best Selling Author Sharon Coady has been a reader her entire life. She started writing as a teen and after years of encouragement from her mother finally published her first book, a contemporary romance. She has since published a YA paranormal, a romantic suspense, two sweet Christmas romances, a Spicy Christmas romance and a new country music romance.

  When not writing or working as nurse you can find Sharon enjoying her husband and grandchildren.

  Want to contact Sharon?

  Facebook http://bit.ly/1Sw65MF

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  Other books by the author

  Contemporary Romance:

  Yesterday’s Memories

  YA Paranormal:

  Summer of Change, Elizabeth’s Story

  Sweet Romance:

  Mavy’s Christmas Miracle

  Melanie’s Christmas Gift

  Spicy Romance:

  Christmas Choices

  Last One to Know

  Broken Lies

  Sets:

  Christmas Pets and Kisses

  Christmas Pets and Kisses 2

  Spicy Christmas Kisses

  Love Notes

  A Breath of Paranormal

  Mistletoe & Cocoa Kisses

  Stacy Eaton

  Nitewolf Novels

  Copyright 2016, Stacy Eaton, Nitewolf Novels

  ISBN: 978-0-9976783-2-1

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real events or real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  This book is dedicated to a few of my fellow authors: Rachelle Ayala, Chantel Rhondeau, Kelly Collins, Jude Ouvrard, and Sharon Coady. Thanks for including me in the group!

  Acknowledgments

  When it comes to writing a book, you might think there are only a few people involved, like the author and the editor, but there
are so many more.

  Of course, I always give a shout out of thanks to my editor, Dominque Agnew. She puts up with so much from me, and I thank her sincerely for standing by my side these last few years.

  I wish to send out a special thank you to my beta team. You all help me from the very start by listening to my ideas and helping me make sense of my scenes.

  My graphic artist, fellow author and adopted sister, Natasha Brown, gets a huge thank you for the amazing cover.

  Thank you to my two proofreaders, Lynn Mullan and Kimberly Dawn, for storming through my work so quickly and finding those last-minute fixes and adjustments!

  My Street Team rocks!—and without their support and help, I’d have trouble getting through some days, so thank you all for your encouragement and your friendship.

  Lastly, thank you to my family, especially my husband for listening to me talk through my scenes, listening to passages, and inspiring me with great love stories. You are my life.

  Chapter 1

  Robin

  “No, no, no!” I groaned out as my old heap of junk began to sputter and slow down. “Please, don’t fail me now.”

  This was the last thing that I needed. My car made a final cha-chunk and died as I struggled to steer it to the side of the snow-packed road—or as far to the side of the road as I could get it with a three-foot snowplow bank piled along the fog line.

  The thump, thump, thump of my windshield wipers was the only sound other than the wind whipping around my ten-year-old piece-of-crap car. Yes, it was a piece of crap. Normally, I babied the hell out of it, cooing like an idiot so it would keep going, but right now, it was letting me down—just like everyone else in my life.