by Livia Grant
"Oh. Well, okay ."
"What's his name ?"
"I didn't name him, yet. I thought you should have the honors ."
Already bored with standing still, the furball was wiggling in her arms to be free. Harper squeezed him to her, lifting his face to hers. "What do you say, little guy? What should we name you ?"
"I'm not sure he's going to answer, baby. I didn't lug everything upstairs, but there is a whole box of supplies we'll need for him down in the back entryway. A doggie bed, leash, bowl, puppy food, treats... you name it. I'm not sure, but I think the lady at the pet store fleeced me a little bit ."
Harper grinned as the pup leaned in and licked her cheek. "I think he likes me ."
Colton hugged her from behind, leaning in to talk softly against her ear. "Of course he likes you. You're perfect." His hands roamed over her body. With the puppy in her arms, she wasn't able to fend him off. Then again she didn't really want to .
"I hope he gets along with Wrigley. He's so much smaller than a German Shepherd ."
Colton reassured her, "They got along great, according to Cecelia ."
That's when it hit her. She turned so she could see Colton. "I think I know what we should name him ."
"What's that ?"
"Well, we already have a Wrigley. I think we should name him Yankee for the stadium you've spent so much time playing in ."
He didn't answer her, but she knew from the sparkle in his eyes that he liked the idea. Still, he argued against it. "It's your puppy. You don't have to name him for my career ."
"Will you stop it? It's a cute name, especially with Wrigley. And then our next puppy we can name Fenway, and maybe the one after Shea ."
Colt chuckled. "I love it. Really. It's perfect ."
"I'm a little worried I'm not going to like leaving him home when we go on the road later this spring ."
"But that's the great thing. I got a small breed so he can travel with us." He paused, looking like he was debating if he wanted to continue. She waited him out until he added, "You're going to have a lot of downtime, and I don't want you getting lonely in hotels. I'll have to go to the stadium for warm up way before you. And I'll have team meetings and practices. I'm worried you might get bored, and so I thought you'd enjoy having a travel companion ."
She was floored. She already loved the puppy, but understanding his reason for buying him for her made her love the gift even more. "Oh, Colton. That's so thoughtful." She sat Yankee down on the carpet so she could be free to properly thank Colton for the awesome gift. She rushed forward, pulling him into a tight hug .
He crushed her with a heated kiss that was just getting interesting when a pungent odor invaded. They pulled out of the kiss in time to see Yankee finishing depositing his own unwanted gift in the middle of the room, right on the cream carpet .
"I'm beginning to think I might have made a mistake ."
Harper rushed to scoop up the untrained member of their family. "Too late now. I already love him ."
Colton grumbled. "Great. The carpets will never be the same ."
* * *
C olton finished putting the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and then wiped off the counter. Part of serving Harper breakfast in bed was doing clean up too .
He took a minute to stop and admire the upscale kitchen. It was modern and spacious––sporting industrial-sized appliances that he hoped would be his chef's pride and joy. Sometimes he had to pinch himself to remember that this was now his home. And more importantly, that he had found the one special person he wanted to share it all with .
He felt like the luckiest bastard on the planet .
Colton may have joked with Harper that he regretted buying her the puppy, but seeing the light sparkling in her eyes as she played with the little shit solidified that he'd made the right decision .
The last few weeks living with Harper had been the best of his life, spending every minute he could with her. He could honestly say he loved her more every single day as they got to know each other better .
But he knew something Harper didn't .
They were in a cocoon. Sheltered. They wouldn't always have it as easy as they did hiding out in their new mansion in Connecticut––away from the press and the paparazzi that dogged him wherever he went. Away from reporters looking for an interesting angle on a story, not caring if they decimated his private life in the process .
The minute the press found out one of the country's most eligible bachelors was officially off the market, the sharks would start to circle. It hadn't been too bad for the first few years of his career, but when he'd been chosen as People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive three years ago, things had escalated. Being crowned sports royalty by the media had torn down the last hint of a wall between his public and private life. The press had turned into piranhas. They would chew up and spit out Harper if he wasn't careful .
But he had a plan .
He'd been at this fame thing long enough to know how the game was played, and this time, he was going on offense. He would protect Harper from as much as he could, but if in the end, the public life got too hard on their relationship, he was prepared to walk away from the game he loved, with or without the world record he was chasing .
"I got the poop all cleaned up. The good thing about him being a small dog is he makes small poop." Harper's cheery voice arriving from the back stairwell broke him out of his brooding .
He turned to see her carrying their newest member of the household. "That's comforting. Training him to go outside should be fun. Let's just hope he's a fast learner ."
Colt grabbed the two mugs of fresh, hot coffee he'd brewed from the counter. "You ready to head into the great room and open the rest of your gifts ?"
Little did Harper know her best gift wasn't in the great room. In fact, it wasn't even in the house. A niggle of doubt rattled in his head, but he pushed it down. He knew she was going to be angry at the last gift, but he didn't care. It was something she needed, whether she would admit it or not .
The two-story great room sported an equally tall Christmas tree. They had had so much fun the week before hiking out into the woods on their property, looking for the perfect tree. They'd spotted this one and had known right away it was the one. What they hadn't realized was how much effort it would take getting such a huge tree back to the house. He'd spent damn near a fortune on the decorations and it still looked a bit empty .
Harper led him to the couch facing the fireplace and tree. "You take a seat and hold Yankee. I'll bring our gifts over from under the tree ."
Apparently the littlest member of the household had already tuckered himself out because the second Harper placed him in Colt's lap, the furball curled up and nodded off to sleep .
Harper laid a pile of wrapped gifts on the couch next to him before taking a seat on the other side of the pile .
"Do you have any idea how hard you are to buy for?" she observed nervously .
"That's not true. I'm not picky ."
"Maybe not, but you have everything you need already ."
"I don't know," he teased. "I could use about ninety-four more double base hits ."
Harper grinned as she retorted, "They were fresh out of those when I went shopping ."
Colt reached his hand out to squeeze her shoulder reassuringly. "Stop worrying. I'm sure I'll love whatever you got me ."
"I hope so. They seemed like a good idea when I was deciding, but now I'm not so sure." She lifted one of the wrapped boxes between them and handed it to him. "Open this one first ."
The box wasn't very heavy. He took his time pulling the ribbon off the package and tearing the paper off, wanting to make the moment last. Ho
w long had it been since he'd had a special Christmas morning like this? His parents and grandparents were gone. He was an only child. Traveling non-stop, he'd lost touch with his aunts, uncles and cousins .
Colt lifted the lid from the box to find tissue paper hiding the treasure inside. When he uncovered the gift, he found what looked like a handmade scrapbook inside. Harper helped him by taking the box so he could hold the book above the sleeping puppy .
The first page held an 8x10 worn photo of what looked like an extended family standing at the altar of a church, surrounding a too-young bride and groom .
He was confused .
"It's my whole family at my cousin Heather's wedding two years ago. They just had their first baby in October." He could hear vulnerability in her voice as she continued, "Turn the page ."
On the next two pages was an older wedding picture along with about a half-dozen photos of the same couple as they'd aged together .
"Those are my parents, Bill and Jennifer. They've been married for thirty-five years now ."
He turned the page .
"That's my brother Hayden. He's seven years older than me. He farms with my dad and my uncle. And that's his wife, Margie, and their three boys." She got quiet so he looked up as she added, "I know we are a big crew. It can be a little overwhelming meeting everyone. I thought it might make it easier if you could see pictures and learn their names ahead of time ."
His heart raced as he started to understand the meaning behind her gift. He'd never dated anyone long enough to meet their family. He was usually long gone before things got serious enough to meet the folks .
Harper was making a statement. He wasn't just dating her. If he had his way, he would be becoming a member of the family on the pages he held .
As he got deeper into the book, page after page was filled with dozens of people and places that were important to Harper, which by default now meant they were important to him .
His voice was thick with emotion when he finally spoke. "I love it. It means so much to know you did this so I could feel like part of the family when I meet them ."
"You don't think it's stupid ?"
"Baby, like you said. I have what I need already. This gift is so much more than just buying something fancy. It's personal and makes me feel part of a family again, something that's been missing in my life for a long time ."
He sensed her relaxing, relieved he'd liked her odd, yet thoughtful, gift .
He lifted the largest box between them and held it out to her. "Your turn to open a present." He set it down closer to her where she could reach the paper .
"You already gave me Yankee. That was more than enough," she protested .
"Listen, you made me stop buying you things for no occasion. You can't make me stop giving for Christmas too. It would be very Scrooge-like to refuse my gift ."
Harper eyed him skeptically. "Seriously. You've spent enough ..."
He reached out to hold two fingers at her lips to shush her. "Stop. I can afford it, and I love buying things for you. Please, just unwrap it and see what you think ."
"Fine. But only because it's Christmas. You need to get this spending under control ."
Colton couldn't help but laugh out loud .
"What's so damn funny?" she prodded, clearly aggravated .
"I've never had a woman tell me to stop spending money on her. Usually, it’s the other way around with me playing the role of the checkbook in the relationship ."
"Well, I don't give a damn about your checkbook, and you'd better get used to it," Harper asserted .
He appreciated she wasn't with him for his money, but he needed to get through to her. "Well, I have money, and I want to spend some of it on you and you'd better get used to that." He paused before adding, "Just open the damn present, will you? You're taking the fun out of this ."
"Fine," she huffed, finally moving the package closer to her. It was fascinating to watch her methodically take off the ribbons and bows first followed by removing the paper in one big section before folding it up .
"Eh, baby ?"
"Yes."
"What exactly do you plan on doing with the used paper?" he questioned .
"Save it, of course. It's perfectly good paper ."
"You do realize we can buy more next year ."
She looked at him as if he were daft. "Of course, but why throw away perfectly good paper ?"
He let it go .
He'd had the store place both items together in one brown box to throw her off. They'd taped it pretty good as was proven when she struggled to get the line of packing tape off the top of the box. He held his breath when she succeeded, waiting for her to open the present and lose her shit on him .
He knew the second she saw the first item. She didn't even pick it up, but instead returned to glaring at him .
"What?" he asked innocently. "You need this ."
"I do not need anything from Apple ."
"I beg to differ. Come on, let's take a look ."
She reached in and pulled out the iPad box. She held it close, looking down at the box until she finally glanced up. That was when he saw the excitement in her eyes .
"Okay, I take it back. I think I'm going to love this gift. Vivian has one, and I used to borrow it. Thank you so much, Colton," she gushed .
Harper rushed to open the box and take the newest model out to turn it around in her hands admiringly .
Colton shared his main reason for the purchase. "You're going to have a lot of downtime this next year on the road. Time waiting in airports and hotels. Hell, even at stadiums. I figured this would be something you could take along to read, watch movies, surf or listen to music ."
"Or play Candy Crush." She grinned, hugging the iPad to her chest lovingly .
He chuckled. "I actually prefer Angry Birds, but you can play whatever you want, baby ."
She moved closer on the couch so she could lean in and give him a tight hug over the remaining presents. Yankee, who had been enjoying sleeping in his lap, wiggled awake .
Harper picked up the last present on the couch to hand to him. After he took the gift, he let her know she wasn't yet done. "The iPad wasn't the only thing in the box. Keep digging ."
"What? No way !"
"Harper..." he growled in warning .
She wisely stopped complaining and started pulling the packing tissue paper out until she'd dug down to the second gift .
"Beats! Oh this will be awesome for listening to music." She excitedly worked to open the box .
"I got you the wireless ones. You'll need these with the iPad ."
"Oh, Colton, I love them. Thank you so much." He watched as her excitement dimmed and a worried frown replaced her glee .
"What's wrong ?"
She hesitated before admitting, "I got you stupid things compared to your gifts. You must be so disappointed ."
He moved closer to her on the couch, disturbing the puppy again in the process. "Harper, just you being here with me is gift enough. If we hadn't met, I'd be golfing today down in Florida with a bunch of old farts who don't have anywhere better to be either ."
"Golfing? On Christmas morning ?"
"That's what I've done for the last two years. I don't have a family and while I have lots of friends and associates who regularly invite me over, the few times I went to someone's house to celebrate with them made me feel worse. I was like a fifth wheel, interrupting their family time. It was easier to just head down to Florida and golf with a bunch of other guys in the same boat as me ."
"Oh, Colton, that sounds terrible ."
"It wasn't so bad, but ..."
"What?"
He hesitated, feeling vulnerable, but refusing to tell her anything but the truth. "But now that I know how special it is to share Christmas with someone I love, I can't possibly go back to enjoying golfing for the holiday ever again ."
His meaning hung in the air between them, raw and sincere .
Her warm hand cupping his scruffy cheek felt good. "You'll never have to worry about that again if I have anything to say about it, Colton ."
He covered her hand with his, squeezing. "Then that's the best Christmas present you can give me, Harper. You being here with me is the gift I didn't even know I wanted... no, needed . But now that you are part of my life, I can't even imagine going back to the way things were ."
Her reassuring smile eased his unusual anxiety. She reached down to hand him a pile of gifts attached together with a thick ribbon. "You have a few more things to open ."
He started with the smallest square box on top. Unlike Harper, he ripped the paper quickly away to find a Christmas ornament box. It was no ordinary ornament, however. It was hand-blown glass in gold, silver and white in the form of a picture frame. He opened the box to pull out the ornament to find a photo of Harper and him smiling loving at each other with the words, 'Our First Christmas Together' above them. His heart constricted with emotion .
"Where did you get this photo? It's really good," he observed .
"At least Gavin was good for something. He helped me arrange to get some candids of us from the camera crew ."
"Well, it's perfect ."
Harper shared, "I have always enjoyed collecting ornaments when I travel. I figured we could buy special ornaments together while we are on the road next year ."
He was touched. "I love that idea. Souvenirs as we make new memories together ."
Her eyes twinkled as she knew he understood her plan. "Keep unwrapping ."
The next box held two Christmas stockings, one with Colton and the other with Harper embroidered on the top. He barely got them open when she snatched them from his hands, and jumped up, rushing to the fireplace to attach them to already waiting hooks on the mantel .
