“Oh, really?”
He nodded. “I want a chance to prove to you how good things could be. Before, I let you do all of the work. You did nothing but give and I was happy to just take. I want to be the one to give you everything you’ve ever wanted. Let me. Please.”
She shook her head but didn’t move away. “I…I don’t know. I don’t know if I can believe you, Noah. I’m afraid.”
Noah slowly wrapped her in his embrace and felt the first glimmer of hope when she didn’t resist. “I know, sweetheart, and I’m sorry. I hate I made you feel that way. Please give me a chance to make it up to you. To make it better. I promise you, Maddie, that I’m committed to making things right, making you happy.”
Tucking a finger under her chin, Noah prompted her to look up at him. He smiled down at her. “I love you, Maddie. You make me happy. You give me hope. Let me do the same for you.”
And then she melted against him and snuggled into him, loving the feel of his arms around her and the warmth of his body. “I missed you,” she said quietly.
“I know, baby. I missed you too.” He kissed the top of her head and then led them back to the sofa where he pulled her onto his lap and simply held her.
They stayed like that for several long minutes when Maddie raised her head. “Hey, when you were out on the porch earlier, did you happen to see anyone leaving here?”
He looked at her quizzically. “You mean like Santa?”
She chuckled. “No. Okay, maybe.”
Rather than answer, Noah cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. It was slow and sweet and Maddie couldn’t help but curl into him. She would have gone on kissing him all day…if she didn’t have to yawn so badly.
Pulling back, that’s exactly what she did and then blushed. “Sorry. It’s very early and I didn’t get much sleep.”
Noah hugged her close. “You want to go back to sleep for a little while?”
She yawned again and then nodded. “I thought I was going to stay up but suddenly I can’t keep my eyes open.”
He stood with Maddie still in his arms. He walked to her bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. “Get some sleep. Call me when you wake up and I’ll come back down and watch you open your presents.”
“You’re leaving?”
The lopsided grin he gave her told her it wasn’t what he wanted to do. “Do you want me to stay?”
She nodded and held out a hand to him, and the look of pure relief on his face made her smile. Silently, she watched him strip down to his boxer briefs, and then scooted over so he could climb in beside her.
It was pure bliss when he shut out the light and wrapped her in his arms. “Sleep,” he whispered and kissed Maddie’s cheek.
With a small purr, she snuggled in closer and closed her eyes and thought, “This is the best Christmas ever!”
****
“What’s the matter?”
Maddie was looking at the gift she had just opened in stunned silence. “Um…”
“Come on, hold it up so I can see!”
She looked at him and slowly held up a red lace teddy. Noah gave a low wolf-whistle and Maddie carefully folded the garment back up and put it in the box.
“You don’t like it?”
“It’s…it’s an odd gift for her to give me.”
“Her?”
Nodding, Maddie replied, “Kiera. I figured she was the one who snuck in here and did all this since she knew I was so bummed about Christmas this year and…” Then she looked at him and it hit her.
It wasn’t Kiera.
And it wasn’t Santa.
It was Noah.
A small gasp of surprise came out. “You? You did all of this?”
He nodded.
“But…but how? Why?”
Reaching for her, Noah took her hand in his. “I never gave you your key back. I knew I had upset you and ruined your Christmas plans so I wanted to give something back. I didn’t think you’d catch me out on the porch at four-thirty in the morning though,” he said with a sheepish grin.
“You went shopping?”
He nodded.
“But you hate shopping.”
One finger stroked her cheek. “You’re worth it.” And then he leaned forward and kissed her – kissed her as if his life depended on it. Maddie clung to him and kissed him back with equal intensity.
When they finally broke apart, Noah looked at her like he’d never looked at her before. Love. Maddie saw it in his eyes and her heart did a little kick.
“Come on, open another one,” he said with a little nudge.
“Wait just one minute.” Jumping to her feet, Maddie quickly made her way to her bedroom and came back a minute later with a pile of wrapped gifts. She put them down next to Noah and smiled. “I never took them back.”
He reached for her and gently tugged her back into his lap and kissed her again. “Merry Christmas, Maddie,” he said softly.
“Merry Christmas, Noah.”
Epilogue
“Three…two…one…Happy New Year!”
The room erupted in cheers and a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne”. Maddie didn’t join in. She was too busy being kissed senseless by Noah. When they finally broke apart, she looked up at him and smiled.
“Mmm…that was nice,” she said.
“Nice? I think I’m losing my touch.”
She chuckled and shook her head. “I guess you’ll have to try a little harder when we get home.”
“You’re on,” he growled next to her ear. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he held her close. “How much longer do we need to be here?”
“Just a little while longer. I promised Kiera we’d put in an appearance.” She looked around the room and spotted her friend laughing and smiling with Chris. When Kiera spotted her, they screeched and then hugged each other. “Happy New Year, Ki-Ki!”
“Happy New Year, Mads!” Kiera looked at Noah and Chris for a minute. “Gentlemen, excuse us for a moment.” When they were a safe distance away, she hugged Maddie one more time. “Look at us! We have dates on New Year’s!”
“I know! Life is good,” Maddie said with a smile.
“Yes it is.” Kiera glanced back at the guys. “You guys ready to leave?”
Maddie grinned and nodded. “Yes, please!”
“Go,” Kiera replied. “Go and be happy and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
With one final hug, Maddie walked back to Noah and hooked her arm through his. “Ready to go?”
“Sweetheart, I was all for staying in,” he whispered in her ear. “We could have rung in the New Year in a completely different way.”
Maddie tugged him across the room and out the door. With a coy smile, she looked at him. “We’ll have to try it your way at home.”
“But…it’s after midnight,” he said, confused.
“We’ll pretend we’re on Pacific Time,” she said and let out a little squeak when Noah hauled her into his arms and kissed her. “Wow. What was that for?”
“I love you, Maddie,” he said softly. “Happy New Year.”
“I love you too,” she said.
And looking up at him, she couldn’t help but feel hopeful about their future.
Waiting for Midnight Page 7
