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“Do you want to just relax at the guest house for a while? I won’t mind,” Paxton suggests.
“Heck no! I want to see you on skates.”
Paxton on skates with a stick and a puck is my new favorite fantasy come alive. Hot. Damn. Sex on ice. Yes, please.
I, on the other hand, was a hot mess. Not sexy at all. But I survived without breaking anything, so it was a success in my book. While helping dry dishes, the cousin’s voices fade away as my mind wanders back to watching Paxton on ice. He’s so good, I wonder why he doesn’t play in a league in Austin.
“Kali, did you hear me?”
I shake out of the daydream and turn my head to Emma. “Sorry, I was just in my own little world.”
She chuckles and leans in close to me. “If Paxton wasn’t my cousin…” She blushes and turns away, picking up a plate to dry. My mouth falls open in amusement. “Shh… you never heard me say that.” I mean, I don’t blame her.
We both start laughing. “Hey, I want to hear the joke,” Oakley says, walking up.
“Nope. You missed it,” Emma quickly blurts out, finishing up with the last dish. She puts them away and turns to me. “You ready to head out to the barn?”
Her eyes jump to Oakley, and they both exchange wide, almost mischievous, grins. My eyes dart between the two of them confused.
Oakley steps closer to me, glancing around conspiratorially before saying, “It’s where Santa does all his last-minute preparations.”
Ah, now it makes sense. It’s where they keep all the toys from little prying eyes. That explains where all the guys are. We pass by the grand room where the kids are sprawled out, under blankets, engrossed with “Scrooge.” The twinkling lights from the Christmas tree illuminate their cute little faces.
Someday, ours will be there.
After donning my snow boots and coat, we step out into the still night, the snow crunching beneath our steps. “We have to stop by the guest house to grab a gift,” Oakley says. “We hid most of the gifts out there, but Brody just texted and told me they forgot one.”
The guest house is set up similarly to the main house, but on a smaller scale. With just two bedrooms compared to the main house’s six, it’s cozy and intimate. The living room boasts a wall of windows overlooking the lake. Earlier, when we arrived to get ready for dinner, I couldn’t stop looking out the windows. While the main house is stunning, if I had to choose, I’d pick this one to live in.
“Can you run in and grab it? Brody said they left it on the couch. That way, we don’t all have to track snow in,” Emma asks.
“Of course. I’ll be right back,” I reply. Like the main house, there’s a mudroom where I slip off my boots. Soft music drifts through the air as I make my way to the living room. I don’t recall music playing earlier. As I step into the living room, I gasp, my hand covering my pounding heart.
The lights are off, but the room is aglow with the soft flicker of candles scattered everywhere. Their warm light dances against the walls. A crackling fire adds to the ambiance, casting a gentle glow across the room. In the middle of the windows, a furry blanket is spread out on the floor, with a dozen plush pillows arranged around it. Paxton stands in the middle, a faint smile playing on his lips.
“What is all this?” I say, shrugging off my coat and carefully draping it over a chair, avoiding any candles. “I thought I was getting a gift.”
“You are. Yours.” He walks over to me and guides me back to the blanket. The flickering candlelight reflects on the large windows, creating a magical backdrop. He stops abruptly, first looking to the ground, then letting his gaze drift up to find mine. A smile dances on his lips. “You’re stunning,” he murmurs. “Every part of you fits perfectly into my world. I wanted to do this tomorrow, on Christmas Day. But I decided…” His words hang in the air, causing my heart to skip a beat.
He drops to one knee, his eyes never leaving mine. Tears gather at the corners of my eyes as he pulls out a small blue Tiffany box from his pocket. Just like the one my bat necklace was in.
He opens the box to reveal a beautiful solitaire diamond ring that sparkles in the soft candlelight. My breath catches as he holds it out to me. “I want to wake up on Christmas morning with you as my fiancée. Will you, Kali Stevens, marry me?”
A tear falls on my cheek, and I hiccup through my overwhelming emotions, nodding fiercely. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.” He takes my trembling hand and slides the ring over my finger. I have no idea why I’m shaking. I’ve never been so sure about anything in my entire life. I hold up my hand, admiring the brilliant single diamond, still in awe of its beauty.
Paxton’s face lights up with a radiant smile. He jumps to his feet, pulling me into his arms, lifting me and spinning us around in a whirl of happiness.
“Kalico, it’s you and me forever.”
Epilogue 2
Nine months later…
KALI
I stare out the window, the view a blur through my nervous excitement. The rows of chairs are filled with people—a sea of familiar and new faces. “That’s a lot of people,” I murmur, feeling a flutter of anxiety in my stomach. Rusty’s tethered to a post to the right of the chairs. Amy suggested that I ride in on him, but that was a little too extra for me.
When we started wedding planning, I envisioned a small wedding, maybe twenty people, at Paxton’s ranch house—or ours, as he keeps reminding me. But between Paxton’s large family and what seems like the entire police force, the guest list outgrew the ranch. Amy insisted we have it here. When I saw how excited she was, I couldn’t say no.
