Page 110 of A Newport Christmess

My eyes darted across her face. “You think, huh? Because I’m positive I love you.”

Quinn’s eyes danced, and a breathtaking smile lit her face. She leaned forward, closing the space between us. “Let me rephrase that. I’m absolutely, entirely, completely positive that I love you, too.” Her lips were soft and malleable against mine, and her kiss tasted like hot chocolate and peppermint. I pulled her tight against me, and we melted into the couch beneath the blanket, fully embracing the Christmas magic.

* * *

Christmas morning had been absolute perfection. Quinn and I had enjoyed our time by the tree for a solid fifteen minutes before Chloe, Carson, and Gavin came running into the room in wide-eyed anticipation of what awaited them. Thankfully, their gazes were on the presents and not on Quinn and me cuddled under the blanket, kissing. Julie and Josh, however, who’d appeared a moment after their kids, with baby Reid in arm, didn’t miss our eager scramble to sit up. And Quinn’s guilt-ridden giggle did nothing to exonerate us.

My whole family had stayed the night at my dad’s, and several of Sandra’s kids had come over to open presents and have breakfast with us. Dad had even brought Grams over to spend the day with us, her pleasant smile and excited eyes taking in the chaos with amusement. Unsurprisingly, Quinn fit into the makeshift group perfectly and somehow helped ease our two families into feeling like one. If there truly was Christmas magic, she was it.

And the magic wouldn’t have to end when she flew home. Quinn’s parents had invited me to come stay for New Year’s, and since I was already headed to LA to work, I decided to fly home with Quinn the morning of the twenty-seventh and get a rental car to commute to LA for the few days I needed to be at the office. Even Quinn’s sister, Margaret, and her husband were extending their trip to meet me, and refusing to be the only person left out, Ashlee booked a flight right after we got off Facetime with her earlier.

I took it as a good sign that they all understood how serious the two of us were. It probably helped that they’d all seen the viral live stream where I’d mortified myself for the sake of love in front of thousands—now millions—of people. The thought made my stomach twist, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Quinn needed to know how worthy of love she was. And I wanted others, her family and friends particularly, to know it as well. And now they did ... along with a significant number of people who likely didn’t need to know but enjoyed the pronouncement of love all the same.

When Sandra’s kids had left, and the house had quieted down, the adults sat around the family room, watching the kids play with their new toys. Quinn was tucked up next to me on the couch, holding Reid and collecting all of his smiles and newfound giggles, and completely melting my heart.

“Auntie Quinn.” Chloe came toward us, an excited smile on her face.

“Auntie Quinn?” Julie said with an amused smile. “That’s sweet.”

Chloe looked at her mom. “You said Uncle Landon was going to marry her. That makes her my aunt, right? Like, with Uncle Kade when Auntie Nikki married him?”

Julie’s lips parted. “I think your daddy and I had better stop having adult conversations in front of you and your brothers.”

“It’s fine,” Quinn said, chasing Chloe’s frown away. “You can call me Auntie Quinn if you want.”

Chloe threw her mom an I-told-you-so look, which made all of us laugh, before returning her smile to Quinn. “Can we show Uncle Landon his present now?”

“Present?” I asked, sending Quinn a look. “You promised you wouldn’t get me anything.”

“I promised I wouldn’t buy you anything, which, in retrospect, seems unfair considering you bought me a present—several, actually. The selfie stick.” She ticked up a finger, then another. “Those cook books—Meals of Middle Earth and Jane Austen’s Tea Time Delights—and that gorgeous new sweater. Oh, and Scrooge, the musical.”

“Those gifts were all small.”

Quinn shifted Reid on her lap to more fully face me. Her look told me my argument was moot.

I dislodged a piece of Quinn’s hair from Reid’s tightened fist. “Small items were part of an exclusionary clause on our agreement. You need to read the fine print next time.”

“Verbal agreements don’t have fine print, Mr. Fancypants Lawyer.”

The entire room burst out in laughter. Even Grams laughed when she realized everyone else was.

“I think we have a new nickname for Landon.” Nikki smiled. “All in favor?” She glanced around the room, and all the adults, including a delayed hand raise from Grams, consented.

Quinn stood, handing Reid to me. “Well, Mr. Fancypants Lawyer, I’ll be back in a minute with your present.” She reached toward Chloe. “Ready?”

Chloe eagerly grabbed her hand, and the two of them left the room.

When my gaze finally left the spot she’d disappeared from, all eyes were on me. “What?”

“Nothing. We are all taking pleasure in how enamored you are with Quinn,” Dad said, and Sandra nodded at his side. “And we don’t blame you. She’s something else.”

“She is, isn’t she?”

Nikki smiled, her shoulders lifting in a small shrug. “I hate to say it, but since you haven’t yet, I’m just going to get this over with—I was spot on with you two. And you’re welcome.”

I chuckled, leaning Reid up against me and patting his back. “For being so easily manipulated by you? That whole set-us-up-with-other-people-to-force-us-together routine was well-played. And to find out you all knew about it”—I shook my head—“it’s shameful. Who can a man trust if not his own family?”

“Are you kidding me?” Nikki blinked, her gaze darting from me to Kade. “We literally just had to stick you together, give you one reason for the two of you to team up, and that was it. There was zero manipulation.”