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She glances down again at the ball, and I do as well. Instead of the usual yes/no/maybe shit, it has two simple words:
Marry me.
I cup her face with both hands and say it out loud. “Marry me, Kelly. And don’t give me any shit about it being too soon, because if there are two people who know each other inside and out, it’s ones with ten years of history, most of that spent as neighbors and friends—”
“Best friends,” she corrects. “And co-pare
nts of a fur baby.”
“Right. So if you don’t do it for me, do it for Rigby.”
Her eyes flit over my shoulder. “Your dog is by the door. He has to go to the bathroom.”
“Your dog can bloody wait, and that’s a hell of a topic for a time like this, Byrne. Answer the question. And remember all that cheesy stuff you wrote on the posters when you answer.”
She turns her head slightly, pressing a kiss to my hand. “Maybe I should ask the Magic 8 ball.”
I’m anticipating this. “Maybe you should.”
She blinks in surprise, then glances down at the ball still in her hands, gives it a shake.
I don’t bother looking down. I know what it says.
“Yes,” she reads. Then she laughs. “Is there a ‘no’ option?”
“Definitely not.”
“How’d you rig a Magic 8 ball?”
“Kelly…” I’m damn close to begging now.
She leans forward and kisses my mouth. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
My eyes close in relief. After a damn decade of waiting, I finally got what I want for Christmas. What I’ve wanted for every Christmas for the last ten years.
“I was thinking we’d buy you a ring together. In New York. After apartment hunting,” I say, in between kisses.
“I love that plan. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
“Oh, that reminds me.” She pulls back. “I saw the lady. The fortune-teller from the train station.”
“Oh yeah?”
Kelly nods. “Turns out I heard her wrong. She didn’t say The One was a past love, just that he’d been there all along. She was talking about you.”
I pull her close and kiss her forehead, smiling as I do so. “I know.”
For Sarah and Shelby, and everyone else who knows that Hallmark Christmas movies are the best thing in the world. This one’s for you.
Acknowledgments
A super-huge thank-you to my agent and to the Loveswept team for letting me write my “dream book.” Writing a Christmas story’s been on my bucket list ever since before I even finished my first book. Finally, twentysomething books later, I got my chance, and it was every bit the experience I hoped for.
I hope all you fabulous readers feel the same.
May all of your holidays be as happy as Kelly and Mark’s.
