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“Maybe it isn’t time to go. Not just yet.” He reached out and brushed snowflakes from her hair, then moved closer and cupped her cheek.
His hand was hard and cool. Gentle. A hundred images rushed through her thoughts—of Nathan kissing her in the moonlight. Of his kindness and sense of honor. But standing with him again—maybe even kissing him on Christmas Eve—would only make the leaving harder.
“I think we already said our goodbyes,” she said, stepping back. “Things seem to be pretty clear.”
“Do they?” He laid Josh’s gift on a park bench a few feet away, then moved closer to her. She found herself against the rough bark of a tree with her own gift clutched to her chest. “I’ve been thinking about what you said,” he continued. “And about what I said.”
“Oh?”
“And I think there were some very confusing points.”
“Such as?”
“I have to admit I was surprised when I discovered you were here on a surveillance assignment.” He moved a little closer and braced a hand on the tree, then tipped up her chin with a forefinger.
Warmth flooded through her veins at his touch. “No kidding.”
“And I have to admit I was also...surprised when you thought I might be involved in Robert’s drug trafficking.”
“I didn’t think that, but...”
He bent to brush a kiss at her temple. “The fact that you planned to arrest me when I tipped off all of my cohorts in crime was the hardest to accept.”
“I was only doing my job,” she whispered. “I couldn’t risk—”
He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her until she felt dizzy and her knees turned weak.
When he lifted his head, he searched her face as if looking for the answers he needed. “I overreacted because it hurt so much—I knew I was falling in love with you, and then discovered that you thought I was as bad as the guys we arrest every day.”
“That’s not true,” she protested. “I—”
“I know.” He took her package of mistletoe and put it on the bench with his own gift, then pulled her into an embrace and kissed her until the snowy world around them faded out of existence, and only his mouth, his warmth, and the beat of her heart existed.
“I want you to stay,” he murmured against her ear. “I want to go fishing with you and lose every bet I make. I want to wake up in the mornings with Harold on the foot of the bed and with you at my side and four or five little Roswells down the hall. I want you with me until the day I die.”
“Four or five?” She laughed a little as all her doubts were swept away and only the reality of this man, this honorable, beautiful man, remained. “Boy—wait till Josh hears about his magic mistletoe. He’ll never believe it!”
Amusement glimmered briefly in Nathan’s eyes. “I know you have a career in Dallas. But the DEA has offices in Fargo, or there’s always another branch of the law, if you want to keep working. I love you, Sara.” His voice was low and rough with emotion as he looked at her. “Will you marry me?”
Church bells rang through the frosty night air. Above them, the clouds had drifted away to reveal a brilliant array of stars—and one that was far brighter than the rest.
She felt a deep sense of peace. “Nothing would make me happier,” she said simply.
And then she kissed him with all the love in her heart.
* * * *
