Micah Hunt, former Delta Force, wants one thing for Christmas: silence. No missions, no mayhem. Just a snowed-in cabin, black coffee, and a ban on carols within a fifty-mile radius. But when Ellie Bright—cheery school counselor, human peppermint stick, and serial over-hugger—lands on his porch with a stack of threatening notes and a stubborn streak, his quiet holiday goes up in glitter.
Ellie’s been receiving “Twelve Days of Christmas” packages that started cute (a vintage ornament, cocoa mix) and turned creepy (a broken bird figurine, a GPS tracker). Someone is using her confidential work with at-risk teens to rattle her, and the messages are getting bolder. The police are stumped. Her friends are worried. Micah? He’s furious. And officially on protection detail.
Cue one bed, one blizzard, and a very opinionated guard dog.
Micah doesn’t do Christmas or feelings. Ellie refuses to believe the season of hope can’t fix a grump with forearms like fate. As the gifts escalate from unsettling to dangerous, it’s obvious Ellie’s in danger, and there’s only one person to protect her.
Sparks fly brighter than a string of rogue fairy lights as Micah and Ellie trade snark and hot cocoa stakeouts, decode the packages, and crash headlong into a kiss neither of them can file under “operational necessity.” To save Ellie, Micah learns that losing solitude is how you win the best prize of all. Home.