Page 64 of Her Christmas Wish

After three rounds of dancing and stolen glances towards Luke with a woman she had never laid eyes on in her life, hanging on to him, Brit had had enough. She walked over to the refreshment table, snagged a bottle of wine and headed outside onto the stone veranda. The outdoor heaters hanging from the ceiling of the porch did nothing as she shivered in the moonlight while it bathed Pearl Lake in its wintry glow, but she didn’t care, as a tear ran down her cheek. Anywhere was better than standing there watching Luke and that... woman tangle on the dancefloor. She wished more than anything to be that woman, but she knew that dream was over, and he was clearly moving on.

Looking to the heavens, as tears streamed down her face, a falling star shot across the sky in a dazzling display, reflecting off the frozen lake. Never one to believe in the old legend that a wish would come true when seeing one, Brit held her breath and made it anyway.

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LUKE UNTANGLED HIMSELFfrom the woman who wrangled him for a dance, one had turned into four. When Brit left the dancefloor, he politely declined another, but the woman wasn't having it. Not to make a scene, he agreed one more. Now against her protests, he turned and walked away.

Pulling Jasmine aside, he had to nearly shout in the poor girl’s ear over the music when he asked, “Where’s Brit?”

Jasmine shrugged and shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe she went to bed.”

“Hmm maybe,” he said absently scanning the room. He highly doubted it as he’d been watching for her to sneak off out of the room and do just that. “Thanks Jasmine. Save a dance for me,” he said, heading over to his mom.

“Luke, you're looking handsome tonight!” Abbi said. “Where’s Brit?”

He looked down at the floor and shook his head. Looking back up at his mom, he said, “I don’t know. I thought maybe you saw her.”

Drink in hand, Ben pointed to the sliding doors at the back of the room. “After she snagged a bottle of wine, she went out those doors.”

Luke felt like grabbing Ben by the shoulders and giving him a kiss but instead grinned and said, “Thanks buddy!”

“You still need to fix my car!!” Ben yelled as he made his way through the maze of people.

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SLIDING OPEN THE DOOR, he didn’t see her anywhere in the near vicinity. Following the wraparound porch, he made his way to the front of the inn and stilled as he came around the corner. At first, he didn’t see her standing there, the tree in the front window messing with his vision but as he went further, he saw her standing there, the bottle of wine tipped up as she took a swallow.

Quietly he went up behind her, his hands settled at her waist as he murmured against her ear, “Don’t smack me.”

Brit didn’t smack him. She lowered the bottle and leaned her head against his shoulder as his hands snaked around her waist, drawing her against him. His body hugged hers as if he was created just for her, surrounding her in a comforting warmth against the chill of the evening.

“I saw that woman all over you...”

“I have no clue who she is, and she doesn't matter because she's not you.”

The faint scent of his cologne mixed with the crisp winter air had her senses reeling.

“I didn’t get a chance to tell you how beautiful you look tonight.”

“Thank you,” Brit whispered, her voice steady despite the flutter in her chest, those words coming from his lips was all that mattered.

She set the wine bottle on the railing as she focused on the feel of him behind her, his breath tickling her ear. She turned within his arms, facing him, their breaths mingling in the space between them. She searched his eyes, looking for a sign in them that he loved her as much as she did him.

His hands rested at the small of her back, fingers splayed as if he feared she might slip away if he didn't hold on just right. “I wanted to give you space,” he finally said. “So that you could work out in your mind if I was worthy of your forgiveness. But not so much that you'd doubt how much I care.”

Brit's eyes softened. “It's hard to doubt when you chase me out into the cold on Christmas Eve,” she teased with a quiver in her voice.

Luke chuckled softly, pulling her closer. “I'd chase you into a blizzard if I had to. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.”

“It won’t if you never lie to me again. I’ll admit I was hurt when I found out you contacted Declan behind my back after you told me you just wanted to see if he was the same guy from high school.”

“Yeah. I know I was wrong, and your cousin gave me proper shit for that too.”

“As he should! Butwhydid you contact him.” She looked him in the eyes and hurried on. “I know you said you wanted to buy out my contract from my family,”— she shook her head— “but you never said why.”

Luke licked his suddenly dry lips and took a deep breath. “Because I wanted to make you, my family... because I'm in love with you.”

She jerked back, her eyes roaming over his face. “What? What did you say?”

He laughed. “You heard me. I know we haven’t known one another for long.” He looked up at the ceiling in thought. “What has it been... three months? But I don’t care, I’ve never met a woman that I fell so hard for in my life... until you. What do you say? Will you marry me?”

“But you don’t even like Pearl Lake! I’m not moving.”

“No, you’re right I don’t.” His hands reaching for her bottom he pulled her tightly against him and Brit could see his eyes darkened as he said, “But you do, and I love you. Now, are you going to put me out of my misery, or do I have to apply for that position as well?”

She burst out laughing as she hugged him to her then leaning back, she traced her thumb across his lower lip. “I got my Christmas wish. Yes,” she breathed out, as she slipped her other hand into his jacket, seeking out the beat of his heart. “Yes, I will marry you. But no application is necessary, you've already got the job for life... because I love you too.”

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AND IN THAT MOMENTwhen Luke pressed his lips against hers with the promise of many more to come, his family had gathered around the Christmas tree with their noses stuck to the glass pane of the window like the true creepers they were!

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