Page 91 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
North came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, engulfing me in security and warmth. “It’s going to be great. It always is. Take a breath.”
I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth.
He rested his chin on my head. “That’s my girl.”
Seconds ticked by.
“One more minute!”
I did a little shimmy in place. The energy continued to grow until it felt electric. Christmas songs looped from one into another. Children grew impatient. Parents bribed them for their attention with sweets and promises of toys to play with later. Some were threatened with the Naughty or Nice list.
“Thirty seconds!”
I gnawed at the inside of my cheek until it was raw. “Here we go.”
Overhead, the stars twinkled. There would be no snow today, but the forecast called for a huge dump of it over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. A white Christmas at the estate with my folks would be magical. I’d already been daydreaming about what the coming years might look like with babies and young children calling them grandma and grandpa.
The ten second countdown began.
North’s voice rang out clearer over all the others, and I added mine to the chorus. Cami and Justin snuggled up close. My parents held hands and watched as the countdown struck one.
The tree blazed to life.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Dazzling light displays lit up the square. The tunnel cut through the center of the tree became suddenly more visible, its interior strung with red and green lights to illuminate the path to a small woodshed decorated to look like a gingerbread house. Seconds after the tree came to life, the door to the little cabin flung open, and a jolly old Saint Nick in a red costume—who had a real beard, something I would not budge on—emerged.
“Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!”
Children started and gasped. Soon they were pointing, and whispers went up all around.
“Is that Santa Claus?”
The tree itself showed off traditional ornaments in red, green, silver, and gold. Ribbon with candy-cane stripes spiraled out in sections, jutting out chaotically. Presents in mismatched wrapping paper looked like they were bursting out of the tree and falling to the floor, held in place by structured wire. My inspiration had been the tree in Santa’s village after a chaotic wrapping day on Christmas Eve. A giant toy sack sat behind Santa’s hut, and it overflowed with some of the same wrapping paper and gifts that were on the tree.
My dad grabbed my shoulders. “You’ve outdone yourself!”
Jingle bells began to ring and Santa strode through one end of the tunnel, emerging out the other to come up on stage beside us. The kids went crazy as he welcomed them to his hut before walking down the other side of the stage and joining the crowd to say hello to all the kids.
I grinned from ear to ear. It was the exact sort of youthful Christmas spirit I’d been after.
Cami and Justin applauded me.
My mom gushed over all my hard work.
And North?
He’d just been here. Where did he go?
I peered into the crowd, wondering if he’d spotted someone he knew, but when I didn’t see him, I turned back to the tree and stopped in my tracks.
He was right there in front of me.
And down on one knee.
I gasped just like all the little kids had when they saw Santa Claus. “What are you doing?”
He took my hand. “I’m giving you an early Christmas present.” He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a small, red velvet box secured with a sparkly gold bow. He flipped it open with his thumb, revealing a glittering diamond mounted on a gold band.
