Page 90 of Bad Boy Bachelor Christmas
I stepped off the platform in front of the tree and found myself immediately swallowed up by the crowd.
Oops. I should have tried to spot them before I lost the height advantage.
Politely, I picked my way through the crowd, making my way to where I’d seen my guests last. They had to be here somewhere. Cupping my hands to my mouth, I called North’s name.
Seconds later, his massive frame appeared, towering a good foot over almost everyone else in attendance. He reached for my hand, pulled me to him, and led me out of the dense crowd to where my parents waited on the outskirts.
My dad stood with his hands in the pockets of his khaki-colored winter coat. He’d owned it for as long as I could remember, and I swore I still caught whiffs of cinnamon on it sometimes from when he spilled cinnamon rum on it years ago at the Christmas Eve open house party. “How’s it looking?” he asked. “All smooth sailing?”
I nodded. “All smooth sailing. Do you guys want to come with me? I can get you a better view. Where are Justin and Cami?”
North peered over all the heads. “They’re around here somewhere. Ah, there they are.” He waved his hands over his head. Seconds later, Cami and Justin appeared.
Their relationship had been on and off again for the past year. It made sense. They made for a bit of a tumultuous pairing. Ninety-five percent of Justin’s personality annoyed Cami. He thought she was perfection poured into a tiny, curly-haired, adorable body. They fought about stupid things on a weekly basis, wanted different things for their futures, and complained about each other behind their backs.
To me and North, of course.
It was generally exhausting but I loved them both dearly.
Presently, they were “together,” but I had a feeling another break was coming after the holidays, and maybe that would be the one that would show them they weren’t destined to be together. That or they’d realize they couldn’t sustain their current behaviors and would have to both make some serious changes if they wanted this relationship to work. For starters, Cami would have to be nicer to Justin, and Justin would have to stop deliberately trying to annoy her.
And practice being less annoying in general, if that was remotely possible.
I led my family and friends back through the crowd as another announcement ran through the speakers.
Eight more minutes.
We climbed up onto the small stage where Roger still puffed on his cigar. He shook North’s hand and we made introductions to the others. My dad couldn’t stop staring at the tree, and as the minutes passed, I took a moment to look around, soak in the moment, and be grateful.
I’d had the most incredible year of my life.
After graduating my program, I’d moved to Maple Hill to live with North. He’d pushed back against me a bit, challenging me like he did, but in a good way. He wanted to make sure this was the right move for me and that I wasn’t sacrificing other dreams I’d had before I met him. I assured him this was no sacrifice. I wanted to be where my man was, and since moving into the estate with him, my career had exploded.
Justin had hooked me up with countless clients in and around the Maple Hill area, who I worked with for remodels and staging, mostly for real estate deals. Word of mouth from those clients spread to more upper scale clients, like hotel owners who hired me to do special events. I had a contract signed for next summer to start working on a remodel for all the hotel rooms in a massive, three-hundred room luxury hotel in New York City.
Sometimes I had to pinch myself because it all felt so surreal.
But this was my life now. My dream.
North had been the supportive man in my corner the whole time. He pumped me up, gave me a safe place to land on days I came home overwhelmed, and reminded me every day how loved I was. He was very aware of how important my parents were to me, and they came up to visit every two months, sometimes more often. Currently, they were here for the week of Christmas, and they were staying in my little cabin in the fields.
North’s company had done some expanding too. Over the past year we’d worked together to lessen some of his workload by hiring capable people to take over certain parts of the business. Cami, for example, had stepped in to work as his personal assistant. Her wit and charm played well with any potential clients she had to interact with, and her no bullshit approach kept North in line on days where he needed a firm hand.
It gave him more time to be home with me, to go back to the basics of what he loved so much, like felling trees on his own, working the market in the fields, and helping families pick trees out to take home. Slowly but surely, we were curating the life we both wanted, and I had a feeling there was even more greatness in store for us next year.
“Five more minutes!”
Justin wrapped an arm around Cami’s shoulders. “Five more minutes, sweetheart. Then do you want to go track down some of those mini donuts? All I can smell is cinnamon and sugar.”
She kissed his cheek. “Sure, baby, we’ll get you your donuts.”
My mother shuffled over to me, supressing a shiver in the chilly night air. “I’m proud of you, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
The crowd began to close in tighter around the tree as more and more people began to arrive, shopping bags in hand, cell phones in the other, ready to capture the event on film. My stomach tried to climb up my throat from all the nerves. So much was at stake in this moment, and I hoped and prayed everyone loved the outcome.
“Two more minutes!”
