Christmas With You (15 page)

Carly cocked her head. “I think you’ve used every one of Mrs. Taylor’s decorations.”

Baubles, silver bells, and gimmicky Santa decorations covered the pine tree, with only a few strands of tinsel left spilling out of the box. He hadn’t bothered color-coordinating or going with the
less is better
style he preferred, and it touched her deeply.

He shot her a small smile, crossing to the couch to retrieve the glittery star. “You taught me a thing or two about tree decorating. And about pulling my head out of my ass and talking to my parents—which I did, and we’re cool.”

“I’m glad,” she said. “You didn’t spend the whole day in bed, then?”

Kip turned the star in his hands and then placed it on her dining table. “No, I’ve been doing all the usual traditional Kiwi things—eating too much turkey, trying to construct Lego spaceships with the twins, and getting sunburned. Christmas Day didn’t turn out to be as bad as I’d feared, except I missed you every single minute.”

A lump expanded in her throat as he crossed the room and took her hand, his roughened fingers curling around hers.

His thumb rubbed across her knuckle, his blue eyes intense. Delicious shivers worked their way down her spine.

“Why don’t you check under the tree, sweetheart? See if Santa left you anything.”

He tugged her hand, and she let him lead her to the tree, her head filling with the clean, tangy scent of pine. Beneath the lowest branches lay a small, neatly wrapped package. Kip kneeled, drawing her down with him.

“Were you lying about your gift-wrapping skills?”

Kip grinned and wriggled his fingers. “I’ve been practicing. Now open it.”

Carly peeled off the paper, exposing a rectangular silver box. Prying off the lid, she caught her breath. A green pendant in the shape of an infinity twist nestled in the white satin.

“Greenstone?” she breathed, stroking a finger along the cool curves.

“Yeah. Maori consider greenstone a
taonga
—treasure.” He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear then traced the finger down her cheek, much the same way she touched the pendant. “I chose this pendant because it symbolizes an everlasting bond between two people.”

Everlasting bond? She glanced up, and oh, God, the fierceness of his stare, as if his soul poured out of him into her, filling all the little gaps and crevices that had remained empty for too long.

“I love you.” He cupped her jaw. “Since the first moment you fell into my life and kneed me in the nuts, but likely even before then.” His throat worked, and the hot sting of tears burned her eyes. “You’re my treasure, and I want to spend every Christmas with you—today, next year, fifty years from now.”

Her heart once again rabbited around her chest and she couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. He loved her, and he’d helped turn her from a Grinch into a believer again. She believed that while family was important, falling off a ladder into the arms of the most incredible man, ever, was more important. Though, in their case, it was a crash-landing with the possibility of concussion, but when she and Kip told the story to their kids,
falling into his arms
sounded less klutzy.

Oh, dear God—
kids
.

“But…” Her lip quivered. “You don’t want the whole family thing, the requisite three grandkids for your parents.”

“Sweetheart, I want everything with you, including, one day in the future, the whole family thing.” He stilled her trembling lip with his thumb. “But you do realize that twins run rampant through the Sullivan clan?”

“Twins?”

“Many, many sets of twins,” he said seriously.

“Then I want them, too,” she said. “But more than kids, more than your wonderful, match-making family, I want you Kip. Always.”

He studied her, his blue eyes warming her from the inside out. “I always thought love made you vulnerable. I guess it does, because, baby, you could crush my heart in your hands.”

Carly leaned forward, brushed a soft kiss on his lips. “You’re not vulnerable if the one you give your heart to loves you so much she’ll treat it like the most precious
taonga
she’s ever been given.”

“You love me?”

“To the North Pole and back.” She laced her hands around his neck, smiling until a sudden chill nipped her conscience. “Oh, my goodness, I didn’t—”

He cut her off—kissing her until she melted into him. He gathered her close, and she found herself flat on the floor with the Christmas tree towering above, and hard, pine-scented male wedged between her legs.

“You didn’t what?” Kip kissed his way down her throat. “You didn’t shut the door? It’s okay; I think Mrs. Taylor understood the second part of my plan.”

She laughed, as the fine line of stubble surrounding his gorgeous mouth tickled her skin. “No—I didn’t get you a Christmas present
or
a birthday present.”

Kip wriggled his eyebrows. “Sweetheart, look at yourself all flushed and beautiful. Do you think I want anything else?”

She couldn’t have asked for a sweeter, sexier, kinder man to find underneath the tree—but maybe Santa had a little help from a certain flyboy in choosing the right man for her. Carly threaded her fingers through Kip’s thick, dark hair, her heart so full to overflowing she wondered how her vocal chords still worked.

“No,” she said. “We
both
got everything we wanted.”

###

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Christmas With You
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The Due South series focuses on family, community, and of course, each book contains a scorching hot romance.

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