Page 117 of Falling

“This is your house, Sunshine. Do whatever you want to do.”

“Really?” she asks. “You’re sure you’re okay with that?”

“Of course. I want you to feel like this is your home. You can redecorate everything if you want.”

“If it wasn’t perfect already, I would be all over that.” She laughs. “Do you have a tree?” She turns around in my arms, excitement bouncing off of her.

“No…but we can get one. I can chop one down for you if you’d like.”

“I’dlovethat.” She grabs her phone, her eyes sparkling. “Can I record you chopping it?”

“Does that mean it’ll be over the internet by nightfall?” I narrow my eyes at her.

“Yes,” she says, laughing again.

“Fine,” I mumble, but I’ve got my hands up her sweater and couldn’t care less what she does as long as she does it with me.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” she says. “Come on, let’s go find a tree.”

“Now?” Now I really am grumbling.

“Yes! I can get it all decorated before I put the lasagna in the oven. I’ve already made the pies. I want everything to be perfect for your family. All we need is some Christmas spirit.”

I lean in and kiss her. “I can’t even be annoyed with you for a second, you know. It’s veryoff brandfor me.” I parrot one of her phrases.

“I know,” she says, ducking out of the way and yelping as I smack her ass. She giggles and puts her coat on. “If we hurry, we can have sex under the pretty tree before things get too hectic.”

“Hustle, hustle, woman.” I clap and she cracks up.

Once she’s sufficiently bundled up, we head out and I lead her to a few trees I think she might like.

“Ooo, that one,” she says, pointing to the tallest one.

I toss my jacket to the side and get to work, looking up at her when she says, “Hey, my lumberjack.”

I smirk when I see that she’s recording. “Hey, Sunshine.”

“Do you have any Christmas wishes?” she asks.

“I’m looking at her.”

She bites her lip and lowers the phone.

“I’m so glad I married you,” she whispers.

I chuckle. “You just wanted a lumberjack to chop down a tree for Christmas…I see how it is.”

“No, I just want you to hurry so I can get you under that tree,” she teases.

Sutton calls an hour before the dinner. “I’m trying my best to get there on time. I’ve got a last-minute interview with a nanny possibility. You’re not gonna believe who she’s related to.”

“Who?”

“Weston fucking Shaw.”

My eyes widen. “No shit? The Mustangs football player?”

“Yep. I know. I’ve been working with one of his teammates and when I mentioned I needed to cut our time short for a nanny interview, he mentioned that this girl is looking. This first meeting will just be a short Zoom to see if we should pursue a meeting later, and then I’ll be over.”

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