Page 117 of Unwrapping Romance

“I am, thanks to her.”

We walked into the store, and Nathan, the man I had the appointment with, took us to a private room in the back. He brought us a glass of champagne and different rings that sat on a dark blue velvet pillow.

“These are some of our finest diamonds, Mr. Atlas.”

One of the rings caught my attention. Picking it up, I examined it.

“That is one of our exclusives. It’s the Belle Round Micro Pave ring. The center stone is flawless three and a half carats, totaling four and a half carats with diamonds around the band. See for yourself the clarity of the diamond.” He handed me a loupe.

Bringing the loupe to my eye, I carefully examined the ring. It was perfect.

“What do you think?” I glanced at Daniel.

“It’s stunning, Jack.”

“I’ll take this one.” I smiled.

“Excellent choice, Mr. Atlas. I’ll just need your credit card, and I’ll get the ring ready for you.”

“Did I hear him right on the price of that ring?” Daniel asked.

“You did.” I smiled. “I will put the ring in the Chanel purse and ask her on Christmas morning.”

“You, Jack Atlas, have never had a romantic bone in your body.”

“Because I never met the right woman to bring it out in me.” I winked.

“Looks like both of us are getting engaged this Christmas.” He patted my back.

After dropping Daniel off, I went home. When I walked into the house, the smell of freshly baked Christmas cookies filled the air—gingerbread, sugar, and cinnamon, to name a few.

“It smells delicious in here.” I smiled, walking into the kitchen. “Hello, Jeanine.” I kissed her cheek.

“Hi, Jack.”

“Are you having fun, sweetheart?” I walked over and kissed Ellie’s head.

“So much fun, Daddy.”

Sierra looked up at me, and her smile was priceless. I walked over and kissed her lips, grabbing a gingerbread cookie from the cookie tray.

“We made a lot of cookies for Santa, Daddy.”

“I can see that.” I took a bite of the gingerbread cookie. “Wow. This is delicious.”

Jeanine was at our house the entire day. We ordered a pizza for dinner, and after she left, Sierra and I put Ellie to bed.

“Let’s put our swimsuits on and go for a swim,” I said.

A sly grin crossed Sierra’s face. “Who said we need swimsuits? I’ll race you.” She ran down the stairs to the pool. She was completely undressed and in the pool when I got there.

“I like the way you think.” I stripped out of my clothes and jumped in, gripping her hips. “It seemed like today went well.”

“It did.” She smiled. “We talked about things while we made cookies. I invited her over for Christmas.”

“Good. She should be with her family.”

“What are we going to do for Christmas dinner? You know I can’t cook,” she said.

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