Page 26 of Rock Chick Bonus Tracks

But this was different.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“You know what’s the worst?” she whispered back.

He braced.

He was a cop. He knew a lot of worsts.

What happened recently to a member of their crew was some of the worst that worst could get.

What happened to Roxie was too.

She didn’t seem to have to process what Billy Flynn did to her too much. She’d had her rough patch when Vance brought her home. They’d worked through how she felt it sullied her so she wasn’t good enough for him, and they fought their way to their normal.

But he’d been around shit like this his entire career. He’d heard his dad telling his mom about it while he was growing up.

He knew it could come back to bite you.

“No, sweetheart, what’s the worst?”

She tipped her head to the window.

“That tree looks amazing.”

He looked out the window, tightening his hold on her ankle, because it did.

Before Roxie, Hank had zero Christmas decorations. He was a single guy who spent the last thirty-five years at his parents’ place for Christmas. He didn’t feel the need to buy them, mostly because he knew, when he found his woman, they’d do it up like he and Roxanne did it.

Together.

They decided to go for what they needed, tree and some things around the house, and add on as the years went by. So they bought a lit wreath for the door, Hank hung it and set the timer to light it, and for this year, that was all they did outside.

That meant the huge tree in his front yard gleaming with an abundance of bright white lights in the dark against the snow shone like a cheerful Christmas beacon.

Sometimes, less was more.

“Mom was right,” Roxie went on.

He wanted to smile.

He didn’t smile.

He focused on her profile.

“Why are you sittin’ on the countertop in the dark, Sunshine?” he prodded.

Her answer made Hank go completely still.

“Because today was the best day ever, in my whole life, and I don’t want it to end.”

It was Christmas night, actually probably the day after, considering what he suspected was the time.

And she was right.

It had been a great fucking day.

She turned from staring at the tree to look into his eyes.

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