Page 52 of Knot My Secret Santa

“Whatever. You brought joy and love to our sweet girl here, and a new member of our family. Plus, the reindeer. None of us are ever going to forget that!” Noelle laughed and everyone hooted their agreement.

“Open it.” Avery nudged me. Damn, she was sexy in her long red Christmas sweater. I wanted to open up her legs for my present, but that would have to wait until later.

I carefully started to unwrap the long and thin gift which was clearly a framed painting, but I was curious as to what everyone would give me. Noelle groaned that I was going too slow and told me that we had a gift opening deadline and to hurry up. I chuckled and ripped the rest of the paper off.

It wasn’t one framed picture, but two. And they weren’t paintings. My jaw dropped and my heart tightened with unexpected emotion.

The first one was an old photo from the first year of Donner Designs. It was me and my senior architects at the Pond House. It seemed like so long ago. “I don’t even remember having this picture taken.”

“Look how young we all look.” Noelle grinned. “Roberto doesn’t even have a beard. He had such a baby face. And you, Nate. You look like you’re just fresh out of college.”

“You can hang it in the office. Everyone will love seeing where Donner Designs started.” Avery hugged my arm and I kissed the top of her head. Everyone went “aww,” as they did every single time the two of us had kissed or hugged since I arrived yesterday.

Picking up the second photo, I received another slap of emotion. It was everyone from Donner Designs who was at the party on Friday posed in front of the gaudy blue tree. I was in the picture, but again, I didn’t really remember it. Avery stood with Noelle in the photo, and my gaze had been upon her. “This is incredible. Thank you so much.”

Hugs were given and the gift opening recommenced. I pulled Avery to me and gave her a light kiss. She tasted of sugar and peppermint. “Those pictures were your idea, weren’t they?”

“Maybe. I thought you needed some family pictures.” Avery’s eyes glimmered like a sea of stars. This magnificent Omega had filled my heart so full in less than a month, and I never wanted to be the man I was before I claimed her again.

“I have something for you too.” I grinned, fidgeting with the box in my pocket.

“You don’t have to get me anything. You gave me that dress and the earrings and so much more. And don’t think I don’t know how expensive those things were. They cost more than it took to build my tiny house.” She poked me, but I could see the curiosity and eagerness in her expression. “Besides,” she lowered her voice to a whisper. “The gift I got you I can only show you in private.”

The erotic tremor in her voice went right to my dick. I gathered her to me. Fuck, I could throw her over my shoulder and rush her away to her home for the rest of the day. “Mm, I say we go open that right now.”

“You’ll have to earn it with your patience,” Avery teased, but I’d noticed her nipples harden under her sweater. She wanted to sneak off just as much as I did.

“If you’re going to make me wait, vixen, then I’m giving you my gift now.” I handed her a small rolled piece of parchment tied together with a red silk bow. I wanted to say I was confident I knew how she was going to react to what I had planned, but there was a quickening of my heartbeat that said otherwise.

Avery raised her brows and tugged off the ribbon. As she unrolled the paper, the rest of the room grew silent. I could feel everyone’s eyes on us, but my gaze stayed upon her. “Read it out loud.”

Her mouth sat in a little o, having read it already. Tears shimmered in the corners of her eyes. “Even before…” She had to stop as emotion made her tremble and cleared her throat to continue. “Even before I fell in love you, I witnessed your heart changing the world. Not just with your brilliant designs, but with every smile your brought forth. The way you care about other people makes you an angel among men, and I wanted to thank this extraordinary woman. The opportunity came along when I was given a slip of paper with your name on it. I was your Secret Santa.”

Avery’s tears spilled free and sob broke loose. There were gasps and exclamations around the room. I took her hand in mine and wiped away her tears with my other hand.

“You were my Secret Santa?” She barely got the question out.

I nodded. “I wasn’t quite sure how the game was played, but I think I did alright.”

“Alright?” Avery squeaked, laughing and crying at the same time. “You gave me the perfect gifts. Every single one was wonderful. I felt I was falling a little bit in love with my Secret Santa. And it was you.” She said that last bit with a bit of awe. She glanced at Noelle. “Did you know? Did you set it all up?”

“Nope.” Noelle shook her head and smiled. “It was a surprise to me as well when I finally figured it out.”

“Keep reading,” I encouraged, still holding her hand.

Avery wet her lips and dabbed her eyes. “Who knew that being your Secret Santa would be a gift for me. You touched my heart in ways I’d never expected and changed me forever. I’m a far better man than I was a month ago because of you, and I know that over the years to come, you will help me grow to be worthy of an angel such as you. I’m not always the best at expressing how I feel, but the love I feel for you is so immense, I want to give you something just as huge. Go look in the backyard.” She paused, blinking, and staring up at me with confusion. “The backyard?”

I nodded. “It’s the only place it would fit.”

Half of the family was already racing to the rear of the house. I wasn’t worried if they got there first. The only reaction I wanted to see was Avery’s. There were some shocked shrieks, oh my gods, and one holy shit.

She squeezed my hand tightly. “You didn’t go buy me something big like a car or a boat or anything, did you? You have to stop buying me all these big things.”

Smiling, I shrugged my shoulders. “You’ll have to come see for yourself.”

This was the moment. I could barely breathe.

Most of the adults had followed behind us. A slew of emotions was flying across Avery’s lovely face. I’d purposely worded the note to sound like I’d bought her a car or something huge like that. But my real intention was even bigger.

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