Page 31 of Christmas With the Convict

“Then I guess we’re due for a winner,” I sigh. “I didn’t even know what I was doing when I wrote that thing. I’m not even acompetentwriter.”

“Ah, but you have one major advantage.”

Wendy leans slowly in for a kiss. I close my eyes to surrender to it.

She snatches the envelope out of my hand and jumps onto the couch like a cat stealing a toy.

“You had a total book nerd edit your manuscript!”

My heart drops as she tears it open.

I get down on my knees and bury my face in the cushion at her feet.

The sound of paper unfurling in her hands makes me cringe.

She doesn’t say anything.

“I knew it,” I groan. “Another one—“

“Oh, my God.”

I peek up at her, losing myself between her fine legs.

“Oh. My.Shitting.God,” she says.

“What?What?” I grab her thighs and squeeze. “What is it?”

“Dear Chase Oliver. Thank you for submittingSunshine Insidefor consideration. I am pleased to inform you that we would like to move forward with publishing your manuscript pending minor revisions and title review… Chase, they want it. They even want to give you anadvance. They want it!”

I lift Wendy into my arms. She hooks her legs around me, holding the papers up for us both to see. “Look! Look!”

“Title review?” My voice cracks. “What does that mean? What the fuck is even happening right now?”

“It means they think your title is awful,” Wendy laughs. “And, to be fair…”

“They want it!?”

“YES!”

We crash over our coffee table. Our poor downstairs neighbors probably think a truck just hit the building. Wendy rolls on top of me, the letter still in her trembling hands.

I’m crying.

She starts crying.

Our tears soak into our kiss.

And before either of us can say another word, our hands do exactly what they want.

“Put the fucking letter down,” I growl and pull her hoodie up her hips. “Safely, please.Now.”

“You did it. You did it,” she moans as she kisses my neck. “I’m so proud of you.”

“It never would have happened without you,” I huff and rip her panties off. “I love you. I love you so fucking much it hurts.Marry me.”

Wendy sits up in my lap, staring down at me with her bra half off and hair over her eyes. She blows the strands off. “What?”

“I was going to wait. I’ve been saving for a ring, anything I could every month.” I grab her by the waist. “But, I don’t know. Everything is just exploding out of my right now… Marry me. Sayyes.”

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