Page 58 of Naughty Nicky

I swallow, hoping like hell he is going to say the words I want to hear. The same words I want to tell him even though I know it’s crazy too.

He stands up in front of me and cups my face with both his hands. “I love you, Penelope James. I never thought I would fall so hard and so quickly. But you literally crashed into my life and showed me what it was like to live again. And I don’t want a day to go by where I don’t have that feeling. I need you in my life like I need air to breathe.”

A tear slides down my cheek. “I love you too, Nick Snow. Santa suit and all.”

He lets out a roaring laugh and then his mouth is on mine again. Right where it belongs. Hopefully forever.

When he pulls away, he asks, “Should we go home now?”

“To my parents?”

He nods.

I look around the room. “I feel like there is still maybe a surface or two we should claim before that happens.”

He bends down and kisses me again, chuckling into my mouth. “Don’t tease me, Penny.”

“I’m not.”

He growls and strips my shirt over my head. “We better make this quick. I don’t want to be late for Christmas breakfast.”

I can’t help but giggle as I get rid of the rest of my clothes and fall more deeply for this man before me. The man who saved me not just from a storm but saved me from myself.

And I know we have a long future ahead of us.

EPILOGUE

PENELOPE

One Year Later

Icram my suitcase with the last of my clothes I plan on bringing with me. I don’t know how I accumulated so much in the last year, but I apparently ordered a lot online. Most of my winter clothes can stay here, so at least I have that going for me. But let’s be honest, I wear flip-flops in a snowstorm, I don’t exactly have a ton of winter clothes. Besides, whatever I had is from high school. But most of that is at my parents’ house.

“I don’t think sitting on your suitcase is the best way to close it.”

I look up at Nick and stick my tongue out at him. “I can’t get it to shut.”

“Then pack less,” he says with a grin.

I roll my eyes. “You try to pack less when you’re going on a three-month trip.”

He walks over to me and pulls me up off the ground, wrapping his arms around me. “Baby, I did pack for a three-month trip and managed to fit everything just fine into one suitcase.” He looks around the room. “You have three.”

I stomp my feet on the ground. “Well, I need to look cute for photos.”

He brushes a piece of hair behind my ear. “You always look gorgeous.”

A blush goes to my cheeks. Even after a year with this man, he still makes me blush with his compliments.

“How many suitcases did you take last time?”

I pout because he knows the answer, we went over this all when we were planning the trip. “One.”

He pats me on the cheek. “Then I suggest repacking. I’m not dragging your luggage all over Africa and Asia.”

He has a point. I can probably downsize quite a bit. Not to mention I need room for anything I purchase.

“And hurry up. The storm is coming in faster than expected, and I want to make sure we get on the road to Denver before the snow starts falling too hard.”

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