Page 16 of Holiday Hijinks

“Really? I thought she worked at Shadow Security Headquarters.”

“She must be traveling for work or the holidays,” Slate murmured. “God knows Jett pays her well. He’s got his employees flying all over the place.”

“That’s true,” she said. “And of course Lena was here if she cooked all those meals for us. I’m still kind of in amazement you went through all this trouble to have it decorated for me.”

“It was worth it to see the smile on your face,” he told her. He finished slicing through the packing tape and opened the cardboard box, focused on whatever was inside. Slate rustled around for a moment, removing the inside packaging, and then Ashleigh looked at Slate in surprise as he pulled out a velvet jewelry box. “You already have a diamond ring on your finger, but I thought this would look nice on you, too,” he said, looking slightly nervous.

Ashleigh felt her heart beating faster. It wasn’t like Slate to ever look worried, but she could see that he was anxious over this particular gift. She took the box from him with trembling hands. “Slate, you don’t have to buy me fancy jewelry or presents.”

“I know, but I wanted to.”

She flipped open the lid, looking in surprise at the gorgeous necklace nestled inside. It was delicate, with tiny diamonds interspersed along the gold chain. It also looked quite expensive. “It’s so beautiful,” she breathed, lightly fingering the necklace.“Thank you.” Tears smarted her eyes, and Slate leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly.

“I have to admit Anna helped me with this. She said you needed something beautiful to wear on our wedding day.” He cleared his throat. “I wanted you to have it now.”

“It’s for our wedding? I love it,” she said, stretching up to her tiptoes and throwing her arms around his neck. “Thank you so much. I can’t wait to wear it when we finally get married.” She removed the necklace from the velvet box, holding it up to the light to admire the sparkling diamonds. “Of course, we need to decide on a date first. I want to look at dresses one day when we visit Seattle.”

“I love the idea of you in a wedding gown. I’ll put the necklace on you,” he said huskily, taking it from her and fumbling with the tiny clasp.

She lifted her long, blonde hair aside as he moved behind her. Slate’s big hands brushing against her skin made her break out in goosebumps, and then the necklace was in place, Slate’s thick fingers trailing under the delicate chain, ending at her cleavage. She could feel his strength and warmth as he hovered behind her, sense the gentle huff of his breath, and breathe in his clean, masculine scent.

The kitchen was a mess, she had writing to get to, and she knew Slate would want to check in with his teams at some point this morning besides doing that shoveling he’d mentioned. She felt lost in the moment though, standing here in the cozy kitchen of the cabin, her man hovering behind her like she was the only thing in the world.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured. His hand slid up past her collarbone, and he lightly wrapped his hand around her neck ashe pressed his lips to her temple. “Beautiful and all mine,” he declared, his voice deep with desire.

“Yours,” she agreed, turning to meet his lips in a hot, slow kiss. Her breath caught for a moment, and then he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the blankets in the living room so he could show her all the ways she was his.

Chapter 7

Slate thumbed a text to West Renkin, the IT guru of Shadow Security headquarters, late the next morning. Slate and Ashleigh had been scheduled to check into their hotel room in Seattle the very next day—Christmas. And the day after that would be their surprise wedding at a small yet sophisticated venue in the city. His wedding planner had emailed him earlier, confirming the details and schedule. His mind was on the other glaring issue at hand, however.

While Jett’s assistant had booked Slate and Ashleigh new accommodations, his team would still be monitoring the original hotel. Briefly, Slate wondered why his marriage license had been posted on the dark web in addition to his name and hotel reservation. Ashleigh had been living with him for a year. If someone wanting to harm them had been trying to find out her name, it wouldn’t have been difficult. Any idiot snooping through their mailbox could’ve easily learned both her first and last name.

A hint of uneasiness wound through him. He’d checked the cameras here and at his home in San Diego daily. Jett’s men would be monitoring things in Seattle. While there wasn’t a specific threat, worry niggled at the back of his mind.

Slate frowned at his phone as he waited for West’s reply. Ashleigh was in the other room, readying the present she had to give him. Although it was Christmas Eve, she’d declared that if he could give her presents early, she could do the same.

Slate shook his head. He couldn’t begin to imagine what it was that had her so excited, but he’d find out soon enough. Slate wasn’t a man that typically liked surprises. Ironic that hewas going to surprise his fiancée with her own wedding. Slate thrived on order and following a detailed plan. The leak of information pertaining to his own travel plans was concerning. Nothing unusual had happened at the cabin, for which he was grateful, but once they were in Seattle? He didn’t want to worry about homegrown terrorists looking for him—not when he was readying to surprise and marry the woman of his dreams.

His phone buzzed, and he lifted it to his ear. “Striker here.”

“Anna, the kids, and I just landed in Seattle,” Jett told him. “We had to assure them Santa would find us at the hotel,” he added with a low chuckle. “My wife brought a ridiculous amount of presents for the boys, but we did make sure to also bring Ashleigh’s wedding gown.”

“Thank Anna for me,” Slate said, eyeing the bedroom door in case Ashleigh walked back in. “And Anna confirmed all the other details with the wedding planner? I’m on the same emails as them but don’t even know the half of it.”

“Everything will be ready and in place. Lena told me that she sent you the new hotel reservations.”

“Yes. I don’t know how she managed to find another honeymoon suite,” he said in a low voice, “but the woman can clearly work miracles. I just texted West to see if he had any updates.”

“Nothing else pertaining to you has been leaked online,” Jett assured him. “We’re running constant searches on your name.”

“I’m worried we’re missing something,” Slate admitted. “I’ve been distracted by the wedding.”

Jett chuckled. “I bet that pretty fiancée of yours is keeping you plenty distracted. Who knew you’d turn out to be such a flustered groom?” he joked as Slate bit back a curse.

“Usually, I’m the one running the show,” Slate reminded him. “Handing the reins over to someone else to pull off the biggest day of my life doesn’t suit my style.”

“It’ll be worth it when you slide that ring on her finger. A wedding band on your woman right next to her engagement ring? Hell. I didn’t think I was into such trite customs, but I love that the entire world knows Anna is mine.”

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