Page 58 of Getting Wrapped Up

It was just the two of them in this moment.

Kate had to remind herself to breathe.

“You and I don’t know real life. We haven’t had to struggle financially. Neither of us have parents who would do anything for us. Neither of us have fallen in love. We haven’t had a normal Christmas or, probably, a very normal anything else. But Sapphire Falls can teach us about normal and real.”

Oh my God. She loved this. She loved everything he was saying. She loved his voice, the earnest look on his face…him.

She probably loved him.

She wasn’t quite ready to say that for sure, but…yeah, probably.

“I don’t know if I can just pick up and—”

“I know,” he said. “I know you can’t just move to Sapphire Falls now. I totally get that. And I know that you can’t know for sure that you’re in love with me yet either.”

She wanted to protest. She really did. She wanted to assure him that shedidlove him, that she wanted everything he was saying, but it was too fast, too crazy, too soon.

He went to one knee in front of her and her eyes widened.

He’s going to propose! Oh my God.

And in that moment, she knew that she would say yes.

“So take your time,” he said. “Take longer to fall in love with me if you need to. That’s fine. Just don’t stop falling in love with me once Christmas is over.”

Kate felt the tears fill her eyes. Her hands flew to cover her mouth.

That was the best thing anyone had ever said to her.

Finally, she nodded, sniffed and lowered her hands. “Okay. I promise not to stop. Maybe ever.”

The grin he gave her shot straight through her heart. Like Cupid’s arrow.

Wrong holiday, but she liked the idea.

She leaned forward and threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t believe you came after me.”

He chuckled. “No one can.” He gathered her close and stood up. They were pressed together, nose to toes, and he kissed her. It was everything it always had been—hot, sweet, sexy, bold—but there was something else there, something that she finally let herself believe…magic. There was still magic in his kiss and there was no Sapphire Falls air around them, no mistletoe, no cranberry Booze buzzing through her bloodstream.

It was real.

“So let’s go to San Francisco,” he said, when he finally released her lips.

“You’re coming with me?” she asked, pulling back slightly and dashing the tears from her cheeks.

“Of course. There’s no way you’re spending Christmas without me.”

“You’ll be there for Christmas?” she asked.

“Every Christmas for the rest of your life if you’ll let me,” he told her solemnly.

Her heart turned over in her chest. That sounded damn good.

“But I can’t move to California right now,” he said. “I’m spending a year in Sapphire Falls. I told myself and Joe that I would, and it’s time for me to start following through on my good intentions.”

“So we’ll try a long-distance relationship for a while,” she said, trying to sound confident about it. Those were hard. But if the alternative wasnotbeing with Levi, she’d handle the distance thing.

“Well, yeah,” he said with a shrug. “I have a private plane and a helicopter. I can be in San Francisco within a few hours. It won’t be a normal long-distance relationship.”

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