Page 144 of Wilder

“How’s Princess Ci?” Wilder asked her. “Have you been a good girl?”

“Yep!”

“How about when you punched Peyton?”

The little girl’s light brown eyes grew wide. “How do youknowthat?”

He winked at her. “I’m Santa.”

She stared at him for a long moment, then narrowed her eyes at him, looking well beyond her four years. “Are you really?”

Kayleigh started laughing, then reached out to take Ciara before Wilder had to reveal the truth. “Why don’t we get your skates on?”

Ciara looked at Wilder, then over at Lexi. She had started to take lessons with Lexi too, and seemed to love it. “Yep. I want to skate.”

As they moved off to find Jay or Misha to get her skates, Wilder headed over to where Janessa and Will stood next to the tables that held all the goodies for the bake sale. “Where’s Slugger?”

Janessa rolled her eyes at him. “Stop calling Liam Slugger.”

“Why? It’s a special nickname between him and me.” It seemed whenever Wilder held Liam, the baby took a swing at Wilder’s face. He bopped Wilder on the nose or cheek with amazing accuracy. “I love my little slugger.”

“Mom has him,” Janessa told him with a shake of her head. “So if you’re looking to get knocked out, you can go fight her for him.”

“Thanks. I will.”

Wilder found his mom with Liam in her arms, talking to some people by the large display that was set up for the orphanages. She and his dad had taken on the role of spokespeople for the fundraiser since they were as familiar with the orphan ministry now as Wilder. Maybe even more so.

When the person moved on, Wilder stepped up to her. His mom greeted him with a wide, knowing smile.

“Nervous, sweetheart?” she asked.

“A little,” he admitted. “Though I don’t know why. I’m positive she’s going to say yes.”

“I’m positive she’s going to say yes too,” his mom said. “Eileen and I are very excited about planning a wedding.”

Wilder tried not to frown as he had a vision of what the pair might come up with. If Lexi got too overwhelmed, he’d have a word with his mom. Lexi, though, would have to handle her mom.

That was crossing the bridge before he got to it, however. Even though he was pretty sure that bridge was ready and waiting for him.

After giving his mom a hug and dropping a kiss on Liam’s dark curls, he moved on, continuing his journey around the rink.Lots of kids wanted to talk to him, which he happily did, until he found himself back at the entrance to the ice.

It was almost time for him and Lexi to skate together again. He’d decided to propose during one of their programs in the middle of the afternoon. It was the time when all of his local family was going to be present. Most of them were already standing at the boards, making sure they had a good view of what was to come.

Wilder stood for a moment, watching Lexi skate with the kids. When they’d first met, she’d always had such an intensity around her when she skated. But now, it seemed like she had a real joy in skating. More often than not, she had a smile on her face when she was on the ice. Her genuine one, not her professional one.

As she turned on the ice, their gazes met, and immediately, her smile grew, lighting up her beautiful face. She left the kids to continue their skating and came over to where Wilder waited.

“Hello, Santa,” she said with a flirtatious smile.

“Well, hello there, Mrs. Claus.” He gave her a wink. “Are you ready for another whirl on the ice?”

“With you? Always.”

For a moment, Wilder had a glimpse of them in the future. Hopefully, they’d still be skating hand in hand, sporting actual gray hair—not just wigs—and a few more wrinkles, but still as much in love as they were at that moment. Or maybe more. Already, his love for Lexi had grown well beyond what he’d felt initially.

It took a few minutes for them to clear the ice and get things set up for the programs. This year, Amelia, Layla, and one other girl that Lexi had been training had a little program that theyperformed first. Skating to the music ofUp on the Housetop, the girls garnered lots of applause and cheers from the people gathered around the boards.

When they finished their program, Lexi and Wilder took their positions. They were still skating toHere Comes Santa Claus, but Lexi had updated the choreography a bit. However, Wilder had insisted that they still have the same ending pose that they’d had the previous year. He had an ulterior motive for wanting that, but Lexi hadn’t protested at all.

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