Page 8 of All I Want For Christmas

Lindsey felt something niggle in her mind. Or maybe her heart. That gesture, dragging an open palm down the front of his shirt, was something Matt did. Before he was going to say something important. Before he accepted a medal. When his dad told him he was proud of him. It was a combination of preparation and pride.

Then she saw it. As that feeling of déjà vu was still rippling through her, she saw the long scar running down Santa’s index finger.

Matt had a scar exactly like that. From a fishing hook when he was fourteen.

But Matt did not have a beard. And especially not a white one.

Well, there was one way to know who this guy was for sure.

She stepped close, went up on tiptoe, took his face between her hands, and put her lips against his.

Chapter

Three

It took her two seconds to confirm that she was, indeed, kissing her husband.

Her soldier. The guy she hadn’t seen in seven months. The guy who she missed every single day.

The guy who hadnottold her he was coming home.

Bastard. The love-of-her-life-most-amazing-man-she-knew bastard.

As she tried to pull back to tell him what she thought of his little surprise, Matt wrapped an arm around her waist and dipped her back. He opened his mouth over hers and she melted.

It had beenseven months. She could be mad later.

Matt’s tongue swept into her mouth, against hers, and Lindsey felt the little moan at the back of her throat. Heat and need swept through her and she grabbed onto the front of his coat, taking the leather lapels in both hands. Holding herself up, holding him close, reassuring herself that this was real and she wasn’t imagining it.

Matt was here. Kissing her. For Christmas.

And he hadn’t told her he was coming home.

Okay, so she could be mad later. But right now? She could get everything she really wanted—her husband naked. And a little revenge.

She pulled back and stared up at him. All she could see was her own reflection in the sunglasses.

Sunglasses.

Those and a white beard were all it took for her to not recognize Matt when he walked in? But no. Some of it was that he was leaner than last time she’d seen him. And he was… hell, it was because he’d just walked into a Christmas party dressed like Santa. He wasn’t supposed to be here. And not just not here. He wasn’t a businessman who was sometimes out of town for work. He wassupposed to bein the Middle East. And her mind simply would not let her believe that he’d be home without telling her. So of course she hadn’t recognized him.

And now she was going to make him a little sorry for that prank.

“I like a man who takes mistletoe seriously,” she said, licking her bottom lip.

She couldn’t see his eyes, so she wasn’t sure how he was reacting, but he pulled her upright.

“I’m nothing if not true to holiday traditions,” he said. “Kind of part of the job.”

She nodded. “I respect that.” She ran her hand up the front of his shirt. “I also find your dedication to making people’s fondest wishes come true this time of year very attractive.”

She watched him swallow. She didn’t know when Matt would catch on that she was messing with him. She knew he would, eventually, but he deserved a few minutes of wondering if his wife had a Santa fetish he didn’t know about.

“So, about thatpresentyou have for me,” she said.

“The present that your friends have for you,” he corrected.

Sure. Lindsey nodded, her hand still resting on his chest. “Butyou’regoing to be giving it to me, right?”

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