Page 20 of Connected By Christmas
I crawl over to my fiancé lying on his back in the small pile of snow and straddle him.
“I couldn’t resist,” I grin down at his gorgeous face. “And what did you see when your life flashed before your eyes?” I brush back a strand of his sun-streaked hair that escaped his beanie from the fall.
He grabs my hips and runs his gloved hands down my snow pants. “You…I only saw you.” His smile warms up my inside seconds before my lips meet his.
“So, how is your family doing, Travis? We haven’t seen your brothers and sister since the fourth,” Skye reaches for her wine glass and takes a sip. We decided to stop for dinner at a local steakhouse on the way home.
“They are doing good. My parents are home for the holidays and enjoying their time with Max and Ryland.” Travis leans back and puts his arm around the back of Sophia’s chair.
“I’ve been talking to Eve at least once a week with pregnancy questions,” Emma laughs. “She’s probably sick of me.”
“Trust me, she isn’t. She loves having a pregnant girlfriend to talk to,” Sophia smiles over at Emma. She filled us in on Travis’s brother, Ryder, and what he and Eve went through. We met Eveat the Fourth of July party this summer at Travis’s family beach house in Blue Haven. They were high school sweethearts and recently found their way back to each other despite her crazy parents’ best efforts to tear them apart. They’ve been through a lot but are now married and expecting their second child in the Spring. Their daughter, Ryland, is two and just about the most adorable little girl I’ve ever seen, with her auburn curls like her momma and those staple grey eyes that run through the Montgomery brothers.
“I’m really happy for them. I can’t imagine going through what they did. They deserve this happiness,” I meet Travis’s eye across the table.
He nods his head in agreement. “After Eve left, I didn’t think I would ever see Ryder happy again. Now, he’s walking around with a constant smile on his face. I couldn’t be more happy for the two of them.” Travis smiles and takes a sip of his beer. “Speaking of being happy for someone. How are the wedding plans coming along? My whole family is excited for your May wedding.”
“I never knew there were so many different invitations and fonts out there,” Maverick laughs. “Did you know there are more than two hundred and forty-seven different shades of pink?”
“No, I didn’t,” Noah laughs.
“Well, there is. Trust me, I’ve looked at them all.”
“Choosing the right shade of pink for bridesmaids’ dresses is crucial. It has to look good in the pictures and go with the daisy flower bouquets,” I point out to my fiancé.
“You picked the perfect shade and cut for the dresses. I can’t wait to wear it. And yours…God, Mav is going to shit himself when he sees you in it,” Sophia grins at her brother.
“If she’s half as beautiful as she was at Noah and Emma’s wedding, I have no doubt I will be trouble.” His dimples flash as he winks at me.
“Yeah, if I remember correctly, you had a hard time keeping your hands off her that night,” Cole grins at Mav.
“You knew about them that night?” Emma asks, looking puzzled.
“Mav asked me for advice on the day of the bachelor party, and I put two and two together. During the reception, I accidentally interrupted them on the balcony. There’s no telling what would have happened in that dark corner if I hadn’t stumbled upon them,” he chuckles.
“I’m just glad it was you because telling Noah on his wedding day that I was in love with his sister was not how I envisioned it going down.”
“You didn’t tell me you loved me until way later.” I meet Mav’s beautiful green eyes as he brushes my hair back over my shoulder.
“When you walked down that aisle at their wedding, it was like an arrow hit me straight in the heart. I’ve always had love for you since we were little, but I saw my future clear as day in that moment. I knew one day it would be me standing there, and I would be the one you were walking down the aisle to. I didn’t just have love for you…you were the definition of what love is. I just had to trust myself not to mess it up because the thought of you not in my life is a life I would never want to live.”
“Wow. I think you just said your vows,” Sophia whispers, her voice catching.
He brushes his thumb across my cheek, swiping a tear away. “How am I going to top that on our wedding day?” I choke out the question.
“I don’t know. I surprised myself with that one,” he laughs. “What have you done to me?” He rubs the back of his neck as a sheepish smile hits those lips. “Did you see the hockey game last week? Our team is headed for the playoffs if they keep playing the way they have been.” He changes the subject, and the guyslaugh, but not before I see my brother and him exchange looks. Noah couldn’t be prouder of him in this moment, and I know he’s thanking him without words for loving me the way someone deserves to be loved.
Leaning over, I grab his neck and pull him to me. “I love you,” I whisper into his ear. His hand finds mine under the table, and I keep it there. I know he’s feeling a bit uncomfortable with revealing his emotions to everyone, so I say the one thing I know will give him back control of the situation. “I can’t wait to be your wife. Mrs. Isabella Lane has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?” I see his eyes blaze when I mention being his wife. We’ve had many conversations about this, and I know what those words do to him.
I vaguely hear our friends having a conversation around us as his breath warms my skin when he finds my ear. Heat pools in my body as I wait on bated breath for what he’s about to say.
Chapter Eight
Maverick and Bella
MAVERICK
Her vanilla smellhits my senses as I breathe her in. I could very easily lose myself in this woman. The words just poured out of me a second ago, and I had completely forgotten we weren’t alone until my sister spoke and pulled me out from under her spell.
