Page 32 of The Naughty List

EPILOGUE

DAMON-ONE YEAR LATER…

“Kate, we’re going to be late!”

“I said five more minutes, Damon!” she snaps back. I shake my head; this woman is going to drive me crazy or kill me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

After that night together in her apartment, we haven’t looked back. We jumped in with both feet and a seriously amazing therapist. We’ve not only worked through a lot of our personal issues—me harboring guilt about my family, her worried I’ll just be Chad 2.0—but we’ve grown closer through it all. Kate has finally found her calling, teaching voice and acting classes at a local theater as well as being the production and casting manager. She’s got her hands full but she’s in her element. I was sad to no longer see her at work every day, but I knew it was for the best in order for her to be truly happy. Plus, it wasn’t healthy for us to spend that much time together.

She ended up moving in with me after her lease was up, but then we put my condo on the market and it sold in less than twenty-four hours. We just closed on our own condo in the city.

“Oh!” I hear her yelp followed by a crash. I bound up the stairs to see her kicking over a box.

“Just stubbed my toe for like the millionth time on these fucking boxes!” She shoves a stack of boxes out of the way, throwing me a glare as I laugh.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I promise as soon as we are back from your parents’ house we will spend the weekend unpacking. We’ll have this place all organized.” I wrap my arm around her as we walk down the stairs toward the front door. “It will be the perfect way to start the new year.”

By the time we’re pulling into Kate’s parents’ house, their driveway is full of cars for the annual Flowers family holiday party. Noticeably absent this year is fuckboy Chad and his cheating partner in crime, Tessa.

We barely get inside before we’re swept in warm hugs and holiday wishes. I’m on Laurie’s arm, being paraded around to different friends and family for an introduction; some I met last year but most are new faces. I glance around the room and see Kate, holding her new niece in her arms while she coos over her next to Erin and Oliver.

“Everything ready?” I ask Laurie, leaning in to whisper in her ear.

“Absolutely,” she says, giving my arm a squeeze before turning to face me. “You be good to her,” she says, her eyes full of tears as she stands on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.

“I’d go to the ends of the earth for her,” I say reassuringly.

After the cocktail hour and dinner, some folks have left but most are standing around talking, still sipping on wine or coffee while Christmas music pumps through the in-house speakers.

I see Kate across the great room and make eye contact with her. She smiles, a smile I haven’t gotten used to seeing yet. It’s genuine and warm, the kind of smile I always wanted from her. I give her a wink and motion with my head for her to follow me.

“Have I seen you here before?” She sidles up beside me, looping her arm through mine as I stand next to the massive decorated spruce in the entryway. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss.

“Dance with me.” I grasp her hand, twirling her around and back into my arms. She giggles as we slow dance to Frank Sinatra’s voice crooning “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

When the song ends, I pull her back to the Christmas tree. I stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her as I lean in near her ear. “You get to choose one item from the tree for your Christmas gift this year.” I see her glance up at me, confused.

“The ornaments?”

“Just glance around the tree and see if you see something you like.”

“Okaaay,” she says, stepping out of my arms and studying the tree. She picks up a beautiful silver Tiffany ornament in the shape of a heart, then looks closer at the inscription and sees our names on it. “Oh my God, this is beautiful. Did you?” she asks and I nod.

“You sure that’s the one?” She looks as me suspiciously and puts it back, moving on to look at the others. She moves around the tree, finding another ornament that is a collar with a tiny bell on it and a tag.

“What’s this one?” I laugh and reach for it.

“This one is for a kitten. The tag is blank because once you pick one out, we’ll have its name engraved on here.”

“A kitten?” She squeals and throws her arms around me. “Where?”

“I didn’t pick one yet; we’ll go to the shelter together and pick one.” She jumps up and down and turns back to the tree. One by one she finds the little gifts I’ve left for her—a personalized luggage tag with two tickets to Italy, her dream vacation destination, a keychain with a picture of us from this past summer—but she hasn’t found the last one yet.

“Wait,” she says, spinning around to face me. “I only get to choose one?” Her eyes look big and sad.

“Of course not, sweetheart, but there’s one left.” I spin her back around and move her closer to where it’s at.

“I don’t see anything—” She freezes as she stares at the twinkle lights glinting off the diamond. “Oh my God.” She slowly reaches her hand out and pulls the red ribbon from the tree branch, her grandmother’s diamond wedding ring dangling on the end.

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