Page 149 of Meowy & Bright

“I’ve been working on this one for a while, and it’s finally done.” Now I’m really curious. He takes my hand after he grabs my bag and sets the alarm for the library before we head out to the front of the building where his truck is sitting.

When he gets into the driver's seat, he reaches over and grabs my hand. His fingers stroke the underside of my wedding ring. That was my Christmas gift last year.

Last Christmas almost seems like a lifetime ago. Crane got my mom a disgraced Mayor McGovern. She doesn’t actually know that, but after Crane admitted everything to me, he said he had to take care of McGovern, which hadn’t been hard. He is in prison for a list of things from tax fraud to taking money under the table. I still can’t believe the lengths that man went to, all over winning a holiday competition.

Honestly, I’m a bit thankful to Mayor McGovern. Without him, I would have never met Crane, and I don’t want to think what could have happened to me when Carlton finally snapped. He would have at some point. Crane’s being here had sped it up.

“Where are we going?” He passes by my house, driving toward the edge of town and down a winding back road. “Where did this road come from?” Crane doesn’t answer any of my questions as he pulls down a lane that I realize is a driveway.

I gasp when lights flicker on, covering the trees that line the driveway. There must be thousands of them. “Crane?”

“Look ahead, babe,” he says, drawing my eyes to look out the front windshield. I let out a louder gasp, my hands going over my mouth when a house suddenly lights up. It’s a beautiful white house covered in so many lights it reminds me of one of those homes you see in a magazine. It looks like someone took it off the pages and dropped it out here. A giant red bow is on the front door.

“How?” He built a whole house without me knowing? The front door opens, and people pour out of it. I see my mom and Eve first. Anna jumps, bouncing out the door. The porch that wraps around the house starts to fill with faces I’ve known my whole life. This moment couldn’t be more perfect.

“I might have had some help.”

Tears slip down my cheeks.

“Everyone was more than willing to help with my secret for you, Liza. They said you’ve brought so much joy into their lives over the years that they wanted to return the favor.”

If he keeps it up, I’m about to be sobbing like a baby.

“Crane.” I unclick my seatbelt and crawl over into his lap. I kiss him. I pour everything I have into it. I can hear everyone cheering, but I ignore them. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He kisses me.

We won the spirit competition last year once again, but I won the only thing that mattered. My husband. My Christmas miracle.

KNOCKING UP HIS BRIDE

KNOCKING UP HIS BRIDE

MINK

It came out of nowhere. A huge cat in the middle of the road. We swerved to avoid it and crashed into a snowy tree, ending our road trip early and stranding us far from the local town, in the middle of a snowstorm with another on the way. How can a pop star, her assistant, and her best friend survive in a snowy wilderness? Short answer is: they can’t.

But then *he* came out of nowhere. The big guy with the gruff voice and the sharp eyes. The eyes that are always on me. I have to trust him, to accept his rescue of my friends and me, but the more I get to know Charles, the more I realize I need him. Maybe we landed at the lodge with these mysterious mountain men by accident, but Charles makes me believe it was good luck that brought us here.

Even though he’s vague about his past, his kisses are certain, and his gentle touches becomes addictive. His love is all-consuming.

But when an old threat follows us to the lodge, Charles reveals his particular set of skills, deadly ones. Can I accept the man who treats me so sweetly but can kill without a thought?

1

CLOVER

My stomach drops when a Google alert pops up on my phone. Bells flicks a glance at me from the driver seat before we both steal a peek at Aurora who has AirPods in and oversized sunglasses. Pretty sure she’s asleep.

Good. God knows she needs it. Her tour schedule has been grueling. But it’s finally coming to an end. Or it was. Then, right when we could all see the light at the end of the tunnel, Kent Kingston went and pulled one of his bullshit stunts. Gah, I’ll never understand why anyone believes anything that comes out of that man's mouth!

“What did that dick face say this time?” Bells glares at my phone before she realizes she’s not watching the road. She jerks the SUV back into our lane. I grab the handle above the window, holding on for dear life. I drop my phone and almost have a small heart attack.

The snow is already coming down hard.

“Sorry,” she mouths, blowing one of her dark wavy locks out of her face that escaped the messy bun on her head. I’m just thankful that Aurora is still out. She doesn’t need another thing to worry about. What the hell did that doctor give her? It had to be something strong, because she’s been out for a while now.

I reach down and scoop my phone back up off the floor. Not only do I have a Google alert, but I also have a text from Daphne that I missed. Crap. It was from twenty minutes ago. She was trying to give me a heads-up that a Google alert was going to begin pinging soon. It was something she didn't have to warn me about, but it went a long way in making me trust her more and more. Trust is something I don’t give out easily. Especially when it comes to things that involve Aurora.

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