Holiday Shot, page 11
An unfamiliar wave of concern washed over me for the first time, and doubt crept in.
Had I been crazy for moving in with him after such a short time together?
If he’d hidden something this big, was he hiding other things as well?
The insecurity and disappointment made me both sad and worried, and I stared at the email for another moment, reading the message from someone named Harper Barrowman.
Henrik,
As per our telephone conversation, I’ve enclosed the first draft of the contract. You can have an agent or attorney take a look but please come to me personally for any adjustments, since we need to keep this under wraps for now.
Looking forward to talking again soon.
Harper
There had been telephone conversations about moving to L.A. and he’d never said a word.
I slowly closed the laptop and moved it to the side, absently finishing wiping down the granite countertop as my thoughts raced.
“Autumn, I’m sleepy,” Adam said, coming into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.
I turned, taking a deep breath before asking, “Are you ready for your shower?”
He nodded.
“Okay, let’s go upstairs. You can go first.”
I didn’t know what to think or do, operating on autopilot as I helped the twins shower and get into their pajamas. I read them two stories before turning off the light and leaving the door to their room open a crack, the way Henrik did.
Then I padded down the hall to our room and sank onto the edge of the bed.
Our room.
Was it our room or was I just a convenient short-term bed warmer?
It wasn’t like me to jump to conclusions, but this felt intentional, like he’d been keeping this from me for a reason.
And it hurt.
I’d thought things had been going well since I’d moved in, but now I wasn’t sure of anything. I didn’t know what to think or feel, trying to battle through a plethora of emotions.
Had he lied about Lydia dropping the boys off in Boston without his knowledge? Had that always been the plan, but he’d let me think it wasn’t so I’d be forced into helping him take care of them? He had to leave on a road trip on the first, and Lydia wasn’t coming to get them for another ten days or so, which meant he needed a babysitter.
Was that all I was to him?
Tears pricked my eyes, and I took a shaky breath.
I had a hard time believing he could be that calculating. It wasn’t the man I knew, but neither was a man keeping big secrets, and it was hard to reconcile the two. There were a lot of wonderful things happening, so I didn’t want to believe he was using me.
Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and Giselle was coming over in the morning to set up my dream Christmas tree, along with some decorations for the foyer and the front window.
We’d made plans for the four of us to go over to Cam and Sutton’s for a party tomorrow night, and then we were going to come home and wrap the gifts for the boys from Santa.
I had a special breakfast planned for Christmas morning after everyone opened their presents.
Then the four of us were going to join the other hockey orphans at Mr. Knight’s house in the afternoon on Christmas Day.
There was talk about a New Year’s Eve party as well.
It had been less than a month, but we’d started to build a life that included his children, my best friend, and a good portion of Henrik’s friends and co-workers here in Fort Lauderdale.
And now it all felt like a lie.
21
Henrik
I didn’t get home until well after midnight, so I was surprised to see Autumn sitting on the couch. There was an open bottle of wine on the coffee table in front of her, and she seemed to be staring mindlessly at the muted TV.
“Hey.” I leaned over to kiss her lips but she turned her face away.
“Hi. How’s Jordan?” Her voice was flat and lifeless.
Something was going on.
“He’s doing well.” I stared at her. “What’s wrong? Did something happen with the boys?”
“Nope. They were perfect angels. They ate, watching TV, showered, and got ready for bed.”
“Then why did you turn your face away when I tried to kiss you?”
She still hadn’t looked at me. “The more important question is, why didn’t you tell me you were moving to L.A.?”
I froze.
Fuck.
How the hell had she found out?
“It’s not…” I took a breath. How did I explain the situation to her? Especially the part where I’d kept it from her? “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking.”
“Oh, I can harbor a guess or two.” I reached out and gently gripped her chin between two fingers, forcing her to look at me. “Will you let me explain?”
She hesitated but then slowly nodded. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“Thank god for that.” I sank down on the couch next to her and reached for her hands, holding them tightly between mine. “I’m sorry you found out this way, but it’s supposed to be top secret. I can’t imagine how—”
“You left your laptop open,” she whispered. “It came on while I was cleaning the kitchen, and the email was open.”
“Oh, right. Okay.” That, at least, was a relief. The last thing I needed was for word to get back to the Knights before the job was even a reality.
“I didn’t mean to look, but it was on the screen.”
“Honey, I don’t care if you read my email. I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Apparently, you do.” She blinked a few times as her eyes filled with tears.
“No.” I shook my head. “I mean, yes, but not the way you’re thinking. Jesus, I’m fucking this up. Yes, the owner of the Phantoms reached out to ask me if I would consider coming on as her head coach, but the thing is, she’s involved in a huge legal battle over ownership of the team. If she loses in court, and they don’t uphold her late husband’s will, all of this goes away. And there isn’t even a date yet for them to go before the judge.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it would happen, so I kind of put it out of my mind. She literally sent the contract for me to look at today, but I got the call from Jordan before I could read it.”
“Then why have you never mentioned it?” she asked, meeting my gaze. “Why wouldn’t you have told me moving to L.A. was a possibility? I know how much you want to be closer to your boys. And all that bullshit with the internship—is that your way of assuring yourself that I won’t go with you? Did you just need me to help you with the twins over the holidays and then this would give you an out or something?”
Tears began spilling down her cheeks as she talked, and I was horrified that I’d let this happen due to my own insecurities.
“What? No! God, no.” I pulled her against my chest, holding her tightly. “Jesus, Autumn, that’s not even—fuck.” I gripped her by the shoulders and held her a few inches away from me so I could look into her eyes. “I’m a dumbass, but how could you think that? The internship and everything else happened organically. I was trying to find a way to keep you here because I had no idea about the job in L.A. when we went out right after Thanksgiving. After Harper called me, I wasn’t sure you’d want to go with me.”
“I don’t understand.” She frowned slightly. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“There’s no timetable on that head coach job because it could be tied up in court for years. Meanwhile, you’d be working in your field with the Knights and creating a life here in Lauderdale. Then I’d essentially pull the rug out from under you by announcing we were moving to L.A. My only thought was to hold off on telling you until enough time had passed for...”
“For what?” She looked so hurt and confused, I had to tell her the truth.
Even if I sounded like an idiot.
“For you to fall in love with me.”
“You think…” She paused, watching my face as she appeared to be gathering her thoughts. “You think I need time to fall in love with you?”
“I…” Now I was the one who was confused. “Don’t you?”
“I fell a little in love with you the first time you kissed me,” she whispered. “When you came to Chicago and we went out after the game, I started falling hard and fast. All those weeks of texts and phone calls? I already knew you were special. So when you stopped calling, I was crushed. I went out on dates with other guys, but you were all I thought about. There were never any second dates because no one could measure up. It’s been no one but you since the first time I saw you.”
I put my hands on either side of her face. “It was exactly the same for me, and once I realized that I loved you, I was afraid to do anything to scare you away until I was sure you felt the same.”
“I love you, Henrik. Can’t you tell?”
I’d never heard sweeter words and I leaned forward. “I love you too, baby. I swear to you, I didn’t mean to keep anything a secret. You can read everything on my laptop, my phone—anything you want. I’ll give you all my passwords. Not telling you about the job was about not scaring you away. Nothing else.”
“Unless you don’t love me, I’m not going anywhere,” she breathed. “And none of that scares me. I’ve already considered the fact that you probably won’t spend your entire career here. I knew if we stayed together a move would be inevitable. That’s going to be our life.”
“Well, here’s another kink in the machinery.” I took a breath. “It occurred to me this morning that I want to sue Lydia for custody, so I emailed my lawyer to ask for a referral for a family law attorney.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Is that what you want?”
“It’s what I’ve always wanted, but I didn’t think it was right to take children away from their mother. After what she did in Boston, I’ve changed my stance on that. But you have to be on board. If you’re not ready, or willing, we don’t have to move forward with it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I was going to suggest it but wasn’t sure it was my place. So yes, if you want to have them with us full-time, I’m in.”
“God, I love you.” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close again. “I’m so sorry I upset you. Even sorrier I did something to make you cry. I promise you, Autumn, I will do everything in my power to never, ever make you cry again. Unless they’re happy tears.”
“I was so confused,” she said softly, nestling into my chest. “I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t have told me something so important. And it hurt.”
“I’m so sorry.” I pressed soft kisses on her temple. “I promise, there’s nothing else. We just can’t talk about the job in L.A. until the legalities of the will are sorted out. You can’t tell anyone, not even Sutton. Please. It would be so disrespectful to Toli and the Knights, who’ve been nothing but good to me.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said. “Don’t worry about that.”
“Normally I wouldn’t ask you to keep secrets from her, I know how close you are, but this is important to me professionally. If we get to the point where there’s an official job offer, then I’ll talk to Toli and Mr. Knight before I do anything else. They brought me in and have treated me well, so I don’t want to blindside them.”
“That makes sense.” She paused. “Do you think there’s a chance we’re moving to L.A.?”
“I honestly don’t know. Harper is in a holding pattern until the judge rules on it and I don’t want to live our lives that way. That was the other reason I didn’t bring it up. It could literally be tied up for months or years. I want us to be able to do what we’re going to do, personally and professionally, without worrying about that. Especially you.”
“You’re more important than a job,” she whispered. “No matter what hard decisions we have to make, or where your career takes us, I’ll be here. For you and with you.”
I stared at her, wondering how I’d gotten so lucky. “Loving you might be the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
22
Autumn
My second Christmas tree was the most beautiful thing in the entire world. I’d fight anyone who said otherwise. Giselle and I had decided on a purple and gold color scheme, with different shades of purple to give it depth and lots of lights and sparkle to make it shine. She’d arrived at nine o’clock in the morning on Christmas Eve, and Henrik made me stay out of the living room until she was finished decorating.
There were no words for how moved I’d been when they finally let me see it.
When you got down to it, it was nothing but a beautifully decorated tree, but it meant so much more than that to me.
Not only was it part of my Christmas present from the man I loved, it represented so many things I’d always wanted. I’d told him about the tree in passing, and he’d made it a reality. We’d talked about other ideas I had for my future, and he was making those happen too. I felt a twinge of guilt for ever doubting him, but we were past that now, and ready to celebrate our first Christmas together.
“It’s so pretty,” Aiden whispered, coming to stand beside me before we left for the party at Cam and Sutton’s house.
“I love it,” I said softly.
He slid his hand into mine. “I do too.”
I looked over as Henrik came around the corner and when he caught my eye, we both smiled.
“Where’s Adam?” I asked him.
“Putting on his shoes.”
“I know we need to get going, but I can’t stop staring at my tree.”
“Isn’t it our tree?” Adam asked, joining us. “A family tree?”
“Well, it’s actually—” Henrik began.
“Yes, of course, it’s our tree,” I said, interrupting him. “I got to pick out the decorations as part of my Christmas present, but it’s very special to me and I want all of us to enjoy it.”
“It’s so shiny it makes my eyes hurt,” Adam said, “but it’s okay. Since it makes you happy.”
I laughed, pulling him to my side and putting an arm around his little shoulders. “We’ll put presents under the tree in the family room, since that one’s not as bright. Deal?”
“Deal.” He nodded.
“Let’s get going,” Henrik said.
We filed into the garage, and he helped the boys settle into their booster seats while I grabbed two bottles of champagne and a tray of lasagna. Sutton had planned a smorgasbord of different types of food, and I’d volunteered to make lasagna once I found out it was Henrik’s favorite food. It had required two trips to the grocery store earlier today, but it was worth it to me.
“Everyone ready?” Henrik came over to help me into the SUV since I had heels on.
“Let’s go.” I grinned over at him.
“I love you,” he whispered against my mouth before lightly kissing me.
“I love you too.”
We’d been saying it all day, on and off, and I loved how it sounded.
The way he looked when he said it.
The fact that he was mine now.
And knowing I would never let anything come between us if I could help it.
Hearing him tell me how he felt about me was the best Christmas present I’d ever gotten. Though that fancy tree in the living room ran a close second.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked as he started up the SUV and pulled out of the garage.
“Just trying to decide which of my Christmas gifts I like more.”
He frowned. “You only know about the one.”
“No, there were definitely two so far,” I replied. “The tree was this morning, but I got the other one last night.”
He smiled mischievously. “You got several things last night.”
I laughed. “Those other things weren’t Christmas gifts, though. Because if they are, you’ve been spoiling me with those for weeks.”
He laughed too. “I like spoiling you, so you’d better get used to it.”
“The only thing I need is you, Henrik.”
“You have me.”
“Then I’m a very lucky woman.”
“And I’m a lucky guy.”
There didn’t seem to be anything else to say.
This had turned into the best Christmas I could have imagined, and his love was truly the best gift in the world.
Thank you for reading Holiday Shot. It would be so appreciated if you would consider leaving a review at the retailer of your choice. Get info about the next book in the series, BODY SHOT, by turning the page!
BODY SHOT (LAUDERDALE KNIGHTS #8)
Welcome to Fort Lauderdale… where the days are hot and the Knights are hotter.
Anders Nyberg didn’t think he was looking for love.
Until it found him.
More info coming soon!
ALSO BY KAT MIZERA
Lauderdale Knights:
Knight Before Christmas (A Garland Grove/Lauderdale Knights holiday novel)
Slap Shot
Big Shot
Long Shot
Hot Shot
Sure Shot
Rough Shot
Cheap Shot
Holiday Shot (A Lauderdale Knights holiday novella)
L.A. Phantoms:
Power Play
Rock Hard:
Play
Pause
Rewind
Fast Forward
Rock Harder:
Rock Bottom
Rock God
Rock Steady
Las Vegas Sidewinders:
Dominic
Cody’s Christmas Surprise
Drake
Karl
Anatoli
Zakk
Toli & Tessa
Brock
Vladimir
Royce
Nate
Sidewinders: Ever After
Jared
Dmitri’s Christmas Angel
Ian
Dax (A Royal Protectors/Sidewinders crossover novel)
Suze’s Diary (A Sidewinders Companion Novella)
Had I been crazy for moving in with him after such a short time together?
If he’d hidden something this big, was he hiding other things as well?
The insecurity and disappointment made me both sad and worried, and I stared at the email for another moment, reading the message from someone named Harper Barrowman.
Henrik,
As per our telephone conversation, I’ve enclosed the first draft of the contract. You can have an agent or attorney take a look but please come to me personally for any adjustments, since we need to keep this under wraps for now.
Looking forward to talking again soon.
Harper
There had been telephone conversations about moving to L.A. and he’d never said a word.
I slowly closed the laptop and moved it to the side, absently finishing wiping down the granite countertop as my thoughts raced.
“Autumn, I’m sleepy,” Adam said, coming into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.
I turned, taking a deep breath before asking, “Are you ready for your shower?”
He nodded.
“Okay, let’s go upstairs. You can go first.”
I didn’t know what to think or do, operating on autopilot as I helped the twins shower and get into their pajamas. I read them two stories before turning off the light and leaving the door to their room open a crack, the way Henrik did.
Then I padded down the hall to our room and sank onto the edge of the bed.
Our room.
Was it our room or was I just a convenient short-term bed warmer?
It wasn’t like me to jump to conclusions, but this felt intentional, like he’d been keeping this from me for a reason.
And it hurt.
I’d thought things had been going well since I’d moved in, but now I wasn’t sure of anything. I didn’t know what to think or feel, trying to battle through a plethora of emotions.
Had he lied about Lydia dropping the boys off in Boston without his knowledge? Had that always been the plan, but he’d let me think it wasn’t so I’d be forced into helping him take care of them? He had to leave on a road trip on the first, and Lydia wasn’t coming to get them for another ten days or so, which meant he needed a babysitter.
Was that all I was to him?
Tears pricked my eyes, and I took a shaky breath.
I had a hard time believing he could be that calculating. It wasn’t the man I knew, but neither was a man keeping big secrets, and it was hard to reconcile the two. There were a lot of wonderful things happening, so I didn’t want to believe he was using me.
Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and Giselle was coming over in the morning to set up my dream Christmas tree, along with some decorations for the foyer and the front window.
We’d made plans for the four of us to go over to Cam and Sutton’s for a party tomorrow night, and then we were going to come home and wrap the gifts for the boys from Santa.
I had a special breakfast planned for Christmas morning after everyone opened their presents.
Then the four of us were going to join the other hockey orphans at Mr. Knight’s house in the afternoon on Christmas Day.
There was talk about a New Year’s Eve party as well.
It had been less than a month, but we’d started to build a life that included his children, my best friend, and a good portion of Henrik’s friends and co-workers here in Fort Lauderdale.
And now it all felt like a lie.
21
Henrik
I didn’t get home until well after midnight, so I was surprised to see Autumn sitting on the couch. There was an open bottle of wine on the coffee table in front of her, and she seemed to be staring mindlessly at the muted TV.
“Hey.” I leaned over to kiss her lips but she turned her face away.
“Hi. How’s Jordan?” Her voice was flat and lifeless.
Something was going on.
“He’s doing well.” I stared at her. “What’s wrong? Did something happen with the boys?”
“Nope. They were perfect angels. They ate, watching TV, showered, and got ready for bed.”
“Then why did you turn your face away when I tried to kiss you?”
She still hadn’t looked at me. “The more important question is, why didn’t you tell me you were moving to L.A.?”
I froze.
Fuck.
How the hell had she found out?
“It’s not…” I took a breath. How did I explain the situation to her? Especially the part where I’d kept it from her? “It’s not what you’re thinking.”
“You have no idea what I’m thinking.”
“Oh, I can harbor a guess or two.” I reached out and gently gripped her chin between two fingers, forcing her to look at me. “Will you let me explain?”
She hesitated but then slowly nodded. “I’m still here, aren’t I?”
“Thank god for that.” I sank down on the couch next to her and reached for her hands, holding them tightly between mine. “I’m sorry you found out this way, but it’s supposed to be top secret. I can’t imagine how—”
“You left your laptop open,” she whispered. “It came on while I was cleaning the kitchen, and the email was open.”
“Oh, right. Okay.” That, at least, was a relief. The last thing I needed was for word to get back to the Knights before the job was even a reality.
“I didn’t mean to look, but it was on the screen.”
“Honey, I don’t care if you read my email. I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Apparently, you do.” She blinked a few times as her eyes filled with tears.
“No.” I shook my head. “I mean, yes, but not the way you’re thinking. Jesus, I’m fucking this up. Yes, the owner of the Phantoms reached out to ask me if I would consider coming on as her head coach, but the thing is, she’s involved in a huge legal battle over ownership of the team. If she loses in court, and they don’t uphold her late husband’s will, all of this goes away. And there isn’t even a date yet for them to go before the judge.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it would happen, so I kind of put it out of my mind. She literally sent the contract for me to look at today, but I got the call from Jordan before I could read it.”
“Then why have you never mentioned it?” she asked, meeting my gaze. “Why wouldn’t you have told me moving to L.A. was a possibility? I know how much you want to be closer to your boys. And all that bullshit with the internship—is that your way of assuring yourself that I won’t go with you? Did you just need me to help you with the twins over the holidays and then this would give you an out or something?”
Tears began spilling down her cheeks as she talked, and I was horrified that I’d let this happen due to my own insecurities.
“What? No! God, no.” I pulled her against my chest, holding her tightly. “Jesus, Autumn, that’s not even—fuck.” I gripped her by the shoulders and held her a few inches away from me so I could look into her eyes. “I’m a dumbass, but how could you think that? The internship and everything else happened organically. I was trying to find a way to keep you here because I had no idea about the job in L.A. when we went out right after Thanksgiving. After Harper called me, I wasn’t sure you’d want to go with me.”
“I don’t understand.” She frowned slightly. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“There’s no timetable on that head coach job because it could be tied up in court for years. Meanwhile, you’d be working in your field with the Knights and creating a life here in Lauderdale. Then I’d essentially pull the rug out from under you by announcing we were moving to L.A. My only thought was to hold off on telling you until enough time had passed for...”
“For what?” She looked so hurt and confused, I had to tell her the truth.
Even if I sounded like an idiot.
“For you to fall in love with me.”
“You think…” She paused, watching my face as she appeared to be gathering her thoughts. “You think I need time to fall in love with you?”
“I…” Now I was the one who was confused. “Don’t you?”
“I fell a little in love with you the first time you kissed me,” she whispered. “When you came to Chicago and we went out after the game, I started falling hard and fast. All those weeks of texts and phone calls? I already knew you were special. So when you stopped calling, I was crushed. I went out on dates with other guys, but you were all I thought about. There were never any second dates because no one could measure up. It’s been no one but you since the first time I saw you.”
I put my hands on either side of her face. “It was exactly the same for me, and once I realized that I loved you, I was afraid to do anything to scare you away until I was sure you felt the same.”
“I love you, Henrik. Can’t you tell?”
I’d never heard sweeter words and I leaned forward. “I love you too, baby. I swear to you, I didn’t mean to keep anything a secret. You can read everything on my laptop, my phone—anything you want. I’ll give you all my passwords. Not telling you about the job was about not scaring you away. Nothing else.”
“Unless you don’t love me, I’m not going anywhere,” she breathed. “And none of that scares me. I’ve already considered the fact that you probably won’t spend your entire career here. I knew if we stayed together a move would be inevitable. That’s going to be our life.”
“Well, here’s another kink in the machinery.” I took a breath. “It occurred to me this morning that I want to sue Lydia for custody, so I emailed my lawyer to ask for a referral for a family law attorney.”
“Oh.” Her eyes widened. “Is that what you want?”
“It’s what I’ve always wanted, but I didn’t think it was right to take children away from their mother. After what she did in Boston, I’ve changed my stance on that. But you have to be on board. If you’re not ready, or willing, we don’t have to move forward with it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I was going to suggest it but wasn’t sure it was my place. So yes, if you want to have them with us full-time, I’m in.”
“God, I love you.” I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close again. “I’m so sorry I upset you. Even sorrier I did something to make you cry. I promise you, Autumn, I will do everything in my power to never, ever make you cry again. Unless they’re happy tears.”
“I was so confused,” she said softly, nestling into my chest. “I couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t have told me something so important. And it hurt.”
“I’m so sorry.” I pressed soft kisses on her temple. “I promise, there’s nothing else. We just can’t talk about the job in L.A. until the legalities of the will are sorted out. You can’t tell anyone, not even Sutton. Please. It would be so disrespectful to Toli and the Knights, who’ve been nothing but good to me.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” she said. “Don’t worry about that.”
“Normally I wouldn’t ask you to keep secrets from her, I know how close you are, but this is important to me professionally. If we get to the point where there’s an official job offer, then I’ll talk to Toli and Mr. Knight before I do anything else. They brought me in and have treated me well, so I don’t want to blindside them.”
“That makes sense.” She paused. “Do you think there’s a chance we’re moving to L.A.?”
“I honestly don’t know. Harper is in a holding pattern until the judge rules on it and I don’t want to live our lives that way. That was the other reason I didn’t bring it up. It could literally be tied up for months or years. I want us to be able to do what we’re going to do, personally and professionally, without worrying about that. Especially you.”
“You’re more important than a job,” she whispered. “No matter what hard decisions we have to make, or where your career takes us, I’ll be here. For you and with you.”
I stared at her, wondering how I’d gotten so lucky. “Loving you might be the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
22
Autumn
My second Christmas tree was the most beautiful thing in the entire world. I’d fight anyone who said otherwise. Giselle and I had decided on a purple and gold color scheme, with different shades of purple to give it depth and lots of lights and sparkle to make it shine. She’d arrived at nine o’clock in the morning on Christmas Eve, and Henrik made me stay out of the living room until she was finished decorating.
There were no words for how moved I’d been when they finally let me see it.
When you got down to it, it was nothing but a beautifully decorated tree, but it meant so much more than that to me.
Not only was it part of my Christmas present from the man I loved, it represented so many things I’d always wanted. I’d told him about the tree in passing, and he’d made it a reality. We’d talked about other ideas I had for my future, and he was making those happen too. I felt a twinge of guilt for ever doubting him, but we were past that now, and ready to celebrate our first Christmas together.
“It’s so pretty,” Aiden whispered, coming to stand beside me before we left for the party at Cam and Sutton’s house.
“I love it,” I said softly.
He slid his hand into mine. “I do too.”
I looked over as Henrik came around the corner and when he caught my eye, we both smiled.
“Where’s Adam?” I asked him.
“Putting on his shoes.”
“I know we need to get going, but I can’t stop staring at my tree.”
“Isn’t it our tree?” Adam asked, joining us. “A family tree?”
“Well, it’s actually—” Henrik began.
“Yes, of course, it’s our tree,” I said, interrupting him. “I got to pick out the decorations as part of my Christmas present, but it’s very special to me and I want all of us to enjoy it.”
“It’s so shiny it makes my eyes hurt,” Adam said, “but it’s okay. Since it makes you happy.”
I laughed, pulling him to my side and putting an arm around his little shoulders. “We’ll put presents under the tree in the family room, since that one’s not as bright. Deal?”
“Deal.” He nodded.
“Let’s get going,” Henrik said.
We filed into the garage, and he helped the boys settle into their booster seats while I grabbed two bottles of champagne and a tray of lasagna. Sutton had planned a smorgasbord of different types of food, and I’d volunteered to make lasagna once I found out it was Henrik’s favorite food. It had required two trips to the grocery store earlier today, but it was worth it to me.
“Everyone ready?” Henrik came over to help me into the SUV since I had heels on.
“Let’s go.” I grinned over at him.
“I love you,” he whispered against my mouth before lightly kissing me.
“I love you too.”
We’d been saying it all day, on and off, and I loved how it sounded.
The way he looked when he said it.
The fact that he was mine now.
And knowing I would never let anything come between us if I could help it.
Hearing him tell me how he felt about me was the best Christmas present I’d ever gotten. Though that fancy tree in the living room ran a close second.
“Why are you smiling?” he asked as he started up the SUV and pulled out of the garage.
“Just trying to decide which of my Christmas gifts I like more.”
He frowned. “You only know about the one.”
“No, there were definitely two so far,” I replied. “The tree was this morning, but I got the other one last night.”
He smiled mischievously. “You got several things last night.”
I laughed. “Those other things weren’t Christmas gifts, though. Because if they are, you’ve been spoiling me with those for weeks.”
He laughed too. “I like spoiling you, so you’d better get used to it.”
“The only thing I need is you, Henrik.”
“You have me.”
“Then I’m a very lucky woman.”
“And I’m a lucky guy.”
There didn’t seem to be anything else to say.
This had turned into the best Christmas I could have imagined, and his love was truly the best gift in the world.
Thank you for reading Holiday Shot. It would be so appreciated if you would consider leaving a review at the retailer of your choice. Get info about the next book in the series, BODY SHOT, by turning the page!
BODY SHOT (LAUDERDALE KNIGHTS #8)
Welcome to Fort Lauderdale… where the days are hot and the Knights are hotter.
Anders Nyberg didn’t think he was looking for love.
Until it found him.
More info coming soon!
ALSO BY KAT MIZERA
Lauderdale Knights:
Knight Before Christmas (A Garland Grove/Lauderdale Knights holiday novel)
Slap Shot
Big Shot
Long Shot
Hot Shot
Sure Shot
Rough Shot
Cheap Shot
Holiday Shot (A Lauderdale Knights holiday novella)
L.A. Phantoms:
Power Play
Rock Hard:
Play
Pause
Rewind
Fast Forward
Rock Harder:
Rock Bottom
Rock God
Rock Steady
Las Vegas Sidewinders:
Dominic
Cody’s Christmas Surprise
Drake
Karl
Anatoli
Zakk
Toli & Tessa
Brock
Vladimir
Royce
Nate
Sidewinders: Ever After
Jared
Dmitri’s Christmas Angel
Ian
Dax (A Royal Protectors/Sidewinders crossover novel)
Suze’s Diary (A Sidewinders Companion Novella)
