Mission of Christmas (9 page)

I took a few steps closer to the tree. “It is a great tree.” I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Is there something you need to tell me?” I raised my pinky finger as I said it.

He smirked. “You’ll just have to see.” He leaned in and nuzzled my neck.

Nope, he was still very masculine
. I let out a purr.

Then he released me, continuing speaking, like he didn’t just flip my trigger. “My ex left it here, along with most of the decorations. She wanted bigger, brighter, better, all that.”

“Do you feel weird looking at it?” I tried to avoid remembering my former marriage as much as I could.

“I bought new decorations for it. You’d be shocked what you can find on sale the day after Christmas.”

“Why do you know about after-Christmas sales?” I asked.

“My sister. Black belt in sales and clearance shopping.”
 

I smirked and dropped on his big plush couch. “So now you have me here, what are you going to do with me?”

He joined me and wrapped his arm around me. “Probably ravage you mercilessly for hours.” He nuzzled my neck again, sending more shivers down my spine.

I let out a sigh.

He sat up a bit. “Will you tell me now what made you change your mind?”

“I didn’t change it,” I began. “I just understood what you were trying to tell me. We will always be friends. We will always trust each other and be together. I thought I would lose those parts of our relationship if we carried it further.”

“So you didn’t want to change it.”

“No, I didn’t. I valued it too much to lose it. And then, when I lost it anyway, I knew I had to reevaluate my assumptions.”

He smiled. “Very practical of you.” He reached across me and grabbed the present he’d told me to wait to open. “Here. Open this one now.”

I nodded, adult excitement running through me. I started peeling away the wrapping paper to find clear plastic. I ripped the paper down the front.

And the famous blue eyes and blonde hair stared back at me, the Holiday Barbie doll, dressed in a full red dress, long blonde hair, perfect makeup, still in her package.

She was new.

I didn’t realize I was crying until I saw the tears on the plastic.

“You bought me a Barbie.”

“I want to give you everything you’ve never had, Erica.” He sat the doll down on the ottoman and pulled me in his arms.

“I think you already have.”

He held me and we watched the twinkle lights. The two of us curled up on the couch together, just holding each other. After a few minutes, though, I couldn’t resist the allure of the Barbie, and I started to open the package. Andy got up and grabbed a knife from the kitchen to help me remove the three billion hooks and strings and other things used to keep the doll in place in the box.

Practical me wondered if it was a good idea to take her out of the box, since I thought I’d read Barbie was collectable.

And my inner child proceeded to beat up practical me. I was going to hold that doll, not stare at it through plastic.

We got it open, and I just sat there, smoothing out her dress and looking at her from all angles.

Then a thought occurred to me. “Why did you want me to open the Barbie here?”

“Those girls might have fought you for it, considering it was the newest, and by far the prettiest Barbie there.”

I had to laugh at that, because it’s very possible he was right.

He ran a hand down my cheek. “Merry Christmas, Erica.”

“Merry Christmas.” For the first time in years, I really meant it.

About the Author

Candice Gilmer lives with her family in Kansas, admiring the beautiful skyline, watching out for tornadoes and occasionally writing. She can be found around the Internet here:

Website:
www.candicegilmer.com

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Look for these titles by Candice Gilmer

Now Available:

Fantasy Girl

The Reluctant Prince
 

Guys and Godmothers

Under His Nose

Coming Soon:

 
Before His Eyes

All it takes is faith, trust, and fairy dust. A swift kick never hurts, either.

Under His Nose

© 2013 Candice Gilmer

Guys and Godmothers, Book 1

Christy is due for retirement from her fairy godmother gig, but she agrees to take one last case. Helping Roark Turner find his perfect girl shouldn’t be much of a challenge—after all, she
is
a veteran fairy godmother.

What makes this case interesting? She must use as little magic as possible to bring Roark his much-desired Happily Ever After.

Roark’s perfect match is his best friend Stephanie Bowers. It should be simple to bring two people together who have been best friends since kindergarten, and let their free will take its course. It probably would have been, too, if Cupid hadn’t started shooting arrows into Roark,
forcing
the mortal to fall in love.

Now Christy must use every skill at her command—just not her magic—to thwart Cupid’s meddling and get Roark and Stephanie together without changing their free will or ruining her perfect record. Or she’ll never get her own Happily Ever After.

Warning: Magic, fairy godmothers, a rambunctious god, and two stubborn people who need a kick in the butt to see what’s obviously meant to be.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Under His Nose:

“I have been doing this a long time. My husband is ready to retire,” Christy said, her wings flapping softly behind the chair. The little blue sparkles floated around the room toward the other two.

“And?” Ava prompted.

Christy smiled. “And I want one last challenge.”

“Another case?” Lilly asked, her wings fluttering.

“More than that.” Christy had been thinking about this for a while. “I want to truly push our talents. We all have strengths as Fairy Godmothers.”

Ava leaned toward Lilly. “She’s got another trio to take.”

Lilly nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I have another trio.” Periodically, they would take on a trio of charges who were connected to one another. It made the ripples of happiness bigger when three found their HEA at once, instead of just a single person. And ripples always affected more.

“And what makes this challenge special?” Lilly asked.

“To see who can get the best Happily Ever After with the least amount of magic.” Christy leaned back and waited for the resistance to explode. Because it always did, at first.

“No magic? How can we do anything without magic?” Ava asked, hands on her hips.

“I can’t get a fairy to go out with me with magic,” Lilly said. “How can I get a mortal to her HEA without it?” Lilly’s wings were beginning to take on a fan-like quality.

“Least amount of magic. Not none,” Christy said. “We can still use magic, just not as much.”

“Why not?” Ava asked.

“Because this trio is not the usual case.”

Ava rubbed her head. “Oh goddess, are they Cupid Cases?”

“No,” Christy replied. “Not exactly.” Cupid Cases were people who’d been hit by one of his horrible arrows and were trying to recover their life after the collapse of the disastrous relationship.

There were a lot of Cupid Cases.

Christy waved her wand and created a swirl of blue fog that slowly turned white before revealing a scene. Everyone clustered around the images spreading out before them.

A dark, rustic sports bar, with men sitting around a table.

“Well, the reason you’re still single, Roark my boy, is because you spend all day making perfumes.” William said, proudly displaying his white T-shirt, with
Last Free Night
on it. He sipped on his beer, grinning.

Lucky bastard
, Roark thought. He was getting married tomorrow. Roark had always looked forward to the institution of marriage—he came from parents who actually loved each other, and were still married after thirty-eight years. And they were as much in love now as they were then.

Sadly, even Roark’s parents were starting to wonder which side he was playing for. Roark didn’t know why he just couldn’t get a date.

William might be on to something…

Bruce and Jason laughed at the barb. They had been friends as long as William—they all went to the same high school, wrestled on the same team, and had known each other for eternity.

“Every girl you meet thinks you’re gay,” Jason added, grinning over his bourbon.

Roark smirked. “But then they want to change me back.” He waggled his eyebrows. While it was true—he did have his sexuality questioned at least once a month—he didn’t let it bother him. Because he wasn’t lying. He had women come around who really did want to see if he’d “flip” sides.

The guys had always made fun of his sensitive nose, but his acute sense made him a good deal of money. Figuring out what things worked with what—there was more science to it than they knew. And he put in a lot of hours making those smelly things.

What else did he have to do? It was his family’s legacy. They’d been making perfumes for almost a century. And Roark was born with “the nose” for it.

Bruce patted him on the shoulder. “If you start wearing an ascot and carrying a pipe, we will have an intervention.”

Roark laughed and glanced at William, feeling—not for the first time since his friend announced his wedding—a pang of jealousy. “So how did you wind up with the last amazing woman in town?”

“Got her on eBay,” William said with a grin. Roark and the others smirked. “Seriously, though, it was just luck.”

“Annie is amazing,” Jason added. “She puts up with your crap.”

“A good gal,” Bruce said. They all raised their beers—well, everyone who was drinking beer, anyway. Jason had a bourbon in his hand. They toasted.

“To Annie.”

“May she never know what an asshat you are,” Jason added.

Everyone laughed and clattered their glasses together again. “Here here!”

Roark sipped on his beer, watching William. The man had an air about him—and it wasn’t the new cologne he had on that Annie had bought from him, either. It was a…a swagger.

“I want that,” Roark muttered.

“What?” Bruce leaned closer, trying to see what Roark was seeing. “The bartender?”

“No, asshole.” Roark hit Bruce and gestured to William. “That.”

William raised his eyebrow. “You need to tell me something, Roark?”

Roark rolled his eyes. “The happiness. The swagger. I want that.”

“Don’t think he’s going to share Annie, douche,” Jason added.

“Naw, man, the happy. I want that for myself,” Roark said.

“Oh that,” Bruce said. “We all want that, right Jason?”

“Yeah.” Jason sipped on his bourbon. “Yeah. We all do.”

The hottest presents are stripped down under a palm tree.

Caribbean Christmas

© 2012 Jenna Bayley-Burke

Under the Caribbean Sun, Book 1

When Saskia snags a last-minute ticket to her home island of Anguilla, she intends to surprise her workaholic father with a chance to reconnect over Christmas. When she finds Dutch is away on business, there’s still plenty to fill her time while she waits. Sailing, snorkeling…and an unexpected, very adult attraction to her girlhood crush.

In Joe Prinsen’s view, there’s only one reason Saskia would drop in after being away for eight years. Sure she’s following her mother’s example to come and ask for money, Joe feels it’s time she learns the truth about Dutch’s dire financial straits. And he intends to make sure she sticks around long enough to hear it. From Dutch himself.

Except the impulsive Saskia takes all his noble intentions and unwraps them, one by one, until Joe finds himself in hot water. Saskia’s only home for Christmas. And once she finds out the secret he’s hiding, and why, she’ll probably leave the Caribbean for good.

Warning: Sex on the beach can be a sandy pastime, one that could lead you, and your heart, in hot water.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Caribbean Christmas:

She grinned. “This is where I learned to swim, because it is so shallow.” She made her way to him, her desire for his touch growing with each measured step.

“What else did you learn on this island, Sass?”

“The basics of a happy life. The older you get, the more complicated things become. Here things were simple. Do what makes you happy.”