Christmas in Lucky Harbor Read online

  “Some things you don’t have to be taught,” Chloe said.

  “He was uncertain about my big family, and how he might feel out of place, but he came anyway.”

  Chloe squeezed her gently. “We’re a bunch of misfits ourselves, aren’t we? All of us. But we fit together. Including Nick.”

  Mia’s throat tightened, and she turned into Chloe. They hugged for a long moment, then Mia pulled back. “I have to go.”

  “You’re going to go eavesdrop on them,” Chloe said.

  “Hell, yeah.”

  Chloe grinned. “Me too.”

  They skirted around the dance floor and made their surreptitious way toward the bar, hiding behind a white lattice that Chloe totally blended into with her wedding dress. Not so much Mia, in her forest green. In fact, with the lights flashing on the other side of the lattice, she probably looked like a Christmas tree.

  But the guys were paying them no attention at all.

  “You know she’s only twenty-two,” Ford was saying to Nick.

  Mia opened her mouth at this because she was twenty-three, dammit. Or at least she would be next month. But Chloe squeezed her hand to keep her quiet.

  “Yes,” Nick said. “She’s twenty-two. A grown-up. Listen, I get that you’re her family and you’re all very protective of her, but she kicks ass at life. You can trust her to make her own decisions.”

  “She hasn’t decided on you yet,” Sawyer pointed out smoothly. Calmly. Eyes steady. He wasn’t wearing a gun on his hip today, not with his tux, but Mia would bet he had one hidden on him somewhere.

  Chloe rolled her eyes at her new husband and muttered something about him being the sexiest stubborn ass she’d ever met.

  “I realize she hasn’t chosen me,” Nick said. “But I’m still going to be here for her.”

  “Even if she dumps you?” Jax asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s quite a promise.”

  “It’s a fact,” Nick said.

  Chloe sighed dreamily.

  Mia did the same. And her heart melted into a puddle of love that swelled against her rib cage.

  “We weren’t always here for her,” Ford said quietly. “So we’re a little overprotective. I won’t apologize for that. But she’s everything to me, and I’m not a complete idiot. I can see that you’re everything to her. All I want is for her to be someone’s everything.”

  “Done,” Nick said without hesitation. “And maybe you weren’t always a part of her life, but you gave her life. A great life. And she’s made the most of it. She’s really amazing.”

  Chloe sighed again.

  Mia didn’t have breath left in her lungs to sigh. Pulling free of Chloe, she walked around the lattice, eyes only on Nick.

  Some things take time, Chloe had said. And that was true. It’d taken her seventeen years to get to meet her birth parents and find this great big family waiting to embrace her.

  And six months to give her heart to Nick.

  He’d come here for her. He’d picked her.

  She walked right up to him and into his arms, which closed hard around her. “Mia,” he breathed into her hair, burying his face in her neck, inhaling deeply. Taking comfort, she realized. It wasn’t something he’d ever done before, actively sought comfort from her. She whispered his name and hugged him to her, aware that everyone had moved off to give them some privacy.

  He pulled back enough to shove his hand into his pocket and come out with a small black box.

  Her heart stopped. She pulled it open and stared down at the delicate white gold promise ring that was two ribbons woven together leading to a knot lined with tiny sapphires.

  Her birthstone.

  “It’s after midnight,” he said softly. “Merry Christmas.”

  “We weren’t going to give each other a present,” she said just as softly, mirroring his words back to her from a few days ago as she ran a reverent finger over the beautiful ring.

  “Then it’s just a present present,” he said, a smile in his voice. “A promise for the future. Our future.”

  “Oh Nick,” she breathed, slipping the ring on, so happy she could scarcely contain herself. “I wasn’t sure you wanted a future.”

  “I do, very much. I think about my life before you came into it, Mia. It sucked.” He met her gaze. “I need you. I want you to know that. I should have told you sooner, but I thought that made me weak. I was wrong about that. You’re the only thing I care about. You’re the only thing that matters to me. I turned down the job—”

  “Nick,” she gasped. “No. You—”

  “I took a different one, with the same company. Still restorative justice, but I’ll be staying within the state of New York.”

  “But you wanted to travel.”

  “Wanted. Past tense. I want to be with you, Mia. You’re it for me. You’re everything.” He paused and let his gaze touch her every feature. “You’re the best choice I ever made. You’re my only choice.”

  She pressed her forehead to his, her words brushing against his lips. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

  Also by Jill Shalvis

  Simply Irresistible

  The Sweetest Thing

  Heating Up the Kitchen (cookbook)

  Christmas in Lucky Harbor

  Small Town Christmas (anthology)

  Head over Heels

  Lucky in Love

  At Last

  Forever and a Day

  Under the Mistletoe (short story)

  It Had to Be You

  Always on My Mind

  Praise for

  Jill Shalvis

  and Her Novels

  “Shalvis writes with humor, heart, and sizzling heat!”

  —Carly Phillips, New York Times bestselling author

  “Jill Shalvis is a total original! It doesn’t get any better.”

  —Suzanne Forster, New York Times bestselling author

  “Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story.”

  —Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of Harvest Moon

  “A Jill Shalvis hero is the stuff naughty dreams are made of.”

  —Vicki Lewis Thompson, New York Times bestselling author of Chick with a Charm

  The Lucky Harbor Series

  The Sweetest Thing

  “A wonderful romance of reunited lovers in a small town. A lot of hot sex, some delightful humor, and plenty of heartwarming emotion make this a book readers will love.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  “A Perfect 10! Once again Jill Shalvis provides readers with a sexy, funny, hot tale… The ending is as sweet as it is funny. Tara and Ford have some seriously hot chemistry going on and they make the most of it in The Sweetest Thing. Trust me: You’ll need an ice-cold drink nearby.”

  —RomRevToday.com

  “Witty, fun, and the characters are fabulous.”

  —FreshFiction.com

  “It is fabulous revisiting Lucky Harbor! I have been on tenterhooks waiting for Tara and Ford’s story and yet again, Jill Shalvis does not disappoint…”

  —RomanceJunkiesReviews.com

  “A fun-filled, sexy, entertaining story… [satisfies] one’s romantic sweet tooth.”

  —TheRomanceReader.com

  Simply Irresistible

  “Heartwarming and sexy… an abundance of chemistry, smoldering romance, and hilarious sisterly antics.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “The title says it all! Fans of Shalvis will recognize her trademark humor and sensuality.”

  —TheRomanceStudio.com

  “Five stars!… A talented writer. Simply Irresistible is fun, full of humor, and simply delightful in every way.”

  —HuntressReviews.com

  “This series is going to be one to watch as Jill Shalvis combines her quirky writing with a small-town America setting, while adding in some sizzling heat to make Simply Irresistible… simply irresistible!”

  —RomRevToday.com