A Very Merry Hockey Holiday (Assassins #6.5) Read online

  The Bellevue Bullies Series

  Boarded by Love

  Clipped by Love (early 2015)

  Hooked by Love (late 2015)

  The Assassins Series

  Taking Shots

  Trying to Score

  Empty Net

  Falling for the Backup

  Blue Lines

  Breaking Away

  Laces and Lace

  A Very Merry Hockey Holiday

  Overtime (Spring 2015)

  Standalone

  Let it be Me

  Taking Risks Series

  The Whiskey Prince

  Becoming the Whiskey Princess (Due out 2015)

  Happy Holidays, Assassin fans.

  I love you.

  This book is for you.

  Lucas Brooks was a very lucky man.

  Or at least he thought he was.

  According to everyone at Rocky Top Wines though, he was crazy not only to be married but also to be completely and utterly in love with his wife, who was currently a crazy pregnant lady. While he didn’t share their sentiments, he didn’t miss the “poor bastard” looks he received as he made his way toward his wife’s office in a hurry. He had tried calling Fallon at least six times before he arrived to get her for their eldest son, Aiden’s, game but she was ignoring her phone. Like she always did when she was working. She knew he was coming though, and he planned to get on to her, but first things first was to get her out of the office and into the car.

  He knew it was going to be a struggle, which was why he offered to pick her up. Not only did she hate the cold, but she was obsessing over the New Year’s party that Rocky Top Wines was throwing for the Assassins team and he wished she wouldn’t. Even without the added stress of the party, she was also only a week out from having their newest addition, a little girl. Which meant that Fallon was in full-bitch mode. He knew this. The kids knew this. Her family knew this. Everyone did. The only thing was, Lucas didn’t care. They had a hockey game to get to, and hockey came before bitch mode and parties.

  Hockey came before everything.

  Reaching for the door, he paused when someone said, “I wouldn’t do that.”

  Lucas looked over at Fallon’s assistant Rob and chuckled. “Is she really that bad?”

  Rob looked as if he had seen a ghost as he nodded slowly. “She is on a whole other level, Lucas. She told me that if I didn’t get her Peppermint Oreos by lunch, I wasn’t getting a holiday bonus!”

  “I thought I stocked you up?” Lucas asked quietly, coming toward his desk.

  “She ate them all!”

  “I got you fifty packs!” Lucas yelled, shocked. “She ate fifty packs?”

  “Dude, have you seen her ass? There’s fifty packs worth of Oreos.”

  Lucas glared. “Don’t talk about her like that; I like her ass.”

  “You would,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “But me, I’m mad. She said my bow tie was stupid and that I shouldn’t wear pants this tight because it was distracting. So really, she shouldn’t talk to me like that,” he said with a flair of his hand before waving Lucas off. “But whatever. I warned you. Go get eaten by Pregnantasaurus Rex.”

  Lucas scoffed. “That’s funny.”

  “Ain’t gonna be funny when she bites your head off for whatever reason she can think of.”

  “Probably ’cause I knocked her up,” Lucas said with a wink.

  But Rob didn’t think Lucas was funny. The two had gotten close over the years. Rob was Fallon’s sidekick and Lucas trusted him completely. He looked out for his beautiful wife, especially when she was with child. Fallon might threaten to take his bonus, but he would make sure Rob had a hefty check in his stocking for Christmas.

  With a glare, Rob said, “I want to bite your head off for that.”

  Lucas laughed before pushing the door open to find his beautiful wife working hard behind her desk. She always stunned him when he saw her. Her hair was up in a high bun, her makeup done flawlessly, and her lips ever so plump and perfect. But he didn’t miss the scowl on her face. Looking up from her desk, she glared before looking down at the clock.

  “Shit,” she muttered, going to her computer and clicking around like crazy, probably since she knew he would physically pick her up and drag her out of the office without letting her finish. She had till he got to her before he would shut the computer and make her leave.

  Giving her time, he smiled as he asked, “Is that how you greet your loving husband?”

  Her brow furrowed more before she shut down her computer. “I don’t like you today.”

  “Do you ever like me?” he teased as she stood, her large belly straining beneath the sweater dress she wore. She was swollen from head to toe, but still she wore heels.

  Crazy Pregnantasaurus Rex. He was going to use that more often.

  “I wonder that sometimes,” she snapped, moving her hair out of her face. “I can’t even remember the reason I married you or continually make children with you.”

  He knew she didn’t mean any of it, she was just…pregnant.

  “’Cause I’m good in bed,” he said with a wink and she glared.

  “Ugh, I am so stressed out and my body aches and I really don’t want to go sit in the rink because it hurts my back and ugh, Lucas, stop looking at me like that!”

  He smiled. “You look beautiful,” he cooed at her as she waddled toward him.

  She rolled her eyes. “If you think fat is beautiful, then yeah, I’m that.”

  “Stop,” he barked at her as she slid her arms into the jacket he held open for her. “You’re scaring the employees, the kids, hell, everyone.”

  “But you,” she challenged and he grinned.

  “Except me. I know how to handle you. This isn’t my first rodeo.”

  “Well, it will be your last,” she warned as she let out a breath.

  Kissing her neck, he wrapped his arms around her waist, his hands barely touching as he massaged his growing child. Kissing her again, he chuckled before whispering, “Did you know that I think you are the most gorgeous woman in the world?”

  He saw her cheeks pull back in a small smile, but he knew it wasn’t that easy. “You have to say that so I’ll continue to sleep with you.”

  He chuckled against her jaw before dusting it slowly with kisses. “Never. You’ll sleep with me no matter what.”

  “Maybe,” she grumbled and he grinned, kissing her neck again.

  “And the reason you married me is because you are totally devoted to me,” he whispered again, his fingers dancing along where that was written along her wrist.

  Totally devoted. It was their thing. Something he treasured.

  Leaning against his face, she kissed his jaw. “You’re right.”

  “I know, only happens sometimes,” he said, kissing her again. Holding her tightly, he could feel every single bit of her tension. He hated that. She needed to be calm and stress-free. It couldn’t be healthy for his new baby girl if her mother was stressed.

  “What can I do to make you happy, Fallon?” he asked, his hands slowly going down her stomach to her thighs. She took in a sharp breath before leaning her head back against his shoulder, her body weight strong against him. It was nothing to him, though. He was pretty sure he could pick her up and take her against the wall, but of course, for the safety of their child, he wouldn’t do that. But he would play. He would try to relieve some stress from his gorgeous wife. He would do just about anything for her.

  “I mean, I like the direction your hands are going, but aren’t our children in the car?”

  He nodded, tracing kisses up her neck. “They are, but Stella is sleeping and Aiden and Asher