Christmas with saint fun.., p.7
Christmas with Saint (Fun For the Holidays), page 7
This man always seemed to be on them for me.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
If he wants to worship at my altar, who am I to stop him? I thought to myself as I threw my head back and moaned.
It was going to be a long night, and I was going to relish in every single second of it, knowing full well that it would happen again because this man was finally mine. I thought about the private Christmas list hiding underneath my pillow and smiled to myself. I couldn’t wait to tell Saint about it.
After he finished apologizing, of course.
EPILOGUE
CHRISTMAS DINNER
IVY
ONE YEAR LATER
The seven of us, including Saint’s dad, sat around my parents’ dining room table, which was set to perfection for Christmas dinner with holiday-themed place settings, like we did each and every year at this time. It used to just be the six of us. Samantha was the newest addition, but even she’d been making an appearance for two years now. Her and my brother had gotten married three months ago, and I was so excited to have a sister! She had three of her own, but they all lived out of town, and none of them were as fabulous as me. Her words, not mine.
I thought she just liked my hair skills. I came in handy.
I hoped that one day, we’d be able to make this family dinner an even eight adults, but that would mean that Saint’s dad would have to find an actual girlfriend who stuck around for longer than two months. We had little hope for that though, no matter how hard we pushed. Saint had even threatened to put him on the app, and he’d threatened to disown him if he did.
Speaking of the app, there had been a lawsuit with some super rich guy that seemed to drag on forever. Apparently, the man was relentless when it came to companies developing things that he deemed too similar to his own. After months of working every angle he could possibly think of, the case was finally dismissed. He had nothing on Saint and my brother and was forced to walk away empty handed. None of us realized just how much it weighed on our subconscious until it was finally over with. The relief was palpable.
Sam kept placing her hand on her nonexistent belly, but every time she touched it, we all oohed and aahed like she was a magical being who was doing something no one had ever done before.
“Stop,” she whined, shaking her head and moving her hand away.
“We’re just excited,” my dad said with a grin.
Even though he had claimed that all he wanted was a healthy grandchild, we all knew he secretly hoped it would be a little boy. He couldn’t help it.
“And you’re carrying the first grandbaby in there,” my mom said as she wiped at her eyes even though there were no tears falling.
“Oh jeez, Mom. You can’t cry every time you talk about the baby,” I complained. “Plus, she’s going to be my best friend, so you can just step aside.”
“I thought I was your best friend,” Saint interrupted, and I leaned over to press a kiss to his mouth. “You are, sweetie. But she’s going to be my new best girlfriend.”
“I thought I was your best girlfriend.” Cori’s voice rang out from somewhere in the house, and without warning, she was suddenly in the room.
“What are you doing here?”
“Claiming my rightful place as best friend, obviously,” she said with sass, her hair a peach color now, which, of course, flattered her.
I was still confused as to why Cori was in the house during dinner when I heard Sam gasp. I shot her a look and realized that she wasn’t looking at me, but at something on the floor. Thinking that there might be a giant spider or some kind of bug, I quickly looked in the direction she was, only to see Saint on one knee, holding a black velvet box in his hand.
HE. WAS. ON. ONE. KNEE.
And not because he was apologizing, if you get what I mean.
He opened the box slowly, revealing an enormous pear-shaped diamond inside, and my eyes felt like they might pop right out of their sockets at how wide they’d grown.
“Ivy Simpson,” Saint said, and I focused all of my attention on him, his blue eyes shining, those two dimples tormenting me with their utter perfection.
He cleared his throat and started again. “Ivy Simpson, I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen years old. Some jerk made me promise never to touch you, so I tried my best to stay away. But you can’t keep a man from his destiny, his other half, his soul mate. And that’s what you are to me. What you’ll always be. Hell, I wanted to do this the day after we officially got together. Went out and bought you this ring two days later. I knew what I wanted that first night. What I’ll always want every night from now until I die. You. Only you. There has never been and will never be another woman on this planet meant for me. Please say that you’ll marry me. Say yes today and every day after it.”
Saint had turned into a blurry blob, and I could barely see him through all my tears.
“Yes. Of course, yes. Always yes.”
I still couldn’t see him clearly as I felt him push the ring onto my finger, stopping slightly at the knuckle before forcing it over. It was a perfect fit. I should have known. Everything Saint did seemed to be. At least when it came to us.
His mouth was on mine, his tongue in my mouth, and I heard my brother make a gagging sound, but I couldn’t care less. He had a head; he could turn it around and not watch.
When we broke the kiss, Saint wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“You’re going to be my wife.”
“I know!”
“Congratulations, bestie,” Cori said, and I turned to hug her.
“Is that why you’re here?”
“Of course. Saint would never propose in front of everyone and leave me out. I mean, he might have, but he would have paid for his insolence,” she explained with a finger gesture, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Let me see that thing.”
When I shoved my left hand in her face, she took it and let out a whistle. “Apparently, your man knows how you like things. BIG and MONSTER-SIZED!” she shouted, and I caught her double meaning before failing to shush her.
Saint might never forgive me if he knew I’d told Cori about his monster penis.
“Did you all know?” I looked around at everyone I considered family and watched them all nod their heads in unison.
They’d known this was happening today. They’d all seen the ring already. Saint had planned the entire thing.
“I wasn’t going to ask you until dessert, but Cori’s bitterness at losing best-friend status pushed it up a bit,” Saint said loud enough for Cori to hear, but she only offered a one-shouldered shrug.
“I couldn’t help it.” She sounded so sincere that everyone consoled her, telling her that no little baby could ever replace her.
“I don’t care,” I shouted before hoisting my left hand toward the ceiling “I’m getting married!”
The room burst into cheers as my mom started pouring glasses of champagne for everyone, except Sam, who made a face like it wasn’t fair.
“I’m sure one sip wouldn’t hurt the baby. People used to drink and smoke while they were pregnant, and their kids were fine,” Samantha said.
“I’m not sure that’s true,” I argued, and she shot me a death stare, so I shut my mouth.
Pregnant women were scary sometimes.
“To Saint and Ivy.” My dad started making a toast as he held his glass in the air, and we all followed suit. “For finally getting it together and doing the one thing we all knew they’d do eventually. Thanks for putting us out of our misery.”
“Amen to that!” Saint’s dad agreed, and my mouth dropped open before I started to take a sip from my glass.
“Now, give us all the babies,” my mom shouted, and everyone looked at her and busted out laughing.
I almost spit my liquid right out.
“Time to take away Mom’s champagne,” Davey said as he reached across the table for it, but she downed it in one gulp instead.
“Too slow,” she mocked, and Davey shot me a look that said Mom was going to be a handful later.
Not our problem, I mouthed and gave a nod toward Dad.
He gave me a thumbs-up.
“Do you like the ring?” Saint’s hot breath was in my ear, his words sending a shiver down my spine.
“It’s stunning, but you could have given me a Ring Pop, and I still would have said yes.”
I turned to face him as his arms wrapped around my middle, and he tugged me against his hard body.
“Now you tell me,” he teased. “By the way, I need to take you home and have my way with you.”
“We haven’t even eaten dinner yet.” I pouted a little because I was actually starving. I’d waited all day to eat this meal. Heck, I looked forward to it all year long.
“As soon as we eat, we leave,” he demanded, and I touched his nose with my fingertip before pressing a kiss there.
“Fine.” I acquiesced before I started imagining all the ways in which Saint might show me how much he loved and appreciated me.
We were engaged, and for whatever reason, I felt different even though nothing had technically changed. I just felt … more. More love for Saint. More emotional toward him. More secure. More confident.
“Make sure you bring some dessert home. I have plans for that whipped cream,” he informed me as he wagged his eyebrows before shooting my private parts a glance.
The man was an absolute god in the bedroom. He hadn’t stopped teaching me things since we’d started having sex. I hadn’t known that it could be fun, comfortable, and so soul-connecting, all at once. I felt like I still had so much to learn. But I was nothing if not a willing student.
I’d thought last Christmas was the happiest I’d ever been. The time when Saint admitted his feelings for me and we finally got to become the couple I’d always wished for.
But this Christmas had far surpassed the last one. All because of one question and the ring on my finger.
I wondered what he’d do next Christmas.
The End
Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed Saint and Ivy’s story. This one was such a blast for me to write, and I had the best time writing it. I hope it was fun to read!
Have you been loving my seasonal-themed stories? Well, guess what! MORE ARE COMING! You’ll have an ENTIRE YEAR’S worth of reads, starting in 2023. That’s twelve stories, one a month, to make Fun for the Holidays.
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Did you miss FALLING FOR THE BOSS—a fake dating romance set in New York City? You’ve got to read it. I just know you’re going to love it!
Other Books by J. Sterling
Bitter Rivals—an enemies-to-lovers romance
Dear Heart, I Hate You
In Dreams—a new adult college romance
Chance Encounters—a coming-of-age story
The Game Series
The Perfect Game—Book One
The Game Changer—Book Two
The Sweetest Game—Book Three
The Other Game (Dean Carter)—Book Four
The Playboy Serial
Avoiding the Playboy—Episode #1
Resisting the Playboy—Episode #2
Wanting the Playboy—Episode #3
The Celebrity Series
Seeing Stars—Madison & Walker
Breaking Stars—Paige & Tatum
Losing Stars—Quinn & Ryson
The Fisher Brothers Series
No Bad Days—a new adult, second-chance romance
Guy Hater—an emotional love story
Adios Pantalones—a single-mom romance
Happy Ending
The Boys of Baseball
(the next generation of Fullton State baseball players)
The Ninth Inning—Cole Anders
Behind the Plate—Chance Carter
Safe at First—Mac Davies
Fun for the Holidays
(a collection of stand-alone novels with holiday-based themes)
Kissing My Coworker
Dumped for Valentine’s
My Week with the Prince
Fools in Love
Spring’s Second Chance
Don’t Marry Him
Summer Lovin’
Soaring Through August
Falling for the Boss
Tricked by My Ex
The Thanksgiving Hookup
Christmas with Saint
About the Author
Jenn Sterling is a Southern California native who loves writing stories from the heart. Every story she tells has pieces of her truth in it as well as her life experience. She has her bachelor’s degree in radio/TV/film and has worked in the entertainment industry the majority of her life.
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J. Sterling, Christmas with Saint (Fun For the Holidays)
