“A big fat excuse for how hard and fast I was falling.”
“Aw, Marshall.” She blinked, a little embarrassed that the words made her tear up.
“Then after the wedding, when we kissed…” He inched closer. “I really hoped I had a shot.”
A shot? Was he crazy? “And you couldn’t tell by how much I stammer and blush and try to look anywhere but at you because…” She bit her lip. “Never mind.”
He leaned in and kissed her. “Not never mind. This is what I want to talk about. You, me, our kids, our lives, our hopes and dreams and past and…future.” Another kiss. “Because I think there can be one, Gracie, and I’m just warning you. I was famous for how fast I was on the football field. Speed made my career. And when it comes to love, I plan to be the same way.”
Did he saylove?
Taking a deep breath, she put a hand on his arm, taking hold of a mighty shoulder she ached to lean on for…for a long, long time.
“Then my answer is yes, Marshall. Let’s spend all the time we can together and see where it takes us.”
He answered with another kiss, longer this time, the connection warm and sweet. She let herself sink deeply into the delicious moment, stunned by how much she wanted love and a future and a man who was honest, kind, and present.
She’d done such a good job at denial that?—
The doorbell rang, pulling them apart.
“That’s Amazon,” he said, standing with a regretful smile. “Olivia put in an overnight order for a Christmas present for her mom, since she totally forgot. Do not move, Gracie McBride. I’ll be right back.”
“Go save the holiday. I’ll just be here…floating.”
With one more light kiss, he disappeared down the hall.
She stayed where she was, touching her lips, basking in that dizzy, sweet glow. He felt that way about her? He wanted to spend the holiday together talking about…the future?
This just officially became the very best Christmas ever in all her thirty-six years of life on Earth. Nothing could compare to what he’d just laid out for the next few weeks.
Through the window, Benny and Olivia flung snowballs with wild precision, their laughter ringing clear. The dogs were done, though, shivering on the top stair.
Gracie stood to let them in, not surprised her legs were like jelly when she tried to walk.
“Merry Christmas, darling!” The woman’s voice rang out from the front of the house, rich and unmistakably confident.
“Bianca? What are you doing here?”
What? Bianca was here—now? Well, at least he didn’t have to drive to the airport. And Gracie got to meet her, which was probably a good thing.
“Change of plans!” the woman announced, bright as the sun outside. “I’m spending the holiday here with you. Like a family. Can you get those bags from the Uber driver, Marsh? So much better for Olivia, don’t you think?”
Gracie froze in the mudroom, her hand on the knob to the patio door.
Silence stretched, then Marshall’s low, uneasy murmur. “No, no,” he said. “That’s not a good idea, Bianca…”
Oh, boy. They needed to talk—alone. Gracie grabbed her jacket from the hook and stuffed her feet into her boots in one lightning move, ready to vanish into the backyard and let him handle it privately.
But as she opened the door at the back of the mudroom, Newt came bounding in, followed by Kat, both dogs panting, covered in snow.
“Whoa, whoa, hold on there, kids,” she called, snagging their collars, knowing they’d go for the stranger who’d just blown in to wreck the dreamiest Christmas Gracie could imagine.
“Where’s my little Olivia?” the woman called, voice and heels getting louder and closer.
Still struggling to hold the dogs, Gracie glanced up just as the other woman walked into the kitchen.
In that instant, Gracie looked into the lion’s gold eyes of the single most beautiful creature she’d ever seen. Statuesque, with sleek black hair and creamed-coffee skin and dramatically made-up eyes, Bianca Hampton radiated confidence and attitude and very expensive perfume.
