“That’s good. He’ll live a lot longer, then.”
“Ha. You and our cousins will get along just fine,” Soren says.
Franco and Fabio stand on the edge of the sidewalk with their babies in strollers. “There you are.” Franco hugs me first and then Fabio. “So you must be Sheriff Stone.”
“Yes, and this asshole is just like the two of you. He’s about to kick the hardware store guy’s ass over Mia.”
“Over him?” Fabio points toward the old man.
“No. Over him,” Mark snarls as Hank comes out.
“Oh. Yeah, keep that fucker away from our wives and we won’t have a problem.”
“See what I mean?” Soren throws his hands up.
“Good company,” Franco says, shaking Mark’s hand.
“You’ll understand one day, cousin.”
“I know that woman,” Fabio remarks, staring at Nicki.
“You do?” Mark answers, body tensing.
“Yes. I had her banned from my restaurant in the city.”
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Franco adds.
“You can say that again.”
“Mark, dear. Why haven’t you introduced me to all your handsome friends?” Nicki says, winking at Derek in particular which is going to get her clobbered by Jenny. She knows exactly what she’s doing.
“Get out of here, you two.”
“Is that any way to treat your mother and your fiancée?” Susie says, glaring at me while reaching out for Mark. He quickly dodges her grasp and snarls.
“That’s it, Susie. As the sheriff, I have the law on my side and if you don’t get the fuck away from my family, I’m going to have a restraining order put on your ass. I’ll run you out of town, but not without having you arrested first.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Come on, Nicki. Let’s go.”
“So you’re the one who invited her. I will file the restraining order on both of you.” They quickly turn away. “Love, do me a favor. Stay away from them at all costs.”
“Don’t worry. I have a security team here with my family,” Franco says. He nods to a man across the street from us, and the man slowly follows the two women.
“Still, I’d have to kill someone if something ever happened to you.”
“Same here. Now show me around.” The snow begins to lightly come down as the sky darkens and the sun sets. The streetlights along with the Christmas lights turn on, creating an evening of beauty. I gasp when the sound of Christmas music fills in the silence.
We break away from the group, walking around the streets as he introduces me to all his favorite shop owners and his Deputy, Simon Hart, who is a handsome man in his early twenties. I think he’s a couple of years younger than me. He’s on duty and patrolling the festival in his uniform coat and hat. It makes me want to see Mark in his. I’d never thought twice about a man in uniform before until now.
We make it over to an empty spot under a streetlamp when The Eagles’ “Please Come Home for Christmas” plays on the speaker just above the light.
“Dance with me,” he demands, holding his hand out.
“Yes, Sheriff Stone.”
“One day, you’ll be calling me husband.”
“One day, I just might.”
“There’s no might. I have the handcuffs.”
“In that case, I might hold off on marrying you,” I answer with a wink.
“Fuck, woman, you’re making me rock solid.” He twirls me in a circle and then pulls me close. “That’s hard to do in freezing temps.”
“Can we call it a night?”
“Let’s say goodbye to your family.”
“Yes. Of course. How silly of me.” We search for my family who are gathered around one of the three hot chocolate stands on the streets. It’s almost midnight when we make it back to his home. It’s small but nice, although he doesn’t give me a tour. Instead, he yanks off my boots and kicks off his. I’m in his arms and he’s taking the stairs two at a time. I giggle as he growls.
“You’re my best Christmas gift ever.”
Chapter Eight
Mark
I need to be inside her again. The thought of her with anyone else sets me off more than I can even explain. Knowing how upset she was and her motivation when it came to Hank eased some of the tension, but that misunderstanding could have been the end of us if she’d left.
From the first second she mentioned Nicki to me, I should have told her the truth. Everyone in this town knows and so it wasn’t a state secret or anything, but I didn’t want to mar our future with the past. Instead, that shit came to bite me right on the ass and then some.
As I take the stairs two at a time, I forget about all the other problems and celebrate the fact that I have Mia in my arms and there’s no way in hell I’ll be letting her go. Once we make it into my bedroom, I make quick work of our clothes. I need to be inside her again, but I have to make sure that I don’t break my future wife’s little pussy. After pummeling it this morning I should behave myself, but there’s something I need to do.