He shook his head. “Never. I’m pretty sure I’ll be struck by lightning before I ever entertain the thought of settling down with one woman.”
“Ditto,” Tanner added, but for once in his life, he didn’t sound confident . . . at all.
I smiled as I watched Tanner’s gaze following Timberlyn across the room. There was something familiar about the way he watched her. I recognized that look, and for some reason, I looked out at Brock, still on the dance floor with Morgan.
He was watching Tanner as well. Then he looked at me and raised a brow. He’d noticed too.
I focused back on my baby brother and Dirk, both racing to reach Timberlyn first.
“This is most definitely going to be fun to watch.”
Epilogue
KAYLEE
Christmas
I wrapped the shawl tighter around my body to chase away the chill as I stared out the window. Snowflakes fell softly, covering the mountains and meadows with a fresh coat of white. The snow sparkled like a thousand diamonds.
Glancing down, I smiled when I saw my own diamond.
One more look out the window, and I sighed in contentment. It was beautiful and perfect for Christmas Day.
The sound of Ty walking around upstairs had my heartbeat picking up. I was both nervous and excited this morning. This was our first Christmas together. I turned and looked at our beautiful tree. It was simple, silver and blue the only two colors on the tree, along with the white twinkle lights.
I sat down on the sofa, grabbed my tea, and crossed my legs. As I took a sip, my handsome husband walked down the steps and into the living room. His dark-brown hair was a mess, most likely from my fingers in it earlier, after he’d woken me up to make love to me. His blue eyes landed on mine, and he smiled.
My insides melted. How was it that he could still make me feel like all this was new? The flutters in my stomach, the way my heart felt like it skipped a beat, the way my body got covered in goose bumps when he simply put his hand on my lower back as we walked into a room together. The man knew how to bring my body to life.
“Good morning and merry Christmas,” Ty said, bending down and kissing me quickly.
“Morning. Merry Christmas to you.”
“We need to be over at my folks’ place around ten.”
“Okay.”
I watched him walk into the kitchen, my mouth watering at the sexy sight before me. I dabbed at the corners of my mouth, ’cause, you know, the man still made me drool.
Ty was dressed in cotton pajama pants that hung low on his hips. His broad chest and back were bare, and with every move he made, his muscles flexed. I licked my lips and tried to keep my libido in check. She seemed to have a mind of her own, though.
“I made blueberry muffins to bring, and a quiche.”
“Damn, that sounds good now!”
I laughed as I replied, “Do not eat any of it, Ty Shaw. I made some banana bread you can have, though. Or I can make us some breakfast.”
Last Christmas, I’d been invited over to the Shaws’ annual Christmas breakfast. Of course, Ty and I weren’t together then, and we spent much of the day taking jabs at each other and then playing with all of Blayze’s games. Looking back, I had to giggle. It was so obvious how much we liked each other and were trying to fight it.
Closing my eyes, I let out a long, slow breath. My occasional nightmares had stopped many months ago, pretty much after I’d stayed in Ty’s bed every night. Ty hadn’t had a nightmare since we got married at the lake. It felt good knowing he was able to leave more and more of his past behind as we grew our lives together.
He walked into the living room and set his coffee on the table, then added more wood to the fire.
“Want to open presents now?” I asked, my voice a little bit too excited.
Ty grinned. “Who gets to open one first?”
“Me! I want to open one first.”
“Okay, let me see which one.”
He walked over to the tree and bent down, picking up presents and looking at them, only to put them down and pick up others.
“You’re picking up the presents that are for you! Pick one out for me!” I said, tossing a throw pillow at him.
“Fine, fine. Here, open this one.”
It was a small box. I crinkled my brows and stared at it. “It’s so light.”
“Don’t judge, Kaylee. Big things come in little packages.”
My gaze lifted to look at him. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Open it already!” he said, taking his coffee and sitting down next to me on the sofa.
Once I’d removed the wrapping paper, I pulled the lid off and looked inside. It was a brochure.