Holiday for HIre(25)
“Hey.” He bent to meet her eyes directly and smiled. “I’m a man who honors his commitments .”
“You are. You’re a good man.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. He was much better than she deserved, even if it had taken her a while to realize .
“I don’t know about that.” He stepped back, his eyes downcast as he scratched behind his neck. “Actually, I have to be honest. I didn’t plan on coming .”
She tried not to let that admission wound her. It’s what she’d expected, after all. And he had shown up in the end .
“Was it my email?” she asked, praying to St. Nick it was that and not the paycheck .
His perfect forehead wrinkled as his brows pushed together. “What email? Did you send something? Our wifi went out with the storm.” His phone, she knew, was so old it didn’t have internet capability. She probably should have texted him instead. “What did it say ?”
“Not much.” She took a deep breath. It was harder to say this in person. “Just that—” She stopped mid-sentence. “If you didn’t get my email, why did you show up ?”
He seemed to search for an answer. Then he simply shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I just did .”
Her tears began to spill over. “Oh, Ian. I was wrong. Christmas magic is real.” Otherwise, why else would he be there ?
Ian’s eyes widened. “Did you just admit you were wrong?” he teased .
“I did.” She pushed back into his arms. “So wrong about so much. I should never have tried to make you into something that you aren’t. You are more than good enough. You’re perfect how you are. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure that out .”
“So tonight, you want — ”
She cut him off. “I want you to be you . Nothing else .”
“Man, I think this gig just got a whole lot easier.” His smile was contagious .
She just had one tiny issue. “And I don’t want this to be a gig for you, either. I’ll give you your final check, but I’d like you to. . .” She paused, not wanting to ruin everything by falling back into her authoritative ways. “Ian, will you go with me tonight as my date ?”
“Jane, I’ll go with you tonight, as your boyfriend .”
Epilogue
“F or the last time, Jane, it doesn’t need to be perfect! Want me to do it?” Ian was laughing, though, because he thought her compulsions were cute, and he knew that she knew that. She stuck her tongue out at him .
“It’s going to be perfect no matter what, because these are our wedding invitations,” she told him as she inked “Mr. and Mrs. Blake Donovan” onto a crisp linen envelope. “So there .”
“Oh, that’s good news, it means I can do all the centerpieces myself and save you all the stress!” he teased .
“Don’t you dare!” She pushed her chair back from the pile of envelopes on the dining room table and stood up to her full height to glare at her fiancé. Unfortunately, her full height was still a full foot below his, and so she found herself helpless when he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder .
“Let me down,” she commanded, pounding her small fists on his back .
“Nope. You knew our deal.” He carried her up the stairs and into their bedroom—would she ever tire of using the word “their” to describe it?—before dumping her unceremoniously on the bed .
“But I wasn’t being Crazy Jane!” she protested, even as her body grew warm watching him unbutton his shirt .
“Eh, maybe not, but you looked pretty sexy stuffing those envelopes, and I want to enjoy my wife-to-be. Stuff your envelope, right?” He cracked himself up while Jane groaned .
“Gross! At least use a Christmas metaphor .”
He finished removing his shirt and lay down next to her on their bed. “You sure you want to do this?” he asked, brushing her cheek with his thumb .
“Have my stocking stuffed by my sexy Irish fiancé? Totally.” She nipped his thumb with her teeth, enjoying the way it made his eyes darken .
“No, silly. I mean are you sure you want to marry me on your favorite day of the year? A Christmas wedding means sharing our day with your holiday. With my family, most likely. It won’t be the quiet, picture-book day you’re used to .”
Jane thought back to the previous year, to the magic of realizing that her and Ian were in love as they whirled around the dance floor at Blake and Andy’s Christmas Eve wedding. And the quieter, more satisfying magic of realizing their wedding was actually really, really tacky, and therefore not going to co-opt her holiday at all .
She remembered waking up in his arms the next morning, and the exhilarating drive down south to his dad’s Christmas morning breakfast. Over coffee and a Full Irish, she’d been surprised to discover she fit right into his world. When she said something snobby, it was meant with gentle laughter, not judgement .
Jane had spent a lot of time over the past year learning from Ian .
“Ian Brooks, there is no day I don’t want to share with you. And with your family. And sometimes, a scrapbook is better than a picture-book .”
With that, he kissed her deeply. As she relaxed into his embrace, she thought to herself that he’d been right all along. Christmas wishes could come true .