A Very Merry Hockey Holiday (Assassins #6.5)(17)

“Yeah, I’m here. How are you, sweetheart?”

“Good! So glad you are there. We picked a date!”

Reese smiled when Phillip mouthed “f*ck” before she said, “That’s wonderful! When?”

“We want to do it Valentine’s day!”

Phillip’s eyes went wide as Reese’s heart stopped. So soon? “Honey, that’s in two months. There is no way we can find a venue.”

“I called the mansion you guys got married at and someone canceled yesterday! They have opening, so I took it.”

“Oh wow,” she said, and she was convinced Phillip was having a heart attack.

“Are you sure, Claire? That’s quick. Don’t you want to wait, I don’t know, ten years?” he asked.

Claire and Jude laughed, but Reese knew Phillip wasn’t joking.

“Come on, Phillip, this is awesome! I hope you’ll give me away. It would mean the world to me.”

Yeah, that did him in, and Reese saw the tears in his eyes as he slowly nodded his head. “I would love to, Claire. I don’t want to, but I will.” Reese smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

“Awesome! We are pretty excited.”

“We are too. It’s going to be amazing,” Reese promised as she silently consoled her freaking out husband.

“Yeah, so merry Christmas to us, right? Finally got a day. It’s the greatest gift, in my opinion, since agreeing about this has been a pain!”

Smiling, Reese laced her fingers with Phillip’s and squeezed. She was pretty sure that he didn’t agree about this being a great gift, but this was a part of life. They knew that Claire wasn’t going to stay little forever, and they knew one day they would have to give her away. Jude was a good guy for that. He loved her and Reese trusted that he always would. While it didn’t seem like it now, it was a great gift for them all. They were going to grow as a family with the possibility of a new child and then the reality of a new son-in-law.

And she was beyond thankful for that.

She had everything she’d never thought she needed.

As she kissed Phillip’s jaw, he met her gaze and she said, “Merry Christmas to us all.”





Leaning against the back wall, Claire Anderson surveyed her work with a wide smirk on her face. While three girls hung from chandeliers in seductive acrobatics, nine girls were on stage dancing provocatively to Sia’s “Chandelier.” It was her favorite dance she had choreographed yet. She was so proud of it, and it was everything she could have ever dreamed it could be. Moving her head to the music, she watched as her girls killed it. The crowd seemed to like it too. The place was packed, money flying as the men hooted and hollered at her girls.

She had done a fantastic job.

Content with everything, she smiled as the song ended and the girls went still, the lights going black. She knew this meant she had to go, but she didn’t want to leave yet. She had seen the show over a billion times it seemed, but she couldn’t get enough of it. This was her dream come true, and she loved watching it come to life. Watching until she knew she couldn’t any longer, she said bye to everyone before rushing out of the club to the car that was waiting on her.

Sitting back in the seat, she let out a long breath before pulling her phone out. Clicking her fiancé’s name, she smiled as she texted him.



Claire: I don’t want to go home, I want to come to New York. I miss you.



She didn’t have to wait long for his response.



Jude: I miss you, babe, but I’m gonna be so busy. Just enjoy your family. I’ll meet you on Thursday. No biggie. I’ll have your present and everything.



Claire: I don’t want any, I want you.



Jude: I want you.



Claire: Then I am coming to New York.



Jude: Don’t be difficult. You won’t even miss me, you’ll be too busy with Sawyer.



She would, but she really wanted to spend Christmas with the guy who made her life worth living. Yes, she loved Phillip, Reese, and Sawyer and really didn’t want to spend the holiday without them, but she would if it meant she got to spend it with Jude. He had completely changed her life. He was the missing puzzle piece and gave her everything she needed. Yeah, she would see him the following day, but he wouldn’t be there to open gifts and get stuffed on food on the actual day.

Christmas never really mattered to Claire before. That changed when she came to live with Phillip and even more when she got with Jude. He made everything twenty times better, and she knew that she would be sort of bummed that he wouldn’t be there that morning. It sucked that he played and lived in a different state, but that’s what they’d signed up for. They saw each other a lot and she got by, but she decided that she might not sign the next contract when hers was up. She wanted to be where Jude was, and because of that, she was saving money like crazy.

They might have to miss some holidays together for the next couple years, but when it was time to have kids, that wouldn’t happen. She refused to raise kids in Vegas. And while it had been her hope and dream to headline a show, she figured that since she was doing it now, she wouldn’t regret it when she quit to be a wife and mom. That would be a long time coming, but she knew what she wanted in life and that was Jude Sinclair.