Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131888 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
If that was what it took, then that was what it took.
If it wasn’t Christmas Day, Nox wouldn’t be hanging out with the whole family, anyway. When her father was home, Liyah normally visited by herself to keep the peace.
Even though there hadn’t been any more “fist meet face” episodes, Nox tended to keep his guard up around the Knights’ enforcer.
Nox stood in the corner by the roaring fireplace, taking in the disaster left behind after everyone opened their gifts. Boxes, torn and balled up wrapping paper, forgotten gifts, empty glasses, coffee mugs and spilled bowls of nuts and pretzels littered the room.
Of course, he and the big man did not exchange anything but guarded looks.
Now Nox sipped at a beer with his gut jammed pack from a great early Christmas dinner and even better huge slice of sweet potato pie, drowning in real whipped cream. One of Liyah’s specialties.
She had brought over four pies. All four had been decimated.
Like Liyah predicted, Caleb, Devyn and Keenan snuck off while the adults cleaned up the dining room and kitchen. Her sister Asia, at fifteen, was now curled up in a recliner talking a mile a minute on her cell phone. She was having an animated discussion about boys with whoever was on the other end.
Unless her father was in hearing distance, then the conversation quickly switched to makeup and clothes.
One side of Nox’s mouth pulled up as he silently wished luck on all the boys wanting to date the stunningly beautiful girl in the future. That grin quickly dropped when Romeo crossed the large living room with his eyes laser-focused on Liyah.
As soon as she spotted him heading her way, she lifted her hand with her palm out, stopping him in his tracks.
Not a word needed to be said.
With a shake of his head, the Knights’ president grumbled something, took a wide detour around her and headed out of the living room.
The man had some fucking balls trying to approach Nox’s woman when they were in the same room. He didn’t know when to quit, even though Liyah was always clear with how she felt about the horn dog. To his face.
Nox guessed he took her as a challenge.
A challenge he’d never win.
Because Nox won. Not Romeo.
The grin he had lost once again spread across his face.
“Hey,” he heard softly next to him.
He tipped his face down to the woman he loved more and more every day. “Hey.”
She held out a narrow box. “With all the craziness earlier, this got lost in the pile of gifts.”
He stared at it. “It’s for me?”
She bugged her eyes out at him and shoved it at him. “No, it’s for Romeo. Of course it’s for you.”
He took it from her fingers. “From?”
Why was she fighting a grin? He narrowed his eyes on her.
She elbowed him. “Just open it and stop asking questions.”
He studied the shape of the box. It had to be a new watch since his went missing the other week.
“Stop trying to figure out what it is and open it!”
Why was she so damn antsy?
“I already know it’s a new watch.”
She rolled her eyes. “Men! So damn confident when they’re wrong.”
“It’s not a watch?”
“Nox!”
He chuckled and ripped off the festive wrapping paper to find a plain white box. When he lifted the lid, he blinked.
And blinked again.
He lifted his gaze to see a huge smile on her face and her eyes held a gleam. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered.
He forced, “Liyah…” up his throat. “This isn’t a joke, right?”
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t joke about something like this.”
He dropped his gaze back to the item in the box. Then it slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground as he grabbed her in a bear hug and swung her around.
Her laughter was thick with tears as he did so.
He couldn’t speak for a few minutes because if he did, it might just come out in a blubber. And he knew better than to show any kind of weakness under Magnum’s roof.
Instead, he blinked back the tears, swiping at the stray one threatening to spill over, and focused on the woman in front of him, even though she was a little blurry.
“I’ll take it that you’re happy about this?” Liyah asked.
“After finding out he was going to be a father, how long did it take Jason to pack his bags?”
Her mouth dropped open for a second, then she shoved him playfully. “That is so not funny!”
He took her into his arms again, put his mouth to her ear, and said, “I won’t be running for the hills. In fact, good luck getting rid of me.”
“Remember you said that when you’re changing poopy diapers in the middle of the night. Or pacing for hours, trying to get the baby back to sleep.”
“Can I borrow a suitcase?”