“I look ridiculous.”
“You look amazing.” Holly stood behind Joy, smoothing the bright red silk over her shoulders.
For the last hour, her friends had been crowded into her bathroom, giving Joy a Christmas makeover.
Thanh swatted at her hand. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on filling in Joy’s eyebrows with a silvery white. “Stop fiddling with your hair and hold still.”
Joy dropped her hand from the long curly wig perched on her head. “Why am I doing this again?”
“Because we’re switching things up,” Noelle said.
“Yeah, we’re smashing the patriarchy.” Holly nodded in agreement
Thanh stood back, eyeing his handiwork. “That might be a bit much, but who says we can’t have a Ms. Claus instead of a Mr.?”
Joy eyed her outfit in the mirror. She wore a fitted red satin suit with a white shirt and a slim tie decorated with sprigs of holly on a red background. A traditional Santa hat sat perched at a jaunty angle on top of a long curly wig with strands of silver tinsel woven into the snow-white strands. Thanh added silver powder to her eyebrows and silver eyeshadow to complete the effect.
“My feet hurt,” Joy grumbled, looking down at the red satin pumps her friends insisted she needed to wear.
“Girl, please.” Holly rolled her eyes.
Noelle gently grasped Joy by the shoulders. “I know your heart isn’t in this, but there’s no point sitting at home.”
Joy twisted her hands, trying to calm the nervous knots in her stomach. “Be honest. Is flying to Florida to surprise Jason a bad idea?”
“Nick and I wouldn’t have suggested it if we didn’t think it was a good idea. It’s the perfect time to make a grand romantic gesture.” Holly took Joy’s hands in hers. “Play Santa and have some fun tonight. You’ll fly to Florida with Nick and me tomorrow. Trust me, okay?”
She sighed. “Okay.”
Why did she let Holly and Nick talk her into such a ridiculous gesture? What if she was wrong? Holly and Nick were going to Florida to celebrate an early Christmas with Nick’s family so they could be here in Seattle to celebrate Christmas at the hospital. It was important to Holly to spend Christmas with the many kids at the hospital who didn’t have families to spend the holidays with. Holly and Nick were adamant that everything would work out between Joy and Jason. She wanted to believe it would happen, that it was finally her turn to be the girl the guy wanted instead of the one left behind, but she couldn’t help questioning if her instincts were really right this time. She’d bought a ticket, and her bags were packed. It was time to take a chance and be the heroine of her own story.
Straightening her tie, she took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”
The Alehouse buzzed with the chatter of their co-workers and their significant others when they arrived. Thanh’s husband, Milo, met them at the door, handing Joy a shot glass.
“Thanh sent me a text to make sure I had this ready for you when you arrived,” Milo said.
Thanh gave his husband a peck on the cheek and tweaked his candy cane–striped bow tie. “Best husband ever.”
Joy took the shot glass and tipped it back, only to start sputtering and coughing. “Fireball,” she wheezed.
“Come on, let’s get you to your throne,” Holly said, dragging Joy toward a chair set up at one end of the room.
Joy hesitated, bombarded by the memory of sitting on Jason’s lap last year. Here she was, in the same place at the same time, but she was a completely different person.
“I guess I got my wish,” she said under her breath. So why didn’t she feel like she’d gotten what she wanted?
Because Jason isn’t here.
“It’s going to be fun, I promise.” Holly gave her a gentle push toward the chair.
As soon as Joy settled herself, Holly turned to the crowd and shouted, “Who wants to sit on Santa’s lap and tell Ms. Claus what you want for Christmas?”
A familiar voice shouted from the back of the room, “I do.”
She gasped when the crowd parted and Jason walked toward her. Joy grasped the arms of the chair, her heart thundering in her chest. Jason was here, walking toward her with a smile on his face.
“What—what are you doing here?”
He carefully perched on her lap, putting his arm around her shoulder as he caressed her cheek. “I came to tell Santa what I want for Christmas.”
“You what?” She looked at him in wonder.
“I came to tell Santa what I want for Christmas,” he repeated, kissing her temple.
She couldn’t think straight looking into Jason’s eyes while trying to process what was happening. “But I was going to come to Florida and surprise you,” she blurted out.
His lips quirked. “I know.”
Jason laughed softly when Joy wrinkled her nose, looking at him with confusion. He pointed to where Holly, Nick, and the rest of the Andersons were standing off to the side with her dads, Noelle and Hugh, Poornima and Rajeev, and Milo and Thanh beaming at them.
Joy turned back to Jason “What is happening?”
Jason cupped her cheek, his eyes searching hers. “You want to know what I want for Christmas? I want to play pinball with you until I can beat your high score.”
Joy tried to blink back the tears that had already begun to fall.
“I want to go to The Little Red Hen on a Friday nights and spin you around on the dance floor until we’re both breathless. I want to spend lazy Sundays in bed with you, talking about everything and nothing.”
Jason gave her a tender kiss before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. He got off her lap and onto one knee, opening the box to reveal an oval diamond surrounded by smaller stones. It wasn’t the over-the-top, gigantic, fake engagement ring he’d slipped on her finger before. It was simple, unpretentious, and absolutely perfect.
He took the ring out of the box and took her hand. Before he put the ring on, he hesitated, looking up at her with a hint of uncertainty in his gaze. “I want to open a recording studio here in Seattle.” He took a deep breath. “I want—Joy Buchanan, I want to make Christmas wishes with you for the rest of my life. I can’t promise that I won’t go back on the road again—”
Joy held his face in her hands. “And I would never ask you to make that promise.”
Jason pushed the ring onto her finger. “I can promise that no matter where I am, I’ll love you. And I know it’s probably too soon, and we can be engaged for as long as you want…” There was a slight tremble in his voice when he asked, “Will you marry me, Joy?”
Looking down at the passion in his eyes, there was only one answer she could give. The signs were all there, and this time she knew in her heart she wasn’t misreading them.
Joy leaned down, kissing his forehead and his nose before her lips met his. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips when there was a hair’s breadth between them.
Jason pulled her up and into his arms. She pressed her hands against his chest. “I missed you so much,” she said, burrowing her face in his neck.
He lifted her chin, bringing his lips down on hers again. They were soft and firm, and Joy shivered with the promise of a lifetime of happiness he poured into that kiss. Their friends, families, and the rest of the partygoers clapping and cheering faded away in Jason’s embrace.
“Congratulations.” Holly tugged her hand, pulling Joy into an embrace her, while Nick did the same with his brother.
“You had this planned the whole time, didn’t you?” Joy beamed at her friend.
“It’s the least I could do for my soon-to-be sister-in-law,” Holly said with a mischievous grin.
“Welcome to the family,” Nick’s mother said, pulling Joy into an embrace.
Joy’s dads took turns hugging Jason while his sisters gave her hugs and kisses. Joy was trapped in a huddle of friends and family, and she couldn’t be happier.
Eventually, everyone had a chance to offer their best wishes. Jason plucked the Santa hat off Joy’s head and tossed it to his brother. “You’re on duty. I want some time alone with my fiancée.”
Fiancée. Joy wasn’t sure her heart could contain her happiness. Before, it was nothing more than a label, like a fancy designer name on a handbag. Now, it meant so much more. She looked up at the man standing by her side, holding her hand. Now, she had a partner, friend, and lover, someone who would support her in the good times and bad.
Jason swept her out of the Alehouse and took her back to her apartment. As soon as they walked in the door, she was back in his arms.
His hands fumbled, unbuttoning her jacket. He exhaled when he slid it off her shoulders. He pulled the white camisole she wore underneath off while she unbuttoned the slim pants, pushing them past her hips until, with a shimmy, they fell to the floor, and she stepped out of them. Jason’s eyes darkened.
“If someone had asked me if I’d ever wanted to have sexy time with Santa, I would have laughed, but now”—his finger trailed down her neck, dipping into the strip of white lace covering her breasts—“I think you dressing up as Santa is going to have to be part of our new Christmas tradition.” He growled, sweeping Joy into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom. Laying her on the bed he pressed kisses along her neck; moving lower with each kiss as if she was a gift.
Later, Joy sighed with happiness, her legs tangled with Jason as she pressed herself against his side.
She lifted her hand, looking at the sparkling stone on her finger. She sat up and looked down at her fiancé. “I don’t mind moving to Nashville if it will make it easier for you, Jason.”
Jason rolled to his side and gave Joy a quick kiss. “I have a surprise.” His forehead furrowed. “I didn’t ask first. Maybe I should have. I bought us a house.”
“I thought you already had a house in Nashville.”
“I do, but it’s a house, not a home.” He pulled her in for a brief kiss before he announced, “I bought the house we rented for Thanksgiving.”
Joy sat up. “Are you serious?”
Jason propped himself against the headboard. “I should have asked first. I couldn’t stop thinking about the place. I’ve been reimagining the apartment over the garage as a recording studio, and it’s big enough for our family to come and visit. I know it wasn’t the house but the people in it, but I could see myself being happy there with you.” He gave her a worried look. “Did I make a mistake?”
Joy climbed into his lap, straddling his thighs as she cupped his face. “The house is perfect. I have to confess I kept picturing us living there at Thanksgiving, wanting something I didn’t think I could have with you. I imagined putting up a big tree in the living room, and our families coming back for the holidays. But Jason, that house must have cost a fortune.”
Jason’s mouth curved into a mischievous smile. “Sweetheart, my last record sold over five hundred thousand copies. I have three gold albums, and I haven’t splurged on anything other than my tour bus. Paul’s been trying to get me to start my own label for a while now, and this is where I want to do it.”
“But shouldn’t you do that in Nashville?”
“Seattle has a great music scene. Nick and Holly live here.” He picked up her hand, kissing her palm. “I want to be with the people who make me happy.”
Joy shook her head. “You’re offering me everything I’ve ever wanted, and it’s almost too good to be true.”
Jason’s smile faded. “It won’t always be perfect. I expect I’ll go back on tour at some point. No relationship is perfect. We’ll have our ups and downs.”
Rather than discouraged, Joy felt relieved by Jason’s words.
She dropped her forehead to his. “We don’t have to be perfect. I tried that, and it didn’t make me happy. We only have to be us.”
Joy leaned forward and took his mouth in a kiss. She was done making Christmas wishes. Together they would support each other’s hopes and dreams, and that was more than she could ever wish for. Joy kissed him slowly, lingering over every moment, knowing that her fall fling had become a lifetime of love.
The End