I reached for her hand. “I don’t want you to come back. I want you with me.”
“And if it doesn’t work out between us?”
“I don’t believe that will be the case.”
“Remy. We have to be realistic. Especially me.”
“If by some chance it doesn’t work out, I’ll make sure you get settled wherever you want, whether it’s back in Garland Grove or Vancouver or somewhere else.”
She swallowed. “Okay.”
I glanced at her suspiciously. “That’s it? Just okay?”
“I can’t fight you anymore, Remy. I feel like I’m under some kind of spell when it comes to you and I’m helpless to resist, no matter what it is.”
I parked in the circular driveway in front of my mother’s house and turned to her. “Then we’re under the same spell because I feel the same way.”
“Then I guess there’s nothing else to do except Christmas with your family.” Her eyes met mine. “Do I look okay? I want to make a good impression on your mom.”
I shook my head. “You look perfect, and I promise, my family is going to love you. Especially Kingston.”
“Why Kingston?” Now she was the one who was suspicious.
I just laughed as I got out of the SUV. “You’ll see.”
I walked to the back of the vehicle and got out my big suitcase and the small one I’d bought for Noelle since her duffel was falling apart. I guided my wheeled suitcase toward the front steps with one hand and grabbed her hand with the other. Just as Kingston opened the door, grinning.
“Merry Christmas!” he called.
“Merry Christmas.” I let go of Noelle’s hand and ran up the steps, hugging him tightly.
“I knew it!” he whispered, laughing heartily. “I knew you were going to find someone at that rink and I was going to win the bet!”
“We’re not married, asshole.”
“Not yet!” Kingston pulled away and ran down the steps to greet Noelle. “Hi. I’m Kingston Knight, the older of Remy’s two younger brothers.”
Noelle was smiling at him, obviously taking in the visible neck tattoos, his nose ring, and some crazy black and blue hair that was new; his hair was naturally blond
“Nice to meet you.” She smiled warmly. “I’m sorry if I’m staring. You just look so familiar.”
“You didn’t tell her?” Kingston spun around to me, shaking his head. “Dude.”
“What didn’t you tell me?” Noelle called, playfully tapping her foot. “Why do I feel like I know your brother?”
“Should I tell her?” I asked Kingston. “You know what, why don’t you do it while you get the other bag and I go find Mom.” I walked into the house and left Kingston with Noelle. She was a fan of Onyx Knight’s music, and when she’d mentioned it, I’d decided not to tell her Kingston was my brother so it would be a surprise when she met him.
Sure enough, the squeal came a few seconds later and Mom arched a brow as I walked into the kitchen where she was mixing something in a bowl and Ashton was putting silicon baking liners on trays.
“Merry Christmas!” I called out, leaning over to kiss Mom’s cheek and patting Ashton on the back.
“You didn’t warn her about Kingston?” Ashton asked, laughing.
“Thought it would be more fun this way,” I said.
“I’m leaving you,” Noelle announced as she and Kingston came into the kitchen. He had an arm around her shoulders, and she was giving me the stink eye.
“I figured,” I said, chuckling. “All my girlfriends leave me for him, the good-looking bastard.” I wasn’t in the least bit worried about my brother making moves on Noelle; he was just playing it up and being flirtatious because of our stupid bet.
“Hello, Noelle.” Mom intervened, smiling at her. “Nice to see you again. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” Noelle smiled back.
“Babe.” I reached for her hand. “This is my youngest brother, Ashton. Ash, this is Noelle Burrier.”
“Hey, how’s it going?” Ashton gave her a friendly grin.
“I feel like hot chocolate,” Kingston said, rummaging in the fridge and pulling out the milk.
“Chocolate’s in the cupboard,” Mom told him.
Ten minutes later, Mom had two batches of cookies in the oven and we were settled around the island sipping hot chocolate.
“When are you heading to Florida?” Kingston asked me.
“Probably on the first. I have a full day of meetings on the second.”
“Are you going with him?” Kingston asked Noelle.
She smiled. “We’re waiting for my passport to come, but supposedly it’s been expedited so my fingers are crossed.”
“If not, she’ll fly out as soon as she gets it,” I said.
“When’s the wedding?” Kingston asked, his eyes twinkling with mirth.
I kicked his foot. “Shut up,” I muttered.
“When do you head out?” Ashton quickly redirected Kingston after catching my murderous glare.
“Twenty-eighth,” he said. “We play in Jersey on the twenty-ninth, Madison Square Garden on the thirtieth.” He looked at me. “You guys should come. It’s going to be a great show.”
“Passport,” Noelle reminded him.
He grimaced. “Right. Forgot. Well, maybe it’ll get here in time.”
“How’s hockey season going?” Noelle asked Ashton.
And that was it. Once we went down a hockey rabbit hole, Noelle was pretty much part of the family.
“Kingston, I had a thought,” I told him. “You want to sing the national anthems at the Knights’ first home game? I don’t have the schedule yet, so I don’t know if it’ll be the US anthem only or both US and Canada.” They would only do the Canadian anthem if the Knights were playing a Canadian team.
“Fuck yeah. That’ll be October, right?” Kingston pulled out his phone. “We don’t have tour dates or anything but as soon as you know, I can block off the time. This tour ends at the end of June and I think we’re taking a break after that. We’ve been promoting the current album for more than two years. It’s time to chill, go on vacation and record new music.”
The five of us sat up late, talking, eating cookies, and giving my family the opportunity to get to know Noelle. She fit right in, talking shit about the current hockey season with Ashton and my mom, listening to Kingston’s stories about life on the road, and conferring with my mother on what time to put the turkey in. We didn’t get to bed until almost three in the morning, but it had been a great night. In fact, the best Christmas Eve I’d had in a long time, even though we’d gotten here late.
“Merry Christmas,” she whispered as we dozed off.
“Merry Christmas, babe.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Noelle
* * *
It had been years since I’d gotten Christmas presents. Usually, Connie and I took whatever spare money we had and tried to do something together, like a girls’ day out with lunch and window-shopping. So I hadn’t been expecting anything on Christmas morning, much less the stack of packages that had my name on them.