Page 36 of A Very Titan Christmas (Titan #14)
One Year Later
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
It had been a whirlwind of a December. Rachel and Bryce visited New York City, where Rachel received a travel journalism award for her article chronicling the magic and mayhem of Christmas at Silverberry Ridge.
Then, they went down to Virginia for the annual Titan holiday party.
She’d helped plan the extravaganza with two suggestions: a tactical-themed tree ornament exchange and a Christmas escape room that even had Jared smiling.
Now, she and Bryce were home in Philadelphia for their first Christmas in their own space.
She’d never felt the urge to decorate before. This year, she had opinions about everything, from the type of tree—Balsam fir, because it smelled like the outdoors during the holidays—to the red-and-black buffalo check stockings her mother had scored from Silverberry Ridge’s Christmas marketplace.
Her mother was now the mayor of Silverberry Ridge while her dad played the part of retiree and the mayor’s first husband. Eloise proudly boasted that Rachel’s cover article for the American Stay had increased tourism in their little resort town.
Christmas morning had started with breakfast in bed. Bryce let her stay buried under the covers until the scent of coffee had lured her out. Now, with her belly full of French toast, he led her to their Christmas tree.
There wasn’t much to open. Their big gift to each other was a three-week vacation in the spring to explore Europe.
She would travel without thinking about what would be interesting to write about, and he would travel without risking his life on assignment.
They would be tourists for the pure joy of it, and she couldn’t wait.
Rachel ambled to the fireplace and stared out the big picture window at the soft and steady snowfall. “When’s the last time Philadelphia had a white Christmas?”
He snagged a candy cane off the tree and shrugged. “No idea. Ready for your stocking?”
“Not yet.” She queued up Christmas carols and heated the electric kettle for peppermint tea. After she spooned a healthy serving of sugar into it, she rejoined him in the living room. “Ready.”
He would love the little gifts she’d chosen for him.
Bryce sat beside her on the living room floor in flannel pajama pants and a Titan hoodie. The Santa hat he’d worn all morning was crookedly perched on his head. “You want to go first?”
“No.” She reached for his stocking and gave it to him. “You first.”
Bryce dumped the contents on the floor like he was a little kid.
Across from him, Rachel tucked her feet beneath her and sipped her peppermint tea.
He held up the little handmade booklet of coupons he could redeem.
“Aw, this is cute, Rach.” He paged through it, wearing a grin that made her cheeks blush.
“And a little dirty—a lot dirty. You wanna go back to bed now?”
She laughed. “Soon as you finish looking at everything.”
“After you open yours too.” He inspected the strip of pictures from the photo booth that she’d turned into a fridge magnet, a credit-card-shaped multi-tool, artisan beef jerky, and a new knife to replace the old one he carried every day and complained about.
“I love this.” He inspected the blade but returned to the homemade coupons.
“But back to this…” He grinned. “Okay. Your turn.”
Rachel pulled out the items in her stocking and lined them up in front of her. Her heart warmed. He paid attention to the little things. “These are my favorite pens.”
“I know.”
“And they’re stupid expensive. You shouldn’t have.”
He laughed. “Yeah, they are. But you deserve ’em just as much as the Christmas tree peanut butter cups you always want but never buy.”
“Honestly, I could live off them.” She unwrapped the tissue paper from a small gift. “Oh, look at this.” Rachel carefully held up the handmade snowflake ornament. “It’s so pretty.”
“Hang it up.”
She turned toward the tree and searched for the perfect place to put it. “We should get a new ornament every year.”
“Sure,” he agreed. “I think there’s one more present in your stocking.”
“I don’t think so.” Rachel rejoined him on the floor.
Bryce leaned against the couch and pulled her between his legs. “Yeah, there might be.”
She leaned on him, staring at the Christmas tree and admiring their new ornament.
They’d started a tradition. Her heart warmed.
“This really is the best Christmas ever.” She reached for her stocking.
“Oh, wait. There is something else.” She settled against him, pulling out the small, wrapped box from her stocking.
Her brow furrowed as she held it up. “I swear this wasn’t here a second ago. ”
He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Open it.”
She tore off the paper. The little box looked surprisingly like a jewelry box. Earrings? Something more? Magic shimmered in the air, whispering that it was. She twisted in his arms. Her gaze flicked to his eyes as she opened the box.
“Don’t look at me, Rach.” He tilted his head toward her hand.
Emotion caught in her throat. Everything in their life together was picture-perfect. Dreaming of more was almost too much. She dropped her eyes to a simple, stunning solitaire set in a delicate band. It stole her breath. “Bryce…”
He shifted her to the edge of the couch and sank onto one knee. They were eye to eye. Her heart exploded with all the love that she saw. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Rachel Porter.” He took the box from her hand and pulled out the ring. “I fell in love with you once, then got to do it all over again.”
“Me too,” she whispered.
“I fall in love with you again every damn day. Marry me, Rach. Promise me all the Christmases. All the snowstorms and all the travel. All the messy and all the quiet. Always, so that I’m with you. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she whispered. Happy tears streamed down her cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck. “Yes.”
Bryce slipped the ring onto her finger. “I think this is almost as good as that sexy coupon for a—”
“Shush!” She pulled him down with her in front of the Christmas tree and laughed through his sweet kiss that tasted like peppermint and promised her forever.