Page 58 of Claimed

Before Jasper reached the stage, the girl who’d walked me to the auditorium handed him a microphone. As soon as the thing was inhis hand, he dropped to one knee.

“Babe,” he said, and the crowd started applauding even louder.

Jasper chuckled.

“Yes,” I answered, flirting with him as soon as they quieted. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what was happening.

There were chuckles, but then the auditorium quickly went silent.

“From the moment I laid eyes on you and treated youlike the dick that I was—or am, depending on who’s watching…”

The crowd laughed, and so did I.

“The dick that you were, but that’s only if I’m watching,” I joked.

Jasper turned to the crowd. “See? I’m proposing to her, and she still wants to make this a two-person act.”

More laughter.

Finally, Jasper cleared his throat, and the room went silent. “That’s one reasonwhy I love her so much. But back to business.” He took a deep steadying breath. “Holly, my love, you have changed my life into a version of it I never knew was possible. I never miss a day of telling you thank you…”

I shook my head as tears welled up in my eyes. That was the truth. Jasper thanked me every day for loving him, for making him happy, for being here for him, for being so smartand such an asset to his life, and numerous other things he was thankful to me for.

“Baby, we already know we’re going to be together beyond this lifetime. Our souls have finally found each other. So I’m asking, how about we make this official? What do you say?”

Only then did I realize I was sobbing. Jasper had gotten up really fast and given the flowers to the girl with the headset,and we were holding each other.

“Yes,” I kept repeating while ugly crying. “Yes.”

He kissed me. Looking up, I thought I saw him, standing in the doorway—Harper Henderson. I blinked hard and really focused through my tears. This time, I saw no one but the page. My mind was playing tricks on me.But why would I be ashamed of my father?Jasper’s father was Randolph “Depraved” Christmas.So I stopped worrying about Harper, the man who was the worst of me. Jasper and I would cross that river once we arrived at its shore.

“Okay, enough of that,” Stan Rochester said jokingly. “It’s time to dig intoThe Dark Christmases.”

My head began to attach back to my neck and settle steadily above my shoulders.

Jasper raised his eyebrows. “Ready, babe?”

“Ready, mylove.”

And we took our seats.

THE END