Page 3 of You Make It Feel like Christmas

B ETWEEN THE SHOPS ON Main Street and this treed wonderland, Maisie’s Seattle loyalty wavered traitorously in favor of the small-town vibes.

Their hostess and her son were so perfect that it was like central casting had chosen them to star in Maisie’s own holiday movie special.

The one where she got to have the Christmas of her dreams.

She, her brother and sister, and their significant others had strolled the property as much as they could.

Twenty-six acres was a lot of trees. Every gravel pathway between areas was dotted with solar lights.

The trees at the front of the property, along with the weathered fencing that trailed along both sides of the long driveway she’d driven down, were strung with multicolor lights.

They were glowing brighter now that the moon was peeking out from the darkening sky.

Turning, she looked ahead to where Natalie and her husband, Kyle, walked hand in hand.

Maisie’s brother was chatting on the phone while his husband, Colton, snapped photos on his phone.

Unable to suppress her perma-grin, Maisie lifted her camera again, pointing it in their direction. Natalie turned as Maisie captured her through the viewfinder. Even though her sister wasn’t really showing in a noticeable way, she rested one hand on her belly. Maisie took another photo.

Natalie held up a hand. “Stop. I haven’t even washed off the drive yet.”

Maisie took the extension off her camera, stowed it, and then placed the camera in the bag that hung across her chest. Up ahead, her brother, now off the phone, was saying something to the other guys, making their laughter float in the gentle breeze.

“You’re gorgeous. I can’t believe you’re going to be a mom,” Maisie said, a little sliver of envy twitching inside of her chest. She told herself repeatedly that she was fine on her own, that she didn’t need society’s version of perfect to make her life complete.

But the truth was, she wanted what her sister and brother had.

Hell, even what her parents had. She wanted a family.

Children. A man who looked at her like she was all he could ever need.

She looped her arm through Nat’s as they followed the others back to the house.

Despite their differences—Maisie dyed her shoulder-length hair darker than the natural shade of Natalie’s long, loose curls—they had a lot of physical similarities.

They shared the same slightly upturned noses, brown eyes, and softly rounded jaws.

Natalie had a few inches on her even though Maisie had wasted most of her childhood birthday wishes on getting taller.

“ I can’t believe I’m going to be a mom,” Natalie said. There was more than a hint of trepidation in her tone. “I’m scared, Maze. I’m good with animals. Great with animals. And most people, if I’m being honest, but babies? Unless they have fur, feathers, wings, or four legs, what do I know?”

She and Kyle ran a very successful veterinarian clinic in Lacey, Washington, that had recently been upgraded to a training and education facility in addition to an animal hospital.

Maisie pulled on her sister’s arm to get her to stop. “Hey.”

The moonlight reflected off the snow, making it look like they were walking on thousands of mini crystals.

Natalie sighed, looked at Maisie.

“First, you’ve got lots of time. You’re barely four months. Second, you excel at everything you do. You’ve got a great husband and all change is scary, especially when that change is a miniature human you’ll be solely responsible for.”

Natalie dipped her chin. “Not really smoothing out my anxiety here.”

Laughing, Maisie squeezed her sister’s arm.

“You’re going to be a kick-ass mom. You’ve cared for every living thing since we were little kids.

If anyone can do this and do it well, it’s you.

” She believed that with all her heart. It surprised her to listen to her normally ultra-confident sister express doubt.

Like, maybe she didn’t have it all figured out either.

“Everything okay?” Kyle joined them, his gaze on Natalie.

The love in it was a shot right to Maisie’s gut. He loved her so much she could actually see it shining in his eyes the way the moon did on the snow. Now it was Natalie’s gaze looking like it was full of tiny, glittering crystals.

“She’s having a mini panic about being a mom.”

Natalie stuck her tongue out, making Maisie and Kyle laugh. “Snitch.”

Dropping her hand, Maisie narrowed her gaze teasingly and taunted, “Big baby.”

Kyle put his arm around his wife’s shoulder and they started walking. The others had disappeared from view.

“It’s a toss-up as to which of you is more mature,” Kyle said, humor and affection lacing his tone.

“Me,” both sisters said at the same time.

The three of them laughed and Maisie felt like her face wasn’t big enough to hold her smile.

She’d missed this. Kyle and Nat didn’t live far away but they had busy lives and Maisie’s schedule fluctuated depending on the shoot.

It was nice to have this time with all of them but, especially, her siblings.

“You’re going to be a great mom, Natalie,” Maisie said quietly.

“You’re going to be a great auntie,” Natalie said back.

“Who babysits all the time,” Kyle added.

She laughed with them as they strolled, but quietly, she wondered when it would be her turn. Thinking about how she’d stupidly thought she’d found her chance at it several months earlier caused a stitch in her side and a tightness in her chest.

They kicked the snow off their boots in the mudroom at the back of the house, then removed their jackets and scarves.

Laughter and chatter came from somewhere deeper in the house; not the kitchen because the mudroom was right off that.

As they entered the kitchen, her sister and Kyle said they were going to join the others, but Maisie needed a minute alone to settle the restlessness inside of her chest. She hated focusing on what she didn’t have when she was happy with so much of what she did have.

“I’m going to go jump in the shower.” She turned toward the stairs and took them up to her room.

Letting herself into the festively decorated guest room, she leaned against the closed door for an extra minute.

Green and red pillows took up ample space on the oversize four-poster bed that was made up with a soft black-and-red plaid quilt.

She pushed off the door and picked up her holiday-print pajamas from the small reading chair nestled in a corner.

Earlier, she’d seen Mount Rainier through the panel-glass window.

Now, the moon glowed down on a blanket of white.

Grabbing her toiletries out of her bag, she shook her head at her own romanticizing. “What is it about this time of year that makes people think they’ll fall in love, or they need to fall in love? This time of year isn’t actually magic. It just looks like it.”

The truth was, she had been fine, taking what life put in her path, working hard for the things she wanted.

Pushing herself to take chances and go after more.

Then she’d met him . The night she’d shared with Nick had been unlike any other she’d experienced, unearthing longings she hadn’t known existed.

It was more than the way he looked, which was so indescribably hot that she hadn’t even told her bestie about him.

Because what could she say? I met a man who looked at me like he saw something so special and so precious, it made me see myself differently.

I spent the night, into the early hours of the morning, with a stranger who seemed to know me better than anyone ever has; someone whose touch branded my skin, whose words lingered in my heart. And I can’t move on.

“You have to,” she whispered to herself. She needed to move on from the place where her mind, heart, and body had gotten stuck. It’s been six months and it clearly meant more to you or he wouldn’t have snuck out.

Forcing herself to think about stockings, wrapping presents, and curling up in front of that gorgeous fireplace downstairs with a mug of hot chocolate, she stripped off her clothes, tossing the still-chilled ones in a pile.

Down to her underwear and bra, arms full of what she needed after her shower, she opened the door to the bathroom and stepped in, closing it behind her and putting her stuff on the counter.

Her brain was full of Christmas so the steam in the room, the gentle hiss of water, registered but didn’t really take root.

There were moments in life that moved at the speed of light while, simultaneously, they seemed to stop altogether.

Maisie turned, took a step toward the shower, lifted her hand to move the curtain, then sucked in a sharp gasp as it whipped open and her body froze and heated to scorching in the very same second.

Her eyes locked on the water droplets rolling over a tanned, defined chest lightly dusted with medium-blond hair, a sexy, sculpted canvas for the dark swirls of ink spread out over his torso in detailed tattoos.

Maisie’s gaze moved up to a face she’d memorized with her fingertips and mind, then down to the many other parts of him that were ingrained in her memory.

There was satisfaction in hearing his sharp intake of breath, but when their eyes met, neither of them moved or breathed.

Nicholas fucking King. Right wing for the San Jose Guardians. Badass, notoriously tight-lipped, record-breaking hockey player, and Maisie’s first and only one-night stand. The man she couldn’t get out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried. And she’d put solid effort into trying.