I was in the middle of a very X-rated dream involving Mia wearing nothing but a sparkly red Santa’s hat. She was riding me hard and fast when a high-pitched squeal brought me out heaven and back into reality. In a matter of seconds, that squeal became a full on scream, and I knew it was time to get up and at it for my Bella. After I threw back the sheets, I staggered out of the bed, grinding the sleep from my eyes. Glancing over at the clock, I saw it was one in the afternoon. Mia had left Bella with me, so she could go Christmas shopping with Abby.

As I bent over the frilly, pink Pack N Play wedged into the corner of the bus’s bedroom, Bella’s tiny features were crumpled in rage. Her fists waved angrily back and forth, like at any moment she was going to knock the hell out of whoever she could get her hands on. She was truly Mia’s kid. Okay, fine, maybe she had inherited a little bit of both of our temperaments.

“Easy mi princesa.”

At my words, Bella popped open her once pinched shut eyes and stared up at me. “What’s wrong, mi amor?” I asked as I reached over to pick her up.

Her screaming quieted to snubbing as I took her in my arms. Kissing the top of dark head full of hair, I inhaled of her sweet baby smell. “It’s okay. Daddy’s here now.” I felt around on her diaper to see if she was wet. “Hmm, you feel dry to me.” Raising her above my face, I did the usual sniff test of her butt to see if there was another surprise lurking. “Nope, good to go there. So you must be hungry, huh?” At her hiccupped reply, I started for the bedroom door. “Let’s go get some of the milk mommy pumped for you before she left.”

When I got to the kitchen, I found Rhys seated at the table in boxers slurping on a bowl of cereal. “You slept in too, huh?”

“Yeah. Last night’s show was killer.” He motioned to Bella. “Not to mention her three a.m. scream-fest.”

I winced. “Sorry dude.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s not like we haven’t kept each other awake before with screaming chicks.”

I laughed. “True.”

Balancing Bella in one arm, I opened the fridge. I scanned the shelves twice, but I still didn’t see the container Mia always left. “Hey man, have you see Bella’s milk?”

“Huh?”

“You know, the milk that Mia pumps for Bella.”

When I glanced up from the fridge, Rhys had paled. “Uh…is that it on the counter?”

Closing the fridge, I peered over to the counter to see the empty container. “Yeah, that’s it. But why is it empty?”

“Oh fucking hell,” Rhys groaned before bolting from the table. The next thing I knew he was in the bathroom heaving his guts up.

I glanced down at Bella. “Guess we know where your milk went, huh?”

The prospect of not eating didn’t sit well with Bella, and she decided the best way to let it be known was to start screaming again. “Shit!” I exclaimed as I started fumbling around in the cabinets for some formula. 

Thankfully, the bus door flew open, and Mia came clattering up the stairs. At the sound of Bella’s cries, Mia dropped her packages and hustled back to us. “What happened?” she asked as she took Bella into her arms.

“She’s hungry.”

“Why did you feed her the milk I left?”

“Um…” I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to think of how to explain what had happened. I knew Rhys would be even sicker if Mia knew he’d accidentally drunk her milk, and I was pretty sure she’d be absolutely mortified. “I…accidentally dropped it.”

Mia smiled. “You stugats.”

My eyes widened. “Hey, I know that one from The Soprano’s. But you’re right. I am a stupid dick.”

She reached up with her left hand to cup my cheek—the one that glittered with her engagement ring. “But I love you anyway.”

Bella squealed in rage, signaling it was time to get with the feeding program. Mia glanced over her shoulder. 

“Will you bring the packages back to the bedroom while I feed her?”

“Sure, mi amor.”

“Don’t peek.”

“I won’t.” I gathered up the bags and started for the bedroom. As I passed the bathroom, I rapped on the door. “You okay, man?”

“I’ll live,” Rhys moaned.

I grimaced as I went on into the bedroom. When I got inside, Mia was on the bed feeding Bella. I put the bags in the corner. “So you bought me something today, huh?”

Mia smiled. “Maybe.”

Eyeing one of the multicolored bags, I asked, “Is it something sexy for you to wear for my eyes only?”

She rolled her eyes. “You wish.”

“You know all I want for Christmas is you,” I teased as I sat down next to her.

“You have me. Always,” she replied.

“Best. Present. Ever,” I murmured, before learning in to kiss her. When I pulled away, I grinned. “You’re the gift that keeps on giving the whole year.”

Mia threw her head back and laughed. “You’re terrible.”

“But you love me anyway.”

“Yes, I do.” At Bella’s cooing, Mia glanced down and smiled. “So you think your naughty daddy’s pretty funny too, huh?” She closed up shop by bringing Bella to her shoulder to burp her.

“She finished already?” I asked, rubbing Bella’s back.

“I think she just wanted a snack.”

“More like she wanted to give her old man some hell by waking him up from a perfectly good sex dream.”

Mia’s dark eyes widened. “AJ!”

I laughed at her outrage. “It was about you, amorcito mio.”

“I don’t care. Don’t say sex in front of Bella.”

“Like she even knows what it is.”

“I don’t care,” Mia huffed.

I shook my head and grinned. “You’re so cute when you get riled.” At Mia’s, ‘You do not want to go there with me’ look, I held up my hands in defeat. “Fine, fine. You know, you haven’t told me what you wanted for Christmas.”

Mia sighed. “All I want is to be off this bus in time to get a live tree for Bella’s first Christmas.”

“Last show is the nineteenth. Then we head home.”

Mia quirked her brows. “You’ll take us to the tree farm the moment we get back to Georgia?”

I lifted my hand and swiped my chest. “Scout’s Honor.”

“And you promise to go with me to take Bella to see Santa Claus?”

Oh shit. That was something I sure as hell hadn’t bargained on. All I could see in my mind was a crowded mall with a line full of screaming kids—you know, a true hell on earth. “Um, well…”

“AJ, it’s her first time sitting on Santa’s lap. I know she would want her Daddy there for that.”

“Please, she can’t even sit up yet. I highly doubt she’s going to be sitting on Santa’s lap.”

“Fine. Be that way.”

At her tone, I knew I was in trouble. “If I don’t go with you to see Santa, I’m probably not going to be doing much decking of your halls this holiday season, am I?”

“Are you making some sexual innuendo with deck the halls?”

With a smirk, I said, “Don’t say sex in front of Bella.”

Mia shook her head. “AJ, you drive me crazy!”

“But you love me anyway, right?”

She huffed out a frustrated breath. “Yes, I do. More than you can ever imagine.”

“Aw, thanks, amorcito mio,” I said. After I gave her a smacking kiss on the lips, I winked. “You wore me down. I’ll go with you to take Bella to see Santa.”

Her dark eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

“Thank you, thank you!” she cried before kissing me. As she rubbed my cheek, she said, “I can’t wait to spend our first Christmas together as a family.”

“Me too.”  I took her face in my hands. “Thank you for coming out on the road with me. I know this isn’t how you saw your life or how you thought you’d be spending your first December with Bella.”

“It’s okay. All that matters is I’m with the two people I love most in the world—my amazing husband and my daughter.”

“I feel the same way. Always.” 

“Oh shit, it’s after five? I’ve got to go get ready.” She handed her guitar to Gabe before bridging the gap between us. Glancing back at her brothers, she then asked in a low voice, “Did you get your errand done?”

“Yes, I did.”

She reached up on her tip-toes to plant a tender kiss on my lips. “I wish you would have let me go with you.”

I shrugged. “Just something I needed to do. Besides, you had enough to do here.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “Oh please. Between the wedding coordinator, the caterers and my mother, everything is taken care of. I seriously got shooed out of the kitchen when I tried to help. That’s why I got the boys together to rehearse.” A shudder rippled through her. “Too much nervous energy.”

As she started into the house, I couldn’t help asking, “Having cold feet?”

She skidded to a stop before whirling back around to wrap her arms around my neck. “Never, ever, Mr. Slater. You’re getting me as your lawfully wedded wife whether you like it or not.”

I grinned. “Oh, I like it. In fact, I fucking love it.”

“Good. I’m glad to hear that.” She kissed me again before pushing out of my arms. “Okay, I gotta go get presentable for this pre-wedding shindig of ours.” She eyed my ratty jeans and T-shirt. “I’d say the same for you, too.”

“You’re such a bossy thing.”

With a wink, she replied, “Get used to it, babe.”

A warm rush filled my chest as she started into the house. I didn’t care if she bossed me around for the next fifty years just as long as she was in my life. I’d never imagined loving anyone as much as I did Abby. Without flinching, she had reached into the very darkest places of my soul to bring me back to the light. She’d shown me what the true, unfailing love of a good woman was. I would be forever in her debt.

Close on her heels, the urge to show her just how much I loved and wanted her overcame me. My dick instantly swelled at the idea of being inside her. Just as she rounded the corner to go into the master bedroom, I grabbed her wrist, jerking her back to me. My other hand came around to press her body flush against mine. When I ground myself into her core, her eyes bulged. “Jake, what are you—” she questioned breathlessly before I crushed my lips to hers. My tongue danced along hers as I wrapped my arms tighter around her. Her little moan caused me to shiver.

When she felt my half-mast hard-on pressing into her stomach, she jerked away. “No, no, no!” she hissed. Her blonde ponytail flipped wildly back and forth as she shook her head at me. “We’re abstaining until our wedding night, remember?”

I groaned. “You’re the one who made that decision, not me.”

“You agreed to it,” she countered.

“Yeah, that was a week and a half ago when I was coming off of an all-day sexathon with you. I didn’t realize what I was agreeing to.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “It’s only twenty-four more hours, Jake.”

Reaching over, I nuzzled my lips against her neck. I wasn’t playing fair since I knew it was one of her sensitive zones. A little sigh escaped her mouth when I ran my tongue across her jawline to suck on her earlobe.  “I could explode by then.”

“I just want our first time as man and wife to be special, that’s all.”

I pulled away to arch my brows at her. “Do you really think tomorrow night is going to be the most amazing sexual experience of your married life?”

She jerked her chin defiantly up at me. “Maybe,” she countered.

My amused chuckle almost seemed to piss her off more. “Angel, we’re going to be exhausted from tonight’s party, jetlag, and the ceremony and reception. Bray and Lily didn’t even have sex on their wedding night—they passed out into an exhausted coma.” Taking her face in my hands, I grinned down at her. “By the flush on your cheeks and the way you just moaned into my mouth when I was kissing you, I can tell you really want to take me in that bedroom and have a quickie.”

Abby chewed on her bottom lip, and I could tell her resolve was slowly fading. “It’ll have to be fast. Everyone is supposed to be here at six.”

“We can shower together—you know, multitask.”

She grinned. “Oh, you say the most romantic things. Think you can whisper more sweet words in my ear?” she teased.

“Yeah, how about this? You’re such a sweet looking smartass,” I said before bringing my lips back to hers. 

Her eager tongue thrust into my mouth as she tightened her arms around my neck. Grabbing Abby by the ass, I hoisted her up to wrap her legs around my waist. We both moaned at the closeness. With my lips locked on Abby’s, I balanced her under the ass with one hand while my other groped blindly for the doorknob. When I finally found it, I flung it open and staggered into the room.

“Shit!” came a voice from the bed.

When my eyes flew open, I was a goner. One glance was all it took to kill my wood. On the bed, Mia scrambled to close the front of her shirt with one hand while she held Bella in her other arm. She pivoted on the bed to where her back was to us.

“Jesus,” I groaned as I glanced down at my crotch. Just that one glimpse of AJ’s breastfeeding fiancée was enough to completely obliterate my junk. My dick shriveled even further when Bella began shrieking and howling in protest that her meal had been interrupted.

Mia gave us an apologetic look over her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, guys. With all the catering staff and people buzzing around, I thought this would be the best place to feed her before we got dressed for the party. I should have gone in the bathroom.”

“Oh, don’t apologize, Mia,” Abby said.

When I didn’t respond, Abby elbowed me in the ribs. “Oomph,” escaped my lips before I could stop myself. “Yeah, uh, it’s fine,” I replied. Gently, I set Abby down on her feet. I jerked my chin towards the bathroom. “You go on and get a shower. I’ll use the one off the guest bedroom.”

“You don’t want me to come with you?” Abby asked coyly.

I scratched the back of my neck furiously. Part of me really wanted to shower with her, so we might finish what we started. But the other was so traumatized that I knew there would be no way I’d be ready. “Um, no. I better take a rain check.”

“So I guess this is goodnight, huh?”

I nodded. “Yep, the last night we’ll ever spend as single people.”

Cocking his head, Jake asked, “Remind me again why I didn’t have a swinging bachelor party?”

I smacked his arm playfully. “Because you’re marrying an insecure, overbearing shrew who couldn’t stand the thought of some fake breasted, plastic Barbie giving you a lap dance?”

A wicked gleam burned in Jake’s blue eyes. “Actually, I think it was more that I was a caveman who didn’t want some oiled dude in a banana hammock dry humping you.”

“Ew!” I cried while wrinkling my nose.

“I’m sure that with some hot, cute little number like yourself, all the Magic Mike douchebags would have wanted to rub up on you.”

“I would have happily declined since I’m very happy having you, and only you, rub up on me.”

Jake’s amused expression grew serious as he traced my cheekbone with his thumb. “Are you sure?”

My eyes widened. “Excuse me? Considering we’re getting married tomorrow I think that shows I’m pretty damn sure.”

“No, I mean, are you sure you’re okay with me being the only man you’ve ever slept with.” His brows furrowed in thought. “I mean, do you think you’ll look back one day and wish you’d had more experience?”

I shook my head furiously from side to side. “Never, ever.” Sliding my arms around his neck, I smiled. “I can’t ever imagine anyone being a better lover than you.”

“And since you have no one else to judge that by, I don’t—”

Bringing my hand to his chest, I silenced him. “Don’t go there, Jake. I know what I’ve felt with you, and I don’t want anyone else. I’m fully satisfied that you will be the only man I sleep with for the rest of my life.”

Although I wasn’t entirely sure he believed me, a pleased smile curved on his lips. “I’m satisfied that you’re the last woman I’ll ever sleep with for the rest of my life.”

“I sure hope so.”

“Give me a goodnight kiss, future ball and chain,” he teased.