Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“Okay, here we go,” the emcee starts, “one, two, three.” Macys throws the bouquet over her head and it lands right on Elizabeth, who folds her arms to her chest in reflex.
“Noooo,” she groans out, “that—” She doesn’t say anything because Denise is jumping up and down as if she just won the Stanley Cup.
“She’s next.” She holds on to Zack’s arm, who just smiles down at her. “Oh my God, she’s next.”
“I’m not next,” Elizabeth retorts, moving off the dance floor.
“Okay, where are my bachelors?” the emcee asks.
“That would be you.” Jack pushes me to the middle of the floor and I’m surrounded now with some of the men and Gavin.
“You should catch this,” I tell him and he smirks.
“I plan on it, since it’s customary for the person who catches the bouquet and the person who catches the garter to dance with each other.” The minute he says the words, I want to throat punch him. He claps his hands together and I just look at him. “Been trying to catch her attention all night.”
I don’t listen to anything else because the emcee is counting down. Gavin beside me moves side to side, as if he’s getting ready to run a play in football. He bounces up and down on his feet, and when the garter flies through the air, I move my hand up and he may be wider than me but I’m taller, so it falls right in my hand.
Joshua turns around and howls with laughter when I hold up the garter hanging on my finger. I walk over to him and tuck it back in the pocket on his tux. “You can keep that. Thank you very much.” I slap his chest, turning and seeing Elizabeth on the side laughing and shaking her head.
“You just had to, didn’t you?” she teases me and I smile at her.
“How else would I get you to dance with me again?” I tease her, pulling her to me and bending my head to her ear. “You can thank me later.”
CHAPTER 31
Elizabeth
THE FIRST NOEL
December 25th
Merry Christmas
I hear sniffing next to my face before I feel Whiskey’s nose in my eyeball. I moan and turn my face to the other side. I don’t know why I expect him to walk away but I do. He doesn’t. Instead, I now hear him sniffing my hair and licking my neck. “No.” I lift my hand and give a little laugh when his nose feels like it’s in my ear. “Whiskey,” I say his name and he immediately jumps on the bed, stepping on my legs to get over to the other side.
“Whiskey,” Nate grumbles in a sleepy voice, “down.” Instead of getting down off the bed, all he does is move excitedly to his side of the bed. “What is wrong with you?” I open my eyes to see Nate on his back with Whiskey on top of him as he pets his head.
“He probably knows it’s Christmas and I got him some special treats under the tree.” I lift my hand up to rub his neck. “Is that why you are all excited?” I turn on my side and Nate’s hand that is under the cover moves to my leg where he rubs it softly. “You want to open your presents?” I ask him and he gets off of Nate and jumps off the bed.
“Great,” Nate complains, “now he’s really awake.”
I laugh as he tosses the covers off him and gets up. His naked body is on full display as he reaches down for the boxers he took off last night after our shower and before sliding into bed after he put out Whiskey one more time. “Come on.” He rubs his hands through his hair and looks at me.
“Merry Christmas, Nate.” I smile at him and he puts one knee in the bed, followed by his hands on the bed before kissing my lips.
“Merry Christmas, beautiful,” he replies softly, giving me one more kiss before moving off and walking out of the door. I hear Whiskey trample down the stairs and toss the covers off myself and stretch. Swinging my legs off the side of the bed, I get up and head to the bathroom. Last night, as soon as we got home, I took off the makeup and took a shower. My hair now looks like a rat’s nest and I have some black smudges under my eyes, even though I took off the makeup and then took a shower. I clean up my face with a wet washcloth, grabbing my pajama bottoms and one of Nate’s shirts before heading downstairs.
The smell of coffee lingers in the air and the bright sun from outside fills the kitchen. “It’s so bright out.”
“It’s almost eleven,” he reports and I gasp.
“No wonder he was all over us,” I say, walking to the back door and looking out at Whiskey jumping into the little snow that is left on the ground before running away and then back again.