Our real pine Christmas tree sits in the corner of the room, colorful lights blinking at me and reflecting off of the ornaments.
We moved into this house a few weeks ago after renting an apartment over the summer and through the fall. It was a custom build that we bought right before the interior finishes needed to be decided. The previous family had to back out when they got a job offer overseas.
The house is perfect.
Triple-insulated windows fill the back wall and overlook a frozen lake. It’s like something out of Little House on the Prairie but so much better. You know, that whole running water and electricity thing really adds value.
Marie, our daughter, is sound asleep against my chest, her sweet breath filling my nose. It’s amazing how good babies smell. Sometimes I think I actually want to eat her.
Saint has kept me from cannibalism, thankfully.
“You want tea?” Saint calls from the kitchen.
“Yes, please!” I call back. Marie can sleep through anything. “The pie filling smells delicious.”
“It’ll be ready in a bit. I just put it in the oven,” Saint says, bringing me a mug of hot tea. He bends down to kiss Marie on her completely bald head. “You think she’s ever going to have hair? Or will we have to change her name to Lex Luthor Williams?”
I laugh. “It’s going to be hard to leave her with my mom when I go back to school in a few weeks.”
Saint sits next to me and wraps his muscular arm around my shoulders. “Don’t forget, she’ll be with me after the playoffs for a few months until training starts. She’ll be fine.”
“I know she will be fine. It’s me I’m more worried about,” I nuzzle my mouth against Marie’s soft head.
“You have chemicals to study. Remember you’re going to save the world with your scientific knowledge when the zombie apocalypse finally arrives.” Saint brushes his fingers across Marie’s peaches and cream cheek.
“I think the biology majors will be more important,” I say, playing along. “They’re the ones studying viruses. I guess I should change my focus to immunology if zombies are the thing we’ll be worrying about in the future.”
“I like that you’re smart. It just makes you that much sexier.” He kisses my lips, lingering a bit too long.
“I think I could go put Marie down and we could get in a quickie before I need to make dinner,” Saint whispers, licking my earlobe.
“Mom’s coming over for dinner,” I say and he abruptly ceases kissing me. “Hopefully that’s okay.”
Saint laughs. “I don’t care so much that she’ll be walking the twenty feet through the snow from our guest house to our kitchen.” He stands up and stretches. “I do wish that I could curse around her. That’s the real hard part.”
“You’re even sure you don’t mind my mom coming with us on our honeymoon?”
“Are you kidding me? Free childcare in exchange for a plane ticket and the cost of a hotel room? I’ll gladly have my mother-in-law crash our sexcapade.”
I look out the window at the perfectly falling snow. “I am going to miss this weather.”
“It’s Minnesota, Delilah. I promise you there will be more snow when we get back from Hawaii.”
The oven timer beeps and the sound of the metal pan sliding across racks echoes out of the kitchen. I lean back on the sofa, breathing in the smell of my baby, the pie, and the crackling wood smoke. I look up at the tall, arched ceiling above me.
I’m safe. I’m warm. I’m happy.
I have everything I’ve ever wanted.
When my sex god of a husband brings me a slice of pie that he made himself?
I know for sure that this life has to be better than heaven ever will be.
Because this is our heaven. Nothing can top that.
STAY IN TOUCH
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MORE STORIES BY VESPER VAUGHN
STEP WILDE: A STEPBROTHER ROMANCE
He’s the hottest movie star on the planet – and he wants me all for himself.
Available through Amazon for purchase or FREE through Kindle Unlimited
HITMAN’S HOOKUP: A BAD BOY ROMANCE
Assassins do it better.
Available through Amazon for purchase or FREE through Kindle Unlimited
BABY LOVE: A BAD BOY BILLIONAIRE ROMANCE
He’ll take half of my business and all of me.
Available through Amazon for purchase or FREE through Kindle Unlimited
FORBIDDEN: A STEPBROTHER ROMANCE
She’s my stepsister. She’s forbidden. I won’t let that stop me.
Available through Amazon for purchase or FREE through Kindle Unlimited
RESCUE ME: A BAD BOY MILITARY ROMANCE
I want her. But so does her psycho ex-boyfriend.
He’ll get to her over his dead body.
Available through Amazon for purchase or FREE through Kindle Unlimited
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vesper Vaughn weaves her fiction from her backyard writing studio nestled in the sunny, star-studded hills of Hollywood, California. Her interests include: smart-ass, sexy men; romantic comedy movies; gin and tonics, all Shonda Rhimes television shows, and the Hemsworth brothers. She is the author of the reader-adored bad boy romance novels STEP WILDE, HITMAN’S HOOKUP, BABY LOVE, FORBIDDEN, DESIRE, and RESCUE ME.
SOUNDTRACK FOR DIRTY SAINT
CHECK YES JULIET by We the Kings
I WANT YOU by Third Eye Blind
GOD OF WINE by Third Eye Blind
DTLA by Gary Jules
PRETTY VEGAS by INXS
MAKE YOURSELF by Incubus
Table of Contents
STAY IN TOUCH
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
STAY IN TOUCH
MORE STORIES BY VESPER VAUGHN
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SOUNDTRACK FOR DIRTY SAINT