When Red had told him he had a surprise waiting for him at Colton and Ace’s house, Leo never expected this. So much hung in the balance!
King wrapped his arms around Leo and rested his head on Leo’s shoulders. “Sweetheart, do you need help?”
Leo frowned. “I’m at an impasse, King. I’ve weighed the pros and cons, and can’t guarantee I won’t regret the decision I make, and then what? I know it’s not as if the fabric of the universe itself will unravel should I choose poorly, but I’ll have regrets, King. Serious regrets that could haunt me for the rest of time!”
The rumbling of King’s laugh against his back told Leo that perhaps he was overthinking.
“Yeah, okay. Do I want to eat the Goldfish cracker-shaped Christmas cookie with the Santa hat and scarf? Or the one with the red nose and reindeer antlers?”
“Well, the Santa one is cute,” King said. “But you chuckle every time you see the reindeer one, so maybe eat the Santa one and save the reindeer one for later?”
Leo turned his head and kissed King’s cheek. “That’s a logical decision. Thanks.”
“My pleasure.” King stood and kissed Leo’s cheek, then eyed him. “How many of those have you had?”
Leo slipped the reindeer cookie into his cardigan’s front breast pocket. He blinked at King as he took a bite of the other cookie. “Um….”
“Leo.” King arched an eyebrow at him.
Uh oh. The eyebrow was up. It was a very sexy eyebrow, but when it was up, King meant business. Still.... Leo glanced at the cookie plate on the counter filled with Goldfish cracker-shaped Christmas sugar cookies. “But King, Red baked these just for me, and then Laz painstakingly decorated each one, just for me. I can’t let their hard work go to waste. Think of the children!”
“What?”
“Oh, the humanity!” Leo gasped and pointed behind King. “Is that Ace rappelling down the side of the house?”
“What?” King turned, and Leo swiped a couple more cookies before darting off. “Hey!”
Dang! He should have known he wouldn’t make it far. He’d just made it to the hall when King grabbed him around the waist and lifted him off his feet. Leo flailed. Why did his boyfriend have to be so big and strong? Mm, big and strong. No! Focus! Cookies are at stake!
“But it’s Christmas,” Leo said. “It’s a time when you get to eat all the things, and there are no consequences! It’s science!”
King put Leo on his feet, turning him so he could slip his arms around Leo. He nodded, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief. “Oh, really? Science, huh? And what did science do the last time you had too much sugar?”
Double dang. “Betrayed by science,” Leo grumbled, his eyes narrowed. He huffed. “I might have gotten a little hyperactive. Only a tiny bit, barely noticeable.”
“Hm. Barely noticeable. I’m pretty sure when you ran through the park with your shirt off screaming, ‘Murderous snails! Run for your life!’ people noticed.”
Not his proudest moment. “But was I wrong? Freshwater snails have caused more deaths than sharks, lions, and bears combined, King. Two hundred thousand a year!” He narrowed his eyes. “They’re silent, tiny killers.” A terrifying thought occurred to him. “What if the government decides to weaponize them?”
King held out his hand. “The cookies.”
“Eight.”
King barked out a laugh. “No way. Four.”
“Six,” Leo countered.
“Four.”
“Five and a tail?”
“Four.”
“I don’t think you understand how negotiation works,” Leo grumbled, handing over the extra cookies. “Fine. But I was doing those families a favor. Not my fault some of them couldn’t handle the truth.”
“You mean the children?” King’s smile was wicked. “Oh, the humanity.”
Leo gasped, and King laughed on his way back to the kitchen to return the fishy cookies to whence they came. And that’s why he was going to marry that man. He had no idea when or how, but he’d figure it out.
The rest of the guys arrived, and Leo smiled when Fitz hurried over to hug him. Fitz gave the best hugs. After King, anyway. Once he’d hugged Fitz, he gave Duchess lots of pets and ear scratches. When she decided she’d had an appropriate amount of pets, she trotted off to greet everyone else.
“Where are they?” Jack asked, sitting on the couch and pulling his laptop out of his backpack.
“Joker and Gio are in the garage with Ace, Colton, and the dogs,” Leo replied, leaning over the back of the couch. “I don’t think Ace’s logic is sound.”
Lucky snorted as he walked to the kitchen. “This is Ace we’re talking about. Logic happens very rarely.”
“Who else would cancel the team of professional decorators and decide to decorate his mansion himself?” Fitz asked, as he settled on the couch next to Jack. He drew up his legs, and Duchess bounded over. She hopped up and snuggled against Fitz.
The sliding door opened, and Gio stepped inside with Cookie. He closed the door behind them and greeted everyone before taking a seat on the couch opposite Jack and Fitz.
King sat next to Gio and gave him a knowing look. “How’s the decorating going?”
Gio huffed out a laugh. “I’m not sure how Ace and Sacha manage to turn something like untangling Christmas lights into a competitive sport, but there you go.”
“Sounds about right,” Jack muttered.
Red and Laz sang along to Christmas songs in the kitchen while Lucky told Mason about the evils of tinsel. A short time later, Ace, Colton, and Joker came inside.
Chip saw Leo and lost his furry mind. He ran straight for Leo, and Leo scratched him all over before starting their game of tag. Joker joined in, and then Cookie and Duchess. Good thing there was plenty of room! Leo had just tagged Chip when Ace called out across the room.
“Everyone shut your pie holes!”
Well, that was certainly one way to get everyone’s attention. Leo snickered and walked back to the couch, standing to one side, and leaning against it.
Colton sighed. “Not what I had in mind, love, but thank you. I wanted to let you all know how thankful I am to have you in my life. You’ve been more of a family to me than my own blood, but you already knew that. I love you all so much.”
Aw, that gave Leo warm and fuzzy feelings all over.
“We love you too, Colt,” Fitz called out.
Leo nodded his agreement.
“Okay, so I’ve been thinking about having a white Christmas for the longest time.”
Wouldn’t that be something? Leo had never had a white Christmas. Had he? Not that he could remember. Did frost on the lawn count as snow? Probably not. Pay attention. Right. Colton was talking.
“Something Ace said gave me an idea. I thought having a special holiday season might be nice for our new family. With that in mind, I have a surprise for everyone.” Colton tapped at his phone, and everyone’s phone pinged. “Check your emails.”
Leo took his phone out of his pocket and checked his email. He tapped on what looked like a reservation confirmation for a luxury family cabin in…Winterhaven? Where was that?
“What’s Winterhaven?” Lucky asked.
Leo pulled up his browser and did a quick search. Loads of information popped up on the picturesque mountain town. So many photos. That was a lot of nature. Leo wasn’t very outdoorsy. Mostly because he questioned his survival skills. Unlike King, who could probably build a raft out of twigs and dental floss.
“We’re going to have a white Christmas!” Colton said excitedly.
Then again, the cabin looked fancy. And huge! He went back to his search, and all kinds of information came up about the town’s yearly festivities, the biggest and best being their Christmas holiday season. Clicking on one of the websites, he smiled. It was so pretty! So many lights and decorations and all that snow. The market square looked amazing.
King frowned. “This schedule says from tomorrow until the end of December. Colton, we can’t take that much time off.”
While King and Ace discussed whether they could take the time off, Leo did some quick research on Winterhaven. Leo wasn’t great at coming up with gift ideas, and usually, he turned to the guys to help him. But this year was different. He wanted to give King something really special.
In a few weeks, it would be five years since they started dating. Maybe Leo could find what he was looking for in Winterhaven? He clicked on a link about the town’s mayor.
Leo gasped. “Santa’s there.” He lifted his gaze to King. “I want to go.”
Everyone looked to King, who smiled warmly. “Sweetheart, he’s not—”
“Actually, Santa,” Leo said. “I know that. He’s the mayor. But he looks like Santa, and according to my online search results, Winterhaven is the perfect small-townChristmas destination. It’s famous for its holiday festivities.” If anyone could help him come up with the perfect Christmas gift for King, it was Santa! Or, at the very least, the mayor of a town known for its Christmas celebrations.
Joker snorted. “Damn. The mayor does look like Santa. That’s an impressive beard.”
“So beautiful,” Laz said.
Leo continued to click around several websites. The more he saw of the town, the more excited he got. This was perfect!
“What do you guys say?”
At Ace’s words, Leo lifted his gaze. The guys had never been away from the office for any length of time. Not all of them at once, anyway. But it wasn’t like they didn’t have anyone who could run the place.
“How about it, big guy?” Ace asked King. “Ready for the perfect Christmas?”
King looked at Leo, who smiled brightly.
Please, please, please, Ward!
As if reading his thoughts, King let out a sigh and smiled. “You’re right. We have a great team. They’ll be okay without us for a few weeks.”
Leo cheered and ran to King, throwing his arms around him and kissing him. With a chuckle, King returned his kiss.
“You’re really excited about this, huh?” King asked.
Leo nodded fervently. “This is going to be awesome.”
As soon as he was able, he’d find Santa and figure out the perfect Christmas present for King, something that showed him a glimpse of how much Leo loved him. Time to launch Operation King’s Christmas! All he had to do now was get packed for an extended Christmas vacation, and tomorrow, they’d be on their way to Winterhaven! Easy peasy.
At least that’s what he thought before boarding the jet, and Colton told them how long the flight was. Almost four hours? What was he supposed to do on a flight that long? He’d been so focused on everything else that he hadn’t given any thought to the flight itself.
Ace was, of course, being Ace, and Joker was threatening Ace for being Ace. Maybe if Leo kept his mind occupied…. Hmm.
Fitz’s faux fur coat reminded Leo of Chewbacca. That thought promptly led him to thoughts of Star Wars, which led him to thoughts of TheMandalorian, which led to Pedro Pascal—who Leo had a little crush on—which led to that weird Nicholas Cage movie he’d watched with Ace, which led to—
“Sweetheart?”
Leo blinked at King. “Yeah?”
“We’re here.”
“Huh?” Leo noticed everyone getting up and putting on their coats. Wait, what? “How…?”
“You were kinda lost in your head, but since you were smiling, I figured you’d jumped on one of your thought trains.”
“Thought train” was the term Leo had come up with to best describe what happened to him when he got lost in his thoughts. It was like hopping on a train and moving from one train car to the next to the next until someone or something snapped him out of it.
King stood and helped Leo get into his puffy coat. It was weird wearing a scarf, hat, and mittens. The most he got to wear in the winter back home was a sweater and a light jacket. Outside, an Airbus helicopter waited for them. The helicopter ride to Winterhaven was thankfully much quicker.
As soon as they landed and the blades stopped, the doors opened. Chip shot out, plopping into the snow, which made Leo laugh. He got out as the dogs lost their furry minds, bouncing, hopping, jumping, rolling around, and chomping at the falling snow. They were too darn cute.
They stood in front of the cabin, and Leo gasped. Holy cow, it was huge! And so beautiful. He turned to King, his smile wide. “It looks like it’s from a Christmas movie.”
King wrapped his arms around Leo and kissed the top of his head. “It does.”
Colton thought it would be a good idea to check out the town before they got settled for the night, and Leo wondered if they’d bump into Santa. He’d have to figure out a way to talk to him without King. Hmm, probably without the others as well. If he was going to surprise King, no one else could know what he was up to. He loved his family, but they kinda sucked at keeping secrets.
After a short car ride and a weird discussion about jaw-breaking candy, they reached the town and parked. Leo got out, and he couldn’t help his huge smile. It was so cold, but he didn’t care. This place was amazing! Like one of those little European villages from one of his fantasy movies.
All down the main street, the shops were decorated, though Leo noticed it looked different from the photos of previous years. It was pretty, but…there were decorations missing. Also, the stalls lining the street weren’t supposed to be there, they were supposed to be in the market square. Maybe he’d ask Santa about it.
Jack gasped. “Holy Hallmark movies, Batman.”
That’s what it reminded Leo of. Those small-town Christmas movies that Colton loved. He made Ace watch them with him every year. Leo didn’t mind them, though he often ended up with lots of unanswered questions.
“Oh my Chanel, look at those sweaters!” Fitz squealed. “I need them!”
Leo was about to follow Fitz when something sparkly caught his eye in the stall across from the sweaters. He gasped. “That stall has a Goldfish cracker ornament!” It had a little Santa hat on it! He ran to the stall and stared at it in awe. It was the most amazing ornament he’d ever seen in his life!
Very carefully, he removed the ornament from the display hook and held it in his mittened hands. “You’re coming home with me, little buddy. Look at you and your little smiley fishy face.”
“I have to admit, that’s pretty cute,” King said. “What are the odds?”
“Right? It’s like Winterhaven knew I would be here.” Leo handed the ornament over to the lovely lady, thankful it had a secure, foam-padded box to protect it from breaking. He’d just taken the little gift bag from her and thanked her when he heard Colton.
Something was wrong.
Everyone seemed to sense the same thing and joined Colton, Ace, and Gio at the hot cocoa stand.
“Oh no,” Colton said. “The Ice Castle is closed?”
What? That’s where Santa and his reindeer would be. Leo lifted his gaze to Colton. “No Santa?” But…he had to find Santa. He needed help with Operation King’s Christmas.
Fitz wrapped his arm around Leo’s shoulder, his expression troubled. The other woman told Colton to find Clara at the Ice Castle, so they headed in that direction. When they arrived, it looked…dark. The doors weren’t locked, so they all went in and almost immediately found the hospitality manager, Clara. She looked just like her online photo.
After introductions, Clara explained what had happened, how a terrible snowstorm had blown through, damaging the Ice Castle’s roof and electrical panel. If that wasn’t bad enough, the vendors had canceled the town’s deliveries.
“Poor Santa.” Leo shook his head. “I mean, the mayor, obviously, but this sounds bad.” He cocked his head to one side. There had to be something they could do. Wait! He jumped, and everyone else did the same. Oops.
“Every time,” Joker grumbled. “Why do you have to scare the life out of us every time you get a bright idea?”
“Sorry. It’s just my brain and body coming to the same conclusion.” Leo turned to King. “We need to help Santa.”
King blinked at him. “Help Santa?”
“The mayor. And the town,” Leo replied. “We’re kind of the best people equipped for the job. Jack can work on the electrical issues, and Lucky and Mason on the roof.”
“I can’t fix it without new panels,” Jack said. “Something that specialized will take longer to ship than we have time for.”
“Not to mention the town’s entire Christmas shipment is non-existent,” Fitz added.
Leo blinked at them, then turned to Colton. “You own a shipping company. It’s more of a shipping empire,” he corrected. “I mean, if anyone can get the town what they need in no time, it’s you. Right?”
Clara shook her head. “As much as I appreciate the thought, our town simply doesn’t have the connections or the funds to take on a shipment of that magnitude.”
But Colton does.
With Ace’s encouragement, Colton offered to help under the guise of giving his family the perfect Christmas. Though Leo was certain a part of that was true, Colton also loved to help people. Clara seemed uncertain, which was understandable. They were a bunch of strangers offering to spend loads of money and time helping a town they’d only just arrived in.
Clara looked at Leo, who smiled brightly, and her face softened.
“I would love to help you give your family the perfect Christmas.” She turned back to face Colton. “If it isn’t too much, I would love the help. I’m sure the mayor will be thrilled as well.”
“Wonderful! My family and I will return to our cabin, and as soon as we receive all the information, we’ll get started on a plan.”
“It all sounds too good to be true,” Clara said before throwing her arms around Colton and squeezing him tight.
They said their goodbyes and headed out. The guys discussed the magnitude of the project ahead, but Leo didn’t doubt his family could do it. He would do his part as well, and at the same time, find Santa and the perfect gift for his amazing fiancé.
Time to activate stealth mode. Operation King’s Christmas was back on!
Jodi Payne
