A Saint Security Christmas Party Bonus Scene
Kenny
The weather outside was, in fact, rather frightful, and it was only about ten am. Bruce and Wilder had already announced we’d be done early today, right after the annual Saint Security Christmas party.
Last year the party had been closer to Christmas and had been a whole thing—an evening soiree type deal that was amazing, exhausting, and wonderful. But this year, Jess and my boy Beast were tying the knot in a semi-planned elopement in a matter of days before they flew off to some far corner of the world to “be alone together,” as Beast had put it.
I couldn’t wait to celebrate them. They were great together and seeing my friends’ happiness multiplied my own joy this time of year.
It did pinch a little, too. But who had time for that kind of thing when there was holiday punch to mix? Not I!
“The girls are still coming, right?” Wilder asked Bruce as they hauled in food to the long conference room table.
“Yep. Nik said they’ll leave the house soon. Do they need to bring anything?” Bruce asked as he slid a perfectly roasted turkey onto the table.
Wilder shook his head. “No, just confirming Sarah won’t be the only one.”
Bruce chuckled and flashed his toothpaste commercial grin. “No, definitely not. So far I think everyone will be here, despite the weather.”
“The more the merrier, right?” I asked, genuinely looking forward to the place filling up and toasting friends. My gaze caught on Cookie, who was focused on straightening a plate of perfect French macarons he’d brought.
“Did you invite all your friends?” I asked Jess, noting how Cookie’s gaze perked, then settled as he tried to cover the interest.
Jess nodded as she set down a crock pot full of mashed potatoes. “Yep. They all know they’re invited, though I don’t think Elise, Dove, or Catherine are coming.”
Cookie’s blink gave him away, but that was all he’d reveal. That was all I needed to know he was disappointed, despite rarely managing to find words for the woman he was so drawn to. Poor guy.
“I get it, but I don’t have to like it,” I said, wishing they’d just come. “Everyone should be here. The whole town should!”
Adam patted me on the back. “Now, now, Barbie. We can’t actually fit everyone in here. We’d violate fire codes before half of Silver Street showed.”
Stone silently slipped two trays for glorious looking mini red velvet bundt cakes onto the table, gave me a nod, and disappeared. I’d tried to convince him to stay, but he wasn’t up for it, and I couldn’t blame him. He knew himself well enough to know when he could handle a crowd, even one filled with familiar faces, and when he couldn’t.
Adam gave Stone a pat as he walked by, and he and I gave in to the point. “Fair enough. I assume Jo’s coming, at least?”
He grinned wide, the love for his fiancée beaming right at me. “Yes. She got a call from her sister, but she’ll be over in a few.”
My heart flipped. Her sister. Elizabeth. Nope! Not going to think about that woman right now. Just not going to do it. And happily, Jo happened to walk in the door with platter full of food, so I moved to greet her.
Adam
“Let me take that for you, Ms. Malcom,” Kenny said with a flourish, then grabbed the tray.
I might’ve been a little irritated with him except his taking the tray allowed me to swoop in and steal a kiss.
“You look adorable,” I said, gazing at her long hair spilling over her shoulder in waves, the cream-colored knit hat complete with a giant pompom on top, and her cream-colored winter coat over jeans and boots.
“Thank you. I’ll admit I’m glad the attire for today is casual because it is freezing outside and I couldn’t have handled a dress,” she said, pressing a kiss to my cheek after I gave her one.
She must’ve seen the flames light in my eyes at the thought of her in a dress. Honestly her in anything… or nothing… was great with me. And I’d been starving for her thanks to how busy we’d both been.
“Maybe we can have a fancy date night sometime soon. I’ll drop you right in front of wherever we go so you don’t freeze,” I said, tugging off one of her mittens and linking our fingers.
She grinned, then leaned in so her lips brushed my ear. “Or we could just have a date night in.”
When she pulled back, I was swallowing hard and she had a little smirk on her perfect lips that told me she knew exactly what she was doing to me.
Before I could respond, Winnie, Nikki, and Kiley burst through the door, all carrying food and covered in snowflakes, so we moved to help them.
Tristan
There she is. My wife.
Sometimes thinking those words felt truly miraculous. It hadn’t even been a full year since Winnie had moved to Silverton and we’d gotten married—the first time.
Not quite six months since we’d held a wedding in our backyard amidst the wildflowers and the mountains surrounded by the people who loved us.
As someone who’d spent years thinking he’d ultimately spend his life alone, moments like those, and even these right now, made my cup run over. I’d lost everything when my parents passed, and then I’d found a family in the EMU, and even more so, when we’d all taken the risk to come here to Silverton.
But the best gift had come with Winnie, the woman who’d been my best friend from far away for years and was now my best friend right here next to me.
“Hello, husband,” she said, her melodic voice soothing and exciting at the same time.
“Hello, Win.” Something about the way she smiled made me want to devour her. Probably not the time, but maybe we could slip away to my office before the party started…
“Oak, can I grab you a sec?”
Bruce’s voice cut through my thoughts, and I stole a quick kiss before following him out to the storage closet. We hauled in another table and more chairs for the far side of the room and by the time I returned, Winnie was beaming at Jess, then hugging her.
“I know you’re going to have an amazing time. Marriage is the best,” she said, then shot me a glowing grin.
My heart squeezed. “She’s right,” I said, catching Beast’s eye. He was next up.
Adam, the most recent of us to get engaged, patted Bruce’s shoulder. “You’ll get there.
Instead of looking at Adam or me, Bruce’s eye caught on his fiancée’s.
Bruce
I grinned at Nikki and sent her a wink. Her instant blush filled me with satisfaction.
Finally, I responded to Adam’s reassurance.
“I know. I’m in no rush.” That was true. Nikki’s past was complex, just like mine was, and we weren’t rushing into marriage. It didn’t make sense for us. It also didn’t make me question her love for me or our commitment to each other. I’d waited nearly forty years for her, and I wasn’t about to pretend I didn’t want to tie the knot right now, but I also understood and agreed that we’d go at our own pace.
I loved her, I loved us, and I could love our pace.
Nik made her way over to me and had a question in her eyes.
“What is it,” I asked, gathering her to me and nuzzling into her neck.
“You just had a look. I was wondering if you were okay.” She brushed her fingers along my neck and my eyes closed involuntarily.
“I’m good. Just wondering if I really need to be here. I don’t, do I? We can just pop back home and have a little one on one—”
Her laugh halted my words.
“You’re the host and kind of the one in charge, aren’t you?”
I lowered my voice. “You can be in charge of me, if you want.”
Heat flared in her eyes, and she shook her head, then shoved me back a bit, “None of that now, Mr. Camden. Wilder’s got the baby and Sarah, so you’re up.”
I sighed dramatically, then winked again and turned back to… whatever I was supposed to be doing. Beast shot me a look clearly indicating he’s seen the PDA Nik and I had just perpetrated. I shrugged a shoulder.
He shook his head again, but then his arm shot out and hooked around Jess, yanking her back into his body.
Jude
“Are we really not married yet? It feels like it’s been forever since I proposed,” I said, dragging my beard along the curve of her jaw.
She huffed and turned in my arms, setting her hands on my shoulders. “That’s because it has been. Let’s leave right now and go to the courthouse.”
There was no containing my grin. “We’re already basically eloping. We can’t do that. Kenny would never forgive us.”
“You’re absolutely right about that,” he said, popping his head into the space between us, which I promptly palmed and shoved away. He cackled.
Jess pursed her lips in a poor attempt to hide a grin.
“We’ll make it. We’re almost there. And then it’s you and me and paradise for two weeks.”
I’d never been much of a beach guy, but I couldn’t wait to lay around with Jess and just relax together. Make love and drink cocktails and splash in the ocean and sleep in late. It sounded like heaven, especially when I’d be calling her wife.
I couldn’t imagine a better Christmas gift.
Bones might shun me for a while when we got back, but Kenny would take good care of him for me. It’d be worth whatever retribution the my little beast would exact.
“You’re going to have to stop looking at me like that, or I’m going to have to drag you to my office.”
“Now, now, none of that, kids. Everyone’s here,” Bruce said, completely ruining the moment.
I shot him a glare but softened it immediately because I couldn’t blame him. I’d just witnessed something similar between him and Nikki, after all.
“Thank you all for coming, even on such a snowy day. Welcome to the second annual Saint Security Christmas party. We’ve seen incredible successes and growth in these first few years, but there’s nothing we’re prouder of than this community we’re building. I want to say thank you on behalf of Wilder and myself. The faith you’ve put in us from the very beginning is nothing short of humbling and it’s the driving force behind the decisions we make and the future of this business.”
He raised a glass, and we all grabbed one from the table, tall flutes filled with sparkling champagne or cider. All the faces crowding the room raised their glasses, from the ex-EMU soldiers, our former CIA agent and her pop star husband, to the women who’d joined the family by way of dating and marrying in. On the monitors, the Washingtons, Hijack, and several others raised their own glasses.
“To Saint Security, and to the Saint Security family, far and wide. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year.”
“To Saint Security,” we all echoed, and drank deep.
***
Thank you for being here. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! If you need a fun military romance Christmas read, check out the Married to the Military Christmas RomCom series here.