“You know what you’re doing, so I won’t question it. I’ll just say I hope it works out okay and that you guys find the missing girl without getting yourselves in trouble.”

“I’ll try not to cause any bad publicity for you.”

“I don’t care about that, and you know it. I care about you.”

“I’ll be fine. Jeannie and I both believe that finding that girl is what matters. And on that note, I’m back off duty and wondering how we should spend this unexpected moment alone on Christmas Day.”

“I thought we could start with this.” He handed her a long, slender package wrapped in gold paper with a gold bow on top.

“What is it?”

“Open it and find out.”

“I thought we agreed to one present this year?”

“I loved your gift, and I can’t wait for a weekend away together very soon.”

“And I loved the suede boots. They’re gorgeous.”

“I needed something more than the boots to properly thank you for everything over this last month and to butter you up for the next three years.”

Intrigued, Sam removed the paper to reveal a blue velvet Tiffany box. “What’ve you done?”

“I had a little fun. Open it.”

Sam lifted the lid on the box to reveal a stunning diamond bracelet. “Holy smokes. That’s gorgeous.”

Nick took it from the box and put it on her wrist. “Every time you look at it, I want you to remember how much I appreciate you—always—but especially lately. And I want you to remember how much I love you.”

“It’s beautiful. Thank you. How’d you manage to pull this off?”

“I had a little help from Tracy and Angela. They helped me narrow down the choices, but I made the final call.”

“You did good.” Sam held up her arm to let the bling catch the light from the fire burning in their fireplace. After hearing how much she loved the wood fireplace, the staff came in each night to light it for her before bedtime. Since it was a holiday, they’d done it early. At first, she’d been worried about them coming in unannounced, but the staff never entered the occupied suite unless they’d been asked for something. They had an almost supernatural ability to know when to stay away.

“Last night and today were fantastic,” Nick said, kissing her. “Thanks for all you did to make it happen.”

“That was mostly Gideon and the staff.”

“But it was your idea.”

“That was the easy part. The staff gets the credit for bringing my idea to life.”

“I hope we can do it every year that we’re here.”

“That would be nice,” Sam said. “Everyone seemed to enjoy it.”

“They were dazzled.”

“This place is rather dazzling.”

“Nothing was more dazzling last night than my first lady.”