‘Happy Christmas, Ned.’ I smiled back.

‘You bypassed your stocking completely,’ he pointed out, as our second Christmas kiss came to a reluctant end.

‘I was coming back up,’ I told him. ‘I just wanted to let Bandit out and make us a drink and then I was coming back to bed.’

‘You wanted to sneak a look at the presents more like,’ Ned grinned, looking down at me.

‘Perhaps,’ I admitted, sweeping my hair over my shoulder in a gesture that I knew would give me away.

‘And has he been?’ asked Ned, playing the game.

I led him over to the tree.

‘He has,’ I said. ‘Look.’

‘Wow,’ he gasped. ‘That’s quite a selection. How on earth are you going to resist?’

I took a purposeful step back.

‘Presents underneath the tree were always left until after lunch when I was growing up,’ I told him, ‘so if I could do it when I was little, I can manage it now.’

Ned shook his head. Clearly, he didn’t have much faith in my resolve.

‘Are you sure?’ he teased.

‘Of course,’ I forthrightly said, but my gaze flicked back to the pile. ‘Well,’ I caved. ‘Perhaps a peek at just one wouldn’t hurt, would it?’

‘I don’t see why not,’ he said, kneeling down for a closer look. ‘But it has to be the right one.’

He reached towards the back of the pile and pulled out a small flat present. My guess was that it was a wrapped envelope. I was intrigued as to why he’d picked that one out of the stack surrounding it.

‘How about this one?’ he suggested, holding it out. ‘If you’re going to have an early one from under the tree, then I think it should be this one.’

My heart began to hammer as he took my hand, pulled me down next to him and handed the envelope over. It weighed practically nothing, but the smile on Ned’s face told me it contained something very special indeed and I was right.

‘We’re going on an adventure!’ he burst out as I tore through the paper to find very exclusive travel documents and a luxury itinerary to see the northern lights.

‘Oh Ned!’ I gasped, as I admired the image of a glass igloo, complete with a large bed covered in reindeer rugs. ‘This is perfect. Thank you!’

‘It will be,’ he said, pulling me onto his lap. ‘Everything will be perfect now we’re together.’

He kissed me deeply and for the longest time, and there, underneath the Christmas tree, I embraced my fate and my future and a lifetime dedicated to celebrating the most wonderful time of the year.

Acknowledgements