Stranded for Christmas (Holiday Acres Book 4) Read online

  For a long time she’d never believed she would get married. It had been a dream. A fantasy. A vision that had never matched up with her understanding of her life.

  She’d been happy before, but she was even happier now.

  She’d never have to live without Russ again. And Tommy wouldn’t either. He was their family now.

  After the meal was over, they opened a couple of bottles of expensive champagne (and sparkling grape juice for Tommy and for Rebecca and Penny, who were both pregnant). They all made toasts. Scott and Olivia, Penny and Kent, Phil and Rebecca. Even little Tommy who had no idea what a toast was supposed to be but earnestly thanked everyone for his Christmas presents and said the wedding cake Rebecca had made was the best one he’d ever eaten and then announced he was planning to beat Russ in their video game later today.

  Russ gave the last toast.

  He stood up. Cleared his throat. Glanced down at Laura, who could see the emotion twisting on his face.

  She reached to take his hand and held it as he spoke.

  “Six years ago, when my brother died, both our families were broken. We were supposed to be close, friends, family, but we’d been torn apart by a long, painful series of mistakes and unforgiveness.”

  The big table was silent now. Even Tommy was listening with big round eyes.

  Russ cleared his throat again and went on. “I think back now and try to figure out how and when things started to change for us, and the truth is I really don’t know. But I feel like it might have started with Laura. When she was looking back through her dad’s papers and saw the truth for what it was. She didn’t try to hide it, although that would have been the easiest thing. She wasn’t afraid to face it. Wasn’t afraid to try to make it better. My life changed that day she came to me and told me what she’d learned about her father. I’d never seen courage and honesty like that. I’d never had anything so real and good in my life before. And I wanted it.”

  Laura was shaking now, her throat aching painfully. Russ had looked down at her with his normal calm composure, although adoration was evident in his amber-brown eyes.

  “That was when my life changed, and it changed again a year ago when I realized I didn’t have to just watch that kind of goodness from a distance. I could actually share in it. My old, broken soul had never believed that was possible. But my soul was mended. And our families were mended too. And I feel like today might be when we’re finally put back together for good.”

  Tears were streaming down Laura’s cheeks now, and she wasn’t the only one.

  Russ’s voice was thick, far more emotional than she’d ever believed he’d show to anyone but her. He lifted his glass. “So here’s to healing, to fixing what’s broken, to being put back together again. And to love, the only thing that can do it.”

  They toasted. And cried a little. And then laughed when Tommy spilled his glass of juice all over Kent’s lap, making the big man leap out of his chair like he’d been bitten.

  Laura was hugging Russ afterward when she whispered into his ear, “I’m going to stop taking my birth control, if that’s okay with you.”

  His whole body jerked. “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure. I want to have a baby with you, if you still want it too.”

  “I want that more than anything.”

  She pressed a soft kiss on the side of his jaw. “I told you that you were secretly a romantic.”

  He laughed and tightened his arms around her, like he’d never let her go. “It’s not much of a secret anymore.”

  IF YOU ENJOYED Stranded for Christmas, be sure to check out the rest of the Holiday Acres series.

  An excerpt from my next book, Packaged Husband, the third book in the Trophy Husbands series, can be found on the following pages.

  The Holiday Acres series

  Stranded on the Beach (Book 1 about Rebecca and Phil)

  Stranded in the Snow (Book 2 about Olivia and Scott)

  Stranded in the Woods (Book 3 about Penny and Kent)

  Stranded for Christmas (Book 4 about Laura and Russ)

  Excerpt from Packaged Husband

  “WHY DO you need to work?” Owen asks.

  The question surprises me, just as everything else about this man has. “Why wouldn’t I work?”

  “I’ve talked to a lot of people about you. You’ve never worked before.”

  For no good reason, my cheeks warm slightly at the idea of his asking around about me. “I want to start working now. I’ve lived off Pop my whole life, and it’s not the arrangement I want. Three months working with you would give me an income and also some time to find a more permanent position after our contract is over.”

  He nods, as if what I say makes sense.

  I go on. “I’m not good at very many things. If you’ve asked around about me, I can guess what you’ve been told. They told you I’m fun. I’m social. I’m spoiled. I love shopping. I know fashion. I’m good with what’s trendy. I can make small talk with anyone in the world. Men tend to like me. I’m not as smart or impressive as my sisters are, but the things I’m good at are exactly the things you need. I’m trying to find a job that suits me, and this is something I can do. I’m what you need, Mr. Masterson. You should take my offer seriously.”

  There.

  I’ve said everything.

  I have no idea what other argument I can make.

  So I sit there breathlessly and wait.

  It takes him a long time to answer.

  Then he finally says, “In your first email, you said you’d be willing to discuss being my temporary trophy wife.”

  I’m so surprised I nearly fall out of my chair. “What?”

  “I think you heard me.”

  “I was joking! I wanted to catch your attention, so I said that.” I’d been half-serious in that first email, before I chickened out, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  “I know you were trying to catch my attention. But are you willing to discuss it?”

  “You want to... to discuss it?” I thought I was in control of this situation, but I’m not even close. I cross my arms in front of my stomach and fight to keep my expression composed.

  “Yes. I agree it will be more effective if you pretend to be my girlfriend. If that’s true, then it will be even more effective if you are actually my wife.”

  “You want... you want...”

  I’m shocked. Almost dizzy from it.

  But a spark of excitement has ignited inside me, the same one I felt when Trevor first laughed about his friend needing a temporary trophy wife.

  This is what I am.

  This is what I do.

  I could rock the hell out of being a trophy wife.

  “I want to discuss it,” he says, as blandly and soberly as he’s talked about everything else. “You’ve done research on me. I’m a decent guy. And it’s going to take more than a few months to make the partnerships I need for Masterson’s.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “At least a year.”

  “So you think we should... we should get married for a year?”

  “I think we should talk about it. If you’re under contract with me for a year, then that will give you even more time to find a career for yourself.”

  “So you’re thinking a business arrangement, right?”

  “Right. I’ve always known what I need. A temporary trophy wife. If that’s a situation that could work for you too, why shouldn’t we consider it?”

  His eyes are as sober as ever. Not even a hint of a smile. It’s unnerving, that he’s not lightening this conversation with irony or humor.

  But it’s also strangely gratifying.

  He’s taking me seriously.

  No one ever has before.

  YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION about Packaged Husband here.

  About Noelle Adams

  NOELLE HANDWROTE HER first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight dif
ferent states and currently resides in Virginia, where she writes full time, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.

  She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com.

  You can find a printable version of a complete book list for Noelle Adams here.