All She Wants for Christmas (13 page)

And now I stand next to you without fear

The soul knows who lights the flame

Of love and desire, I know his name

I don’t want to run, I don’t want to roam

I want to come home, I want to come home

My wandering ends but our journey begins

All it takes is for you to let me in

Open the door and give me your love

I want to come home, I want to come home

To you.”

The room fell silent, and Mrs. Kent cleared her throat.

“That was lovely, Riley. Now the rest of you can come help me in the kitchen.”

“But Grandma, I want to hear Riley sing some more.”

“Later, Zoey. Riley and your daddy have some talking to do.”

“Riley, do you love my daddy?”

Riley turned a tear-filled gaze to Zoey. “Yes, Zoey, I do love your daddy.”

Zoey grinned. “I thought so. That’s pretty cool, because he loves you, too, don’t you, Daddy?”

Riley turned back to Ethan to see him nodding at his daughter. “Yes, muffin, I do love Riley.”

“That’s so cool. My daddy loves Riley Jensen.”

Riley laughed through her tears.

After everyone left, Ethan came over to her, took her guitar, and laid it against the sofa. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a deep kiss filled with all the love she’d always wanted but was afraid she’d never have.

And when he broke the kiss, he said, “I was afraid to ask you to stay. I couldn’t ask it of you.”

“I’ll have to travel. I was afraid to ask that sacrifice of you. I love my career.”

“I’d never make you give it up. Zoey and I can travel with you in the summers.”

“You’d do that?”

“I’d do anything for you.”

She smiled, then laughed, put her hands around his neck. “Anything?”

“Yes.”

“Will you give me babies to fill that huge house of yours?”

He arched a brow. “How soon do you want them?”

“Really soon.”

“Then I guess I’d better put a ring on your finger and marry you. Really soon.”

“I love you, Ethan.”

“I love you, too, Riley.”

As Ethan kissed her, and then as her family—because they were all her family now—crowded in to offer congratulations, she realized she’d been given all she wanted for Christmas. The man she loved, a beautiful daughter, a family who would always be hers, and love.

The best gift of all was always love.

About the Author

New York Times
bestselling author Jaci Burton lives in Oklahoma and spends a fair amount of time on the back of her husband’s Harley, where she often gets lost plotting her next story as the warm (and sometimes cold) breeze whips her face. She loves reality television, is a sucker for romantic comedies, and completely loses track of time when reading a great book. She’s a total romantic and longs for the happily ever after in every story, which you’ll find in all her books.

Jaci has won the
RT Book Reviews
Reviewer’s Choice Award and has been a finalist in the National Readers’ Choice Awards and Bookseller’s Best Awards. She writes contemporary romance, erotic romance and romantic suspense, writing in the genres she loves to read.

You can find Jaci on the web at www.jaciburton.com, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jaciburton and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jaci.burton.

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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9087-1

Copyright © 2010 by Jaci Burton

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All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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