Page 118 of The Brigadier

It took him almost two minutes to select a perfect location on the tree. Meanwhile, Nikolay was standing outside the living room, glaring at me with all the impatience in the world. I gave him a harsh look, chastising him with my eyes. The man could drive me nuts. Granted, the present wasn’t going to be held that much longer.

I had to admit he looked adorable in his Santa costume. I couldn’t wait to hear his ‘ho, ho, ho.’ Maybe Santa liked to be a little bit naughty. Oh, I was such a bad girl.

“I love you, puppy. Happy Christmas. I wish you would come alive. My daddy is magic. Maybe he can make that happen.” As he placed it on the tree, I held back tears.

The beautiful little boy with the heart of gold had no idea how much he was loved.

When he came barreling back to me, throwing his arms around me, I could swear I was going to sit and sob.

“Ho. Ho. Ho.”

The voice was even deeper but there was no disguising the sexy, powerful man. Not in the least. As Nikolay sauntered into the room carrying the box, all the little gasps Damien was doing just made my heart sing.

“Santa?”

“Yes, it’s Santa,” I told him, trying to keep from crying and laughing.

St. Nik placed the box on the floor and remained crouched down. “Is there a little boy named Damien in this room?”

“Dat’s me!” Damien pointed to his chest.

“Have you been a very good boy this year?” Nik glanced at me quickly, his eyes sparkling so much I truly believed he was full of magic.

“Chantie? Have I?”

When his little face twisted up toward mine, boy-oh-boy, I almost lost it. “You have been a very good boy.”

“Yep. Good boy.” Damien was adamant.

“Then come here. All good little boys receive one special gift.” Nik was damn good at being Santa. Plus, the costume, oh, holy God. He looked so alluring I wanted to attack his body right there. Whew.

Damien walked over tentatively, staring down at the box. “What is it?”

“You’ll need to open it,” Santa told him.

Or it was going to open itself. The lid was already being pushed off.

Damien was still tentative, so curious his little body was rigid. I moved so I could see his expression, grabbing my cell phone from the hearth where I’d placed it to capture some adorable photos.

When the lid popped off before Damien had a chance to pull it off, the little boy gasped and giggled.

And the puppy appeared as if by magic, the most handsome black lab in the world. At least in my opinion. The furry creature was a picture-perfect embodiment of the ones he’d started to draw, the four stuffed ones on his bed.

“A puppy!” Damien squealed with glee, jumping up and down as Nikolay helped the pup from the box. Not that the already twenty-five-pound big boy needed any help. Nope. He was rough and tumble and we’d been told he’d likely top one hundred pounds, which was huge for a lab. He’d be a perfect companion for a little boy.

I snapped photograph after photograph, unable to stop the tears. This was the best Christmas I’d ever have and one I’d remember forever.

“A puppy. A puppy!” The squeals continued and Nikolay finally walked toward me as they romped around.

When the puppy bounded toward the tree, both Nikolay and I had to stop him.

“Oh, boy,” he said under his breath.

“This room is off limits,” I said. At least until the puppy was trained.

“I think we made him happy?”

I tipped my head and smiled. “Yes, you did, Daddy St. Nik.”