Jingle Belle's Rock Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Jingle Belle’s Rock

  Copyright

  Thank You!

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  About the Author

  Books by Brynn Paulin

  Jingle Belle’s Rock

  Forever Safe Holiday

  By Brynn Paulin

  Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  www.supernovaindie.com

  Powered by Your Imagination

  Jingle Belle’s Rock

  by

  Brynn Paulin

  Belle:

  Most of the time, I can avoid my Big, Fat, All-American Family, but not at Christmas. And yes, just like the movie of a similar name, they’re all in my face about when I’m tying the knot with a nice, hometown boy. Worse, with all my cousins engaged or married, my mom's intent on setting me up with the perfect man. The problem is, my perfect man is my boss and he’s more interested in my marketing skills than in romance.

  Decker:

  I've waited patiently for my Jingle Belle to settle into her job with me. When she tells me about her mom's plan to find her a husband... No, just no. My rock is going on my Jingle Belle's finger, and I'm making her mine, once and for all.

  Copyright

  © 2019, Brynn Paulin

  Jingle Belle’s Rock

  Cover Art by Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  Electronic Format ISBN: 978-1-62344-315-3

  Published by: Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  Warning: All rights reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  Thank You!

  Thank you for your purchase of Jingle Belle’s Rock by Brynn Paulin. We hope you’ve enjoyed the story and will consider leaving a review and telling a friend.

  Brynn loves hearing from readers! Please visit her website at www.Brynnpaulin.com.

  Dedication

  To all the other authors in the 25 Days of Forever Safe Christmas!

  Love you all!

  Merry Christmas!

  Chapter One

  ~ Belle ~

  “What’s wrong, Belle?

  “Wrong?” Oops. Apparently, I’d sighed one too many times. I looked up at my friend and boss, Decker. He perched against the side of my desk, his arms crossed over his chest, a small smile on his lips. That smile reminded me we’d been friends for longer than I’d worked here—and he knew me a little too well. Those sea-green eyes, that seemed even more striking with his dark hair, seemed to see right through me.

  “Yeah.”

  “I…ah…well…”

  “Very informative. Is the Henderson account giving you a problem?”

  I was sure he knew damned well it wasn’t. I’d come on to his media company a few months ago when things had started exploding here. He’d convinced me to leave the company I’d been with since college and come work for him at Decked. Working for him had been amazing so far. Always high-energy and positive. So, I didn’t particularly want to tell him I shouldn’t have opened my mom’s email on my lunch. Because that was far from positive.

  “Just Mom stuff.”

  “Is it another Ugly Sweater Christmas? I can hook you up. I have vendors—”

  “No. But thanks. It’s worse.”

  “Worse? What could be worse? I’ve seen the pictures.” Yeah, he had. Last year, he’d tagged along with one of his friends to my house. Said friend had been dating my roommate, and we’d all gotten together during that brief lull between Christmas and New Years. As luck would have it, my mom had texted pictures from the family’s Christmas Eve party. The photos had the four of us in tears—and had cemented my friendship with Decker. Now, a year later, he was literally my best friend.

  And I was in love with him.

  Kind of sucked to be me sometimes. But I’d gotten pretty good at hiding my feelings, when all I wanted to do was rub against him and breathe him in.

  “What could be worse?” I echoed. “You’re kidding, right? You know I have a big family?”

  “Yeah. Your Big Fat Mixed-Culture American Family,” he quipped, calling it by the same name I always did. I’d taken to calling us that after seeing the movie of a similar title. Because that family and my family? We were cut from the same cloth. We might not be Greek, but they were big and loud and completely in each other’s business on the regular. Luckily, I missed out on much of it because I was fortunate enough to live in another city.

  But sometimes, I had to go home.

  Like for Christmas.

  Pretty much the only way I’d get out of that was death.

  Chagrined, I drew a circle on my desk calendar, avoiding the probable pity in his gaze. “Uh-huh. Well, this year Mama is having the whole clan over for the party—including all my cousins. Almost all of my female relatives near my age are either married or engage. My cousins December and Maisie are the only ones still unattached. Out of a combined twenty-six sisters and female cousins. And Since I’m so obviously pathetic, my mom decided to arrange a date for me.”

  “What?”

  My head shot up, my wide eyes meeting his at the growl.

  “I know, right? Unless I come up with a serious boyfriend or fiancé in the next twenty-four or so hours, I’m going to be stuck with some guy she chooses. And trust me, I’ve seen her friends’ sons. I don’t—”

  “I volunteer,” Decker cut in.

  “What?”

  “I’ll be your fiancé.”

  “You’ll be…my…fiancé?” I echoed slowly.

  He nodded, blue eyes laser-focused on me, so intense the butterflies in my stomach started tumbling. Of course that wasn’t an unusual occurrence when I was near him. It was why it had taken him six months to convince me to come work for him.

  “Yeah. I mean who better? I know you, and I know your family’s heard of me. So it won’t be a giant leap for anyone to believe we’re together.”

  No…probably not, though no one would possibly believe this drop-dead gorgeous, mouthwatering guy was into me. Me? Not drop-dead gorgeous, not mouthwatering Belle who’d rather have another serving of chocolate drizzled popcorn than go to the gym. The gym. The thought gave me hives. If God intended us to go to the gym, there would be one on every corner. Okay, yeah, there was one on practically every corner, but that’s beside the point. The point was…Decker Tillson was one-hundred percent out of my league.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  His eyes narrowed, and wait… Was that…hurt? “Why not?” he enunciated.

  “Well, I mean. Well…you’re you and I’m me.” Yeah, that made total sense. Not. And Decker’s expression confirmed that.

  “And thank God for that,” he quipped. “I wouldn’t want to be anyone but me and I wouldn’t want you to be anyone else either. So what do you say? Be my fiancée?”

  Be his fiancée? My heartrate sped up and I had to remind myself, he wasn’t proposing, he was simply offering me a solution to my problem. Ignoring that this could just make things worse when I admitted next year that we’d “broken up,” I nodded and agreed to be engaged to my best friend.

  “
Excellent,” he exclaimed, with a clap of his hands. “Let’s go.”

  “Go where? We don’t have to leave for my parents’ until tomorrow—although, we can leave as late as Tuesday if you need to be here for anything.”

  “Tomorrow’s is good.” His hand closed around mine, sending a wicked tremor straight to my core as he pulled me from my chair.

  “Then where are we going?”

  “Ring shopping then dinner. And you’re going to message your mom to let her know you’re bringing someone with you. I don’t want some asshole showing up and trying to snake my girl.”

  “Decker!” I exclaimed, looking around to see if anyone had heard him curse or call me his girl. There’s no one around though. We’re the only ones left on the floor. Decker let everyone go early. Happy Friday, Happy Holiday and all that. All things considered, Decker is a pretty cool boss.

  “What?” he asked as he led me to the elevator bank. “It’s not like the staff hasn’t heard me casually swear before.”

  I shrugged, not explaining that it was the least of my concerns. Mine ran more along the line of office gossip and explaining that we weren’t an item.

  Deck didn’t release my hand as we stepped onto the left and he pushed the button for the ground floor. We stood arm against arm as we plummeted. He was tall enough that shoulder to shoulder would never happen unless I came equipped with a stepstool. Even so, his heat and the masculine scent of pine and fresh water and warm Decker wafted to me. making me feel all fuzzy inside.

  I turned toward him, coming face to muscular pec before tipping my head back to look at him. He grinned down at me. “What’s up, Jingle Belle? You look tense.”

  I squinted at him. “Ugh! Don’t call me that. It’s bad enough my birthday’s Christmas and I got called that by everyone—everyone who didn’t think I was named after Beauty and the Beast, that is.”

  “It’s cute. Besides, you’re the best jingle writer I know. That’s why we call you that.”

  “Mm-hmm,” I grumbled, the sound full of disagreement.

  “So why so tense?” he asked.

  I threw my free hand in the air since he seemed disinclined to release the other. “What’s not to be tense about here? We’re on our way to buy a ring and getting ready to lie to my family. And you know they’re going to expect more than words. They’ll expect action.”

  His smile widened. “I’m fully prepared for that.”

  What?

  Chapter Two

  ~Decker~

  Belle stared at me as if I were crazy. And maybe I was. In all my schemes for getting this girl to figure out she was mine, this scenario had never figured.

  I’d wanted her for a year. Known she was destined to be mine for a year. And yeah, I was moving slow. Belle didn’t make big moves fast, and that would include dating me. And I wanted a hell of a lot more than dating. Every day, I wanted to bury my hands in the long, silky mass of her dark blonde hair and stare into her light blue eyes while I told her how much I wanted her. While I showed her.

  Waiting was hell. Still, in all the time I’d known her, Belle hadn’t had a guy or even hinted she’d considered going out with some schmuck, so I’d felt pretty safe. Safe but still watching for the opportunity to make my move.

  I couldn’t believe it had been almost a year, though. From the moment I’d first seen her, it was as if I’d been hit by lightning. No overstatement there, actually. I’d literally felt the surge of energy run through me. This was my one. And now, her mom wanted to set her up with some jerk? Uh-uh! Not after all the work I’d done to get her comfortable with me, after all the non-dates that sure as hell were dates, after getting her to come work in my space so I could see her every day as well as most evenings.

  I’d worked hard to become her best friend and hang-out buddy. Now I wanted a promotion. I’d been angling for boyfriend, but fiancé sounded pretty damn good. If I could maneuver that into husband, all the better.

  Without explaining, I hurried Belle down the sidewalk toward the jeweler a few buildings down from ours. I was getting my ring on her finger ASAP. I’d worry about how to keep it there later.

  “We don’t need to get a ring,” she argued.

  “Yes, we do. It’s got to look official. Nothing but the best for my girl.”

  “Decker—”

  “From now on you are mine. So let’s get the ring then we can talk about where we’re going for dinner.”

  “I should probably get ready for the trip.”

  I directed a raised eyebrow at her and squinted an eye. “I find it hard to believe you’re not already packed. Who do you think you’re talking to.”

  She laughed. “Okay, you’re right.”

  I ushered her inside the shop, the silence inside almost shocking after the noise from the street. I hadn’t even noticed it, until it was absent. Faint Christmas music played from hidden speakers, but the stillness was still unsettling. Or maybe that was just my heartrate thrumming a bazillion miles a minute now that Belle and I were finally here. I took a deep calming breath, working hard to appear unaffected at the same time. No way did I want Belle to know how worked up I was to finally—almost—be getting what I wanted. I was cool, collected, not doing mental cartwheels in the least.

  “May I help you?” a charcoal-suited man said, by way of greeting as we stood there on the threshold. My hand went to the small of Belle’s back, gently urging her toward the counter nearest to where the salesman stood.

  “My fiancée and I are looking for a ring.”

  “Oh very good. Congratulations,” he responded. Though he barely smiled, he seemed genuine and perked up a bit at my words.

  “Thank you,” I said and nudged Belle, who then echoed me. She was gnawing on her bottom lip, nervous as any bride-to-be, I guess.

  “And what would you be looking for? Anything you have in mind?”

  “Something small,” Belle replied.

  I shook my head. “Something that will leave no doubt she’s very taken,” I corrected. “Very. Taken.”

  The man nodded. “I understand. This way.” He led us to the bank of glass display cases to our left and withdrew a display of rings. Belle gasped then looked up at me, her eyes wide.

  “Decker, I ca—”

  “Pick whatever you like,” I interrupted against her ear before she could say she couldn’t choose one. Then I kissed her temple before looping my arms around her middle.

  She sighed. “What one would you pick—you know if you’d gotten the ring before asking me?”

  Cop out.

  Well played, Belle.

  I studied the collection, looking for one that caught my eye. One certainly did. I pointed to the solitaire, a large diamond with smaller stones running the band.

  “That one’s pretty.”

  “Oh, very good, sir. That’s a vintage-inspired Pavé cut set in platinum, with channel-set diamonds circling the band.”

  “It’s lovely,” Belle whispered. She looked up at me. “But Decker…”

  I pressed my finger against her soft lips, relishing the feel of them for the first time. Hesitancy and wonder warred in her eyes. She loved the ring but thought it was too much.

  I dropped a kiss on her nose then grinned down at her. “You deserve the very best,” I whispered. Pulling out my wallet, I handed the jeweler my Amex Black Card. “The set,” I told him. “We wouldn’t want to break up the family.”

  His little smile widened, and I knew he’d just made a huge sale. I didn’t care. I could take the hit. Only the best for my girl.

  “Let’s try it on,” the merchant offered, a little late probably, but I’d hurried the transaction not wanting Belle to freak and flee like the skittish bunny she could be. “I can get it sized today if necessary.”

  He pulled the ring from the cushion, ready to put it on her. I reached out my hand, stopping him. “May I?”

  “Of course, sir.” He dropped the band into my palm. Taking Belle’s left hand, I slide the ring onto her marriage f
inger. Perfect fit. Fuck yeah! My gaze flew to her face. She eyes were on the diamond, her lips sunken into her bottom lip. Her fingers curled into mine, squeezing.

  I lifted her hand to my lips. “Perfect.” A smiled curled my lips as I stared into her wide eyes. “And now they’ll all know you’re mine.”

  Chapter Three

  ~Belle~

  I caught my breath as Decker straightened and pulled me into his arms. His hand cupped the back of my neck, the other tight around my back.

  He was going to kiss me. Decker, my boss and friend, was going to kiss me! My lips parted on a gasp just before his insistent mouth covered mine. His tongue immediately slid into my mouth to tangle with mine. Before I knew it, I was on my tiptoes, trying to get closer to him. My chest pressed to his hard torso, my nipples all-too-aware of the hardness against them. My fingers briefly fisted in his suit coat before my arms went around his neck.

  Decker groaned, his grasp tightening ever so slightly. The kiss deepened until something interrupted us. That… Oh God! The jeweler stood just feet from us, clearing his throat. Decker pulled reluctantly from me, though he kept me firmly within his grip.

  He cleared his own throat. “Uh, yeah, sorry.”

  “Young love,” the other man replied drily. “Here’s your card. If you could sign here.”

  Keeping one arm around me, Decker somehow managed to scrawl his name then he took the bag with the rest of the wedding set and led me from the shop.

  “Dinner?” he asked.

  “Decker—” I started before he interrupted me. I really, really wanted to agree but what the hell was this?

  “You have to eat. We need to talk. We need to be ready for your family. You know they’ll have lots of questions.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him unsure what to really think. That kiss… Oh my God. Should I tell him it had been my first? What would he think of that? And why did he kiss me? It’s not like we needed to convince the jeweler.

  My fingers ran along my bottom lip before I could stop myself. I hastily dropped it. “You know me better than anyone. I bet you could answer anything my family hit you with.”