How the Hitman Stole Christmas - Sam Mariano Page 0,104

more this year and she’s really looking forward to Santa visiting, I thought it was a good idea, too.

We settle in on the couch with our hot chocolate and a warm blanket. Jasper sits behind me, I sit between his legs, and Livy sits on my lap as we watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas—an annual Christmas Eve tradition for our family.

Despite being a little ornament thief herself, Livy doesn’t see the parallel. When the Grinch starts shoving the Christmas tree up the chimney, she hops down off my lap to point her finger at the TV and scold that no-good Grinch for being so naughty.

“If only she knew,” Jasper murmurs in my ear, sending delightful shivers down my spine.

I grin and lean back against him. “She’d tell you off, for sure.”

“Permanent member of the naughty list.”

“Don’t tell Livy. She’ll set her mind on straightening you out, and you know those Hardings—when they set their minds to something…”

Jasper softly kisses the back of my neck. “It’s a done deal.”

I know he’s not trying to stoke any fires, but I can’t feel his tempting lips on my neck without wondering when we can slip away to bed.

We certainly can’t go to bed early tonight, so I sit forward, summoning all of my willpower to keep my focus where it needs to be.

The credits are rolling on the cartoon, and Livy is taking advantage of her father distracting me to make another play for that ornament.

“Olivia Noelle Harding.”

She turns around, shooting me big, innocent eyes. “What, mama?”

“Keep your hands off those ornaments, young lady.”

“But, Mama…” She looks back at the tree longingly.

She has too much of her daddy in her. I want to sigh with defeat and tell her to break every last ornament on the tree if that’s what makes her happy.

Luckily, Jasper is ready with another distraction. I didn’t notice he brought it out when he brought Livy and her doll out in their Christmas pajamas, but he reaches behind him and picks up the copy of The Night Before Christmas he bought me in Stillwater.

“Ready for your bedtime story?” he asks Livy.

“Yeah, yeah,” she says, bobbing her little head and running over to jump back up in my lap.

I sit up and shift positions so Jasper can hold the book while I hold Livy and everyone has a good view. Livy sits sideways in my lap, her legs stretched out on top of mine, her bare toes wiggling.

I cover those bare little toes with my hand. “What happened to your socks, young lady?”

She giggles mischievously and burrows into my chest as Jasper starts reading the book.

I secure my arms around my baby and rock her gently, noticing her sweet little head gets heavier and heavier as Jasper flips page after page.

About halfway through, she yawns.

By the time we hit “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night” her eyes are closed, her mouth hanging half open, and she’s fast asleep.

“She didn’t make it,” Jasper says, his tone lightly amused and tinged with affection.

“She had a big day.” I shift her slight weight, turning her and resting her head on my shoulder as I stand up with her in my arms.

“She had a big day. I did all the manual labor,” he jokes.

I smile at him and walk softly into the kitchen. I already got out the plate for Santa’s cookies and the glass for his milk, but I figured we would put all that out right before Livy went to sleep.

“Livy,” I say softly, trying to rouse her. “Do you want to put cookies out for Santa?”

“Mm.” She stirs. “Chocolate cookies?”

I kiss her on the cheek. “All kinds of cookies. You can pick which ones.”

She’s sleepy, so she keeps her head resting against my chest as I haul the plate over and let her pick out which cookies to leave Santa. Jasper follows me in and fetches the milk from the refrigerator. Livy smiles sleepily as he fills the cup and puts it by the cookie plate.

“There, all set. Can we go brush your teeth now?”

She nods, but rests her heavy head against me in a way that confirms I will be doing all the brushing.

Once her tiny teeth are clean, I haul Livy in to her room and lay her down in her toddler bed. She rolls on her side and clutches the nearest stuffed animal, but her eyes don’t open.

I pull the blankets up over her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “Goodnight, baby. See