Midnight Mistletoe
EPILOGUE

Derek Sawyer

“I love you, Kate,” I reveal to her.

This is the first time I told her.

I meant every word without fear.

The smile she gave me was as cold and lovely as frost on the windowpane.

“I love you too, Der.”

I brush a lock of hair behind her ear, bending down to her level as I press my lips with hers. Freckles parts her lips, depending on our kiss. I feel alive and right where I belong. I was a fool to have let her go in the first place. I will never make the same mistake again. We kiss until we both need air to breathe. Her lips are swollen from our kiss.

My expression changes to a frown as I recall something. “Who is he?”

Katherine gives me a scowling look. “Are you serious right now?”

We appear as a pair since we have the same expression, and I have to resist laughing since this is a serious matter.

I bite my tongue and fold my arms in front of me to show her I’m not backing down from this conversation.

She puts her hands on her hips. “His name is Whitney. He’s one of my coworkers, and before you ask. Nothing ever happened between us. I don’t see him that way.”

My expression softens at her words. “So why did you bring him here then?”

Freckles puts her hair behind her ear. “I was upset with the way you left me. When Nick contacted me to invite me to his New Year’s party, I knew I couldn’t face you because I was scared you had truly moved on and would be here with another woman. So I decided to invite Whitney.”

I mess with my beard. “So basically, you invited your friend as a human shield, thinking I would stay away.”

She points a finger at me. “You don’t get to be mad at me for doing this.”

I raise my hands in defense. “I’m not blaming you. I’m just relieved that nothing is going on between you two.”

She extends her hand out for me to intertwine our fingers together. “Can we please stop talking about this? I don’t want this to ruin our beautiful moment.”

She’s right, of course.

An idea pops inside my head while I kneel in front of her.

Her eyes widen. “What are you doing?”

“My beautiful freckles. I love you so much. Do you want to be my girlfriend?” I look at her, waiting for her answer.

“Yes, you big fool. Now get up.” With a smile, Kate shakes her head.

I get up and cup her face before I brush her lips with mine. “It’s close to midnight. We should get back out there before Nick searches for us. If he replaces us here, we won’t hear the end of this.”

We walk out of the room hand in hand. I see Nick smirking when he sees us in the distance from where he stands.

I hope he won’t comment on that. I don’t want Kate to feel embarrassed about what went through between us. However, she’s the one who attacked me in the first place.

Whitney, or whatever his name is, comes up to us and says. “So, I see you reconciled with your man.”

I’m not jealous or anything. I know The whole story, and I trust Kate. But that doesn’t mean I can say the same thing for him. If he tries anything, and I mean anything, he will meet my fist on his face.

Kate clears her throat. “Derek, Whitney. Whitney, Derek.”

“Nice to finally meet you.” He presents his hand for me to shake.

I stare at his hand and then at him. I see in his expression that he thinks I will refuse to greet him properly. As I said, I don’t feel threatened by him. To prove to Kate and to him how I feel, shake his hand. I see the relief on Whitney’s face.

“Now that my purpose is complete, I have someplace to be. Have a good night, you two.” Whitney salutes us and joins two women who were waiting for him.

Nick appears out of nowhere, wrapping his arms around our shoulders. “I’m so glad you two made up.” He turns his head to Kate. “He was so miserable without you.”

I shake his arm away from me.

“I heard.” Kate leaves a kiss on Nick’s cheek. “Thank you for inviting me.”

He looks at me and then at freckles. “I’m going away now. I don’t want to be the third wheel.” He walks away.

“Let’s dance,” she says.

There is no place to argue with Katherine. She takes my hand to bring us to where the others are dancing.

As we move around, we gracefully weave through the crowd. Our movements are fluid and captivating, drawing the attention of those around us. We exhibit perfect synchronization and chemistry.

The energy around us spread like wildfire, inspiring others to join us. Strangers become dance partners, and the atmosphere becomes a vibrant and joyful display of unity and happiness.

Suddenly, the music stops, and Nick whistles through the crowd. “Ten seconds to midnight, everyone!”

The crowd becomes crazy as we are surrounded by cheers and applause as we start to count.

“Ten!”

“Nine!”

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Tow!”

“ONE!”

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

I grab Kate’s face. “Happy New Year, freckles.” I Kiss her with everything I have. I feel blessed to have her back in my arms.

“Happy New Year, Der.” It’s her turn to kiss me.

I know for sure that this new year will be filled with happiness by her side.

I’m grateful she asked me to be her fake boyfriend for Christmas, or I would have never seen her in a new light as I see her now.

When we were little, freckles were a real pain in my ass, and now she’s all mine.

I kiss her again, telling her I love her.

I can’t wait for this new year to start with her. I’m sure one thing is that we won’t be disappointed with what lies ahead.

I have her, and I will never take her for granted ever again.

🎄THE END🎄