"But will he be okay?" Marie asked, her voice low despite the noise all around us. We'd excused ourselves to the restroom, leaving our friends behind. We slowly made our way back to the table now, arm in arm, as I filled her in on my father’s odd request to steal my husband away.

“I guess he thinks so,” I said, frowning. “Dad says there’s no danger, and he promised me there would be no drama. But still, it makes me nervous.”

“Me, too,” she said, nibbling on her lower lip. “Why not ask Hernandez and Ben? At least they’re police officers, and still in the game.”

“I guess he wanted to keep it in the family? He trusts Finn. Maybe that’s why he went to him? I don’t know.”

She hmphed.

“How are things with you and Alex?”

Marie frowned. “Over.”

“What? Why?”

“He’s just not the one.” She shrugged, not meeting my eyes. “He bored me.”

That’s because the one she should be with was Hernandez, but neither one of them would be the first one to admit it. “Maybe that’s a sign.”

She side-eyed me. “A sign of what?”

"That it's time to stop dating the boring business guys you gravitate toward and try a new type of guy." Marie worked in stocks and trading, and she always went for CEO-types, then tired of them quickly. "Maybe…I don't know. A paramedic, or a firefighter, or…maybe a cop?"

She rolled her eyes. “Real subtle.”

“What?” I asked innocently.

We came around the corner and spotted the rest of our party. Noelle had stayed with the boys since she’d just used the restroom, and she spoke animatedly, swinging her arms as she described something. Riley watched her with warmth in his eyes, looking head over heels in love, and Finn leaned back in his chair, smiling with his arm flung over the back of my empty seat. Ben, Hernandez’s partner on the police force, listened intently, while Hernandez watched Marie's approach.

Like usual.

The two of them had been playing hard to get since Marie had been my roommate in college, and it was getting a little old. They needed to give it a go already.

“Hernandez looks good tonight,” I said, nudging her. “And he’s single. He and that blonde that looked like you didn't work out.”

“Don’t even,” she gritted. “Not happening. Never happening.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

We sat in our seats—with Marie as far away from Hernandez as possible—and Finn placed his arm around my shoulders, kissing my temple. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I nodded, forcing a smile. “Of course.”

“It’ll be okay. I’ll be home for Christmas, your dad will make some headway on his campaign, and it’ll be fine.” He squeezed my arm. “I promise, Ginger.”

“I know,” I whispered. “I’ll miss you, though.”

“I’ll Facetime you.” He leaned closer. “You can give me a little show.”

"Only if you give me one, too," I shot back breathlessly, already liking this idea.

He raised a brow. “Demanding.”

“Would you have me any other way?”

He laughed. “Hell no. Although, I do also like you naked and quivering on our bed, with my head between your—”

"What's this I hear about you traveling with my dad?" Riley asked, interrupting our little back and forth banter.

I mentally groaned.

Finn winked at me.

Riley and I had been friends for years, and our families had once dreamed of us falling for one another and getting married. We’d tried it, but my heart belonged to Finn. And, eventually, Riley met Noelle, so that door had firmly shut in both sets of parents’ heads after that. Riley and Finn were close now, almost as close as him and Hernandez.

“Yeah, Carrie’s dad asked me to fill in for security.” He shrugged, running his fingers up and down my arm. “It’s only a couple of days.”

“I was thinking of coming along, too.” He glanced at Noelle, who nodded once, then back at Finn. “For fun. Would you mind? I’ve never been to Utah.”

It was so obvious he was concerned for Finn, like me, and I loved him for caring. He was such a good guy. Once upon a time, I’d tried to force myself into loving him because he was just that nice. It hadn’t worked, despite my best efforts.

“Of course I wouldn’t mind,” Finn said, taking his arm off me and reaching for his Coke. “But if you’re doing this because you’re worried I’ll slip, don’t be. I’ll be fine.”

It took a lot of therapy for Finn to be comfortable talking about his issues with others, and I was very proud of how far he'd come. A few years ago, he would never have uttered that sentence. Now that he'd been seeing Doctor Hudson, he was much more open about his past, and his struggle with his addiction to pills and PTSD.

I rested my hand on his knee for support.

He winked at me.

How did he make a wink so frigging sexy?

“No, of course not, man.” Riley ruffled his hair. “I just thought it would be fun to get away with you. Have a guy’s weekend in between the boring shit our dads are doing.” He glanced at Hernandez and Ben. “You guys could come, too. You could fly on my dad’s jet with me.”

I rolled my eyes. “That sounds like trouble, right there.”

“Trouble for all the ladies, maybe,” Ben teased.

Hernandez grinned. “You know it.”

Marie crossed her arms, remaining silent.

The glower on her face was all that needed to be said, though.

“I’d love to go,” Ben said, picking up his beer. “Don’t know if Captain would approve of it or not, though. He wants all hands on deck since the Christmas season brings out the criminals even more so than the carolers.”

Hernandez winced. “Truth.”

“Merry fucking Christmas to us,” Ben muttered.

"Word is we might be getting a new Detective soon, too, and there are whispers he might separate us,” Hernandez added. “We probably shouldn’t give him more of a reason to do so.”

Ben deflated. “Probably not.”

“All right, it’s just us, then.” Riley turned back to Finn. “That cool?”

Finn nodded. “Yep.”

Noelle reached for me. "We can hang out while they're away. Maybe I'll even stay with you if you don't mind lending out one of your spare rooms. I'll tell you about my latest book, while we drink wine in front of the fireplace after the kids go to bed."

The first real grin of the night broke out on my face. “I’d love that.”

“Then it’s settled.”

I glanced at Marie, who was watching Hernandez. “You want in?”

She broke herself out of her quiet contemplation. “Huh?”

“Noelle is going to crash at my place while the boys are away. Would you like to join?” I asked slowly.

Marie’s cheeks went pink. “Uh…yeah. Sure. Sounds fun.”

Noelle clapped her hands. “This is going to be epic.”

“Yeah, it is,” Riley agreed, rubbing her back.

“You know what? Fuck it.” Ben pulled his phone out. “We’re in. I’ll let my dad know.”

“Seriously?” Hernandez asked, his tone high with surprise. “You never ask off.”

“Well, I am now.”

Hernandez did a fist pump. "Fuck yeah. I've never been to Utah. I hear they have some excellent lodges with top-notch craft beers in the mountains."

Finn rolled his eyes. “I’m not helping you pick up chicks, dude.”

“I will,” Ben promised. He stood, phone on his ear. “If you’ll excuse me?”

Marie huffed and sipped her wine.

Hernandez locked eyes on her. “Have something to say?”

“Who, me?” She smiled innocently, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “Nah.”

“If you say so,” he said, smiling just as sweetly.

Finn cleared his throat. “Pack warm clothes. It’s going to be cold there.”

Ben came back, smiling triumphantly. "Got the approval."

“Yeah!” Hernandez high-fived him.

“This trip just got a hell of a lot more interesting,” Finn said, grinning at me.

I laughed. Their excitement was contagious. I lifted my soda, smiling at the love of my life, who looked a lot more excited about this trip than he’d been a few hours ago. “To a very merry Christmas for all?”

Riley held up his beer. “To a very merry Christmas.”

We all clinked glasses and drank.