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Izzy sat resting her head against the truck’s window. The sun was already setting over the black hills off in the distance. The fading light filtered through the trees and glinted on the silver wrapped package resting on her lap. Caleb was in the driver’s seat competently navigating the recently plowed road ahead of them. Rapid City was no Denver in the winter, but it had its own kind of charm. The evergreen trees bowed heavily with pristine white powder and the unblemished hills were a tiny bit like the caps of mountains she was used to.

Caleb lowered the truck’s gear and wound their way up the hill to the Sullivans’ log cabin. When he pulled into the circular drive, Izzy noticed the line of vehicles parked alongside the house. They were the last ones to arrive. She shivered involuntarily as she remembered why they were so late. Rapid City was indeed frigid beyond comprehension in winter; however, Caleb kept his promise about keeping her warm. She tugged at the black turtleneck that was both protecting her from the cold and hiding her latest set of hickeys.

Caleb parked the truck and Izzy headed up the steps of the front porch with her package as Caleb carried an overflowing laundry basket containing the rest of the gifts. Izzy hadn’t quite finished kicking the slush off her boots before the front door swung wide.

“Merry Christmas!” Sarah gushed as she beckoned them in. The house was beyond welcoming. The smell of Sarah’s cooking hit Izzy straight away and when she stepped inside, the fire in the fireplace immediately began to thaw out her toes.

“Merry Christmas,” Izzy replied as Sarah swept her into a one-armed hug. Baby Hope was on the woman’s hip and when Izzy came within range, she snatched the glittering silver bow stuck to the package under Izzy’s arm. The little girl squealed with delight as the shiny prize came loose from its moorings. She crumpled it in her tiny hand.

“Hope!” Sarah half-scolded.

Izzy waved her
new friend off. “No harm done. It’s just Caleb’s gift. Not a big deal,” she said as she smirked at him.

Caleb was ignoring her, though, as he set the basket down in front of the tree and began unloading it. The Sullivan Christmas tree was large and had been culled from their own front yard. It had been amusing to watch five muscled men attempting to coordinate bringing it into the living room. Cutting down the tree had been fairly easy, but carrying it across the snow and ice had been well worth the price of admission. More than one of them had ended up sprawled in the driveway.

Holidays at the log cabin were tradition—such as any tradition could be that was only a few years old. But Izzy felt welcome on her first Christmas without Pop, just as she had a month earlier when she’d come for Thanksgiving. She missed her dad, no doubt about that, but the pain of his absence was dulled by the presence of new friends. After depositing Caleb’s package under the tree, Izzy headed across the room. A very pregnant Tildy was sprawled in a chair, her feet propped up on the ottoman. Izzy patted her shoulder and the younger woman smiled. Before Izzy could ask how she was doing, Hawk said, “Olivia. O-liv-i-a.”

Easy laughed. The large Sioux had Pepper
, the cat, nuzzled against his chest.

“For God’s sake, Hawk,” Shooter grumbled
, “she can’t hear you.”

Hawk was unruffled. “She can feel the vibration in my chest,” he argued. “She knows I’m talking to her. O-liv-i-a,” he parsed out in a deep baritone. “I need my two best girls to get along right out of the gate.”

“
Two best girls?
” Tildy said loudly. “Two?! I’ve been replaced by the cat?!”

Hawk’s mouth dropped open. “No,” he stammered. “No. Obviously. You’re the
best
best girl. The best of the best,” he told her. “You’re—”

“Stop digging, Hawk,” Tex advised. “That hole’s deep enough.”

Tildy glowered at her husband and he sat down on the couch, chagrined.

“I love you,” Hawk said lamely.

Tildy raised an eyebrow at him. It was hard not to laugh. Tildy may have been half the size of Hawk—probably even less—but it wasn’t hard to figure out just who ruled their roost. Izzy glanced over at Caleb who was off in a corner whispering to Shooter in low tones. She gave him a questioning look, but Caleb merely smiled at her. She smirked at him in return. He still played it close to the vest sometimes.

“Okay!” Sarah said with the air of authority that her husband usually carried. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

They all gathered in front of the tree, angling chairs to face each other as Sarah and Abby handed out gifts. As they slowly piled up, Izzy noticed she didn’t have one from Caleb. She leaned toward him and tugged on his sleeve. “If my gift is in your pocket, you can give it to me later,” she told him, giving him a sly look.

He shook his head in protest but she noticed that his eyes had grown a bit darker. She grinned as she pictured another night under the blankets with him.

“Be patient,” he whispered.

Izzy squirmed in her chair. It was damn hard to be patient for that or for that long. She watched as the usual sweaters, boots, and wallets were exchanged Abby gave them all engraved wedding invitations along with their gifts. Izzy had seen The Custer and she knew the old hotel would be perfect for the very small ceremony. She passed Caleb’s gift to him, minus the bow.

“What is it?” he asked as he peeled back the wrapping paper. Caleb wasn’t big on surprises.

“Two tickets to paradise,” she answered.

“Pack your bags. We’ll leave tonight.”

He opened the long, thin envelope first. In it were indeed two plane tickets to Miami.

“I thought we could escape the cold for a little while,” she told him. Caleb unfolded a piece of paper and gazed down at the mug shot in front of him. He eyed her questioningly.

Izzy shrugged. “Just in case we get bored.”

He lifted the lid on the box and pulled out a black string bikini. Shooter whistled.

“Try it on,” Easy quipped. Daisy smacked his arm. “I meant Caleb!” he protested.

Caleb glared at him. “Only if you put on one of Slick’s bras.” Everyone laughed. Izzy shot Caleb a puzzled look. “I’ll tell you later,” he promised.

He nodded to Shooter and both men stood up at the same time. Izzy watched them disappear into Shooter’s office just off the living room. When they came back, Shooter closed the door behind him. Caleb crossed the room and laid a large, tactical shotgun across her lap. It was a Mossberg 500 Persuader, just like the one Rawlins had never returned. It was topped with a big, red bow.

“Damn, woman!” Easy cried. “I’m jealous!”

Izzy practically jumped for joy. “You got the combat sights!”

The others laughed.

“Nothing says ‘I love you’ like crowd control gear,” Tex declared.

Izzy stood up, Mossberg in one hand, and hugged the thoughtful man in front of her. “It’s beautiful!” she told him. “I love it!”

Caleb wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. “I knew you would,” he whispered in her ear.

Izzy returned the gun to Shooter, who locked it back up in his safe until they were ready to leave. As she plucked crumpled pieces of wrapping paper off the floor, Abby cried, “It’s snowing!” and flung the door open. She stepped out onto the front porch. Izzy’s understanding was that the redhead hadn’t seen much of the white shroud growing up in Vegas. She scooped some off the porch railing and watched it melt in her hand. Izzy had seen plenty of the stuff in her lifetime, but the view from her old, dingy Denver apartment couldn’t compare to this one. High up on the hill, surrounded by trees and looking out over the city, the silence here was surprisingly addictive.

Easy and Daisy tumbled down the steps and flung fistfuls of snow at each other. They both looked almost like teenagers.

Izzy felt a pair of large, strong arms around her and she leaned back into Caleb’s substantial frame. She sighed contentedly. “Let’s build a house out here,” she said.

Caleb nuzzled her ear. “Okay,” he agreed. “We’ll have to catch a few more skips though. If we go after some big money targets, we could have enough saved to break ground in the
spring.”

Izzy tensed against him. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah. It’s beautiful out here. I mean we’ll get our
own
hill, of course. But, yeah, I think it’s a good idea.”

Izzy laced her fingers through his and smiled. Caleb ducked his head until his lips brushed her ear. “I love you,” he whispered.

She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. “I know,” she replied.

Sarah appeared at the doorway and called them all into the house again. The men set the table while the women carried the food in from the kitchen. Hawk trailed after Tildy who was holding
a large bowl of mashed potatoes.

“Let me have it,” he insisted.

“I’m already halfway there,” Tildy argued.

“But I don’t
like
it,” he growled.

Tildy rolled her eyes and set down the bowl. She turned and took both of Hawk’s giant hands and put them on her belly. “I’m fine. She’s fine. We’re
fine
.” Hawk didn’t look entirely convinced. Tildy stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips. Izzy was still fascinated that the young woman could subdue him with just a look or the touch of her lips. Hawk’s eyes closed and his large arms slid around her waist.

“No tongue at the dinner table,” Shooter ordered.

Hawk ignored his lieutenant. It was several more moments before they both finally sat down. Tildy looked flushed and fanned herself with her napkin. Izzy suppressed a grin. She could relate.

At the
Sullivans’ large dining room table, they passed around a bottle of red and sparkling water for Tildy until all the glasses were full. Shooter raised his first and everyone else followed suit. When all their glasses were raised, Chris Sullivan’s gaze passed over each of their faces, even Izzy’s. “To family,” he said.

“To family.”

THE END

Author’s Note

Thank you all so much for sticking with the series. It means so much to me that my first book was so well received by so many of you. There were so many ups and downs this year, but we're at the finish line, just three weeks away from the anniversary of Shooter's first publication on Amazon. I can hardly believe it.

I hope that you liked the series even though I took a few chances with plotlines and characters and I hope that you stick with me for Stark Ink. Know that I'm in the process of sketching out the whole story line now and hope to have it available for release in Winter of 2015.

I'm going to be doing a few things differently after Burnout, things no one else is really doing at this point. I've also got more ideas for stories than time to write them, honestly. At the moment I have enough content scheduled to cover the next 2.5 years! After that I'll have to stop, look around, and see where we are that point.

I really hope you'll be pleased with my future plans and stick with me. In just a few short months I hope to have a couple of really big announcements, including a
very large
giveaway for ARC's of Stark Ink.

Until then, thanks for much for reading, emailing, and messaging me. It helps to know I'm not chucking these stories out into a void.

Until then, keep on keeping on!