How the Hitman Stole Christmas

Snow blankets the front lawn, but the path from the driveway to the house has been shoveled and salted. It’s not even slippery as we make our way toward the entrance of the impressive home.

There’s a blonde woman with a huge smile on her face standing on the porch in front of the double doors. As soon as we’re close enough, she lets out a shriek and throws her arms around Jasper.

He still seems guarded overall, but there’s genuine affection on his face as he wraps an arm around her and hugs her back.

“You’re here,” she says, brimming with excitement.

“I’m here,” he says, his tone much more subdued.

She gives him another squeeze, then breaks away and turns her cheerful gaze on me. “You must be Autumn. Hi!” She rushes forward, almost knocking me over as she throws her arms around me, too. “I am so excited to meet you. I have never met one of Jasper’s girlfriends before. I don’t know what you’ve done to him, but I am thrilled and I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

I’m bowled over by the hug, but more than that I’m bowled over by her enthusiasm. What could Jasper possibly have told her about me to make her this happy to meet me? We’re not even really dating.

I went out of my way to be a good girlfriend to Brady the whole time we were dating, and when he brought me home to meet his family they looked at me like I was a two-day-old sandwich.

This girl’s enthusiasm is catching. I find myself grinning back at her. “You must be Nora?”

“Yep.” She cuts her brother a playfully suspicious look. “Have you been telling her about me? You better not be talking shit, big brother.”

“I would never,” he says indulgently, but I know he means it. However he feels about his mom, I can tell he genuinely loves his little sister.

“It’s freezing out here.” She hugs herself, suddenly seeming to realize she’s not wearing a coat. “Come on, come inside. Mom’s been joking all night that you probably changed your mind. She didn’t think you’d show.”

She says it lightly, but Jasper sounds mildly annoyed when he answers. “I always show up when I say I will, she’s the one who can’t be counted on.”

Nora stalwartly ignores that comment and leads us into the house. A blast of warmth hits us as soon as the door opens.

On some impulse I don’t entirely understand, I reach down and take Jasper’s hand as I step through the door behind him. He may not really be my savior like I thought he was when we met, but I need him right now to shield me from any potential awkwardness once I’m surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

I’ve always been a little shy around big groups of new people. Brady’s family was content to leave me out, and even though he was my real boyfriend and not my fake one, he didn’t offer me any kind of lifeline. He didn’t try to make me comfortable. He didn’t care to help.

Jasper gives my hand a squeeze like he understands exactly why I need it, then he does me one better—he tugs me up beside him and wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me close, like he does it every day.

“Mom, Jasper’s here,” Nora calls out, stepping behind us to close the front door.

My heart skitters a bit faster as someone new shows up. A man emerges from the room to our left. It looks like maybe an office or a den—definitely a man’s room—with a pair of brown leather couches in front of a roaring fireplace, a desk and a wall full of books on the opposite side.

“Tarek,” Nora says, the first trace of nervousness entering her tone as the newcomer peers at us curiously. “Meet my brother, Jasper, and his girlfriend, Autumn. Jasper… this is my boyfriend, Tarek Moustafa.”

Nora’s boyfriend is very handsome, that’s the first thing I notice. He has the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen with unruly raven hair, buzzed on the sides but long on top. His skin is darker than ours, it looks like he might descend from somewhere in the Middle East. I don’t know if his complexion just naturally complements them or he practices exceptional oral hygiene, but he has perfect, pearly white teeth and the nicest smile.

Tarek reaches a hand out toward Jasper. “It’s great to meet you, Jasper. Nora’s talked you up so much, I expected a heavenly glow around you when you came walking through the door.”

Jasper laughs shortly. “All lies, I’m a bastard,” he says good-naturedly, giving Tarek’s hand a good, firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”

Tarek’s gaze shifts to me. At first he starts to offer his hand, then he changes his mind and gives me a hug instead. “Hi, Jasper’s girlfriend.”