Page 18 of The Christmas Entanglement

"Now you're saying you love me. After a week of ignoring me. Ignoring Nathan. What the hell was so important that you couldn't give me a call?"

He hated seeing her on the brink of tears, and he pulled her close. She didn't push him away, so that was a good sign, a real good sign, but he wasn't dumb enough to actually kiss her. Instead, he said in a calm voice, "I didn't ignore you. I lost my phone and my iPad. Unfortunately for me, when I got the new phone, I lost most of my contacts, including yours. But I did try to contact you."

"No, you didn't. I would have known."

Man did he make a mess of things. He used his free hand to cup her face and force her to look him in the eyes. "I did. You probably get so many new followers and likes on your travel photos all the time that you didn't notice a scrub like me liking them all, but I DM'd you. I promise you that I did."

If he wasn't holding Nathan still, he would have dug out his phone to show her the proof. Instead, he looked into her eyes hoping she could she how sincere he was being. "Any chance you remember a DM from Paddy K?"

She gasped but didn't say anything. A myriad of emotions flashed across her face. He didn't think things were over, but he also didn't think he was out of the woods yet.

"I did, but why didn't you say it was you?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was obvious, sweetheart."

Then he took the chance of a lifetime. He kissed her. He knew it would all be decided by her reaction. Thankfully, she deepened the kiss and his spirit soared. He let the puppy jump to the ground so he could really feel Clarissa again. He loved being able to wrap his arms around her curvy body. It took all his self-control not to get his hands tangled in her hair. He wanted to feel every inch of her again. He didn't care if they were in public and people could see them.

Their kiss only ended when there was a high-pitched whistle over the sound system.

Fuck, he had a sound check to finish. He pulled back from the kiss. He felt anything but sated. He wanted to do so much more to Clarissa. After fearing that he lost her forever, a kiss wasn't going to be enough for him at all. But he had a show to do.

"You better not believe all is forgiven, PK. Trust just doesn't come back overnight."

He leaned his forehead on hers and cupped her face in his hands. "I know I have so much to make up for. I promise not to disappear again. Maybe I’ll get your number tattooed so I’ll never forget it again."

"Yo! PK! Get your ass back here. We need to wrap this shit up."

He knew that his front man was right. They needed to finish the sound check. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, I have to go. Just know that you're not allowed to go home until at least 9:30 p.m. tonight."

That's when his sweet, sassy Clarissa raised an eyebrow. "I'm not allowed to go home until at least 9:30? What are you up to?"

"Let's just call it Operation Family Holiday." He just hoped that she would be patient enough to wait. Then he jogged backwards toward the stage. He didn't want to take his eyes off her, but he had a gig to do. Right before he would have to turn around so he could hop back onto the stage, he mouthed, "I love you, Clarissa."

Clarissa

She shouldn't have forgiven PK so easily when he came up to her. But she did remember a message from a Paddy K, so she believed him when he said that he tried to contact her.

When he walked away, she touched her lips that were already missing his. She wished they could have continued to kiss. It seemed like the myth that make-up sex was some of the best sex might be true.

Nathan's soft whimpering, which was his sign that he needed to go on a walk, pulled her out of her stupor. She grabbed his leash and led the way outside so the puppy could do his business. As she waited for Nathan to find his spot so he could do the deed, she pulled out her phone and went into her message request area.

There she found the Paddy K message.

Had a shit day, but seeing your lovely smile made it better. Give me a call at 555-219-8128. I love you, Clarissa.

Come on, sweetheart. Give me a call.

Clarissa, please . . .

All the clues were right there. She should have realized it was PK, but it also sounded like another shameless flirt, which was why she ignored it before. It didn't help that his profile was private so she couldn't see any details.

Nathan stepped on her foot and barked at her. She looked down at the puppy and realized he was done. Thankfully, she didn't see any poop, so she could head back to the toy drive. She got the last load of gifts out of her car.

When she went back to the event, the whole place looked like a beautiful winter wonderland. As she was placing the toys under one of the many Christmas trees, she noticed the hockey gear that had to have come from PK. Just like she saw some football stuff that she assumed was donated by Kai. As she arranged the gifts, someone came up behind her. She stood up and saw it was PK.

He slung an arm around her waist and said, "What's on your mind, sweetheart?"

"I was just thinking how it would be nice to have something elegant like this at home," she said. It was true. She was ready to have that homey Christmas, complete with the people she loved. That meant spending the holidays with PK and Nathan, having gifts under the tree and having the promise of many more holidays to come.

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