Page 18 of Fake Out Forever

“It’s so soft.”

Suddenly, I have a vision of her naked on the rug, the firelight dancing across her skin. The image is so vivid I have to look away from her to make it stop.

“Where will you live?” She purses her lips to blow on her tea.

I’ve never been jealous of tea before…

“Here.” I blurt. “I think I’ll live here. Who knows? Maybe we can make this an annual thing.”

Her eyes get big.

“We’re going to be neighbors.” I remind her.

“Oh, yes.” She nods. “We are, aren’t we?”

I’ve made her nervous, which I don’t want to do. So, I finish my tea and stand up to take a walk around the trees. “All we have to do is put the angels on top of the trees, and then we’ll plug these bad boys in. Would you like to do the honors?”

“Sure.”

I get the ladder from the garage and help her up the steps. I crane my neck back to watch her smile because I don’t want to miss a thing. She nestles the angel into place, climbs down, and repeats the same for the other tree.

“Are we ready?”

“I think so.” She rubs her hands together. “This is exciting.”

“Close your eyes, and I’ll close mine.” I rush across the floor to plug in the trees, then rush back to her side. “Okay, on the count of three… one… two… three.”

As I open my eyes, I don’t know which is more beautiful: the gorgeous trees we’ve created or the wonder all over Maya’s perfect face.

“They’re stunning.” She whispers. “Absolutely stunning.”

“They are perfect.” I drape an arm over her shoulders. “We did it, duchess. We’ve decorated our very first Christmas trees.”

“We sure did.” She turns to look up at me. “This has been a wonderful day.” She stands on the tips of her toes to kiss my cheek. “Thank you for letting me be a part of it.”

“I wouldn’t want to share it with anyone else in the world.” I smile.

Which is the absolute truth.

Little does she know that I want her to be a part of my world forever.

10

MAYA

Still floating on a cloud of happiness, I slip on a T-shirt and crawl into bed. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I wish I had something to give to Cade. Then I remember seeing a package of hamburger in the freezer. I don’t have a present for under the tree, but I can cook him an Italian dinner. I toss the covers back to head downstairs. Because I’m in a hurry and don’t take the time to turn on the lights, I bump into a table by the door and knock a lamp to the floor. Grateful it didn’t break, I scoop it up to set it back in its place.

I’m halfway down the hallway when a door flies open. Cade steps out, wearing only a towel and pointing a gun at my chest.

“Whoa!” I toss my hands in the air.

“I thought you were a burglar.” He hits the light switch.

“In a blizzard?” I drop my arms. “You think someone is going to break into your house during a storm?”

“Who knows?” He stares at me for a heartbeat, his eyes slowly drifting down my body. “That’s my shirt.”

“Do you want it back?”

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