Page 138 of Holiday Hire

"I have lots of skills," he boasts.

My cheeks flare hotter, but he must have spent a lot of time painting the ornament. It's flawless. I agree, "Yes, you do."

"Turn it over," he orders.

I flip it and read out loud, "Always choose a stallion."

"You should get Phoebe a stallion!" Ace declares.

"Yeah! Get her a white stallion!" Wilder adds.

Alexander states, "White stallions are hard to come by, but we can try to find one."

"What? Don't be crazy!" I interject.

Alexander's grin widens. "You got on a horse. There's no going back now!"

I shake my head but can't stop my smile from hurting my face. Everything with Alexander seems too good to be true. We have mad chemistry. He treats me like gold. His kids love me, and I love them. He protects and takes care of me, but I'm scared it'll end. Things were great with Lance for the first year and then they weren't.

No, they weren't great. They were never like how things are between Alexander and me,I remind myself. So I shouldn't compare the two relationships.

We're a secret.

The nagging thought pops up again. I long for the day when we can be normal and not hide. The last week's been excruciating. Every secret look, touch, and rendezvous gave me an adrenaline high but also put me on edge. I remind myself I need to give it time, but it's hard. I'm not used to pretending, and our situation feels like a lie in some ways.

"Time to decorate our house," Alexander states, tearing me out of my thoughts. He goes to the closet and starts pulling out boxes.

Over the next hour, we put up the tree and decorate it. They put stockings on the mantel and Alexander stares at it.

"Looks great," I praise.

"Nope! It's missing something."

"What? It looks perfect," I gush, taking in the garland and bright red and white stockings with their names on them.

Alexander snaps his fingers. "I know what's missing! Hold on." He disappears and returns with his hand behind his back.

"What are you hiding?" I question.

He grins, then reveals a matching stocking with Pheebs written on it, and a matching reindeer holder.

I gape at him.

He chuckles. "Why do you look so strange right now?"

I swallow down emotions, blinking hard. Lance's family had matching stockings with their names. No one ever added a stocking for me, let alone one with my name on it.

"Let's hang it up," Wilder says, then grabs it from his dad. He moves Alexander's stocking away from Ace's, then places the silver reindeer between the two. Then he hangs my stocking on the hook.

I choke back my tears, managing to get out, "That's really nice of you."

Ace holds the star up, suggesting, "I think Phoebe should put it on the tree this year."

"Really?" I ask, touched once again.

"Yeah, of course," Wilder says in a serious voice.

Alexander taps the ladder. "Well, come on, then."

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