Page 153 of Holiday Hire

"Me too," I confess.

He gives me another quick kiss and then helps me back into my pants. He pulls up his jeans, goes around the truck, and gets in the driver's seat.

I put on my seat belt.

He turns on the engine, puts on the music, and grabs my hand. He kisses it, and everything feels right again, except for one thing.

I do my best to push it away, but I'm in love with Alexander. The problem is I don't know if he'll ever be in love with me or if he'll break my heart into millions of pieces.

25

Alexander

A Week Before Christmas

"Later!" Wilder shouts as the boys run out the door. My sisters volunteered to take them to town for a Christmas scavenger hunt, and they'll be gone most of the day.

I turn to Phoebe and stare at her.

She puts her hand on her hip. "Yes?"

"Why haven't we painted your room yet?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. We've been busy."

"Everyone else in the house has their room painted, but yours is still blah. You even painted the family room and kitchen," I point out.

Her lips twitch. "So you thought it was blah too?"

I admit, "Once you pointed it out."

She adds, "You really like it though, right? You're not just telling me you like it?"

I chuckle. "Yes. I wouldn't lie about liking something. And you were right. This place definitely needed some color."

She beams. "Good!"

"Don't you think it's time we paint your room though?"

"Today?" she questions.

"Yeah, today. There's no time like the present. Plus, the boys are gone. We can paint naked if we want."

She laughs. "You want to paint naked?"

I wiggle my eyebrows, confessing, "I like to do everything naked with you."

She wrinkles her nose. "We might want to keep our clothes on since your family's always coming in and out."

"I could lock the doors."

"Did you forget they have keys? If you tried that, they'd be coming in faster than we know."

I sigh. "Okay, we'll paint with clothes on. But seriously, we've got to get your room done. What color did you pick anyway?"

She reveals, "It's a pale yellow."

"And it's here? You bought it when you were in town, right?"

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