Page 79 of The Mistletoe Makeover

The storage room is almost empty now, except for a few light strands.

I’ve never been here when it’s so quiet. Mia shuts the door behind us, and I’m suddenly aware that it’s just us in this dark room.

I put down the Ugly Santa. “What’ll we do with this guy?” I nod toward the hideous figurine. “If we leave him here, Judy might find him and put him on the square.”

“Are you saying I should throw out Ugly Santa?” she says with a concerned frown.

“Better yet, destroy him so he can’t be reused.”

Her lips quirk at the edges as she looks from me to Santa, considering if this is crazy or my best idea yet.

“But how?” she asks, looking around for something to smash him.

“Use Santa as your personal punching bag,” I say, standing him up so she can take her best shot.

She gives me a conflicted look. “It feels wrong to destroy Santa.”

“Or fun.”

She hesitates, then drops her coat on the floor. “As long as you don’t tell my mom.”

Then she lifts her fist and flattens Ugly Santa with a punch. The plastic figurine falls to the floor, his face dented neatly from her knuckles.

I pick him up. “If you want to make sure they never use him again, you need to do better than that. The sooner we put him to rest, the sooner we can buy a new Santa. One that will not scare small children.”

She laughs, then surveys the plastic Santa again. It only takes a second for her to decide to kick him a few more times, before picking him up and throwing the dented Santa in the trash can.

She turns around with a satisfied grin and a spark in her eyes that I’ve only seen a few other times. “Man, this feels great!” she says with a triumphant smile. “It makes me so happy to destroy something. Is that weird?”

“No, it means you need to do this more often.”

She lifts an eyebrow. “Destroy more Santas?”

“I meant doing things that make you happy... and are out of your comfort zone.”

“That’s the problem. I always end up talking myself out of things.”

“What do you mean?”

For a second, a look passes across her face. “Like the reason I’ve never been kissed. I overthink it. And then I get nervous. It’s so paralyzing.”

I hesitate, wondering if she’s thinking the same thing. The solution is right here in front of her. I could solve this problem so easily for her.

“What if you didn’t run away?” I suggest. “What if you let it happen when it’s meant to?” I step next to her, my heart beating wildly.

She pauses, her eyes dropping to my lips. “Remember when you asked me to watch you rehearse so you could get your nerves out?” I can see her chest rising and falling.

I brush my finger across her jaw. “Are you asking me to help you get your nerves out?”

She hesitates, then nods slowly. “Only if you want to.”

Do I want to?“I don’t even need to think about my answer.”

NINETEEN

Mia

Ican’t believe Jace just agreed to give me my first kiss.“Even if we’re...” I glance around. “In a storage room?”

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