Page 72 of Inherited Holiday

Mine.

“Why aren’t you in my bed? I don’t like to wake up alone.”

Her breathing hitched when my thumb pulled on her bottom lip. My hand suddenly moved to grip the back of her neck and bring her toward me.

“You make me laugh, smile, and feel like a kid again,” I declared. “You make me want to be a better man. Do you have any idea how much you affect me? From your eyes, to your ridiculous fucking giggle, to the way you calm me. The way you see me, the way you’ve always seen me. You fill this void, a hole in my heart that I felt growing up until I met you in the library one random afternoon. No one has ever been able to come close to how I feel when you’re in my arms.” I paused to let my wordssink in. “For years, I tried to break that hold you’ve always had over me, but I couldn’t. And the truth is, Elle, I didn’t want to let it go. I didn’t want to let you go. Because at the end of the day, I learned what it felt like to be your best friend, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.”

Her lips parted to say something. “Do you want your gift?”

“How about we gift each other later and get started on eating your cookies?”

She threw her head back, laughing. Before she could leave to get dressed, I kissed her.

I devoured her, beckoning her to do the same, her lips to open for me. She released a soft moan as my tongue slid into her mouth. I’d always been a man of few words. To me, actions always spoke much louder and clearer than any sentence ever could. Yet there I was, laying it all out for her.

Word by word.

Sentence by sentence.

Making my thoughts and emotions known.

Slowly easing back, I added, “Go get dressed. Wear something festive for me.” I pecked her mouth one last time before releasing her.

She smiled and ran into the bathroom.

An hour later, she was dressed in a reindeer getup with knee-high boots and thigh-high stockings. I resisted the urge to bend her over the table again and remind her who drives her sleigh, but she insisted we needed to get going to get done in time for the town to make their way through.

Several hours later, we just finished cooking another batch of chocolate chips when I asked, “What was your major in college?”

“A double bachelor in business and finances with a minor in accounting.”

“Wow. Two bachelor's degrees. That must have been a lot of studying.” I nodded, licking the batter off her face.

Did I forget to mention that the second we started baking, she came out wearing nothing but a Grinch apron with stockings and boots. We spent the first hour of the morning making a mess with cake and batter mix in places where it probably shouldn’t go.

“I had to prove to your grandfather that I could handle this place.”

“When did you decide to go to work for him?”

“Pretty early on. Part of me always wanted to take it over.”

“What happened after college?”

“I worked my life away until you came back in it.”

I smiled, winking at her. “Ditto.”

“So no women in your life?”

“They were meaningless.”

“I’m sure they didn’t think that.”

“They knew what they were getting themselves into. I never lied about any expectations when it came to them.”

She smiled. “You always know the right things to say.”

“It’s called honesty.”

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