Page 27 of Kiss Me

Before he can state his question or wonderings out loud, Liza interrupts us.

“Hey, do you need help getting back to our suite?” she asks, sounding slightly breathy.

Her sudden presence startles me. That’s when it occurs to me that it’s been a while since I last saw my assistant. When I manage to break eye contact with Taehyun to look over at her, my eyes widen in surprise.

Her cheeks have an unusual redness to them.

“A-Are you feeling okay?” I ask.

She juts her head back. “Me? Of course.” She scurries to my side. “How’s your ankle? Should I have some ice brought to the suite once we get back?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Taehyun intervenes. “I’ll help her get home.” His voice is so smooth yet authoritarian enough that even I don’t question him.

Not at first.

“You’ll help me?” I ask once my senses come back to me.

He slyly nods his head in the direction that leads to a hallway. I glance over to see the cute waiter from earlier. He’s standing in the doorway, but he’s not paying me or Taehyun any attention.

He’s staring directly at my assistant.

“My plans for Tania this evening aren’t finished just yet,” he says. “Why don’t you call it a night?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him it’s not his job to boss my assistant around. But then I look over at her.

Liza’s staring in the direction of the hallway.

At the cute redhead who still can’t take his eyes off of her.

Was I so wrapped up in tonight’s gingerbread house competition that I missed something going on with Liza?

I meet Taehhyun’s stare and realize that no, it wasn’t the competition that had me enraptured tonight. Not completely, anyway.

“He’s right.” I clear my throat. “You’ve earned the rest of the night off,” I tell Liza. “Truthfully …” I take a beat before finishing, “it’s just as much your holiday as it is mine. Why don’t you take the next few days off?”

“I can’t do that.” She shakes her head immediately. “I don’t have anything I need to do over the next few days except make sure you’re taken care of.”

That makes me want to ensure even more so that Liza gets some time to relax. I know she doesn’t have much family to speak of, but Christmas is Christmas.

“That’ll be my job from here on out,” Taehyun says, surprising the both of us. “I’ll make sure she gets back to the suite … in time.”

Her eyes move to mine, questioning.

“You haven’t hit the slopes once and you said you wanted to try a few lessons.”

“It’s after ten at night. The slopes aren’t open,” she reminds me.

“Tomorrow then. Go.”

“O-Okay,” she finally relents. “I’ll check on you first thing tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Taehyun answers for me.

He doesn’t even wait for me as he takes my arm holding the crutch and wraps it around his body instead.

There’s a comfort I don’t want to question as I lean into his body. He feels a little too good and the scent of gingerbread lingers on him from tonight’s competition.

“Just lean on me, Ginger,” he encourages as we make our way out of the door.

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