Page 17 of A Wife by Christmas

“Good, it’s all good.” He reached out toward her, grabbing her hips. Cathy knew she should stop this, that she should get them to talk about what they were doing.

Instead, it was so easy to be pulled into his warm embrace and not even think about the future, to just live in the now.

****

A fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight and through the next morning. The Christmas festival was still on, but it did advise everyone to walk into the main town. Brick was excited as he left the bike, and he held out his arm for Cathy to take.

He’d hoped to go to the festival the previous night, but Rebel had called and club business had needed to be resolved, and he’d taken care of it. Now, he was back to focusing on Cathy. He didn’t like the fact that she was a little different. It wasn’t in a nasty bitch way, just subtly, where he could tell something was very wrong with her.

She didn’t stop kissing him. She didn’t stop being with him. That hadn’t changed.

Her smile was still the sweetest, but years of having to survive, he’d been able to read body language, and Cathy’s was screaming, badly, but he didn’t know why. And he didn’t know if he should ask her or not.

“How was your day?” he asked.

After spending the night with her, he did have to leave this morning, and they’d missed breakfast. Cathy had said she was going to film today.

Glancing at her face, he saw that she wore a small amount of makeup, which she had declared was her “no makeup, makeup look.” He didn’t know what to say to that. It was her thing, and he found when he wasn’t in her company and dealing with shit, he’d be watching videos from her channel.

He saw why she was popular, thoroughly entertaining, and above all else, she told the truth. Whenever a product didn’t work, she was open and honest about it. The truth was, he didn’t give a fuck about blush or bronzer, or something called a primer. Again, these were words that flew right over his head, but Cathy knew it all.

“Are you sure you want to go to this thing?” Cathy asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He also wanted to be there when herparents turned up. Brick had listened to the message they had left yesterday, warning her about being mean to her sister, or cruel, and that she should be happy for Tiffany.

He was done listening to all the bullshit. Brick didn’t know what world they were in, but Cathy was the victim in this. Her sister had stolen her boyfriend, not the other way around. He was tired of listening to the crap, and he was going to put an end to it tonight. No one was going to mess with his woman.

Cathy was his woman and he wasn’t going to let her go. The truth was, he’d pretty much decided this a few minutes after she walked into the bar, less than a week ago. Brick still couldn’t believe he’d known this woman less than a week and was already willing to do whatever necessary to protect her, to be with her.

Running his arm across her shoulders, he pulled her in close. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Do you really think I would give up the chance of enjoying some eggnog? Possibly winning you a big, cuddly teddy bear? The advertisement promised games. It promised festivity and fun.” He pressed his lips against her ear. “And I intend to start here and end back at your place. You and me, having a bit of fun and games. What do you say?”

“Well, when you say it like that, how can a woman refuse?”

“That’s the spirit.”

They walked into town, and Brick was not surprised to see it busy. Willow had warned him that the Christmas festival could be a lot of fun, but also very busy every year, which was why she stayed at the bar.

There were multiple games, some of them Christmas themed, that you saw at regular fairs, but the stands had been changed. Lots of food and alcohol were on display. There were also small stalls for homemade trinkets.

The town was buzzing. Festive music was in full swing.

“Wow,” he said.

Cathy giggled. “It’s a lot to take in. I tend to start from one side and work my way up, and then back down. Trust me, it is so easy to get distracted.”

At the very first stand, festive hot dogs were on offer, and he was more than happy to sign up for the cranberry ketchup. He bought them both a hot dog, and then they made their way up the first side of the fair.

Every now and then, he stopped to buy a few items for the guys, a little something for Willow, and Rebel. Something for the bar. He then bought himself and Cathy a large cookie with festive sprinkles all over. They got to the end of the row and the scent of chestnuts was overpowering. Brick bought them some chestnuts.

Each time he pulled out his wallet, Cathy offered to pay, and each time she did, he turned her down. There was no way his woman was paying for a damn thing. This was all on him.

Just as they were making their way down the other side and toward the end, he got the opportunity to win Cathy a large teddy bear. It was a shooting game, aiming the water at Scrooge’s mouth. The cocky little shit manning the stand didn’t know who he was dealing with.

Throughout it all, he loved that he got Cathy to laugh. Of course, she won the biggest prize, and he was more than happy to carry it.

They’d been at the festival for over two hours, and now it was time to leave. Not once had they encountered her parents, which pissed him off. He was more than happy to give them a taste of their own medicine.

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