Page 31 of A Christmas Bargain

When she didn’t reply, my hope dwindled, fast. But then she furrowed her brow and peered at me. “Let’s clarify a couple of things.”

“Okay.”God, what am I doing? What am I saying? Pretend to date?I hadn’t had such a spontaneous, ridiculous idea like this in forever.

“I came here thinking I was going to meet with someone to discuss a potential sale of prime riverfront real estate.”

Boy, you really do have a one-track mind.She was all work. I feared that I might’ve been misreading her. That she wasn’t blushing or looking at me with desire. It’d been a while. Maybe I was rusty at being able to tell whether a woman was seriously into me or not.

“And you are now turning the conversation to pretending to date so the seemingly bored and lonely women in town won’t badger or harass you, Mr. Eligible Widower.”

I nodded. “There’s more.”

She grinned and raised her brows. “Oh?”

“Yes.” I scooted my chair in and sat up straighter. This idea couldn’t be completely bad. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“Oh, there’s quite a bit going on up here right now.” She tapped her temple.

“You’ve got to be wondering what’s in it for you.”

She pointed at me. “Bingo. We have a winner. While I think it could be fun and would definitely be different, the adventure of fake dating hasn’t really come up before.”

“Okay. So look at it as a bargain. You pretend to be dating me, and I will…” I licked my lips, hating myself for even wanting to lie.

“You will…”

“Sell some of my property.”Somewas the keyword in there.Some, as in next to none.

I had zero intention of giving up the Scott land. And I had several reasons backing that choice. Most importantly, it was my family’s land. It passed on through generations and it would stay in the family. When I was younger and dating Jenna, welived in the city. She was a head librarian and I was deep in my investment business. After she passed away, though, it wasn’t a difficult choice to move Naomi and myself back to Preston.

Being thrust into fatherhood was a huge adaptation. Knowing I’d be doing it alone was doubly hard.

Nicky and Stacy helped. My sister and brother-in-law were immensely supportive as I found my grounding. Not only that, but it was also hard to be in the city, seeing the familiar places I'd once enjoyed with Jenna.

Living in the country with the fresh air and freedom to move around was an excellent choice for Naomi. We had our space. We had room to expand. While she wanted a dog shelter, I wanted to have a woodworking shop. I envisioned more trees planted, and she had her heart set on a pool.

Wehad plans for our land, and that included keeping it all. Developers could keep their greedy hands off the acres I owned.

“You would?” She sat up, excited.

Dammit.I hated to con her, but I would sell… something. If I wasn’t already going to hell, I would be for this. I could string her along just long enough to get through this holiday season. I didn’t want to propose a permanent thing. And I wasn’t anywhere near ready to actually date her.

She would probably turn me down, anyway, too stuck in her job to have time to date at all.

“I would. That’d be my end of the bargain.” It would be one that I’d tweak as much as I had to. “And your end of the bargain would be to look like you’re with me until the end of the holiday season.”

“What, until the new year?”

I nodded. “This time of the year is very difficult for a single parent. All the family events and the push to be surrounded by others.”

“I could see how that would work.”

“And Naomi would be thrilled to see you again. If you’re staying nearby in Macomb, that’s just the next town over. She’ll be happy to talk to you again.”

She smiled softly.

“She’s been talkingaboutyou since we met at the holiday market.”

Her laughter made me relax. “I imagine she’s still worried about me getting my eyes checked out.”

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