Page 17 of His Off-Limits Christmas Gift

I wanted to make her Christmas wish come true—with me.

The spontaneous idea had already hit me, and now, she’d handed me the opportunity to act on it. I couldn’t have asked for a better gift to unwrap.

A slow smile stretched my face, and I wondered how delicately I should word this.

“What?” she asked, narrowing her eyes with suspicion. “What’s that smile for?”

You. And the idea of us.

7

RACHEL

“Nate? What is it? Why are you smiling at me like that?” I wiped my mouth, worried I had dressing on my lips. He stared at them, hungrily, and I felt my heart beat faster.

This was how clueless I was. I had no idea how to look cool, how to react to a sexy, handsome man staring at me with lust burning in his eyes.

“How about I teach you?”

It was my turn to choke on my food. I had no business taking a bite so soon after I asked him anything. How about he taught mewhat?

“I can show you,” he added, calm and relaxed.

As I coughed and turned red in the face, he leaned over to pat my back.

Really sexy, Rach. So smooth.

I gulped water, then a few more coughs got me closer to speaking. “What?” That was all I eked out. “You’ll show me—you’ll teach me what?”

“I’ll show you how to flirt. How to find a boyfriend.”

I shot my hand up to ward him off. Shaking my head, I said, “No. No boyfriend. I just had one.” I didn’t want to be boggeddown with someone again, not when I could be so eager to want to be loved that I couldn’t tell when they weren’t actually into me.

“Okay. How to find a guy for a holiday fling.” He nodded, like this made perfect sense. It didn’t. He was talking in a bizarro, nonsense language. My boss wanted to help me with this impulsive Christmas wish? My brother’s friend was interested in, what, showing me the ropes?

Out of pity?

“I’ll be your mentor.” He set his napkin aside, finished with his food.

“My mentor?” I asked, still so lost. I couldn’t understand how he’d jump to offering to teach me about anything like this. Sure, we knew of each other, but this offer stunned me.

“Yes. I’ll be your mentor.”

“Why you?”

He furrowed his brow. “Ouch.”

“I mean…” I blinked and searched for words. Looking at my half-eaten lunch didn’t provide me with any clues. “Why you? Because you feel like… like a big brother to me?”

“No.”

I reared back with how quickly and firmly he’d shot that reply back at me. He didn’t raise his voice, but there was no mistaking the finality of his reply. “No. I don’t look at you like that. Like you’re a younger sister. Hell no.”

Hmm.That synched with that budding awareness that seemed to build between us. It felt a lot like desire, so it was no wonder he’d immediately dismiss a sibling suggestion between us.

He didn’t look at me like I was a sister. But as a woman he wanted…

A woman he wants to mentor?

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