Page 11 of Mistlefoes

My hand swiped over my lips as I tilted back my head, moving away just far enough for her to get down and go retrieve her phone from her purse.

“Mom,” she exclaimed when she answered the phone. When I glanced over, I saw she was actually using her tablet and she was on facetime. Probably not a great idea with her mussed hair and swollen lips.

“Is everything okay? Was I interrupting anything?”

“Uh…”

I moved closer. “Hi, Mrs. Burke.”

“Jack, so good to see you,” she gushed. “Jill told me yesterday that you two were back together.”

“She did, did she?” I chuckled, wrapping my arms around my girl and pulling her closer to my side. “Tell me more. What else did she say?”

“Stop it,” Jill groaned, jabbing her elbow into my side. Her cheeks had turned rosy, blushing a deeper color than she’d already been from our kiss.

“Nothing much. Just that she had a boyfriend and I didn’t need to set her up with anyone down here.”

“You definitely don’t,” I replied, my tone going harder than it probably should with my not-quite-girlfriend’s mother.

She laughed. “Don’t worry. Since I know Jill has you, I’ll drop that idea. Now, Jill says she might not be able to come home for Christmas. What do you think? Can you two manage it?”

I glanced down at Jill, knowing how much she looked forward to seeing her family each year. I wondered if it was due to financial issues from the store. If so, I would fix it. “Jill and I will talk seriously about it. I’m sure we can swing something.”

“Jack,” she whispered, and I lifted a brow at her, daring her to out the lie she’d told her mom.

Jill turned back to the tablet. “We’ll talk about it, Mom. You know… It’s the Christmas season, and we work in retail and all…”

“I know.”

I kissed the top of Jill’s head. “I’m going to head home, so you can talk to your mom. Don’t forget we have a date tomorrow night.”

“Adate? I mean…how could I?” she corrected after her initial surprise.

“Good. I’ll be over to walk you to work in the morning. Night, Mrs. Burke.” I gave her a small wave.

“Night, sweetheart,” she called. “Good to see you again.” She waited until I was out of her sight, but I could still hear her as I put on my coat. “My God, honey, he’s gotten even more handsome. You need to lock that man down. Pronto.”

“Mom,” Jill groaned, but her mom wasn’t wrong. Some lockdown needed to happen, and if I had my way, I would finally get my ring on Jill’s finger.

Pronto.

Seemed like suddenly I was an ex going by another name: Boyfriend.

Six

Jill

The Weakest Link…

In The String of Lights

Jack was…

Argh!

He might have kissed me like a god last night and dropped into his role ofcurrentbeau, but that hadn’t stopped him from pranking me. Playing on the old adage ofone goes out they all go out,he’d stolen at least one bulb from my frolicking penguins, leaving the trio in the dark for the evening.

It was harmless, and I probably deserved it after the snow-batage I’d pulled on him, but last night could have been the one where they judged the displays. No one knew when that was happening. You just had to be ready.

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