Page 89 of The Christmas Eve Delivery

“And I sucked,” he said as he brushed my hair away from my face and down my back.

“Yeah, you kind of did,” I admitted.

“Yet, you still love me,” he said.

“I can’t help it.”

He caught my chin with his finger and tipped my face up to meet his.

“I can’t help but be in love with you, either.” And then he kissed me, and that kiss was so soft and so warm and so perfect.

I wondered, oh, so briefly in that split second before my brain turned off, why it had taken him five days since his arrival to kiss me properly?

“Maybe I’ll only be gone for three days,” he said with a chuckle.

“Three days is definitely better than four,” I admitted.

“I’m going to have a lot of work to do getting this property up and running, getting the renovations done on the Sweet Mountain Inn, and learning how to be a local.”

“You, a local?” I almost laughed.

“Hey, I was a small town kid once. I’ll figure it out. I’ll have you to help me. You can be my Brookdale coach.”

“I think you and Mayor Dan need to become friends,” I said. “That man will be a better Brookdale coach for you than I will.”

“Dan’s a good guy. I know he is. I could actually see that happening.”

Before the moment got too terribly serious, Miles gave an exaggerated shudder. “I can’t believe I’m moving back to a small town. Get back in the car and let’s go home before I change my mind.”

I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.

He kissed me on the tip of my nose. “I’m joking. I’m not going to change my mind. I love you.”

We got into the car. Miles drove in a large, bumpy circle before heading back down the private road.

“Nick, huh?” he asked. “Nick Carlisle. That’s easy to say, doesn’t sound awkward the way Chris or Noel did. I knew you would figure it out.”

“I guess we need to file his birth certificate now that he has a name,” I said.

Miles’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he continued to say Nick’s name. “Are you planning on a middle name?”

“Does he need a middle name? Coming up with one name was hard enough,” I complained.

“Is there anyone you would want to name him after?” Miles asked.

“What about your name?”

Miles shook his head. He kept his eye on the road as he turned out from the private lane and back onto the local road.

“He gets his own name. I have my father’s name, and I refuse to use it other than the initial.”

“James?” I asked.

He grimaced. “Yeah. I was an ego trip for that man, not a child. I don’t want that for Nick. I say skip the middle name or give him the name of someone he could look up to.”

“Dan?” I asked.

“Nicholas Daniel Carlisle. Now that’s an impressive name.”

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