Page 46 of Christmas Wishes

“What mission?”

“I’m trying to find a boyfriend for Riggs.” That was something else I’d been thinking about today. Yeah, more sex with Riggs sounded amazing. But more time in Juniper Ridge meant more time to try and orchestrate a love connection. Though the thought soured my stomach. I needed to tell my dick to shut up and do what was right.

Now that I’d spent more time with Riggs, I knew what a great man he was. He deserved someone to share a life with, someone who would appreciate him for the quiet, gruff, thoughtful, caring man he was. I also knew there was no way in hell he’d make time to do it himself. Riggs just needed a little help.

And since I’d sampled the goods, it was selfish of Riggs to keep it to himself. That piercing. Damn. I wondered how long Riggs would let me play with it with my tongue until he couldn’t take it anymore.

“What are you getting yourself into?”

I shook the dirty thoughts from my mind. “He deserves to have someone taking care of him. That’s all.”

“That’s all, huh? What does Riggs have to say about it?” There was laughter in Arlo’s voice but also a touch of concern.

“Riggs doesn’t need to know. Enough about me. I’ve been dying to know how it went last night.” Since he hadn’t texted or called, I’d assumed he was okay. Arlo was usually good about reaching out when he needed me, and I’d hoped that meant he was getting support from Lucas, and based on our conversation in the middle of the night, he’d gotten even more than that.

“Was your family nice?” I prompted.

“They were wonderful. My other uncle and grandma were there too. They were so kind.” He gushed about his family and how everything went for a few minutes. I savored every word. God, it made me happy to hear him content.

“That’s amazing, babe. I’m so glad you had a great time with them. I’m proud of you for going. Did Lucas join you?”

“He did. It helped having him there, but I didn’t tell them who I am.” His voice got small.

I picked my next words carefully. “Lucas sounds special.”

“He is,” he said cautiously.

Time to close the sale. “How do you feel about spending more time with him?”

“I like that idea a lot.” There wasn’t a hint of falseness in his words.

It wasn’t as easy as simply choosing to stay. I knew Arlo would begin worrying about the logistics. It was one of the things I loved about him. “I can help you pay for more time at the B&B if they’ve got room or help find somewhere else. Riggs told me if I needed a place to stay, I could stay at his place and he won’t charge me.”

“Oh really?” he said teasingly.

“Don’t give me that tone, mister.” I laughed, and Arlo did too.

“We need to postpone our flights.”

“Right. I guess that means we need to decide a new date. How about another week or so? We can get home right before Christmas.” Luckily, we’d both booked on airlines with flexible rebooking policies without massive fees. That had to make Arlo feel better about the idea. It did for me too.

“That works. Hopefully, Richard will have work started by then.” He paused. “Are you sure about this?”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We’ll get more money, but we’ll never have this time again.”And I’m not ready to say goodbye to Riggs yet.He made me feel seen. I wanted to keep that feeling a bit longer.

Chapter24

Riggs

“Maybe we needa few more presents for the other side of the float. What do you think?” Doris set one of the lit present boxes I’d made on one side of the float display. With the storm coming in, Doris and her volunteers had to place the float set pieces in the senior center all-purpose room instead of outside on the trailer. She’d said she would take photographs once they got it right so it would go quickly to assemble once the storm passed.

I’d already built three presents covered in lights but knew Doris would want more, so I’d brought supplies to make twelve. “No problem.”

While she continued fiddling with the display, I assembled boxes with PVC pipes and wrapped them in lights. Doris chatted about the latest town gossip and wrapped the boxes with transparent fabric and bows. It would’ve gone faster with more volunteers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Doris had told people we had it covered so we could get some quality time together. Or she wanted to get me alone so she could grill me.

The longer we chatted about nothing, the more antsy I felt. I knew she was dying to ask about Keaton, but she was like a predator waiting to pounce when I was distracted. Doris maintained the chatter about unimportant things—luring me into a false sense of security. I knew her too well to let my guard down.

I hadn’t had a chance to tell her that he’d extended his stay. Well, more accurately, I hadn’t figured out how to mention it without making it a big deal. I couldn’t exactly say,Hey, Doris, we’re just having some naked fun for a week. No big deal.

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