Page 71 of The Thief Who Saved Christmas

Meaning he told her that I have a thing for Anabelle. “What the fu—”

I cut myself off as I notice Ben is still present, working on his Christmas comic while he finishes his eggs and toast.

Returning my glare to Joe, I say, “What the fiddlesticks?”

Cynthia snorts. “You’ve been spendingmuchtoo much time around him and Anabelle.”

“Don’t you have a day off?” I ask her.

“Tomorrow. But I’ll still be around, obviously. Jeremy too. We’re all going to follow this joker around while he does his inspection.”

“A wall of intimidation. I like it.”

“But you’re not changing the subject. Joe didn’t need to tell me you have a thing for Anabelle. It’s probably obvious to the Martians studying us from space.”

“If there were Martians, they’d have better things to do,” I say with a sigh, tapping my fingers against the table. “Don’t worry about me and Anabelle. We’ve settled things between us.”

“You haven’t,” Cynthia says, glancing back at the doorway. “You made her think she’s a bad kisser or something.”

“You kissed her?” Joe repeats, much too loudly.

“Keep it down,” I hiss. Turning to Cynthia, I say, “She said that to you? When?”

“Yesterday morning.” Her tone is pissy now, like she’s none too pleased with me.

“She knows that’s not true. We talked about it last night.”

“But did you talk about it in a guy way, or did you actually talk about it?”

“I don’t know what that means,” I admit. “But I do know that the three of us are done talking about it. Now what favor do you want?”

She darts another glance at the doorway, then says, “I want you to help me settle a bet. Can you find out whether Jeremy’s been messaging back any of those girls who have texted him about the video? He’s been acting too big for his britches, and I want to set him down a peg.”

Something tells me that’s not the real reason for her request, but I won’t call her on it—even if she’s made me feel like a dick with her questions about Anabelle.

Did I really make her question her kissing ability?

It’s unthinkable, because that kiss meant more to me than all the other kisses in my life combined. I’ll have to figure out a way to clear that shit up, quick, without it leading into another loss of willpower. I wouldn’t put it past myself to try to rationalize sleeping with her to prove how much I want her.

Cynthia’s still watching me, trying to pretend she doesn’t care about how I answer her question even though she obviously cares a lot.

“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll ask him if he wants to grab a drink after we get back from Charlottesville. See what I can get for you.”

“Thanks, Ryan. I told Anabelle I’d be on call today, so if anyone needs anything at the inn, I’ve got it covered.” She says this as if I have some stake in the B&B too, and I can’t deny I like the way it feels.

Hearing light footsteps, I look back over my shoulder. It’s Anabelle, bringing me a plate of hot food. The warmth in my chest spreads. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Obviously. But you’ve been bringing me food almost every day. It only seems fair.”

She sits beside me as I fork up some eggs. And in that moment, with Anabelle beside me and our friends around us, I’m almost perfectly content.

Almost. Because Anabelle might still think she’s a bad kisser, which is totally unacceptable. I’m not about to correct my mistake in front of Joe and Cynthia, though, so I promise myself to talk to her later.

I can’t help but think there are a lot of things I’ve promised myself to do later but can’t face yet.

Neither Anabellenor Joe have ever driven a big truck before, so I offer to drive the U-Haul. We stop at an office supply store to buy packing supplies for Joe’s Christmas collection, which he’ll be storing in Room C with him once it opens up this afternoon. That done, we hit the road. I sneak a sidelong look at Anabelle, who’s riding in the middle between us in the front seat, and turn on the twenty-four-hour Christmas station. It gets me a smile that makes my chest feel sore.

Too much inner conflict will do that to a man. Part of me thinks I should leave Williamsburg after the inspection tomorrow morning, assuming it goes all right. I can give Anabelle the ornament and then go. Because the more time I spend with her, the more I want to be her man.

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