Page 76 of A Very Naughty Christmas

“We do have her to thank for bringing us together.”

“We’re together? Since when? Why am I always the last one to find out about things between you and me? Or a say in things, for that matter?”

“You’re not the last to know, Dix,” he replied as one of his strong arms wrapped around her waist and he moved her out from in front of the glass doors and the view of the lobby. “You’ve felt this attraction as strongly as I, ever since the day I came in to fetch that damn umbrella.”

“You mean the day you almost cracked my ribs when I choked on a sesame seed? I didn’t breathe comfortably for a week after that.”

He pressed her up against one of the wide concrete pillars that bracketed the entryway and held up the overhang. Propping a forearm beside her head, his body moved closer, and with the arm still around her waist, she was caged in.

“You felt the pull as strongly as I, admit it.” He smiled when her mouth snapped shut, owning up to nothing. “And you get a say, never doubt it. But I’m hoping you’ll say yes.”

“To what?” she breathed, his face disconcertingly close.

“To us, and to sealing our fate with another kiss beneath the mistletoe.”

She ignored the first part and focused on the last. “We’re outside, Kyle. There’s no mistletoe.”

“Look up, darlin’.”

Angling her head, she saw the sprig of green leaves with the pearly white berries, tied with a red Christmas ribbon that he held in his hand over her head.

“Where did you get that?”

“Funny thing, it seems to have magically appeared in my pocket.”

Her gaze fell, taking in every detail like the way his hair ruffled across his forehead in the light wind, how his long dark lashes curled up on the ends, and his full lips tilted up into a smile.

“That sneak. She played us, got found out, and despite it, keeps right on doing so.”

“I think we have no choice except to give in and admit defeat, before it gets ugly.”

She stared up into his twinkling eyes, so much like Miss Emmaline’s primrose blue that she couldn’t believe she never made the connection.

“What do you say? You’re beneath the mistletoe, so you’ve got to decide. Is it deep romance or enduring friendship? And don’t even consider the third option or I’m turning you over my knee here and now.”

She saw a flicker of worry cross his face and knew how much her answer meant to him.

“You didn’t call me, like you promised.”

“I was ticked and hurt,” he admitted. “I needed a little time. I planned to come and see you tonight. Besides, I was digging out at work after being gone for a week. I haven’t been sitting back with my feet on my desk these past few days, believe me.”

She nodded. “I do.”

“You do? Truly?”

“Yes. And I should have called you and apologized, been the one to offer the olive branch following Saturday night. I need to work on owning up to being wrong and not holding a grudge.”

“I can help you with that,” he said with a teasing grin, and there was no mistaking the type of lessons he had in mind to fix her problem. His face angled up to the mistletoe sprig he still held over her head. “Don’t leave me hanging here, darlin’.”

She bit her lip. “So if the answer is friendship, you’ll accept that?”

“Hell, no. I’ll call my Nana and between the two of us, we’ll come up with a plan to win you over to our way of thinking. With both of us going full force on your stubbornness, you won’t know what hit you.”

Wide-eyed, she gazed up at him. “Marcy mentioned you were related to the Vanderbilts. They’re like royalty in these parts.”

His lips twisted in disgust. “She was always a social climbing namedropper.”

“So it’s not true?”

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