Page 10 of A Holiday Lift
However, our careers are what brought us together, and I know how much it means to him. If it were me who had to travel, I would want him to understand.
“We’ll make it work,” I promise.
He gives me a sweet kiss. “This is why I love you.”
“Oh? Because of thisonereason?” I say teasingly.
“This and many, many others.”
I laugh. “Well, I am pretty fabulous.”
“That you are.”
“Now, let’s get this tree fully decorated before our parents get here tomorrow.”
We’ve barely had time to do anything Christmas related. Last night, three days before Christmas, we went and found a tree and threw some lights on it. Now we’re doing our best not to make it look like total crap because I had the brilliant idea of hosting Christmas dinner this year.
As if I weren’t already stressed out about seeing his mother again.
I groan, regretting my stupidity. “What?” he asks.
“I just . . . what if your mother still doesn’t like me?”
Dean’s brows furrow. “What are you talking about? She loves you.”
“She loved me before we moved in together. She loved me when she thought this was just a fling and you’d move back to California instead of staying here.”
Kayti Pritchard is the sweetest, most traditional mother who has ever lived.
When I flew out with him to California for Christmas the first year we were together, it was a shock for her, but she seemed happy to meet me. I guess Dean had talked about me to his family, which made me smile.
However, she wasn’t happy when she caught us making out at midnight in the kitchen. After that, it was a little rocky, but we had been making progress. Then she put two and two together and realized we moved in together right after Christmas last year.
For two months, Dean would go in the bedroom, hiding any evidence that I moved into his apartment before she called him out. We endured three hours of listening to all the reasons we had to get married so we weren’t living in sin, and how it was much too soon. I’m pretty sure she lived under the delusion that Dean was saving himself for marriage.
“I promise, she has no issues with you now.”
I don’t believe him.
“And you still want me to sleep in the guestroom while she’s here?” I challenge.
He laughs. “No, that was a joke.”
“Yeah right.”
“This is our home, Holly. It’s where we are building a life together. I love you, and regardless of whatever my mother says, that won’t change. Now, let’s not talk about mothers, dinner, or work, and enjoy what time we have instead.”
I let out a deep sigh and wrap my arms around his middle. “I know what I would really like to do with the time we have before our parents arrive.”
“What’s that?”
I push up on my toes, moving my hands along his spine. “Well, first, I think we’re overdressed.”
His eyes soften and the mood around us shifts. “I think that can be remedied.”
“Second, I think there will be a lot of touching . . . but where do we start . . .”
Dean leans down, scooping me up into his arms, and then his mouth is on mine, which saves me from having to elaborate.
