Page 13 of The CEO's Christmas Wife

“No wonder you’re such a cynic. With people like that around you, who needs enemies?” Kandi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

I chuckled. “No, they’re not bad people, Kandi. But I wasn’t the greatest kid.”

“But you were a kid.”

“I was. But they were also right. I’ve spent a lifetime chasing after money and making a name for myself that I never slowed up to cultivate a personal life. I’ve never allowed anyone in. I haven’t been back home since I left because I hate to prove them right.”

“You haven’t talked to your family in how long?”

“No, don’t get me wrong. I’ve talked to them and even had video chats with them, but I haven’t visited. I don’t let them get too close because I don’t want them to know that they are right. It’s been eighteen years since I was here last.”

“I’m so sorry, Kayn.”

“It’s okay. It’s like they expected me to be a failure in life. I might have proved them wrong in one part of my life, but not the other. And I hate proving them right.”

Kandi stared at the house thoughtfully for a few seconds and then back at me.

“We don’t have to.”

I glanced down as she removed her gloves and stuffed them in her pocket.

“What are you doing?” I asked as she removed a topaz and diamond ring from her right finger onto her left finger. I’d seen that ring on numerous occasions, and I knew that she cherished it. It was beautiful.

“I’ll be your fake wife for the night.”

“What?”

“I’ll pretend to be your wife to keep your parents off your back. We can pretend that you found all the love and happiness that they thought you would never find.”

“I can’t ask that of you, Kandi. That’s too much. Besides, it’s my aunt and uncle, not my parents.”

“It doesn’t matter. Anyway, you’re not asking. I’m offering. Trust me, it’ll be okay.”

This woman was unbelievable. She had come in and turned my work life completely around and made my days bearable, my goals attainable, and my schedule doable. Now, she was stepping in to manage my personal life as well. They didn’t make them like her anymore.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll accept under one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“That you accept the ten-thousand-dollar bonus I’m giving you to compensate you for your time and playing the role.”

“Mr. Kayn, we have a deal,” she agreed with a bright smile.

Just as she stuck out her hand to shake mine, the front door opened, and I threw my arm around her shoulders and pulled her against my side.

Her body felt perfect against mine. Our heights complemented each other, even in her heels. Her warm, amber scent wafted up to my nose and made me want to remove her coat and take a deeper inhale of her fragrance.

“Emmanuel!” Aunt Frances greeted me as Uncle Johnny came to stand beside her. They both wore warm, ecstatic smiles, and their eyes were lit with happiness. Guilt tugged at my insides when I looked down at Kandi’s beautiful face, and a similar light shone from her almond-shaped russet-brown eyes. What in the hell was I doing?

7

STOCKINGS HUNG WITH CARE

Kandi

“I was so excited when Angela called me to say that you two were on your way here to the house,” Kayn’s aunt Frances declared.

“I honestly thought she was mistaken, or maybe she had seen someone else and assumed it was you. After all, she was just a kid when you left here,” Kayn’s uncle Johnny, or JR as he called him, stated.

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