Page 34 of The CEO's Christmas Wife

“Merry Christmas,” an elderly lady greeted us as she passed us up with a lovely smile and stared into my eyes. It was just what I needed to bring me back into the moment.

“Ya Christmas angel just saved ya ass,” I warned Chauncey.

“I need y’all niggas to squash this shit.” Byron grumbled with irritation.

I didn’t break my stare with Chauncey for several long seconds before I walked away and headed into the next store. I guessed Byron must have been talking to that nigga because it was several minutes before they came into the store that I was in.

“You good?” Byron asked as I stood, turning a snow globe in my hand.

“Yeah, I’m chill. Ya brother the one who needs to chill out.”

I looked up and noticed that Chauncey was chatting with the salesclerk on the other side of the store.

“He wants to make peace with you, Emmanuel. He’s just not sure how to make that happen.”

“Stay away from Kandi, and we won’t have any problems.”

“Make her yours, and you won’t have no problems,” Byron stated matter-of-factly.

“She’s already mine. I just need her to know it.”

“Tell her. Show her. Quit being scared.”

“I ain’t neva scared,” I replied with a mug firmly in place as I looked my older cousin up and down.

“Yeah? Well, I can’t tell. You’ve only been running for forever. And you haven’t told that woman how you feel yet.”

“I told her earlier today.”

“Did you tell her how you feel, E, or did you just fuck her senseless until she screamed your name and didn’t know hers?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Ain’t they one and the same?”

Byron smirked and angled his head sideways. “One day, my nigga. One day, you’ll get the picture.”

“Think she’ll like this?” I asked and held up the snow globe.

“I mean, I guess. If she’s into that type of thing.”

“She’s into Christmas, small towns, and Hallmark feels.”

Byron leaned slightly sideways, continued to stare straight ahead, and then lowered his voice. “Then I guess you got the right thing. But you need more than a snow globe to say Merry Christmas to the woman you love.”

“Who said anything about love?”

“A woman who you bring home to meet the family, even if it’s because your ass got stranded, causes you to get into the Christmas spirit, and has your old ornery ass calming down. I’d say that is love.”

He smirked at me, and I headed to the checkout line, but not before picking up a Jovi Noelle and Chris Perry Christmas CD.I had already purchased her a five hundred dollar online gift certificate to Spa Estime for when we returned home.

I finished paying for my items and then stepped out onto the sidewalk. A man dressed as Santa stood beside the door, ringing his bell and calling out “Merry Christmas.” The sign on his bucket read, Mount Sinai’s Christmas Fund. Byron was still inside, picking up a couple of last-minute gifts. I reached into my wallet and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and dropped it into the bucket.

“Merry Christmas. God bless you, Emmanuel.”

I tilted my head at an angle to get a better look at Santa. “Mr. Washington?”

My high school geometry teacher chuckled and replied, “The one and only, but today, I’m just dear old Santa.”

“It’s good to see you, Mr. Washington.”

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