Page 46 of The CEO's Christmas Wife

I giggled. “That’s a bit much. Anyway, you wouldn’t have known, Kayn. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you and that I gave you hell about it. Unless you check the records of your employees, how else would you have known? It’s not something I disclose to everyone, so nobody at work knew other than Portia and maybe someone in HR.”

“Then let me do for you tonight all the things that I would like to do.”

I smiled at him because he had a beautiful heart. Kayn randomly spent money like it was no big deal to him. I needed him to know that I didn’t care if he was broke. I would still care deeply for him. It was too soon to let him know that I loved him. Everything else was already moving super fast. I didn’t want to rock the boat just yet.

“How many relationships have you been in?” he asked.

“I’ve only had two real relationships. In high school, I had a boyfriend from my sophomore through senior years. In college, I dated casually because I was too busy living my life to be settled down with anyone. Then I met a guy who I was in a relationship with for three years from twenty-four to twenty-seven. I thought that he was the one, you know,” I explained, twisting the linen napkin between my fingers as I thought back on that time of my life. I prayed that I wasn’t wrong about Kayn the way I had been about Jamil.

“What happened?”

“He just wasn’t ready to mature, and he couldn’t hold a job for long. That was already a struggle area for me. I didn’t need someone going through the same struggle. I needed one of us to be secure. What about you?”

“Well, I’d just had that girl Dominique that I told you about. Other than that, I haven’t had any real involvement. It’s just been a handful of ladies that were there when I needed them to be.”

He had chatted a lot on the ride up to see his mother, but I knew that he was nervous, so I let him do just that.

“Friends with benefits?” I asked with a smirk.

He chuckled and reached out and grabbed my fingers to still them. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. Why you keep twisting the napkin like that, sweet baby?”

“I don’t know. I’m nervous, I guess.”

“About what?”

“This is my first real date with you.” I smiled shyly at him as my heart thumped rapidly in my chest.

He reached across the table and grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “And yet, it feels like we were born for this. You’re sitting over there looking just as beautiful as always, and I couldn’t be prouder to have you on my arm. Don’t overthink anything. Just enjoy the night, baby.”

And I did. We enjoyed a sumptuous, delicious meal before he led me outside. We were bundled up, but before long, we were sitting in a horse-drawn carriage, making our way through Central Park. The coachman provided us with disposable hand warmers and a couple of thermal blankets. It also helped that I was able to cuddle up against Kayn.

A light snow began to fall, and a few flakes coated my eyelashes as I turned my face up, opened my mouth, and tried to catch some with my tongue. Kayn turned to me, moved in, and sucked my outstretched tongue. I slowly melted into him as he kissed me sweetly.

“This is Christmas magic in the making, Kayn,” I declared when our kiss ended.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.

“How you feeling overall though, baby?”

“Like I’m in a fairy tale.”

I looked up at him, and he smiled, looking down at me, and softly brushed his lips against mine. He whispered against my lips, “We get to write our ending.”

“I like that,” I replied.

He pushed into my lips again, and I opened my mouth to him. This kiss was slower and more passionate, and it spoke volumes about the feelings that we held for one another. When we finally came up for air, it was only because the driver announced, “We’re here, loves.”

“Where’s here?” I asked, pulling back and looking around.

“Here is Wollman Rink. We’re going ice skating.”

I gasped and threw my hands against my mouth. Tears coated my eyelashes, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re really trying to outdo yourself, huh?”

“Either that or make up for what your family would have done.”

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