Page 54 of Sleighing You
She smiled, unshed tears shining in her eyes. “I’d be honored.”
I took her hands, but immediately thought better of it, dropping them just as quickly.
She bent, reaching for my hands and squeezed them. “Don’t let go,” she whispered. “I know I don’t want to.”
“What you heard last night between Mallery and me, that wasn’t about you—”
“I know, I know. Mallery told me. I was just so twisted up. Wearing the catering outfit. Then hearing you guys combined with what Helena had said—”
My blood ran so cold, I would have bled ice had someone cut me. “Helena? What did she do?”
“Nothing.”
“Avery,” I warned.
She sighed and squeezed my hands. “She got in my head. Ilether get into my head. I’m sorry.”
I cupped her jaw and pulled her in for a kiss. “I’m sorry, too. I wanted last night to be perfect and it ended up a colossal mess.”
She grinned against my mouth. “So, you’re moving to Maple Grove?”
“If Maple Grove will have me.” Her smile faded until it dropped completely. “What’s wrong?” I asked, dread filling my gut. I had thought we’d gotten past the fight—the misunderstanding. What had I missed?
“I don’t want to be the one to tell you…” She pulled a gift bag from the tote bag hanging around her shoulder, then opened it for me to see. “But you lost the bet.”
I reached inside the gift bag and pulled out… the snow globe. That damned snow globe. “No!” I laughed. “I sold this to Ed yesterday!”
She scrunched her nose. “Yep… and he gifted it to me. So, it’s back in the store again. The terms of the bet… sell it to Ed and get it out of my store.”
I held up my finger to argue, but quickly dropped it to my thigh. “Oh, damn. I lost. Even when I won… I lost.”
“Did you, though? Keep digging in that gift bag.”
I reached in once more until my fingers brushed a velvety leaf. I grinned and pulled the mistletoe out from the bottom of the bag. “I take it back. I won the lottery.”
Then, I leaned in and kissed my Christmas elf…
My Mrs. Claus…
My Avery…
… beneath the mistletoe.
