Page 14 of Welcome Home for Christmas
“A restaurant, I assume.”
This made him smile. “A smart-ass, huh? I didn’t know you had it in you.”
She laughed softly, the sound stirring his soul. He hadn’t heard her laugh yet. A woman’s laughter had always been a little bit of a turn-on for him.
“Okay. I’ll ask. Where are you taking me?”
“Paradise Point.”
“Outside of town?”
“It’s only ten minutes outside. Well worth the drive.” He glanced over now. “Plus, I kind of own the place, so they have to treat us nicely.”
“You own the place?” she asked.
He nodded, focusing once again on the stretch of road ahead. “My family does. My brother Sam runs the place we’re going to tonight. My other two brothers run the dry cleaners, the Matthews Apartment Complex, and the jewelry shop. I have aunts and uncles, cousins, too, who run a few other things. The Matthews family owns the town, more or less.”
“So why don’t you live in Paradise Point?”
He shifted. He’d opened a can of worms, but that was the point of tonight, right? To get to know each other. “I joined the Marines, instead,” he said. His muscles tightened as he waited for her to respond in the way that most did. Most people asked why, with shocked expressions on their faces, and looked at him like he had two heads. Why the hell would he choose to wear heavy combat gear or go to the deserts of a foreign country where people looked at him as the enemy? Why would he choose to risk getting shot at as a military police officer on a daily basis? Why would he hang out with a military K-9 when he could be sitting pretty in his family’s heritage, adding to it, reaping from it?
“That’s very noble of you.”
It took a moment for her response to sink in. He waited for thebutto fall off her pretty lips. It didn’t.
“You don’t think I’m crazy?” He looked over at her, suddenly very invested in her answer.
“Not for that. For other reasons is debatable.”
“Thanks.”
—
There was a plateful of food on the table in front of Allison, more than she could probably eat in a week, and a gorgeous man sitting across from her.
Merry,merryChristmas.
In little over an hour, Allison had learned that Troy’s favorite food was ribs, although he’d ordered a steak tonight because he’d told her that he didn’t want to scare her off by looking like a caveman. His best friend was a police dog named Bear, which she found curious. He enjoyed doing home renovations and owned a fixer-upper in Seaside. And sometimes he installed home alarm systems. Not for the money. She guessed he had a lot of that, considering his family owned so many businesses in Paradise Point.
“You told me you’re not going home for Christmas. But home is here.”
“Home is my mother’s house,” he said, pushing his cleared plate to the side and leaning back in his chair. “She’ll come see me in Seaside. We’re having dinner together next week.”
Allison started to ask another probing question, but Troy took over the conversation and turned the tables on her.
“Why do you need me?” he asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Why do you need a pretend boyfriend? Why don’t you have a real one? You’re a beautiful woman. Smart. Enjoyable to talk to.” He shrugged. “What’s the problem?”
Her spine stiffened. “No problem. I just don’t feel the need to have a boyfriend in my life right now.”
He leaned forward on the table. “Obviously you do, or you wouldn’t have purchased me.”
She pushed her plate aside, too. “Okay, like I already mentioned, my mother is a psychologist on Camp Leon. She thinks it’s unhealthy that I don’t date anymore.”
“Anymore?”
