Page 39 of The Mistletoe Bluff
Leaf blinked at it for several moments before his brow wrinkled. “This one? Are you…are you sure? We have much nicer—”
“Positive.” No one was going to talk me out of this ugly tree.
“Well…I…” he sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Alrighty then. I’ll be right back to cut it down for you.”
Leaf turned on his heel and disappeared down the snowy path so fast I would have assumed his pants were on fire.
“I dare you to pretend this is real,” I whispered to Maya once he was gone, stepping closer to her.
“Huh?” She turned confused eyes on me.
“We haven’t gotten to practice being a real couple since Leaf gave us special treatment. I dare you to put on your best faking pants to convince Leaf and everyone else here how in love with me you are.”
Maya’s throat bobbed as she swallowed, but then she gave a single nod. “Okay, I accept yourdare,Oliver. But just remember that it’s all fake. I don’t mean any of it.”
Ouch. The words punched straight through my gut.
“Here we are!” Leaf announced as he jumped through the line of trees like a child, brandishing a long saw.
I leaned in so my lips brushed against Maya’s ear, and I didn’t miss the way she shivered.
“It’s showtime.”
Maya
At his taunting words, all inhibitions fled my mind as I threw myself into his side and wrapped my arms around his waist. Oliver stumbled back from the force of it, his chest moving in a silent laugh.
“I’m not sure that tackling me counts as affection,” he whispered.
Heat burned my cheeks despite the cold air, and I squeezed him harder in retaliation for his teasing, feeling satisfied when he coughed.
“Aren’t you two just the bee’s knees?” Leaf commented before preparing to saw down Oliver’s pitiful tree.
“The bee’s knees? What era is he from?” I muttered. Oliver pinched my side, eliciting a startled yelp from me.
There was a playfulness in Oliver’s eyes that I hadn’t seen before, and it spurred me to lean onto my tippy toes and peck a kiss on his cheek. I had never felt so much pleasure from watching someone’s eyes widen in surprise. His gloved hand touched his cheek where I had kissed it like he couldn’t believe I had done such a thing.
With a devilish smile, I pulled away from him. I thought it would be awkward pretending to like him, but I had to admit that I enjoyed getting under his skin and making Oliver Lewis unsettled for once.
The sound of Leaf sawing away at the tree trunk filled the air, distracting me as fat snowflakes swirled in the sky, falling heavier by the minute. The owner of the tree farm whistled an off-key version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”as he finished sawing and then yelled, “Timber!” obnoxiously loud when it was just the two of us nearby.
The tree barely made a thud on the ground.
Why the heck did Oliver choose that sad little thing?
“Ahem,” a voice said, snapping me out of the silent pity party I was having for the tree.
I looked over my shoulder to find Oliver behind me, his eyes flickering with amusement.
“I know my tree is cute and all but staring at it and ignoring me isn’t convincing anyone that you love me.”
“But I don’t love you,” I whispered back. It was an automatic response, drilled into my brain by my waning hatred for Oliver Lewis. Something flashed in his eyes, and it almost looked like…hurt.
He blinked whatever the emotion was away and smirked, his beard scratching against my ear again as he leaned in. “No one else knows that.”
I sighed, knowing there was no way out of this. I had to keep acting or I risked Oliver calling the whole thing off. I should’ve known that a tackle and a cheek kiss wouldn’t be enough for him.
Swallowing the flutters in my stomach, I grabbed Oliver’s hand. There, I was holding his hand. Surely that was good enough, right? Couples held hands all the time.
