Page 26 of Twelve Dates of Christmas

Who would have thought going to a speed date would wind me up with a family less than two weeks later?

“Come get some drinks,” he said. “Sylvie, can this be the last year we do this big thing?”

“No,” she said simply and turned away with him on her heels.

“He’s going to get his way,” Rylan told me. “And it’s about time. Mom just wants him to convince her.”

“How?”

“Trust me you don’t want to know,” Keaton said. “C’mon. Let’s leave the boys. They have cheesecake bites over on the dessert table. We need them.”

I looked up at Rylan, but he just pressed a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll be right behind you.”

He wasn’t, and somehow, I got separated from Keaton. I looked around, holding the little dessert and wishing I was anywhere but here.

“So,” a snide voice said beside me. “You’re the one who finally snagged Rylan. You?”

I looked over at an icy, statuesque blonde. God, she was gorgeous other than her sneer.

“Guess so,” I replied, unwilling to play into her nastiness.

“Are you pregnant? I should have thought of that.”

“I would have needed to sleep with you, Rochelle,” Rylan said from behind me. “Who wants to risk frostbite on their junk, though?”

She shot him a hateful look, but we ignored her while his arms came around me. “I told you I’d be right behind you,” he said.

“I’m glad. You saved me from having to be nasty.”

“You? Nasty? You’re too sweet for that.”

I chuckled. “See you really need to know me better before we get married.”

“You think New Year’s Eve will be long enough?”

“For what?”

“Marry me on New Year’s Eve?”

“Is that a proposal?”

“As close as your getting.” He dropped a kiss on my nose.

I sighed happily since I’d give him whatever he wanted. I understood his mom and what she’d done with his dad a few minutes ago. “I guess you’ll have to convince me.”

“Totally ready and up for that challenge,” he murmured, pressing his hips into me and showing me just how hard and ready he was.

“We just got here. Will they be mad we’re going?”

He snorted. “No. They won’t even notice—as long as we show up for Christmas morning tomorrow. That really is just family.”

“Let’s go then.”

Rylan’s driver had brought us tonight, and as soon as I piled into the back of the town car with my man, he pulled me onto his lap. The drive was short, but our mouths barely separated the whole journey. Rylan slid his hand up my thigh, covertly slipping his fingers into my panties and stroking my slick center.

I quietly moaned into his mouth. My thighs clenched, trapping his hand there, but he still managed to wiggle his finger against my slit.

“Come for me,” he whispered into my ear. “Come for me now.”

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