Page 10 of Twelve Dates of Christmas

Chapter Four

~ Rylan ~

As we sat at the Sacred Grounds coffee shop, I marveled that Holly had agreed to come with me. Of course, it was in public and just a quarter block from where we’d been. Still, after my crazy behavior, hijacking her speed dates, she could have told me to hit dirt.

I’m glad she didn’t. I don’t know what I would have done if she’d said no. Something about her made me completely irrational.

Because she’s your one, dumbass.

My inner voice wasn’t always kind to me, but certainly knew the truth. Holly was both the answer to my dreams and my problems. She could be the perfect buffer between me and my stepmother. I couldn’t imagine anyone more perfect for me than Holly, and she had no idea about my wealth. She could get to know me as me and not billionaire land baron, Rylan James.

Of course, I’d given her my real name, so if she searched for me on the internet, I was screwed. Which meant this coffee date was my limited chance to get her to fall for me. As me.

“So what is this?” I asked. “Our third date?”

She raised a brow at me. “I’m just going to stop you right there and remind you that I don’t have a three date rule.”

I shifted as my dick responded to the promise of that. Not that it was a promise. I had to remind myself of that.

“Noted.” I nodded, thinking that given the chance I would have gotten her into bed before our first so called date.

“But if you count the first table as speed date one and the next as speed date two, then yes, this is three.”

“So I gypped you out of nine dates. I’ll make then up to you. And more,” I promised. So, so much more.

She sipped her peppermint mocha from the red paper cup etched with green holly leaves, watching me over the top.

“I’d like to take you out again. Soon. Tonight, maybe. This afternoon?”

Her drink slowly lowered to the table. “Don’t you have to work?”

“I have some leeway. It’s flexible.”

Her brows drew closer together before she looked at her drink again for a long moment, and I got the feeling that I’d somehow said something wrong. Her thoughts seemed to cross her face until they suddenly cleared, and she shrugged.

“Sure?”

“You don’t sound very sure.” I chuckled, trying to make as if my heart wasn’t clenching with worry.

“No, I’m sure.” Her tongue darted across her lips, and she looked as if she were thinking again. “Um…I’m not very fancy, so don’t try to impress me or anything.”

Was she trying to tell me she didn’t want to worry about fitting in somewhere? I guessed my bespoke wool suit probably sent the wrong impression—well, actually the right impression that I’m affluent and good at what I do. Obviously, that worried her.

“Okay. Nothing fancy.”

Fuck, could this girl be any more perfect. My fingers flex on the tabletop, just wanting to reach out and wrap my hand around hers. I came from a demonstrative family. While I wasn’t as bad as the rest of them, something about Holly made me want to touch her. Something? Everything. I longed to pull her against me and—

Okay, enough of that, or she was going to see something I needed to keep under control for now.

“You said you make and sell stickers. Is that a pretty good business?” I asked to sidetrack my thoughts.

She made a face. “I’m a cleaner for a local business. Taking care of offices after hours once the workers leave for the day. That’s what really keeps me afloat. Today’s my day off, and that’s usually when I work on my side gig. The stickers—and the planners I make. It’s picking up. The way things are going, I should be able to do that full time and do the cleaning, or whatever job I pick up, part time.”

Her shoulder lifted as if to shrug it away as nothing.

“That’s impressive.”

“I love it. But mostly people are like… You make…stickers? I was testing you earlier to see how you’d react.”

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