Page 15 of His Christmas Gift

DEAN

With the bustling sound of the busy terminal around me, I drew in a deep breath, preparing myself for the flight back home.

Usually, I made this trip alone, but I had the most unlikely companion with me today.

Who I kissed the other night.

Memories of that night flashed through my mind. I remembered tasting vodka as our mouths melded together. I remembered how soft and perfect her lips felt against mine. I remembered being unable to breathe when we pulled away. It was a short kiss, but at least I proved my point. We could fake chemistry to her parents because that was real chemistry.

Just because we had chemistry didn’t mean we had to date or get serious. It meant we had a good dynamic that people wouldn’t be able to question. Her parents would think that we were madly in love, and I was looking forward to this little game. I could safely say that I never had to do this before, but I had to play and act like a lot of different people in order to become the CEO of my own company.

I guessed I wasn’t acting much that night. A part of me wanted to kiss her. That was why I was drinking in the first place. I thought that my appetite would be sated, but I just wanted to kiss her again. At least I would have a chance to when we got back home, but it would be fake. That was excusable.

“Please tell me we’re sitting apart.”

I immediately grinned and turned my head to see Autumn walking toward me with her small suitcase rolling behind her.

“We’re engaged, baby. Why would I make my fiancée sit all by herself?” I replied, watching her cheeks turn pink.

Autumn shook her head at me before moving to stand beside me as we waited for the plane to start boarding.

“Save it for when we’re back home. We’re not engaged outside of St. Francisville,” she told me firmly.

I chuckled to myself. This was going to be fun.

“So, are we staying at your parent's house?” I asked her, wondering what the arrangements were. Usually, I stayed at my parent’s house during the holidays.

“No, they bought us a hotel room. Thank goodness,” Autumn muttered as she rubbed her temple. “You wouldn’t want to stay in the house with them. They wouldn’t leave you alone.”

I couldn’t help but feel kind of bad for her. No kid should’ve ever been so distraught over having to see their parents. Luckily, my family had always been really close, but I wished that she experienced the same thing. How could she enjoy the holidays when she was worried about what her parents would judge her for? At least they wouldn’t get that satisfaction this year since I was stepping in to help.

“Hotel it is,” I said before the airline worker spoke into the microphone and started the boarding process. Of course, I got us first-class, which made Autumn give me a pointed look. “You can spoil yourself, you know?”

“This isn’t spoiling yourself. This is normal for you,” Autumn replied as she followed me into the plane and to our seats.

I grabbed her suitcase and put it into the overhead bin with mine before motioning to the window seat for her. I caught a hint of a smile on her face as she slipped past me to sit down and immediately look out of the window. A faint warm feeling filled my chest as I sat next to her, my arm brushing hers as I got settled.

“So, my parents are going to want us to show face a few times. Is that okay?” I asked her. I knew she probably had certain plans with her parents, but we would have to make a double performance.

“You’re telling them you’re engaged?” Autumn asked me with a surprised look on her face.

I nodded, figuring it was better than trying to hide her lie.

“Your mom will tell everyone in town. My family will find out sooner than later, so I might as well tell them when we get there,” I pointed out. We would have to stretch out our lie a little more, but I was good under pressure.

Autumn sighed as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. What’s going to happen after the holidays? They’re going to expect us to still be married,” she asked me.

I hadn’t thought that far yet. This wasn’t a little lie. It was a big one, but I was not going to stress myself out over it.

“Luckily, we both live far away from everyone. We can figure out something later on,” I said. “But I’m sure it’ll end with us breaking up.”

Autumn let out a breath and nodded.

“Yeah, we’ll do that when I find a new guy to bring home. An actual boyfriend,” she said.

I cocked an eyebrow at her, feeling something uneasy stir inside of me.

---