Page 21 of His Christmas Gift

DEAN

Christmas music filled the downtown area as the annual Christmas festival went on in full swing.

People moved up and down the streets, going into local stores, participating in holiday events, and drinking hot chocolate as a cold wind drifted through the air. I always loved coming here, but things were certainly different this year.

I had a fiancée. Well, a fake fiancée, but I had to keep up the lie as perfectly as possible. After seeing how Autumn’s parents treated her, I especially wanted to help her out now. I felt bad for her, especially today as I watched her stiffly greet her uncle and aunt on her mother’s side, along with a few cousins.

Autumn seemed so uncomfortable, forcing a smile and answering questions in a defensive manner. She couldn’t catch a break. Everyone expected her to be some other person that they thought was better than who she was now. I liked how she was. I liked her a lot.

I knew that things were complicated enough without my confusing feelings being added to the mix, but my being around her so much started to wear down my defenses. Acting like a fiancé to her wasn’t all that bad. I liked touching her, kissing her, and complimenting her. We could still play around, but the intensity was even stronger.

I just wished that I could get her to enjoy this trip a little more. I needed to show her a little Christmas spirit somehow, but I just wasn’t sure how to do that yet. It wouldn’t hurt for me to make her smile either since her family was watching our every move, trying to study us since we hadn’t given them that much information about our relationship. I would show them that the chemistry between us was indeed real. Our label and our history were the only things that were fake.

“We just bought a vacation home in New Orleans. It’s the loveliest thing not too far from the heart of downtown,” her Aunt Paula boasted as everyone huddled together on a curb, watching a small parade of dancers and baton twirlers perform down the street.

“You probably own a bunch of properties,” Greg chuckled as he patted me on the back. “Do you always stay in the city?”

“I don’t have any vacation homes. I just have my house in the city,” I told him with a subtle smile. This was a spitting contest. It was interesting that Autumn came from a rich family with soaring egos, but she didn’t have an ego herself. She didn’t care about money or materialistic things. She was the type to live in the moment, to chase a feeling or a dream. I admired that about her.

Fancy things were cool to have, but even I got bored of them after a while. There was always something new coming out, and new things only impressed me for a short amount of time. What never failed to impress me was getting to fly in a private plane for the first time or opening a new gym location. Memories. Experiences.

I would remember this Christmas forever. I hadn’t ever spent the holidays doing something so interesting. Even if things were a bit stressful, it was exhilarating as well. It didn’t hurt that I had to be close to a gorgeous woman either. It didn’t hurt at all.

“Really? What do you do on vacation?” her Uncle Rick asked me, seeming confused.

“I don’t really take vacations. It’s been nice taking a break from work and spending some time with Autumn, though,” I replied as I put my arm around Autumn’s shoulders, drawing her close to my side. My eyes swept up her figure, admiring the long sleeve, dark red dress that she wore with a black scarf.

It was a bit torturous sleeping in the same bed as her. I couldn’t count how many times I would wake up during the night with her warm body pressed against mine. It didn’t help that she looked so peaceful and beautiful while she was sleeping either. It took everything in me not to brush her hair away from her face or feel how soft her face was. That was the hard part of this whole trip.

“Autumn, have you quit your job yet?” her cousin, Lanie, asked.

“Why would I quit my job?” Autumn asked, her eyes narrowing a degree. Her shoulders tensed beneath my arm.

Lanie swept her light brown hair behind her shoulder as she gestured to me.

“Because you managed to land a billionaire,” she laughed like she just said something obvious. “When I met Trevor, I quit my desk job because he makes $200,000 a year.”

Autumn jeered and shook her head.

“I’m not quitting my job just because I’m engaged to Dean. I like earning my own money, and I don’t need to rely on anyone,” she said firmly.

I mentally cheered her on. Truthfully, she had been doing just fine without me. She made her own money, lived in her own place, and lived her own life. Though, I was glad that we crossed paths again and began this crazy adventure together. It definitely made my life even more interesting than it already was. Then again, faking an engagement was far more fun and interesting than most acts of business.

“I’d understand if you were in a reputable line of business, but a gym co-owner? That’s what you want to be known as?” her mother asked with a bit of a grimace on her face.

I could feel the tension growing among the group. What was worse was that everyone in Autumn’s family was judging her, giving her strange looks. Without me, she would’ve been all alone facing this criticism. I had to get her out of this situation.

Suddenly, I felt something on my nose. I looked up to see snow flurries gliding down through the air.

“It’s starting to snow,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention away from Autumn. I could feel her relax slightly in my hold. Turning my head, I shot her a grin. “We needed some holiday spirit.”

Autumn gazed at me for a moment, her eyes nearly seeming starry. She then smiled back and nodded.

“A lot of it,” she murmured.

I took her hand and gave her a playful spin before assuming a slow dance position. I swayed with her, holding the small of her back and pulling her body against mine as the snow continued to fall down on us.

“Let’s have a Christmas wedding,” I told her, feeling her family’s eyes on us. I would make them see how happy she was and how fulfilled she was with her life. They fed off her misery, and I was going to make sure that they starved this year.

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