Page 14 of My Sweetart Holidate

A raven stands in the middle of the road, picking apart what appears to be a red frosted cookie. The enormous bird doesn’t seem at all bothered by my car as he effectively blocks my exit. I resist the urge to honk my horn only because I don’t want to draw any attention to my escape attempt.

I suspect Kash will try to come after me if he discovers I’m on the run.

I’m too fragile to face him right. Too emotional. I’ll cave for sure if he comes running after me. I know deep down that he felt something too. Maybe not love, considering his grumpy ass is allergic to it. But I know I wasn’t alone when he looked in my eyes. Some kind of emotion stirred in him.

I just can’t handle the lie that began all of this. I can hear my cousin’s cackling laugh now as she announces, in front of her entire wedding party,You mean he had to be begged to have dinner with you? And beggedagainto spend more time with you the next day? Suppose that makes sense since your actual match decided not to show. How funny!

Except it’s not fucking funny at all. It’s my life.

The raven caws at me, as if I’m interrupting his snack time.

I lean my head out the window. “Can’t you eat that stale cookie somewhere else?” I swear he’s mocking me. It’s the only reason that stupid broken heart-shaped cookie survived this long.

“Go on, go!” Kash calls out, stamping a booted foot towards the bird. The raven throws him a dirty look but grabs the rest of his cookie and flies off.

My path is clear.

Kash stands off to the side, giving me the chance to escape. The chance to choose.

Tapping the gas pedal, I start to drive away. But I only make it a few feet before the image of the grouchy man staring after me in my rearview mirror promises to haunt me.

“Well shit,” I mutter under my breath, and throw my car in park. The decisionismine to make and I decide to give him one last chance to explain himself. This time, I remember to unbuckle the damn seat beltbeforeexiting the car.

“I love you.”

The unexpected words catch me off guard before I even get all the way out from behind the wheel. I stumble and slip on a patch of ice, bracing for an impact that doesn’t come. At least, not one with the concrete. I land on my muscular, woodsy scented man. Kash, in his attempts to save me, broke my fall. He kept me safe, just like he promised.

“Are you okay?” I gasp, horrified that I’ve broken him.

His quiet, deep laughter puts me instantly at ease. “I don’t break that easily, Cookie Monster.” He reaches for my cheek, brushing locks away from my skin. Already, I feel myself caving. Either I’m in deep trouble or this is quite possibly what real love is like. Forgiveness coming effortlessly. But I’m still going to make the man work for it.

“What the hell, Kash? You weren’t going to tell me that yoursisterwas running the event?”

“I—”

“Or that you were filling in for a no-show? I don’t know what’s more humiliating. My match standing me up or the image of your sister begging you to feel sorry for me.”

“You know he didn’t stand you up,” Kash corrects, muttering a string of obscenities afterward. “Not that it fucking matters. He’s not your match.Iam. And Maggie never asked me to feel sorry for you. I didn’t even know who was at that table until I pulled out my chair.”

“Then why agree?”

“Because my sister asked me to. This event was really important to her and she didn’t want anything to go wrong.” He strokes his thumb along my jaw.

I can’t feel my calves—the only body parts not on top of Kash—that are pressed against the snowy pavement, but I don’t want to move. I don’t want to blink and have this moment disappear. Because this is one of those romantic, sappy moments from movies. They don’t exist in real life with grumpy men who think love is a myth.

“You really mean what you said?”

“What?”

“That you love me?”

His green eyes sparkle as his lips tug upward into a full-blown smile. “Of course I do, Cookie Monster.”

I raise an eyebrow, playing skeptical. “You might have to prove it to me.”

Kash draws my lips to his, kissing me deep enough to ward off the chill of the pavement beneath us. He tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth before pulling back. “I plan to spend all day proving it to you.”

“But I already checked out of the lodge.”

---