Page 43 of The Holiday Boyfriend

Jim tugged on my hand a few minutes later to get my attention. The reds and greens of the lights shone in his eyes as he looked straight at me. “C'mon, we have one last stop for dinner,” Jim said.

“There's still more planned?” I asked with surprise. We'd already spent the entire day hanging around town. Now that it was dark, I figured it was time to head home.

“Just one last stop. A proper date can't end without dinner,” he said with a wink. My stomach fluttered with a deep ache of hope. I didn't know what he was playing at with this date, but to have a taste of what it would be like to be in a relationship with Jim only made my longing deeper. I wished this was what life with Jim was like every day.

He led me to the horse-drawn carriage that gave rides around town and to some of the events. Instead of getting in line for a ride, Jim walked off to the side where a lone horse driver was waiting. Jim shook hands with the man before helping me on.

“Did you make a reservation or something?” I asked. I didn't know they had those.

“Or something,” Jim replied with a mysterious grin. He typed something on his phone, but when I tried to grill him on what he was up to, he insisted it was a surprise.

The horse turned toward the direction of the farm, so I figured we were going to check out the ice sculpture contest, but when the driver guided the horse around to the back of the farm, off from the main area, I had questions.

There wasn't anything back in this direction besides a wide field, and during this time of the year, the field was covered in a thick layer of snow.

It was a beautiful sight under the bright sun, but we wouldn't be able to see anything in the dark. In fact, there was nothing but darkness around us now, and the lantern hanging from the carriage was the only light source nearby.

I shot Jim a questioning look, but he smiled and gripped my hand tighter. “We're almost there.”

As he finished his sentence, the horse turned a corner, heading behind the trees to where the empty field was. What I wasn't expecting to see was a field of twinkling stars on the ground with a picnic blanket in the middle.

I stepped off the carriage in a daze and took in everything in front of me. “Wow, what is all this?” I asked Jim when he came up beside me.

“Surprise! I bet you weren't expecting this, huh?” he said. When I looked at him, there was a smug expression on his face.

“I really was not. How did you even set this up?” I asked, taking a step closer to the picnic blanket. The entire ground was covered in snow, a blank canvas that only served to make the twinkling lights shine brighter, as if they were real stars.

“I found battery-powered fairy lights and Alice and Trish helped me set it up while we were on our date,” Jim said and followed me to sit on the picnic blanket.

Despite the ground being covered in snow, the blanket felt warm, like someone had just taken it out of the dryer. I wondered if Jim had been messaging Alice and Trish before we got onto the horse carriage.

“You hungry?” Jim asked as he opened the picnic basket and pulled out a large thermos and some cups. He poured me a cup of soup and placed a steaming loaf of bread on a plate between us.

“Sorry, it's not much. I couldn't think of what other foods would keep us warm,” he said with a bashful smile.

“No, this is perfect,” I said, still dazzled by the magical lights and how much effort Jim had put into this surprise. “I still can't believe you did all of this. For me.”

Nobody had put in this much effort for me before. Things like this only happened in fairy tales, not in real life, and especially not tome.

“It's nothing less than you deserve,” Jim said softly. His eyes were earnest as he looked at me like he fully believed his words.

I felt tears prickling in the corner of my eyes, not only for the thoughtful act, but because of the surge of emotions this man pulled from me. He was everything I wanted and treated me like I was something precious.

This was the perfect ending to a perfect day, and I wanted countless more days like this.

I was resigned to the fact that I would never have this amazing man for myself, but really, I'd given up before I'd even tried. And regardless of what the end result was, Jim was worth fighting for.

I'd never get my happy ending if I never started my story to begin with, so maybe it was time to change that and put in the fight that Jim deserved.

TWENTY-SIX

JIM

“It's great to see you two again,” I said, pulling the younger men into hugs. Ethan and Kingsley looked a little worn-out from the flight, but they had happy smiles on their faces.

Austin went in for hugs after I pulled away. “You two look tired. Let's get you to the B&B,” he said, helping Ethan put his suitcase in the covered cargo bed of my truck. Austin didn't want them to feel bad about offering a free ride, so he thought it was better not to take his taxi.

“I'm just glad we made it before all the events finished. We thought the weather wasn't going to cooperate, and we'd have to make another emergency landing,” Ethan said. Kingsley wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close.

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