Page 25 of The Mistletoe Switch

James stands to his full height and faces me. "My mother is trying to set me up with a woman I've known since preschool. I'm the black sheep of the family, because I went into law instead of the family business. Mother invited this woman to a dinner I'm attending in January. I was merely asking her to un-invite her."

I narrow my eyes, looking for the lie, but I'm not a mind reader. "Fine. But I'm watching you. You best—"

"No." Alice steps between us and points her fork at me again. There's a bit of icing stuck to the tines. "You aren't watching my boyfriend. You're going to trust me to make my own decisions and be happy for me."

I look down at my little sister. She's five years younger than me, the baby who entered our family when I was in kindergarten, the little angel it's always been my job to protect. And now I see her walking into what I know down to my bones is a mistake and there's nothing I can do to stop her. "I just want you to be happy and safe."

She sighs and hugs me. "I know, and I love you for it. But you have to trust me when I say I am happy and I am safe. I don't want to have to cut you out of my life, but I will if you don't back off."

I hug my little sister back, glaring at James over her head. He flips me off and sneers like the villain I know he is. "Okay." I'm lying through my teeth. "I'll back off."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Xavier

Ishift from foot to foot, stomping the snow off my boots, but also trying to release some of my anxious energy, as I wait for Cherry to come to her door.

As soon as it opens, I blurt, "I'm in. Whatever plan you've got to break up James and Alice, I want in."

Her eyes widen, but she doesn't ask what I'm doing here or what the hell I'm talking about. She opens the door wider. "Great. Come in and let's brainstorm ideas."

I follow her inside and toe off my boots. Her place is tiny and cluttered, but clean. She's strung Christmas lights around the ceiling and there's a tiny tree in the corner decorated with more colorful lights, but no ornaments. "We don't have to talk about it now." I stay next to the door, not wanting to invade her space. "It's late and you probably want to get to bed."

The bed in question takes up most of the main room. There's a small kitchen area in the back of the apartment and a door that probably leads to a bathroom, but there's not room for any other furniture.

"I'm a night owl," Cherry says. "And I was just working on some ideas for your shop."

I turn to look at her and realize, for the first time, that she's only wearing tiny shorts, a mid-drift baring shirt and thick, Christmas-themed socks pulled up to her knees. She's adorable and showing way too much sexy skin for me to be sure where to look without seeming like I'm ogling her.

I'd really love to ogle her.

Her shoulders drop. "That is part of the deal, right? You help me break up Alice and RJ and I'll help you with your branding?"

I hate seeing her so unsure and I hate James even more for having any part in making her doubt herself. I keep my eyes on her face. "I'm going to let you help me, Cherry, and I'm going to pay you whatever the going rate is for a re-branding consultant."

Her smile is hesitant. "You haven't even seen my ideas yet."

She has a point. "I'm hiring you contingent on liking your designs, but considering my whole family just told me I've been fucking up my marketing for years, I'm probably just going to go with whatever you recommend."

"You're a candy maker, not a marketer. You can't be good at everything." She chews on her bottom lip and I can see the battle she's mentally waging. She nods once, straightens to her full height and offers her hand. "You've got a deal. I'll work up a pricing arrangement tomorrow."

I shake on it. Her hand feels good in mine and I swear I see the same desire I'm feeling reflected in her eyes.

She pulls her hand away quickly, grabs a laptop from the bed, and sits with it in her lap. She pats the spot next to her. "Let me show you what I've got."

I sit next to her, close enough that our shoulders brush. She clicks around on the laptop and opens an image of my storefront, but with a colorful, full window display. She's clearly gone with a sugar plum fairy theme, with mannequins dressed as ballerinas and holding out trays filled with my candy. "We'll start with your store. I know you're opposed to going too far with the Christmas theme. Ballerinas and a Nutcracker are Christmas, but from a distance they could be—"

"It's fine. My family has pretty much convinced me I need to give in and get on the Christmas train. I'm considering making candy canes."

"Really? I think that's a smart move. I've got an idea for that, too." She navigates to a different Christmas display, this one with a tree decorated with candy canes and packages strewn all around it. Each present is open, with my candy displayed beautifully. It's simple, but classy and colorful.

"I could maybe live with that," I say. Her smile is radiant and I find myself wanting to share more with her than I have with anyone else. I can tell myself it's because she needs all the information to do a good job, but it's more than that. She's outside my family and friends. She hasn't known me her whole life and locked me into a box. I'm curious to know what she'd think of me if she really knew me. "Look, there's something I want to share with you I haven't told anyone else. Can you keep a secret?"

Her eyes widen. "Not if you want me to keep it from my cousins and my sister." She taps her chin. "You know what? Probably better not to trust me with a secret. I've been known to speak without thinking."

"I trust you." It might be irrational, but I do. The very fact she's so worried about not keeping my secret makes me trust her even more.

Her mouth falls slightly open in surprise. I have to look away to resist the urge to kiss her.

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