Page 52 of Wrapped Up with the Three Scrooges

“Aren’t we all?” Rosa winked as she handed us menus.

Ronan shed his coat and looked around, taking in the mismatched decorations that included Christmas lights and cat figurines.

“So, I take it you come here a lot?” He opened his menu.

“I used to come once a week, but I’ve been trying to save money, and well, I don’t have work friends to come here with anymore.” The restaurant wasn’t super expensive, but it added up when you got drinks and had to leave a tip.

“Your boyfriend never brought you?” The mere mention of Josh seemed to infuriate Ronan.

“Honestly? I never even tried to bring him.” The fact that I never had, should have been a red flag. “You know… I haven’t been as heartbroken as I should be.”

Rosa took our orders; a classic mac and cheese with bacon for me and the spicy buffalo mac for Ronan. As she jotted down our choices, I found my thoughts drifting to my relationship with Josh. That I could sit here, weeks after our breakup, and feelmore annoyed than devastated, spoke volumes. Maybe I’d been going through the motions with him for longer than I’d realized, content with the security he offered rather than any genuine connection.

The thought was both liberating and uncomfortable. Had I really wasted two years of my life on something so... mediocre?

Ronan reached across the table and took my hand, his knee pressing against mine under the table. “You okay?”

“Just thinking about how we can become so complacent that we don’t even realize we’re unhappy.” I shrugged. “Clearly Josh wasn’t happy either. I just wish he would have broken up with me instead of cheating. Maybe then I’d still have a job.”

“You have a job,” he said firmly.

I fought the urge to look away, struck by how adamant he seemed about my position at Wrap It Up. A job that was supposed to be temporary. “I don’t want to offend you, but wrapping presents isn’t exactly putting my bachelor’s degree to good use.”

“What’s your bachelor’s in? Maybe we can put it to good use.”

“Business administration.” I sat up straighter for a moment, but then my shoulders fell. “If I’ve learned anything from my relationship with Josh, it’s not to mix business with pleasure. I know we said we’d keep this casual dating level and go slow, but…”

“I understand.” He sounded like he actually didn’t, but didn’t try to convince me otherwise. “If you’d like, I can put my feelers out.”

“Oh? How good are these feelers?” I winked and he laughed.

“Here we go!” Rosa set two enormous plates in front of us. “Extra breadcrumbs for you, Em, and I threw in some garlic bread because your man here looks like he needs feeding.”

My skin prickled with warmth at the casual way she referred to Ronan as ‘my man,’ but he just smiled and thanked her. What were we even calling each other?

We ate and by the time we finished, Ronan looked more relaxed than I’d seen him in days.

“Ready for part two?” I asked as we bundled up to leave.

He helped me with my coat, his hands lingering on my shoulders. “The Christmas light show?”

“Unless you’re too full to walk?”

“I think I can manage a waddle.” He paid the bill despite my protests, leaving Rosa a generous tip that made me like him even more.

Outside, it had grown colder, but the sky was clear and full of stars. Ronan took my hand as we walked toward the park, which was a few blocks away.

I couldn’t help but marvel at how natural it felt being with him. Like we’d been doing this forever instead of just starting whatever this thing between us was.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ronan

Ididn’t want the night to end. Walking through the park with Emery had been... magical was the only word that came to mind, though I’d never admit that out loud. The way her eyes lit up at each new display, how she sang along with every Christmas song that played, even her terrible attempt at recreating the dance moves—all combined to create this bubble of perfection I wasn’t ready to burst.

Now, standing in the hallway of our shared house, I searched for any excuse to prolong the evening. The thought of retreating to my wing while she went to her guest room felt wrong somehow, like ending a story mid-chapter.

“That was fun.” Emery unbuttoned her jacket and let it slide down her arms. “Though I think my toes are officially ice cubes.”

---