Page 76 of Chocolate Cherry Cabin

She sighed softly and melted into his arms again. “I love you, too, Louis Pain-in-the-Butt-in-a-Good-Way Bellmore.”

They met each other’s eyes and chuckled at the absurdity of it all. Enemies to lovers. The chuckles turned to giggles, then outright laughter. Before long they were helpless with mirth, hardly able to breathe. Hannah looked at him and pointed, and their laughter started up all over again.

“Can I lock up? Or do you two need me to call a mental hospital?” Athena asked, popping her head out of the barn and giving them a skeptical look.

They burst out laughing again and Louis shook his head, unable to answer. The door closed.

“Who would ever have thought?” Hannah said at last, her laughter ebbing. She snuggled back into his arms where she belonged.

“I kind of had a suspicion.” And before she could ask him when it had all started, he kissed her, hoping she’d forget about everything but the man standing in the cold, keeping her warm, safe and loved.

* * *

Hannah parked her car in her driveway, then met Louis, who had followed her home from the concert, on the lawn in front of her house.

His was the only one on the street that didn’t have Christmas lights, and as she wrapped her arm around his waist, she asked, “Think we’ll ever get you in the spirit of the holiday?”

He chuckled. “This one’s looking up, which will surely help the effort.” He leaned down and kissed her. The surety of his arms around her were all she needed for a Christmas gift.

As they broke the kiss, she said, “I saw that you’re wearing a Christmas sweater.” She frowned at him in question.

“That was for you.”

“For me?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm. So next year, lights on your house?”

“I was thinking I might be living somewhere else by then.”

“You’re moving?” She leaned back from him, her jaw dropping.

“Oh,” he said, feigning innocence, “I thought you’d invited me to come live with you.”

She laughed. “Louis!”

“What?”

“Slow down.”

“Slowpoke.”

“Living next door to each other is basically living together.”

He snugged her tight. “Not even close, so don’t you dare try to argue that it is.”

She laughed, still marveling that this man loved her. They were such opposites, and yet somehow it worked. “You know everyone is being pretty incredible about me going back to school. Calvin’s come around, and my friends have already offered to babysit for me.”

“Yeah? I’m glad.”

“No I-told-you-so?” she asked.

“Nope. I’m glad I was right.”

“Cocky. You’re cocky.”

He smiled. “Confident.”

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