Page 22 of Take Me Home for Christmas

A small peek into the family room gave me a glimpse of the largest Christmas tree I’d ever seen, glowing with multicolored lights. And a big fireplace just like I’d imagined, complete with a roaring fire. It was like another universe for someone like me. Sure, the foster families I’d stayed with had their trees and their traditions, but they were always someone else’s. As a teen, I’dgrown to hate traditions, resentful for never having had any of my own.

I rubbed my forehead, certain that I’d fallen down Alice’s rabbit hole into this close-knit family. As with a few of the foster homes I’d had so much hope for, I had to be careful not to like this home, this family too much.

“This way, come on.” Beth led us up, up, a grand staircase and into a hallway with high ceilings framed by carefully crafted moldings. The house had lots of quirky nooks and crannies, mostly filled with Christmas decorations like Santas, floral arrangements with pine and berries, and little lit-up ceramic trees, and it felt cozy and lived in.

We stopped in front of a tall wooden door that must have weighed a hundred pounds off its hinges.

“You and Brax can share your room,” Beth said. With a flourish, she opened the door to a room done up in red-and-white bed linens, complete with a small Christmas tree glowing with red and pink lights. A giant window offered a panoramic view of the backyard, complete with the hugest hill I’d ever seen, covered with a blanket of snow so pure white, my eyes hurt.

Wait…did she sayshare? The room was more amazing than a hotel. And the big poufy bed made me think of all the things weweren’tgoing to do here.

I could not share this room with Mia. Period. I didn’t have the self-control to keep my hands off her. I knew this to be a fact.

“Wait,” Mia said, looking a little alarmed. “Where’s my bed?”

There was a bed in the middle of the room. One with a nice white wooden headboard. The dog immediately made a leap for the cushy pillows and settled right in. I didn’t see the problem.

“We decided it was time to upgrade to a queen. It’s hard to fit two people into a double bed.”

“It looks really nice, Mom,” Mia said. “But, um—I thought we’d put Brax on the pullout in the library.” I lifted a brow,surprised at her slight stammer. Apparently, someone else was nervous about the sleeping arrangements too.

“A couch would be more than fine,” I chimed in a little too eagerly. I had to get myself out of this room somehow.

“That’s where Emma’s sleeping.” Beth put her hands on Mia’s shoulders. “Listen, we’re so thrilled to have you two. We just want you to be able to come home and relax and…and we know what it’s like to be in love.” She winked at me. “We’re not that old.”

Mia’s cheeks turned the same exact red as the bed linens. We were hosed. So at the very least, I had to antagonize her a little more. After all, I was here to do a job, and dammit, I was going to be the greatest Boyfriend for Hireever.

I walked up behind her, wrapped my arms around her, and tucked my chin over her shoulder, unable to ignore that she smelled sweet, fresh, and clean, and…addictive. After nuzzling her neck longer than I should have, I looked up at her mom. “It’s a great room. Thank you.” Then I pointed straight ahead to the poster taped to the closet door. “Hey, Nick Jonas. Cool.” Apparently, tearing him down had not been part of the reno project.

“He is cool,” Mia said while poking me in the stomach. Which made me hide myoomphwith a laugh.

“I figured I’d let you decide what to do with him.” Her mom smiled and, with a twinkle in her eye, said, “You two are the cutest.”

I could tell Mia really wanted to flee from my arms screaming, but she relaxed back against me, and when she did, her hair brushed my cheek. Again, I had the sensation of her somehow fitting perfectly against me. She was warm and soft and…

Oh no. My body was showing the evidence of being very close to her and touching her, and how didthathappen so quickly?

I pulled away, but not without some side effects from the closeness. Like a weird tingling in my hands from where I’d held her. And a slight pounding in my chest that I quickly rubbed away. My senses being filled with that soft, powdery scent made me imagine all kinds of things I had no business imagining.

I stepped back just as her mom said, “I’ll leave you two a few minutes to settle in. Then come down and have dinner, okay?”

The dog jumped down from the bed and trailed Beth out. And then suddenly, Mia and I were alone.

“Look, don’t worry. We’ll be fine,” she rushed to say, staring nervously at the bed. “I’ll sneak out once everyone’s asleep and crash on the family room couch.”

Her forehead creased in worry, and I had the impulse to reach over and smooth it out. Maybe take her back into my arms and kiss that worry away. Because those kisses under the mistletoe had lit me on fire. But no, that would be the worst thing. What was I thinking? Just being in this room was making my hormones go wild.

“You’re not sleeping on a couch for three nights,” I said. “I can sleep anywhere.” I absently examined some photographs on her bookshelf. In the center, there was one of two little girls with birthday hats that said “5” on them, sitting in front of two pieces of chocolate birthday cake. One of them had curly blonde hair like Mia, but I didn’t recognize the other one. A best friend or a cousin, maybe? The dark-haired little girl had cake all over her mouth and chin—like, she’d probably dipped her entire lower face into the cake to take a bite. Mia’s cake, on the other hand, was missing a tiny bite, and her mouth was free of crumbs, but she was smiling just as widely.

So much of Mia was a story I didn’t know. Puzzle pieces that I had no clue how they all fit together. Worried I was staring at the photo too long, I turned around. “Your family’s nice.”

“Iknow.”

I heard apfffftsound and turned around in time to see Mia sinking down onto the quilt, her eyes filled with tears.

Usually, in the hospital, she performed with toughness and the strength of steel. Granted, she had a few tears when I’d told her Rylee’s test result, but now she was full-blown crying.

I sat next to her. “If it helps, I get what you’re doing.” While I didn’t fully understand it, I knew that Mia loved her mother. A lot.

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