Page 8 of Welcome Home for Christmas
“Look. My mother and all my family hound me during these functions. If I have a real boyfriend that I actually like, they rip him to shreds. If I go alone, they rip me to shreds. Lovingly, of course. They make me miserable with all their comments and questions.”
“What questions?” he asked.
“You know. Why am I single? Am I a lesbian?”
He lifted a brow. That would be a damn shame.
“I’m not.” The corner of her mouth quirked. “Then the accusations start.”
“Accusations?” he asked.
“I must be too picky. Too uptight. Too…” She flung her hands up in the air. “There must be something wrong with me if I’m single. They’ll talk about me like I’m this pathetic, miserable specimen of a woman.” She looked at him and he was surprised to see the hurt shimmering there. These family gatherings she spoke of were actually painful for her.
He could understand that.
“So all I have to do is show up, hold your hand, and charm your relatives?”
She nodded. “That’s it.”
“You said that they will rip me to shreds,” he said, not liking the sound of that.
“Just behind your back. But it won’t matter because we won’t really be together.”
He nodded, supposing he could handle a few strangers. It was really justhisfamily he couldn’t handle this year. And really, just one member of his family. “One condition,” he said.
She met his gaze.
“I get to call you ‘baby’ all I want.” He was teasing her like an elementary-school boy who hadn’t yet mastered the art of flirting.
She sighed. “Men. This is why I’m happily single. Kat and Julie have your contact information from the auction. I’ll call you tomorrow with the details.”
“Can’t wait.” He watched her walk away. It wouldn’t be so bad to share a night with a beautiful woman like her, he supposed. Not that he was excited about mingling with her overbearing relatives. He had his own relatives giving him grief. Just one night, he told himself, wishing, without meaning to, that it would be more.
