Page 22 of Mistletoe Meet Cute
I pop a fry in my mouth and fight the urge to actually moan. He didn’t just get plain fries. These are truffle fries, and they’re my favorite. “He’s the oldest of six kids. He always thinks he’s right, but he rarely is.”
“Six . . . Damn, that’s a lot of kids.”
“Yup. Six. Luke is the oldest. Briggs is the youngest. And the four of us girls are sandwiched between them.” I stand to get the ketchup out of the fridge and grab a handful of napkins too. “Let’s just say that between my sisters and me, he never stood much of a chance.”
Camden thinks about that for a second. “It seemed like you and Luke are pretty close.”
“We are,” I admit as I drag a fry through my puddle of ketchup. “We’re all pretty close in our own waynow, but it wasn’t always that way. Growing up, it was six kids doing their own thing, with their own friends and own interests. We loved each other, but we also kind of just tolerated each other.” I feel the weight of his stare deepen and squirm under it.
“What changed?” Camden asks, and there’s something about the tone of his voice that stops me from giving some bullshit, generic answer. Something that makes me want to open up in a way I typically wouldn’t.
“My mom died. After that, we came together for Dad. He needed all the help we had to give with the winery and the business and just life in general. Mom did everything for him. More than any of us even realized. She was great. I think losing her brought us all back together in a way nothing else ever could have.” Serious green eyes are locked so tightly on mine, it’s almost unnerving. “She probably loves knowing that, if she can see it now.”
“Do you think she can?” he asks with all seriousness.
“I like to think she can, but who knows... What about you? Are you and Emmie close?”
CAMDEN
I’m so focused on the little noises Holly makes as she eats that I completely missed her question.
Jesus. This woman has no fucking clue what she does to me.
The sexy little sigh slips past her lips as she takes another bite of the burger, and my thoughts go right to the gutter.Again. It’s where they’ve been going all week where Holly is concerned.
“Camden?” Holly asks and pulls me out of my sex-starved, depraved mind... the one where she’s making that sound while she rides my face.
Right. She asked a question. What the fuck did she ask?
Wait— She asked about Em.
And that’s the bucket of cold water I needed.
“We’re... working on it. We’re closer now than we used to be.” I can tell she wants more than that, but I just can’t. “So... tell me what your dream job would look like if you weren’t here taking care of Sophie?”
She lifts a shoulder and looks away. “I’m not sure.”
Her words are soft with frustration lingering.
“I think you are,” I push her. “Come on, vixen. What is it? Do you want to be a teacher? A counselor? What do you do with those fancy degrees of yours?”
Holly purses her pretty pink lips, and my cock jumps.
Fuck . . . right back into the gutter.
What the hell is it about this woman that has me ready to come in my pants like a goddamned preteen?
“I’d like to be a BCBA, and maybe eventually run a program for kids on the autism spectrum.”
“What’s a BCBA?” I ask, having no clue what that stands for.
Her cheeks flush as she finishes, and my sex-starved brain wants to know how far down that flush goes. I’m like an addict jonesing for a hit after years of being sober, and Holly Chase might just be my drug of choice.
“It’s a board-certified behavioral analyst. Applied behavioral analysis therapy is one of the best forms of therapy for children on the spectrum, and BCBAs work with a team to provide ABA programs. We’ve come a long way in the past twenty years, but the system is truly lacking in what’s typically offered to kids on the spectrum, especially in economically impoverished areas like some areas of Philadelphia.”
She cracks open her bottle of water and plays with the lid. “My oldest sister Rainey’s daughter was diagnosed about two years ago, and it really opened my eyes...” she trails off and smiles. “We all had to work hard to figure out how to bring ourselves into her world, and I decided I wanted to learn everything I could to help us do a better job of it for her.” Damn... this woman. She’s the most sarcastic, sexy siren I’ve ever met, and deep down, I think she has a heart of gold too. “Maybe we could get the Christmas tree tomorrow, and you could meet them.”
Holly’s words are cautious, like she’s not sure I’ll agree.
