Page 28 of Mistletoe Meet Cute
It’s in the way he says her name.
The way he leans into her when she smiles at him.
He’s leaning against a golf cart, arms crossed over his chest, completely ignoring Sophie and me. “So what are you doing here on a Friday night?”
As I move in next to her, I catch the look on Holly’s face though, and it’s wrong. She doesn’t look happy to see him the way she’s seemed with everyone else.
“She’s helping me pick out a tree,” I answer, not giving a shit how possessive that sounds. Something about this guy doesn’t sit right with me. I’m not sure what. But I don’t like him.
The dumb fuck looks from her to me, then back to her.
Like he’s shocked to see her here with someone.
“Who are you?” he asks, cocky as fuck, and I want to laugh at him because it’s fake.
“Anson, meet Camden. Camden, this is Anson. He’s been working for my dad for years.” Her words are strained and shaky and don’t sound at all like the woman I know.
“Working for your dad, Holls? That’s it?” he groans, and she shrugs and steps into my side. And damn, the look he gives her is cold as ice.
That’s the only reason I have for doing what I do next.
I wrap the arm not holding Sophie around Holly and kiss the top of her head. “You ready to pick a tree before Soph gets too cold, vixen?”
She lifts her face to mine, a relieved smile playing on her lips. “Follow me.”
“Lead the way,” I tell her with a single thought running through my mind.
Anywhere.
“And then what?” Holly’s sister Hadley asks from across the counter in their kitchen later that night.
This family is up in each other’s business in a way that makes my head hurt.
Holly’s other sisters have both stopped in and out of the house over the past hour. The oldest looked at me like I was abug she wanted to squash, while the other one looked at me like a lollipop she wanted to lick. This one doesn’t seem to care either way.
“Then I had to convince him he shouldn’t chop the damn tree down by himself.” My little vixen laughs as she and her sister swing their heads my way.
“It’s not like I haven’t used a chain saw before,” I grumble and take another bite of my sandwich. “I knew what I was doing.”
“Oh yeah. I can just see the headlines.” Hadley pulls off her Santa hat and fluffs her blonde hair dramatically. Holly and she look so similar, I’d think they were twins if I didn’t know better. It’s a little unnerving. “The Philadelphia Kings star quarterback is on the injured reserve list this week due to an unfortunate accident with a chain saw at Cherry Creek Vineyards.No one would ever buy our wine again.”
“No one was getting injured.” I look between Holly and her. “I used to cut wood with a damn axe when we were young.”
“Ohh... Could you rip them in half with your bare hands like Captain America?” Hadley asks, and Holly chokes on her eggnog. “What? He kinda looks like Steve Rogers.”
“You have such a type.” Holly laughs at her sister as she lays Sophie down in the pack ‘n play her sister keeps at the house, then turns back to me, a sexy little grin pulling up one side of her lips. “You could, couldn’t you?”
“Could what?” I know what she’s asking, but I like the flush in her cheeks as she asks it.
“What could you do, man?” Luke asks as he walks into the kitchen and grabs a sandwich from the tray on the counter.
“Rip a log apart with his bare hands like Captain America,” Hadley offers, and I shake my damn head.
Luke looks at me, fucking laughing. “He probably could. Monroe’s crazy fucking strong. But you—” He points at Hadley. “Don’t go getting any ideas.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, big brother.” Her voice is sugary sweet and fake as fuck, and something about it has me looking to Holly.
She lifts her hands in front of herself. “Don’t look at me. I stopped trying to speak Hades a long time ago.”
