Page 53 of Mistletoe Meet Cute
Sophie squeals a happy sound, and it snaps in the air.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Camden’s voice slides through the lights and laughter, shattering the carefree scene around us, and I flinch. Everyone does.
Maverick’s head whips up, and Hadley steps closer.
The next moments happen like a bad accident you can’t look away from.
Santa straightens defensively. “Not sure what you think you saw, young man, but you need to lower your voice before Santa puts you on the naughty list.”
Oh shit.
I look to Hadley for help, but she’s as frozen as I am.
Camden passes Sophie to Maverick. “Hold her,” he tells Mav.
And before I can form a single word, Santa mumbles something that makes me cringe and Camden steps into him. Not a lunge. Not for a show. Just a single, terrible mistake of a step and his fist meets Santa’s nose with a sickening sound that echoes off the barrels and reverberates through the crowd.
Santa falls into the sleigh, knocking it over.
“Santa said a bad word,” Rosie gasps.
“Oh fuck,” Hadley adds.
Rosie looks at my sister. “Mrs. Clause cursed too.”
“Camden!” I grab his coat, my fingers fisting the wool. “Stop. There’re cameras. Camden...”
His mossy-green eyes flame with anger as his breaths come harder when he finally looks at me. His eyes raking over every inch of me, taking inventory. “Are you hurt?”
I take his hand in mine, in shock. “I’m fine,” I whisper, but that might be a lie. I’m not even sure.
“You’re not,” he bites back, and it’s the bone-deep certainty that has tears forming in my eyes.
When I turn away, I see Hadley rushing back over with two of our security guards with her. They help Santa back onto his velvet throne, who’s dazed as he touches his nose. “She—” he points at me and then Camden. “Your little girlfriend?—”
“Choose your next words wisely, old man, if you want to keep your teeth,” Camden growls so softly, it’s worse than any shout could ever be.
I feel the eyes on us. The phones rising. The pictures and videos being taken.
And out of nowhere, my sisters appear like the world’s most efficient PR team. “Let’s take this inside,” Rainey announces to our group, and Maverick, Emmie, and Rosie follow her immediately, but Camden doesn’t move.
I tug on his arm hard enough to get his attention. “Inside. Now.” My voice shakes, completely overwhelmed. “Please.”
For a single heartbeat, he doesn’t move.
Then something flashes in his eyes, and he wraps his arm around me and turns us to follow Rainey to Petal & Vine.
We step into the private kitchen in the family’s wing of the B&B, and the old oak door clicks shut behind us. The noise in the other room quiets, and I take his face in my hands. “You punched Santa,” I say finally because that sentence has to be said aloud to be believed.
The press is going to have a field day with this.
Camden flexes his hand and growls again. “He fucking grabbed you.”
“That doesn’t make it—” I cut myself off. The anger I expect to feel isn’t there. Something else replaces it. That slow wave of aftershock that hits once the adrenaline fades and the feeling of being violated comes flooding back.
“Hey,” Camden whispers, his voice gentle. “Hey now.” He pulls me closer and bends at the knees, bringing us eye to eye. “I’m here. I’ve got you, and I’ll fucking kill him before I let him near you again.”
I nod my head, words impossibly stuck in my throat.
