Page 57 of Santa Baby Maybe
There should have been fear inside me at the thought, but like her, I was unafraid of the outcome. If she was pregnant we were going to be together. If she wasn’t pregnant we were going to be together.
To my mind it was a win/win situation.
“You’re not peeing.”
She shrugged. “I don’t really have to go. And the directions say it’s better to wait until the morning.”
I didn’t think for a second it was that simple. Instead, I thought she was looking for a reprieve. One night before the shit had to get real. One night where we could just be two people having the realization that they wanted to be together without the seriousness of impending parenthood in front of us.
“How about we make hot chocolate and snuggle by the fire?” I offered.
The smile exploded on her face and I thought it was warmer than the fire I’d just built.
* * *
It was toomuch to hope that she’d leave the sexy dress on, but Joy in flannel bottoms and a T-shirt was just as beautiful, in my opinion. I’d taken off my boots and tie, getting a little more comfortable. Now I watched from her small kitchen table as she made hot chocolate with milk and cocoa powder.
Jake had hunkered down by my feet and I was careful not to move, given he’d actually felt comfortable enough to fall asleep on me.
Carefully, Joy poured us each a mug of the brew and filled them both to the point of overwhelming with marshmallows. No wonder our Sunday ornament events weren’t making as much as I thought they should. I wondered if I’d ever enjoyed watching someone make something for me more.
Surely as a kid I’d had hot chocolate. My mother was a flake, but she wasn’t mean or cruel. She’d believed in offering treats when she could afford them. It just wasn’t very often that she could. Certainly not something as indulgent as hot chocolate and marshmallows.
Joy set the mug down in front of me and took a seat. Both of us were relinquishing fireplace snuggles to the whims of a snoring Jake, who neither of us could bear to disturb.
“Merry Christmas,” Joy said softly and lifted her mug in a toast. I lifted mine and gently tapped hers.
“Merry Christmas,” I said back.
“I don’t have any presents for you,” she said.
That made me smile. Thinking what Joy might have gotten me as a present if I hadn’t been such an asshole.
“No? No miscellaneous porn ornaments stashed away for me?”
She giggled. “No. If I’d been more angry and less sad these past few weeks I might have gotten creative. As it was I just…I didn’t want to think about anything.”
I nodded, my smile quickly gone. “I missed you like crazy, Joy. And the worst part was knowing I’d deliberately hurt you.”
“I don’t want to keep harping on what happened.” She sighed. “If we’re going to do this, really do this, then we need to put it firmly behind us.”
I liked that idea. “You mean a new start?”
She nodded. “Absolutely. A fresh new start, beginning tonight. We could treat this like one of your blind dates!”
The idea seemed to thrill her, but I was skeptical. “There was nothing good about any of those blind dates. They were more like coordinated interviews and everyone left me cold.”
“Okay, so this will be different. One where we actually get to know each other. So, there are some things you should probably know about me.”
She shifted in her chair and then bought more time by taking a sip from her mug.
“Joy, I think I know you pretty well at this point.”
Her head tilted. “Oh, really? What do you know?”
“You’re a brilliant artist. A savvy businesswoman. You like asshole cats and asshole men, I suspect because you’ve got the biggest, softest heart in the state of Colorado. You light up a room when you walk into it, and not because of your innate sexiness but because of who you are. You are joy. Which means your mom named you really well.”
She smiled, evidently pleased by my description. Then her lips curved up. “Actually, my mom named me Joyful.”
