“Why not? Girls are fantastic. Your mum sounds very nice. And you yourself said your sister’s a demon on skates.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, but they’re different. They’re family. I don’t have to kiss them like in the movies.”
“You don’t have to kiss anyone like in the movies if you don’t want to,” I say. “Kissing is neither obligatory nor necessary for a happy life.”
He snorts, a crooked smile curving his chocolate-stained lips. “Oi, youarefancy. And silly, I think.”
I nod in agreement. “Quite. Happy Christmas again, Nigel. Keep asking the hard questions.”
He laughs as he toddles away on his skates across the gravel, clearly thinking I’m at least a little mad.
And, of course, I am.
I’m pretending to be in love with a woman I’m actually falling in love with, all while also pretending not to be falling to the woman herself.
Something has to give.
And maybe it will soon.
Grandmother’s holiday party is right around the corner, an event with a unique mixture of heartwarming, welcoming, mapcap, and romantic vibes that doesn’t come along very often.
A man with his heart on his sleeve could do worse when it comes to setting the scene for a grand confession than a Victorian mansion with loads of tiny, intimate rooms and mistletoe hung in every one…
Chapter Twelve
EMILY
Two days later…
What am I doing?
Seriously.
What?!
“I have no idea,” I mutter as I wait for Maya to get back on the line after the “two seconds” she said she needed to find a private place to talk at the office.
It’s still afternoon in New York and Maya’s working through the weekend, along with two of our most loyal support staff, preparing a killer pitch for a new corporate client nearly as big as Titan Media. They’re doing their best to save our business.
Meanwhile, I’m…
Well, I’malsodoing my best to save our business.
But I should be working harder! So hard, I wouldn’t have time left over to watch holiday movies with the funniest, sweetest, sexiest man alive. Or to notice how amazing he looksin linen pajama pants—and nothing else—first thing in the morning. Or to spend magical afternoons with him at museums, or ice-skating, or catching West End matinees, or riding historic carousels, or falling madly in love with the way he makes even a trip to the grocery store feel like a fabulous adventure.
Heck, just falling madly in love with…him.
No!
I’mnotfalling in love.
I know this because I’vebeenin love, and this isn’t the way love goes. Love starts slow, like easing into a pool of perfectly warm water. Love sneaks up on you, step by gentle step, until all of a sudden, you turn around one day and realize that the guy getting toast crumbs all over your table is someone you’d like to keep around for a long, long time.
Or…at least that’s the way love worked with Gabe and Stephen.
But Gabe and Stephendidn’tstick around for a long, long time.
Gabe met someone he liked banging more than me—while we were still dating—and Stephan and I just…fizzled out. First, our Saturday mornings lost their shine, then our date nights and evening walks. Soon, we were both finding excuses to spend time apart. I stayed late at the office and joined a book club. Stephen signed up for a pickleball league, got a second job walking dogs uptown, and eventually decided a WhatsApp message while I was out of the country was the best way to end things.
