Page 70 of Perfectly Complicated
When I glance over at Janie, I know immediately something’s wrong. The joy from a minute ago has disappeared. What if seeing them together reminds her of everything she lost, everything she should’ve had?
She told me once she wasn’t over what Nick did—the betrayal, how he left her while she was pregnant, then the divorce. I thought I understood it. But watching the light drain from her eyes now makes me want to break something.
“Janie.” Nick turns around once more. “I’ve been meaning to call you about Christmas. I’d like to set up a time for Aria to come over?”
Her body goes rigid. “But you’ve hardly seen her at all.”
“Which is why I’d like to spend more time with her,” Nick says.
Janie’s mouth tightens. “We’ll discuss this another time.”
“Good. Then I’ll be in touch.” He wraps his arm around Lia’s shoulders. “We should probably get back to tree shopping. Good seeing you both.”
I squeeze Janie’s hand. “We need to get going too. The photoline is almost empty, and I promised this beautiful woman the full Christmas experience.” I turn to Janie. “Ready for those pictures, angel?”
She nods.
I take our tree and move it out of the way for us to take home later before guiding her toward the photo booth. Once we’re out of earshot of Nick, I stop walking and turn to face her fully. “You okay?”
“I will be,” Janie says quietly, but she won’t look at me. “I’m just wondering what you’re up to. I know you don’t want to take Christmas pictures.”
I reach up and gently tilt her chin until she meets my eyes. “This time? I absolutely do.”
The Christmas photo backdropis an old-fashioned sleigh draped in garland and parked in front of a set of wide barn doors. Behind it, rows of Christmas trees sparkle with white lights. Plaid blankets hang over the sleigh seat, and the whole setup looks like it was made for a Christmas postcard.
Almost sickeningly festive. Exactly the kind of thing I’d normally despise.
My gut reaction is to walk the other way. Because growing up, Christmas photos meant pretending we were a normal family when everything was broken. Every holiday photo was just another lie.
But then I look at Janie. She’s trying to hold it together, but I can see how Nick destroyed her, and now he’s here, rubbing his new life in her face. And suddenly, I don’t care about my baggage anymore. Because Janie needs this.
I stride over to the sleigh. “Come on, Bennett. Let’s show them how we have fun.”
Her eyes meet mine, surprised.
She climbs into the sleigh first, settling Aria on her lap. I follow, taking the Santa hat the photographer hands me and putting it on without a single complaint. When I wrap a blanket around our shoulders, Janie leans into me, andI pull her closer.
This isn’t for show. I want to give her what she deserves—a Christmas memory that doesn’t hurt.New memories replacing the old.
As Nick and Lia look at trees, her ex keeps glancing our way while the photographer snaps pictures.
“What a beautiful family,” the photographer says, then points above us. “We have mistletoe hanging on the barn doors behind you, just over your heads in the shot. Would you like another picture?”
Of course there’s mistletoe. I can’t seem to get away from the plant.
But right now, I don’t even mindthat.Because this is a chance to kiss the woman I’m falling for,officially, like she’s mine. Right now, I want the whole world to know how I feel about Janie Bennett.
“Are you okay with a kiss under the mistletoe?” I ask Janie, searching her face.
“I think,” she says, reaching up to touch my cheek, “that I’d like that very much.”
I lean in, angling my mouth toward hers, tasting the sweetness of her lips, savoring the slow lingering movements of her mouth against mine. My hand slides to her waist under the blanket, and I can feel her smile against my mouth, the way her body responds to mine.
When she finally pulls away, her eyes have that spark in them again—the joy I thought she’d lost when Nick showed up today.
“This is going to be Aria’s first family Christmas photo,” Janie says, stroking her daughter’s hair.
“The first of many,” I say without thinking.
