Page 5 of Big Merry Miner

“You wouldn’t understand,” she sighs in exasperation. “My family’s big and loud and they give out their opinions like presents. It doesn’t matter if I’m there, they’ll still let me know what they think over the phone. It’s just how it is.”

“I don’t have to understand to not like it,” I finally say. “Regardless, I have to go home and pack.”

“W-what?” Her eyes are wide with disbelief, her plush mouth slack with surprise.

The urge to kiss her, to hold her close and tell her that I’m going to make this all better, surges through me. I can feel my cock hardening behind the fly of my jeans with the desire to warm her up both inside and out. Instead, I let my hand drop away from her face and smile down at her.

“What’s the dress code for this holiday like? I don’t need to bring a suit, do I?” Hell, do I even own a suit anymore?

“N-no, just whatever you’re comfortable with,” she says, shocked. “You mean it? You’re going to help me?”

I shrug. “Like I said, I don’t have any plans. Spending the holidays with a pretty girl beats whatever I was going to come up with by myself.”

She bites her lip again as her cheeks flush again, but I can tell she’s fighting a smile. Her eyes are sparkling and bright with satisfaction. A weight seems to get lifted off her shoulders as she takes a deep breath.

“I’m Matt, by the way,” I say as I start to fish for my car keys in my pocket.

“Lucia. Lucia Giovanni,” she breathes, blinking up at me as if she can’t believe what’s happened.

“Well then, Lucia, what do you say? Follow me back to my place and help me pack?”

Her nose wrinkles as she makes a face. “Is that a euphemism?”

“Only if you want it to be,” I say, dropping my voice low and wagging an eyebrow at her.

“Are you going to be like this the whole time?” she groans, shoving my arm playfully. My cock, now fully hard just at the thought of being alone behind closed doors with her,throbs. God, this woman has me by the balls and she doesn’t even know it.

“You’re the one that asked a complete stranger to come to your family Christmas,” I tease her, watching her fight a smile I so desperately want to see. “Might as well have a little fun with it.”

“Fine, be that way,” Lucia says. “While you pack, we can go over whatever you need to know.”

“Sounds perfect.”

Only a few hours into my forced vacation and three days before Christmas, I’ve become a stranger’s fake boyfriend for the holidays. Maybe this is nuts. It probably is. But something about this girl makes me feel alive. I’ve never felt this protective of anyone, nor have I ever wanted to make someone smile like this. I can think about whether this is a bad idea later.

Right now, I have to focus on being the best boyfriend ever.

Chapter 3

Lucia

It’s not until we’re at Matt’s house and I’m sitting on his couch that I begin to wonder if this is all a mistake.

It’s not even the fact that he’s virtually a stranger to me. That should probably be my primary concern, actually. I shouldn’t feel as safe as I do around him, but something about him puts me at ease in a way I’ve never felt before. He’s so big and looks like he could protect me from anything. And his eyes, as striking as they look, seem so kind. I get the impression that this man would never hurt me, and I think it’s true.

No, it’s the fact that I’m waiting for a complete stranger to finish packing a bag so we can climb into his huge SUV and drive up a mountain to see my family. I’m worried that my family is going to read right through the lie and call me out on it. My head starts to spin with all of the possibilities.

They’re going to laugh at me for having to bring a fake boyfriend to Christmas.

They’re going to make me apologize for lying to them, and I’m going to have to see their disappointment in me in the flesh.

I’m going to have to deal with taunts from my cousins about the fact that I had to find a complete stranger to pretend to like me instead of someone real.

I feel the panic setting in just as Matt reappears with a black duffel bag in his hands. I stand and smooth out the front of my coat with my hands, which have already started to shake with nerves. Before I can look up at him, I feel a hand at my waist.

“You alright?” I hear him ask.

I take a deep breath, and make myself look up into Matt’s face. He looks concerned, and he’s so close and warm that I can already feel my stress beginning to ease away.

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