by Wendy Knight
Except he couldn’t quite figure out how. How could he tell her he’d fallen so hard for her that months apart every year didn’t even phase him, and that the more time he spent with her, the more amazing she seemed? How could he convince her that she was everything he wanted if she couldn’t see her own self-worth? Somehow, despite how much she meant to everyone around her, she thought she was invisible and left behind.
He had to change that.
And he had a plan.
He spent the rest of the day making phone calls and wandering through town, talking to the villagers who knew and loved Cleo. It took him all day.
Because everyone knew and loved Cleo.
He ended at the sanctuary, hoping she’d be working even though he knew she’d taken the afternoon off to get ready for the ball the next day. Red was following some of the cats through the outdoor enclosure, laughing as they chased the frozen grass. “It looks like a storm is coming,” she said as he walked up. “I’m trying to let everyone out to play before we’re all stuck inside. Cleo was here all morning. You just missed her.” She gave him a sly look and Grey, on the other side of the enclosure, laughed.
“I know. I’ve been busy.”
“When do you go back to school?” Grey asked.
“The ninth.”
“You’re running out of time, kiddo,” Red said, although she was only a year or two older than he was. She’d always delighted in rubbing in the fact that she was wiser.
He didn’t agree.
“If it’s not right, it’s not right. And the right time hasn’t come up.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. If anything, he’d fallen so much harder this past week than he’d even thought possible. Even thinking of going back to school and leaving Cleo behind made his soul ache.
“Okay but, Kayne, this is her last semester. She literally might not be here when you get back. I don’t know how you’ve been so lucky that she hasn’t been snatched up by one of the hundred other guys who are also waiting for the right time to tell her they’re in love with her, but your luck isn’t going to hold forever.” She leaned against the chicken wire they had over the top of the enclosure so the cats couldn’t escape into the wintery mountains, more serious than he could remember her being.
“I told Red the night before her wedding,” Grey said, ambling over, dodging cats. Kayne peered at them through the wire, wondering when, exactly, they’d gotten so aggressive about his life.
“Okay, for one,” Kayne said, “if I say it wrong or too early or at the wrong time or if she hasn’t had enough sleep, I will scare her away. It has to be the right time. And two, I’m not in love with her.”
Red looked at Grey and then back at Kayne. She leaned toward him. “Oh, right. Because the way you look at her and the way you run to her rescue and the way you laugh only at her jokes and smile only at her while the rest of us are at our very wittiest, and the way she’s the only one in the room no matter how many of us are standing there with you, I guess that’s just the way we treat friends. I know that’s the way I treat all my friends.”
Grey nodded solemnly.
Red poked him through the wire. “You have to admit it to yourself, Kayne. Admit what everyone else already knows.”
Kayne ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Everyone but her.”
Grey considered them both and then abruptly changed the subject. “Did you tell Cleo about her twelve lords a leaping?”
Hope flared in Kayne’s chest at the thought of seeing Cleo again. “No, no I didn’t.” He turned around and jogged to his truck.
Except Cleo wasn’t home.
Mozzie wasn’t there either, judging by the lack of barking when Kayne knocked. He called her cell, but she didn’t answer so he sent a text and trudged back home.
You’re running out of time, kiddo.
Cleo wrote him back that night, apologizing for missing him. She’d been out running errands and took Mozzie with her. And it was too late when she got home and answered for her to say anything except, “The Twelve Days of Christmas lives on!”
When he’d asked her what the next day would bring, she hadn’t responded.
Asleep that fast.
It was fine. They had a big day coming and she needed sleep.
Kayne was used to seeing her every day. An entire day with no Cleo had sucked. He spent the entire day planning what to say to her.
At the ball. While they danced.
He would tell her.
It would be perfect.
He wasn’t entirely sure what he would say yet, because he wasn’t in love with her. Of course not. Red was crazy. Love made you do stupid things…
Like jump in a skunk enclosure.
Or climb a pine tree that was not strong enough to hold his weight.
Kayne shook his head. Love made it hard to sleep and hard to think and hard to eat and…
Kayne’s heart pounded in his chest, the blood roaring in his ears.
He wasn’t just falling for Cleo. He had slammed smack dab into head over heels, crazy stupid in love.
And she thought he was a frenemy.
Kayne sank down onto his bed, letting his head thunk back against the wall, his brain trying hard to process information his heart had known for months. Maybe years. He had no idea.
Slowly, he raised his phone to his face and peered at it, knowing she hadn’t responded but hoping anyway. He slowly typed in one last message for the night, almost against his will. “I need to talk to you.”
She didn’t answer, of course, but he waited anyway, his heart in his throat. Tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would talk to her. He would tell her how he felt and they would figure out a future. Because she had to feel the same way, right?
Was he really risking a lifetime of friendship for this?
Kayne rubbed the bridge of his nose. He didn’t want to lose her. But he couldn’t keep pretending he was happy being a minor character in her life. And he couldn’t risk Red being right and one of the hundred other guys in the village who watched her with the same lovesick eyes he did would make a move and he would lose his chance forever.
You’re running out of time, kiddo.
Red finished pinning Cleo’s curls into place so they cascaded down her back in a wild array of blonds and browns. Cleo could have done her own hair, but she didn’t have the talent Red did, or the arm strength to hold her hair on top of her head for two hours. She would have lost a limb at least an hour and a half ago. “The crown will look amazing on you.” Red stood back to admire her handiwork.
Cleo’s cheeks flushed and she ducked her head. “I’m not going to win, Red. I’m only in it because you and Kayne both nominated me.”
Kayne had messaged her the night before saying he needed to talk to her, and she’d been terrified for most of the morning that he was going to back out as her escort. But when she’d finally gotten the courage to ask him about it, he’d just said he would talk to her at the ball. She’d been so busy all morning that she hadn’t had time to argue with him.
“You have as much a chance of winning as anyone else tonight, Cleo. One day, you’re going to have to open your eyes and see that you are not the invisible wallflower you see yourself as. You’ve saved me and our animals more times than I can count. You’re always there when someone needs you, no matter what the problem—even if it’s birds. Or fish.” Red winked and Cleo smiled, despite the nerves making her hands shake. Even in the gorgeous ice-blue dress, she struggled to find any semblance of calm in a sea of nerves. What if they laughed, seeing her up there and trying so hard to be like everyone else when she so clearly wasn’t?
Cleo let her eyes flutter close, fighting tears that would absolutely ruin her mascara. “I’m so scared, Red.”
“Kayne will be there with you, right?” Red asked, packing up her brushes and hairspray. She met Cleo’s eyes in the mirror, her own eyes bright with some unreadable emotion.
Cleo nodded, her heart alternating between warmth in the safety of Kayne’s presence an
d the strength he would bring, and the chaotic roar of something she couldn’t quite admit to herself. Because Kayne Frost would so never give a girl like her a second look. In a town that hero-worshiped him, Cleo was just one of many, many fans. And if she admitted to herself what her heart was trying to say, she would be crushed.
The Christmas Couple was not a thing. She had to get it through her head.
Actually, her head wasn’t the problem. Her heart was.
“Kayne won’t let you fall, Cleo,” Red said softly.
Cleo swallowed hard. “What if it’s too late, Red?” she whispered.
Red jerked back, eyes widening as a slow smile spread across her face. “What does that mean, exactly? Because I think I know what it means, but I don’t want to jump to conclusions and make a fool of myself.”
Cleo pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to stop messy tears. “Nothing. I’m just really nervous. I wish it was over already. I wish it was tomorrow.”
Tomorrow, Christmas Eve. When everyone else would be with their families and Cleo would be alone. She planned to FaceTime her parents, but it wasn’t the same.
At least she had Mozzie.
Thank goodness for Mozzie.
Red had invited her to go home with them to Scarlet Hills. Her parents were amazingly wealthy, and they had room to spare if Cleo wanted to join. But Cleo didn’t want to intrude, and someone had to stay near the sanctuary.
Cleo blew out a breath, rising to her feet and waving her hands in front of her eyes like she could fan away traitorous tears. “I don’t handle stress well.” She laughed and hiccupped at the same time.
Red squeezed her shoulders just as the doorbell rang. “Ready for this?”
“Can I say no?” Cleo whimpered, her heart hammering in her chest. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the ball and the crowning ceremony, or if it was because Kayne stood on the other side of her door.
Suddenly, she couldn’t swallow.
“I’ll get it,” Red said. “You just take a minute.”
Cleo nodded, wandering around her small bedroom, taking slow, deep breaths. The dress rustled and swirled with each step, practically floating with nary a breeze. She caught sight of herself in the mirror, cheeks flushed and eyes bright with unshed tears.
Mozzie wriggled through the door Red had forgotten to shut. They’d been careful to keep him out because of his fondness for chomping on dresses, but now he was a welcome distraction. He didn’t jump, just came up and stood at her feet, wagging his tail softly with his ears back. Cleo knelt next to him and buried her face in his fur. “You’re a good boy, Moz.”
He nudged her with his nose and leaned his forehead against hers. He’d overcome so much, and he still had so much strength in him. So much good. If he could face every day and every new rule and strange lesson and scary experience, then so could she. She hugged him tight until he wriggled away, bounding out the door to spread joy elsewhere.
Cleo followed him, raising her chin. She would go show off Kate’s dress and make sure everyone saw what an amazing designer she was. That, Cleo could do.
She floated down the hall, her shoes not making a sound against the laminate wood. Red and Kayne were having a flurry of whispered conversations in the living room. They both froze when she came around the corner, Kayne straightening slowly. His eyes widened, darkened, thick lashes sweeping up against his full brows.
For several seconds, he just stared.
“I told you,” Red said smugly.
Kayne looked at her in surprise and then back at Cleo. “You—” he hesitated, reached one hand toward her and then let it fall to his side. “You look amazing, Cleo. Beautiful.” He swallowed hard, loosening his tie. “You look beautiful, Cleo.” His voice was barely above a strangled whisper. He finally raised his hand, brushing a knuckle across her cheek. “So beautiful.”
She stared up at him, forgetting that Red stood only a few feet away, forgetting that she was terrified, forgetting that she was alone. She saw Kayne, the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, his eyes devouring her face, darkening as they dipped to her lips. Slowly, his hand slid down her cheek, down her neck, and traced its way across her shoulder and along her arm to her fingers. He twined his with hers and raised them to his lips. “Your carriage awaits, m’lady.”
She didn’t want to break the spell, but they had to go, and she knew that. As much as she longed to stay with him in that moment, it was a ridiculous fantasy. Kayne was more than she could ever hope for, and he would never even realize it. “You look very handsome yourself, Mr. Popularity.” She attempted a lighthearted tone, but it came out weak.
Kayne flashed a rare smile and straightened the tie he’d messed up. “Thank you.” He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, leading her toward the door.
“You’ve got Mozzie, right?” Cleo called over her shoulder.
Red laughed as the husky bounced in front of her. “I’ll take him to the sanctuary with Glacier. Go enjoy your ball, Cinderella.”
“Not Cinderella,” Kayne said as they settled into the car. “You’re not running out on me at midnight.”
“Scout’s honor I won’t.” She raised her fingers, debating on whether she was supposed to raise two or three. She was not actually a scout. “You said you needed to talk to me about something?” she asked. “I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer. And where’s your truck?”
Kayne’s grip on the wheel tightened and he looked sideways at her. “Later.” He quickly changed the subject. “I thought my truck would be too hard to get in, so I borrowed my dad’s car.”
Cleo smiled. “That was sweet.”
Kayne grinned lopsided at her. “It really was. I’m amazing that way.”
She rolled her eyes but nearly choked on the laugh that fought with the turmoil trying to strangle her. Cleo pressed a hand to her stomach. “I’m too nervous.”
“About…?” Kayne glanced at her again as he navigated the roads. Every time his dark eyes landed on her, Cleo got butterflies.
Stupid, stupid butterflies.
“What if everyone laughs at me,” she asked softly. “I don’t belong up there with the rest of you.”
Kayne snorted. “Sometimes I just want to have your head examined. There’s obviously a blockage up there somewhere.”
Cleo rolled her eyes. “You keep telling me that. I think we just don’t live in the same world.”
Kayne sighed. “Definitely not.” The words seemed to hurt him far more than she intended, and she didn’t quite understand why.
“Hey.” He pulled the car into the parking lot and drove to the front, where several stalls had been designated for the Christmas Court, and shifted into park. The snow was just starting to flutter around them, big fluffy flakes that turned the community center into a winter wonderland. Kayne twisted in his seat, turning toward her. “I will stay by your side every single second if you need me to. If you’re scared, you look at me. Forget anyone else is there.” He pointed two fingers at her and then two back at himself.
Cleo smiled. “Thanks. Are you not nervous at all? There’s so many people in there.” Already, the parking lot was packed, and dinner didn’t even start for a half hour. The crowning ceremony started soon after that.
“No. After I passed out at the third-grade choir concert, I kinda got over my fear of crowds.”
Kayne got out and Cleo waited, her knees shaking too hard to risk getting out of the car on her own.
Why, oh why had she not dropped out a week ago?
“You know what I just realized?” she said softly as he led her across the parking lot. She held the dress up away from the slush already accumulating on the black asphalt. “No Twelve Days of Christmas today. It’s already six, and we haven’t had to save eleven of anything.”
Kayne’s hand dropped to the small of her back, steadying her as she slipped and slid across the icy patches. “The night is young. Who knows what kind of creatures might await us inside.”
She beamed
at him, so thrilled that he believed in her Twelve Days of Christmas. She was going to tell him just that, but the doors opened, and the sound of people slid through the cold night air.
Lots of people.
Cleo swallowed hard, her hand closing on Kayne’s arm so tightly her fingers went numb and she probably left permanent indents on his tux jacket. Her feet stuttered and she stopped, eyes wide and breathing hard.
“Hey,” Kayne circled around in front of her. “Look at me. Count my dimples.”
“You only have two dimples.”
“Count my eyelashes. I have a lot of eyelashes. They’re thick. I’ve heard they’re to die for.”
She nodded, unable even to respond to his joke as she looked wild-eyed up at him. At his dark, dark gaze and the hard angles of his face, so flawlessly perfect it was heartbreaking. Slowly, her breathing slowed, the erratic race of her heart tipping sideways and skipping but for an entirely different reason.
“Okay?”
She nodded, blowing out a breath through pursed lips.
He searched her face until he’d assured himself she was all right, and nodded. Then he twined his fingers through hers and lifted her hand to his chest, leading them in and up the stairs that led backstage.
Malen, Farrah, and Rose were all there already, as well as their escorts and the other princes. Everyone rushed in different directions, talking in hurried whispers and applying last minute touches to hair and makeup and wardrobe.
But everything stopped when she and Kayne walked in, and as if in slow motion, they all turned to stare.
Cleo shrank back, trying to hide in Kayne’s shadow, but it was impossible. The dress swirled around her, making it impossible to disappear.