“Shriners Hospitals for Children.”
I smiled. “She loves that one.”
“Yeah, she does. What’s up? How are things going in Texas? Any hot cowboys you want to take a ride on?”
She laughed as I rolled my eyes. “Well, as a matter of fact.”
“Shut up! Oh my gosh, spill the beans.”
Glancing into the rearview mirror again, I saw Nash laughing. He was either talking to someone or listening to something on the radio.
“It’s Nash, Morgan’s older brother.”
Millie didn’t reply for a few moments. “Your best friend’s brother? That could either be a good thing or a really bad thing.”
“Morgan’s not going to care. As a matter of fact, she would probably be the one handing me a condom and pushing me into the bedroom. I sort of pointed Nash out to her before I knew it was her brother. Then things got . . . weird between us, but now we’re going to give it a shot.”
“Weird? Like how?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Where to start? Okay, so Nash dated this girl, Lily. She was super wealthy.”
“Okay. You stopped talking like I was supposed to know what happened next.”
“Right, I forget I never told you. Well, Lily cheated on Nash with this guy she worked with at her father’s company. Morgan said she liked this guy for two reasons: he was kinky in bed and he had money.”
“Is Nash poor?”
“No! I mean, he’s not super wealthy. He works hard for his father’s construction business. They do well to live a comfortable life, but I don’t think he can just go out and buy a Porsche. Well, hell, I don’t know. Maybe he can. It was never something I thought about, much less cared about.”
“Got it. So this woman left him because of that? How shallow.”
“I know, right? It makes my stomach sick to think of how she treated Nash. He’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met, Millie. He loves his family and friends and would do anything for anyone. He even drove me all the way to Houston because my car was broken down.”
“Wow. Okay, clearly this Lily chick was insane. I’m still not understanding the . . . oh no. Shit. Oh, Kaelynn. You didn’t.”
I pulled my lower lip into my mouth and bit down on it. “I never told Morgan; you know how hard it is when you tell people about it.”
“Yes, I know. I’ve had my fair share of friends and boyfriends only pretend to like me because of the family money. But if you’re thinking of starting anything with this guy, he needs to know. Especially with this history. What is the matter with you? You’re not in high school. Why are you acting like it?”
“Ugh, God. I know! I know! I really like him and I’m afraid if I tell him now, he’s going to walk away. He makes me feel things I’ve never felt before and he kissed me earlier. Millie . . . it was the most amazing kiss I’ve ever had in my life. I mean, I’m pretty sure my mind was making all the arrangements for our wedding and how many kids we were gonna have while he was kissing me. I was completely and utterly lost to him.”
“That good, huh?” she purred into the phone. I could see her now wiggling her eyebrows and making a crude gesture with either her hands or her tongue.
“Yes. It was that good.”
“Imagine what sex will be like.”
My face heated.
“That’s the problem. I can imagine it. I have imagined it. I want to tell him the truth. I really do. But this is our first date tonight. He’s taking me to the park to see the tree, and it’s going to be all festive. I mean, what if we date a few times and things don’t work out? It won’t matter that I didn’t tell him I’m the heiress to a billion-dollar fortune.”
“One of the heiresses. I’m the other one. Sharesies, remember?”
I sighed. “I’m serious. I think if he finds out, he’s going to put me in the friend zone again.”
“And the friend zone isn’t enough?” Millie asked.
“At first, I thought it was. Each time I’ve seen him, I fall a little more. So no, the friend zone is not enough.”
“Wow.” Millie stated. The line was silent for a bit. “When Justin and I first started dating, he had no idea about our family. We dated for a few months before it even really came up. I mean, he asked what my parents did, and I told him my father owned a company in Utah that dealt a lot with real estate. I told him what you did, and what Jack does. He was fine with that. As things got heavier and we started talking about meeting the parents, I knew I had to warn him before I pulled up to our folks’ house. I mean, it is a bit overwhelming.”
I laughed, but it came out more like a scoff. “To say the least.”
My parents’ house, well, their main house outside of Salt Lake City, that is, was a rather large house. At just over forty-nine-thousand square feet, it had everything you could wish for, including a two-lane bowling alley.
“He was freaked about it at first, but it never changed his opinion of me.”
“That’s the problem. I’m afraid once Nash finds out, it will change his. He’s been down this road before and it burned him.”
“Not every woman with a large pocket book is going to care what his fortune is.”
“I know that. He’s following me back home, so I’ve got a ways to go before I get home. I’ll think about what I’m going to do. Maybe I’ll tell him tonight. Yeah. I need to tell him tonight.”
“That’s the smartest thing to do. You don’t have to go into detail, but let him know the gist of it all.”
“Thanks, Millie. I always feel better talking to you.”
“Same here. Are you really staying in Austin?”
“I like it here, and if things go well with Nash, I’ll have a solid reason to stay.”
“Give Justin and me an excuse to come visit. It might be nice to get out of the cold weather. You are coming home for Christmas? Right?”
“Yes. I’ll be there for Christmas. I have a ticket to fly up on the twenty-third.”
“Awesome! I’ve got to go. Justin is calling! Good luck, sis. Love you and I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
“Love you too, Millie. Bye.”
The line went dead and I let out a deep breath.
Tonight. I’ll do it tonight.
“YOU HAVE TO stand under it and spin.”
Staring at Nash, I laughed. “Spin?”
He nodded. “Yeah. While looking up.”
“Do you want me to get sick?”
“I’ll hold your ponytail out of the way if you do,” he stated with a sexy smirk.
Rolling my eyes, I pushed him. “Gosh, thanks. You just made me drink hot chocolate. I ate a s’mores and a pretzel. I will surely get sick if you make me spin.”
“Don’t forget the hot apple cider we had when we first walked up.”
“Right. That too.”
Nash glanced around, grinned, then grabbed my hand. “Come on. I know a way to let your stomach settle before the great spinning.”
Trying to ignore the way his touch made my body ache for more, I allowed him to pull me over to a horse and carriage.
“How about we take a spin around the park?”
“I’d love that!” I replied, letting Nash help me into the carriage.
“The full route, sir?” the driver asked with a joyful smile.
“Yes, my girl here needs to let her goodies settle before we spin around the tree.”
With a wide grin, the driver glanced over to me. “You have to spin around the tree. It’s a tradition.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said with a light laugh. It was hard to focus when Nash’s words replayed in my mind.
My girl. He called me “my girl.”
“Then I won’t offer you any hot chocolate.”
Nash held up his hands. “No, just a warm blanket.”
The driver pulled the blanket off the seat across from us and opened it. Handing it to Nash, he draped it over us. He lifted his arm and placed it around my shoulders, pulling my body up against his. The heat between us
would surely keep us warm.
As we took off, I drew in a deep breath and said, “Christmas. I smell it in the air.”
“I bet your Christmas back home is beautiful.”
“It is,” I agreed, resting my head against his shoulder. “My favorite thing, though, is waking up, going down to the kitchen, and watching my mother make breakfast. It was a huge ordeal. She made everything from homemade waffles to biscuits and gravy, muffins, you name it, the woman made it. My father would always get up with her and help. They said it was their quiet time together before the madness of Christmas started.”
Nash chuckled. “Did y’all have Christmas at your house? With family and all? Or you went to someone else’s house?”
“Oh yes. Everyone came over in the afternoon. Since my mom cooked breakfast, Christmas dinner was usually a potluck type of thing. Everyone would bring something.”
“Sounds nice.”
Smiling, I wrapped my arm around his while he lifted the blanket up some. “It is.”
“Did you have to wait to open presents until after you ate breakfast?”
“No, we always opened them on Christmas Eve. When we were little, our parents of course spoiled us. As we got older, the presents decreased, which didn’t bother us at all. We made a new tradition to only buy each other three gifts.”
“Why three?” Nash asked.
“That was how many gifts Christ got.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I love that tradition. Are you going home for Christmas this year?”
“I am. I leave on the twenty-third.”
“How long are you up there for?”
“Probably a week. If I stay too long, my folks won’t want me to leave.”
“Have they been to visit you here in Texas?”
I stiffened, and I knew Nash could feel me tense.
“Yes. They were here yesterday. They left late last night.”
“Wow, quick trip. What did they come in for?”
Why did he have to ask so many questions? This wasn’t the place I wanted to drop my bomb on him.
The truth was the easiest thing to give him.
“They want to buy a place here, with me moving here and all. An investment, if you will, but a place they can come and stay if they want.”
“Nice.”
I looked up at him and he was looking straight ahead. “What about you? Any family traditions?”
He smiled and I relaxed my body. He wasn’t going to ask any more questions.
“Just the normal ones. We always drink hot chocolate and roast marshmallows on Christmas Eve. My mom buys Morgan and me new PJs every year and makes us open them. Then makes us wear them for an annual picture.”
I covered my mouth. “No!”
Laughing, he nodded. “Yes. Then we all watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Christmas morning we wake up and open presents. Nothing grand, just small gifts we exchange. My mom always makes us something knitted.”
“That is so sweet! I want to learn to knit.”
He looked down at me. “You should learn. There’s all sorts of YouTube videos on how to do it.”
I nuzzled back against him, loving the way it felt to be near him like this. “Maybe I will.”
We spent the rest of the ride in comfortable silence. I wanted to enjoy the time with him. Just relaxing and not worrying about what the future held. I only wanted to worry about what this moment held. The rest would work itself out.
The driver came to a stop, and Nash clapped his hands together and started to rub them together sort of maniacally. “Let’s go get our spin on.”
Groaning, I folded up the blanket, let Nash help me out of the carriage, and begged the driver to let me stay with him.
“Come on, it’s fun.”
“Nash, I get dizzy easily.”
He stopped us, turned me to face him, and placed his finger under my chin. Lifting my gaze to meet his, he spoke softly. “I won’t let anything happen, and I promise you’re going to love it. Just go slow.”
I nodded. Something about his tone of voice and the way he was looking at me, I knew he meant every word. And for Pete’s sake, I was spinning under a tree, not mountain climbing.
Then he leaned down and softly kissed my lips. I had to fight the urge to pull him against me to deepen the kiss. Nash drew back, staring into my eyes.
“I’ve never felt like this with anyone before, Kaelynn. I’m trying to figure out if I’m just in serious lust over you, or if you’re . . .”
I swallowed hard. “Or if I’m what?”
His voice was so low I barely heard the word come out of his mouth.
“Different.”
Different? Different from how? From who? Lily? Any woman he’s been with before? Was it a good kind of different? Or a bad different?
Crapola. I’m thinking about this all too hard.
“Hey, tell me what is going on in that beautiful head of yours.”
I smiled. “Different in a good way?”
Nash leaned down and kissed me again, then whispered against my lips, “A very good way.”
Feeling like a little girl on Christmas morning, I couldn’t help the silly grin on my face. “I feel something, too. Something amazing.”
“Well, I don’t think I can take all the credit here . . . that feeling could be me, or it could be the excitement and anticipation you have for spinning under the tree.”
He spun me around and I faced the tree. Kids and adults alike were all under the tree. Some were running, some just standing and staring up, and some spinning.
I laughed and said, “I bet it’s a bit of both.”
Nash laced his fingers with mine and walked us over to the center. We maneuvered our way through and got directly in the middle of the tree. He took my hands in his as we faced one another.
“Ready?” he asked, excitement dancing in his honey-colored eyes. The way the light from the tree sparkled in them made my breath catch.
“Ready!” I squealed back, surprised by my sudden excitement to do this.
“Lean your head back and look up.”
Doing as he told me to, I gasped at the sight. A swirl of lights captured my attention. “Nash! Oh my gosh, it’s beautiful. How many lights are there?”
“I think over three thousand.”
I continued to gaze up at the light show. Then I felt him moving, and I gripped his hands harder. We started to spin, and I couldn’t help but laugh like a little girl. The lights spun around in the most glorious way. It was stunning.
“I love it!” I exclaimed as I held my eyes fixed up. Then I felt Nash wrap his arms around me as we came to a stop. Looking down at him, I let myself get adjusted from the slight sway of everything. Then I realized he had picked me up and held me so I wouldn’t lose my balance.
“Was it worth it?” he asked, his dimples on full display in the bright lights of the tree.
“It was so worth it.”
“Good.”
Leaning down, I kissed him like my next breath depended on that kiss. Nash held me tighter against his body, and I moaned slightly at the feel of his body against mine. If he asked me to make love with him right now, I would say yes. But I had a feeling Nash Barrett wasn’t that type of guy. The fact that he picked me up and held me so I wouldn’t stumble and took me on the carriage ride first to let my stomach settle only proved what an amazing man he was. How Lily ever let him go was beyond me. Not very man was like Nash Barrett. At least, none of the men I had ever met or dated back home were like him.
“Romantic.”
“What?” Nash asked, giving me a confused look.
My cheeks heated as I realized I had said that out loud. Shaking my head, I answered him. “Nothing. That was just so much more than I thought it would be.”
“Good,” he replied, kissing me on my nose as he slowly placed me back on the ground.
“How in the world are you going to top that, Mr. Barrett?” I asked in a teasing voice as we started to walk back toward my
condo.
“I would say I would make you breakfast in bed in the morning, but that would mean me staying the night. And I don’t think we’re ready for that. I sleep naked.”
I couldn’t help but let out a bellow of laughter. “Wh-what? You sleep naked?”
Nash laughed. “Why do you make that sound like it’s a bad thing?”
“What if someone broke into the house and he sees you coming out of your bedroom and you’re . . . naked?”
Nash shrugged. “Then I guess he’d be looking to get into a cockfight.”
I stopped walking and stared at him, then lost it laughing again. “You are crazy!”
He shrugged, then reached for my hand. “Keeping it real, just keeping it real.”
STANDING OUTSIDE OF Kaelynn’s condo, I fought the urge to tell her how much I wanted her. The conflicting feelings running rampant in my head weren’t helping any. As much as I wanted her, I could not shake the feeling she was holding something back. There was no way I was going to fall into something with someone I couldn’t trust. How in the hell did I ask her?
Hey, Kaelynn, what are you hiding from me, because guess what, I don’t trust you? That only screamed that I was the one who had trust issues.
“Thank you for tonight. I had a lot of fun.”
I smiled. “I did too. I’m glad you spun.”
“You didn’t give me much of a choice.”
“It was worth it, though, wasn’t it?”
Her teeth sank into her lip, causing my eyes to drift down to that pretty little mouth of hers.
“It was,” she answered softly.
Bouncing my eyes back up to her gaze, I cleared my throat. “I better go.”
Kaelynn nodded, then took a step back, closer to her door.
“Listen, Terri and Jim are getting married this weekend. Did you want to go with me?”
Her eyes lit up. “They wouldn’t mind? I mean, I don’t really know them all that well.”
“You’re my date, so that doesn’t matter. Plus, I know they would love to have you there. So would Charlie. She really likes you.”
“I like her too. And I would love to go. Will I . . . um . . . see you before then?”
Moving in closer, her back hit the door and I leaned in, my lips inches from hers. “I sure hope so.”
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