It’s not until Randy’s put the star on top and they’ve taken a million pictures that I get a chance to be alone with Natalie again. The others have all gone back to the event barn to finish the floats, and she volunteered us to clean the kitchen.
I like cleaning the kitchen with Natalie.
We talk mostly about the girls and the floats while we work, but when we’re finished, she leans against the island and crosses her arms. “Tell me something.”
“Anything.” She chuckles, and I give her a look. “Almost anything.”
“Why are you single?” She blinks and then holds up a hand. “Wait. You are single, right? I mean, you haven’t mentioned calling a girlfriend or wife, so I just assumed. Maybe I shouldn’t have.”
“I’m single. I’ve had a few girlfriends, but never a wife.”
“But why?”
I laugh, not sure what she’s trying to find out. “I don’t know. I’m a busy man.”
“There must be packs of women who want to be Mrs. Donovan Wilson.”
There are packs of women who want access to my money, but I’m not sure any of them care about me, and I’m not willing to settle just to have a beautiful woman gracing my home. And since Natalie’s charging me six figures for this adventure—not counting any additional charges I’ve accrued since arriving at the inn—she should know about that.
I don’t like being reminded of our agreement, though, and I want to leave the topic behind.
“I came close once,” I tell her. “I was planning to propose to my girlfriend at Christmas. She was fierce when it came to business. We had the same goals in life and together, we were going to be unstoppable. Then she went back to her small hometown to help her grandmother save her house from foreclosure, and she fell in love with some guy who runs his family’s Christmas tree farm. Now they live in the house with her grandmother, and she opened a cupcake shop.”
It isn’t easy to keep a straight face when her eyes widen and her mouth falls open. “Are you serious? That’s awful!”
“Very awful,” I say in a solemn voice.
Then her eyes narrow. “Wait. I think I saw that movie. You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m lying.”
She laughs and reaches out to give my shoulder a playful push. I catch her wrist and tug. She’s off balance and stumbles, and when I wrap my arm around her to steady her, her body ends up pressed against mine.
Her head tilts back, so she’s looking up at me. And she makes no effort to pull back. “I almost believed you.”
“My mom and her wife love those Christmas romance movies. I’ve sat through enough of them to be convincing.”
When her hand slides from my upper arm around to the back of my shoulder, I can’t resist anymore.
Natalie’s mouth is soft and her lips part under mine. Finally, I think, because it feels as if I’ve been waiting to kiss this woman almost from the moment we met. I cup the back of her neck with one hand, while the other presses against her lower back, and deepen the kiss.
“Aunt Natalie!”
I hear the little girl’s voice, followed by the thumping of running footsteps, and break off the kiss. Natalie takes a step away, and I move to the back of the island in case the result of getting my hands on Natalie is visible in these jeans.
Mel bursts into the kitchen and I wonder if these girls ever walk, or if they only have the one speed. I don’t have a lot of experience being around kids, but if these two are typical, it explains why the parents I know always look exhausted.
“Isn’t it past your bedtime?” Natalie asks, and I can hear the frustration in her voice, though Mel doesn’t seem to notice.
“Mommy said we can stay up late to help because she’s too tired to put us to bed. And Nana Jo says you have to help us with the snowflakes for the float or we’ll never get it done.”
Natalie sighs. “This would be a lot easier if we didn’t pick a new theme every year.”
“But it would be boring. Nobody would look at the float if they saw it last year.”
“She has a point,” I say, earning a stern look from Natalie.
“The point is that I get to stay up late helping make snowflakes.” She blows out a breath and then looks at her niece, who looks anxious now. Maybe because her aunt doesn’t seem as excited about the prospect as she is. “Okay, let’s make snowflakes. Donovan, do you need anything before I go?”
