I swallowed the lump in my throat. I desperately needed to create distance—physically and emotionally—between us. And yet, I found myself sharing more with her than I anticipated.
“This time of year hasn’t ever been all that magical or special to me,” I admitted. “It’s always just been another day. Another week in the winter. My parents never celebrated or acknowledged it, especially not after they got divorced.”
“That sucks, Gabe. I’m so sorry. That’s so unfair to you.”
“It’s the way it is. My friend Liam has offered for me to spend Christmas with him, his brothers, and family, but I usually work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This year will likely be the same.” I didn’t add that even though I appreciated Liam’s offer, I never took him up on it because I didn’t want to feel like I was intruding. It was a concern that wasn’t valid at all—and probably one that Liam would be frustrated I had in the first place.
Lily stayed quiet, which I found was never a good sign. It typically meant she was coming up with something. “What if we make an addition to my winter wish list?”
I hesitated but figured there wouldn’t be harm in entertaining her idea. “What are you thinking?”
“In addition to sledding and building a gingerbread house at the Christmas festival, I’ll use it to show you the magic of Christmas. The music, the food, the lights, snow, if we get it by then. Santa will be there.”
“Santa is?—”
Lily gasped, tugging on my arm. “There are children around!” she scolded in a whisper. “You can’t say that so nonchalantly.”
“I wasn’t going to ruin the secret of Christmas. I was going to say he’s creepy. Also”—I looked around, confirming there were no kids around—“I’m pretty sure all the kids are sleeping, and if they aren’t, then it’s not my fault they found out the truth.”
A laugh bubbled out of Lily, and she hooked her free arm around mine. “He is not creepy!”
“He’s always watching, he sneaks into your house, he eats your food,” I said appalled, mainly playing up the ruse to continue seeing the amused sparkle in her eye.
“Well, when you say it like that…” A smile tugged on her lips. “This time of year is magical, especially in Golden Falls. I’m excited to show the magic to you.”
I would at least entertain her suggestion, especially since we were going to the Christmas festival anyway.
“And you’ll spend Christmas Day with me and my family.”
I didn’t respond immediately, thinking through her words. She stepped in front of me and stopped, nearly causing me to run into her. I let out a heavy exhale and looked down at her.
“Come on,” she urged. “I think it’ll be good—both for your Christmas spirit and our wish list. You shouldn’t be working on Christmas Day. Plus, Hal usually spends Christmas with us, so you two can come over together.”
I was still hesitant, because I didn’t want to intrude, but I liked Lily’s idea more than I wanted to admit. I wouldn’t be in Golden Falls for long, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be back for anotherChristmas. I wanted to get to know Hal more, spend time with him, and this was a good chance to do that.
“I’ll come to dinner,” I agreed, and Lily squealed with a grin. She returned to my side, and we resumed our walk, her apartment building now in sight.
“Here, why don’t you give me your number. I can text you the details and we can move on from email.” She pulled her phone out of her purse and handed it to me.
I took it from her and put my number in. I sent a text from her phone to me so I’d have her number, too. I handed her the phone as we approached her building. We both stopped walking, facing each other.
“This is going to be good. You’ll see,” she assured confidently, sealing her words with a nod.
Now that we were standing in front of each other, and I wasn’t just stealing glances of her from the side, I could see how flushed her cheeks were—likely a combination of the wine and the cold—and also how happy she looked. Her lips pulled into a smile, and my gaze flicked to her mouth.
Lily more often than not had a smile on her face at the café, but she carried a tension in her shoulders and jaw. It made sense, because she was running a whole damn business. But as I looked at her now, I didn’t see that. She looked…relaxed. Beautiful. Warm and inviting, like sunshine.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my hands at my sides, fighting the urge to pull Lily closer. To find out if her lips tasted as sweet as I’d imagined.
“Do you?—”
“I should get going,” I interrupted before Lily could finish her question. Before I could do something that would threaten thejust businessrelationship we had. “It’s late.” My voice was softer this time.
“Right, of course.” Lily nodded. Her smile faltered ever so slightly but quickly returned. “Thank you again for dinner. I had a really great time. Goodnight, Gabe.”
“Goodnight, Lily.” I took a step back before I changed my mind. Once she’d made her way inside, and I saw her walking up the stairs through the window, I turned around and started the short walk back to Hal’s house.
All I could think about on the walk back was how our dinner was better than any date I’d ever been on.
