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She rolled her eyes at him. “Maybe. But more importantly, we’ve already taken a few hundred preorders on the website.”
Molly nodded. “And we have a list of customers at the restaurant, waiting to get their hands on them, too.”
Grady narrowed his eyes at her, but she just laughed. “I mean on the calendars, not on you guys!”
Hannah laughed with her as Grady said, “We all know that’s not what you meant.”
Cameron and his wife, Piper, appeared and waved at Hannah. She hadn’t had the chance to catch up with them yet. “Do you all want to get a hot chocolate?” Cameron asked.
Grady checked his watch. “You should get them while you can. Jacob’s going to do his thing soon and he wants Ava up there ten minutes before, so we’d better go.”
Hannah checked her watch, surprised at how quickly the time had gone. She smiled at Ava, who’d come and taken hold of her hand.
“You’re going to do great, sweetie.”
Ava smiled back at her. “I know. I practiced with Uncle Jacob.”
Molly raised her eyebrows at Hannah over Ava’s head and mouthed, “UncleJacob?”
Hannah nodded happily. Molly had known her brother for almost as long as she had. She couldn’t wait for her to see just how sweet he was with Ava. She’d have to catch up with her soon and tell her all about it. But for now, they needed to get Ava up to the house, so that she’d be ready for her big moment.
~ ~ ~
Grady loosened his grip on Hannah’s hand when he realized that he must be crushing her fingers. “Sorry.”
“No problem. And stop worrying, she’s going to be fine. Jacob told her that if she forgets what she’s supposed to say, she can just look at him and scratch her ear, and he’ll take over. And if that does happen, then when he stops, he’ll take hold of her hand and they’ll both say Merry Christmas together before she flips the switch.”
Grady turned away and ran his hand over his face.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry. It just … I got all choked up.” He had to blink a few times. “I would never have guessed that your brother would be so good with her.”
“Honestly, he’s surprised me, too. He’s never been the most … affectionate, no, that’s not the right word. I don’t know. He’s more … formal, I guess. He’s not a cold man, but he’s not exactly warm and fuzzy either.”
“That was what I expected. I thought he was just this big time CEO. I thought he’d be all business and no … caring. But he’s awesome. He’s been so good with Ava and with me, too.”
“I think he’s mellowing as he gets older. But I think the way he’s been with you and Ava is because he can see how important you both are to me.”
Grady turned to look at her. Up until now they’d both been keeping their eyes on the stage, waiting for Jacob and Ava to make their way up there. “You’re important to me, Hannah. At the risk of freaking you out and screwing up what should be a wonderful night, I have to tell you; I’m falling for you.”
She rolled up on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “That doesn’t freak me out. It makes me feel better, because I’m falling for you, too.”
He slid his fingers into her hair and drew her closer, claiming her mouth in a kiss that made the crowd around them disappear. As her arms came up around his shoulders and she kissed him back, all he could think was that she felt so damn right. He hadn’t wanted to make any kind of commitment to a woman in his thirty-five years on this Earth. But in that moment, he knew that was what he wanted with Hannah.
When he finally lifted his head, her eyes were shining as they looked up into his. She opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of Jacob’s voice over the speaker system cut her off.
“Welcome, everyone, and thank you all for coming tonight.”
Hannah pointed at Ava who was standing up straight and smiling – while she clung to Jacob’s hand.
“You’re going to have to tell me what kind of Cognac he drinks. I have to get him a Christmas present after this.” He wrapped his arm around Hannah’s shoulders as they watched Ava step up to the microphone.
“She’s got this,” Hannah murmured.
Grady loved that now she was the one gripping his hand. She was like a nervous mother. That thought made his heart beat faster than it already was. Would Ava one day think of her as her mom? Would they have kids of their own one day? The thought wasn’t as scary as it should be. In fact, it wasn’t scary at all. He glanced over at Molly and Marcos. Marcos had little Luca out of his stroller and was holding him against his shoulder. The smile on his face was full of love, and pride, and so many emotions that Grady couldn’t name, but that he now knew he wanted to experience.
He looked back at Ava. She was speaking clearly into the mic, smiling around at the crowd as she did. Jacob must have put his work in to boost her confidence. Grady didn’t think he’d ever seen her look so sure of herself. She continued scanning the crowd until her gaze settled on him and Hannah. He gave her the thumbs up, and Hannah blew her a kiss.
