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"Or. You just need to learn to say no."
I sigh. "It's not that simple."
She perks up, her eyes widening with her smile. "You should spend Christmas with me in Vegas. Have you ever been?"
"Once or twice. For bachelor parties. It's not exactly my kind of place." I'm not sure I've been to enough places to know what my kind of place is, but I know Vegas isn't it.
"You haven't been there with me. I'll show you around and you'll love it."
Christmas is a busy time of year for my candy shop, but I have staff who could cover for me. And it might be good to see Cherry in her element, to remind myself I don't fit in her world, no matter how much I'm starting to wish I could.
"How can I refuse a private tour of Vegas from one of its most beautiful residents?"
She lowers her eyes and her cheeks go red.
"Why do compliments embarrass you when nothing else does?" I ask.
She looks up at me. "You know what I want for Christmas?"
"A pony?"
She laughs. "Maybe when I was a kid, but I've worked on a ranch with horses and it's not as romantic as it seems from the movies. It's stinky and dirty, and some horses can be assholes."
I nearly spit my drink on her, but manage to swallow before I laugh. "I have met a few asshole horses in my time. They're my grumpy soul mates."
She nods, narrowing her eyes like she's studying me. "I can totally see that."
"So, what do you want for Christmas?"
"I want a big family holiday. With chaos and tension and laughter and drunk uncles. I want a Christmas that's messy and fun." She swallows hard and looks away, her eyes shining.
I wish I was more than her friend so I could invite her to my family's Christmas. From her emotional reaction, I suspect it's not just the noise and chaos she craves, but the sense of belonging. Everything I want to escape is exactly what she longs for.
The server brings our food, seafood pasta for Cherry and eggplant parm for me. She takes a bite, closes her eyes and moans. And my appetite vanishes, my cock goes hard, and I'm three seconds from flipping this table and diving on her lap.
She opens her eyes and smiles like she knows exactly what she's doing to me. "This is delicious. You should try some."
She shoves her plate toward me and waits.
I stare. "If I wanted the seafood pasta, I'd have ordered it."
"Don't you want to taste it? How will you know if you ordered the right thing unless you try mine?"
Amusement bubbles up. "You want to try my pasta?"
"Great idea! We'll share."
I grip my plate to keep her from pulling it away. "Do you always want what someone else has? Or do you not like your seafood pasta?"
"I'm not trying to take your entire meal, Xavier. I just don't see the point of limiting my dining experience to one taste palate."
"You don't like the seafood pasta, do you? Was all that moaning just to make me think it's delicious, so I'll trade with you?"
She pouts, really putting it on. "I can't believe you think I'd trick you. I always do this at restaurants."
"Well, I like to eat the meal I ordered. You can have a taste of mine, but I'm not giving you half."
She sighs dramatically, her shoulders slumping. "Fine. I don't love the seafood pasta. But I wasn't trying to trick you. It tasted good at first, but there's a fishy aftertaste."
