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“Sounds like you’ve already fallen.” Maddie grabs me by the shoulders. “The way I see it, the worst thing that could happen is you do nothing and maybe miss out on the best guy to ever come into your life. You don’t have to choose between frosting and cake. You can have both, Hailey. That’s pretty badass if you ask me.”
She’s right. Adrian took a risk accompanying me to the holiday party even though it went against everything he believes about Christmas. I can risk my heart, even if it means rejection. It’ll wreck me, but I’ll be better for it.Right?
“Oh, Maddie. He’s amazing. And I like him. A lot.” My heart feels like it’s about to burst. “He’s pretty perfect.”
***
Adrian
I arrive at Winslow Farm as the sun begins to set. The parking lot is mostly vacant, so I hope I’m not too late. It took a lot of groveling with the condo president and a promise to show up for the Secret Santa exchange to find out where Hailey works. It should have been a no-brainer with her elf costume, but half the stores in a four-county radius have employees decked in Christmas costumes.
I grab a discreet bag from the Jeep’s passenger seat and make my way to the front gate. Festive holiday music and squeals of laughter fill the night air. Twinkling lights crisscross pathways leading to several buildings. The place oozes old-fashioned Christmas charm. The kind portrayed in movies, complete with happy couples spinning circles on the ice and red-cheeked children playing in the snow.
It’s amazing what a little perspective can do to open a person’s eyes. Yesterday, I thought all of this was commercialism and greed. But there’s no amount of money that can buy a child’s peals of laughter or put a smile on a young lover’s face. That comes from within. I’m not entirely sold on all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the holiday, but I’m open to seeing it through Hailey’s eyes.
I only hope she didn’t mean it when she said she didn’t want anything more between us.I sure as hell want more.
A group of people wearing similar elf costumes as Hailey huddles around a firepit, so I begin my search with them. A redhead with Sugar etched on her nametag points me in the direction of Santa’s Workshop.
“Hailey should be finishing up.” Her eyes twinkle, and the group of women she’s with snicker and giggle. She grabs two cupcakes from a tray and places them in my hand. “Take her these for brownie points. They’re her favorite.”
“Thanks.” I hesitate, clearly missing the inside joke responsible for the group’s giggles. But I don’t waste a second trying to figure it out.
I approach Santa’s Workshop with my heart thudding so hard I feel it in my throat. There are a million ways this could go wrong and one way it will work out right.
Female voices filter through the large workshop lined with shelves of fresh-cut fir branches, twigs of berries, pinecones, and any number of items a person could want to create holiday decor. I pick out Hailey’s voice and follow its lilt.
“He’s pretty perfect.”
I round the corner of an aisle and catch the eye of a dark-haired woman. Her fingers wrap around Hailey’s shoulders. Her lip curls into a grin as she holds Hailey in place with her back to me. I’ve interrupted a private conversation but can’t back away now. Not when I’m so close to possibly getting everything I never knew I wanted or needed.
“Who’s perfect?” I close the distance between us, reaching Hailey as she whips around to face me. Her glossy blue eyes nearly bring me to my knees.
“Well, I’m going to take off.” The dark-haired woman with Cookie on her name tag grabs a cupcake from my hand as she scoots by. “Stop by the fire before you leave, Hailey.” Cookie’s eyes flit to mine with an amused warning. “So I know you’re in good hands.”
Cookie slips out the front door, leaving Hailey and I alone.
“What are you doing here?” Hailey fidgets nervously as I reach past her to set the remaining cupcake on the counter.
“You snuck out of my bed this morning.” I pull her strappy sandals from the paper bag I brought with me. I didn’t think she’d want everyone to know they were left on my floor, but they were the excuse I needed to prod me to come to the farm. “Do you know what happens to naughty elves who sneak out in the middle of the night?”
“Coal in my stocking?” Her lip twitches, and the wetness glossing her eyes is replaced with a fiery twinkle. She bites the edge of her lip and moves closer to me. “Maybe I need a spanking?”
The minx.
A surge of electricity races through my body, spurring me to make my move. I gather her in my arms and claim her lips. She arches into me, giving back as much as she takes. My fingers feather through her hair as her nails dig into my back. The heat between us charges the air and breathes life into my tainted soul.
We pull away from the kiss, breathless. Her swollen pink lips form a perfect pout as she fingers the buttons on my shirt.
“There’s something I need to say, Adrian.” She glances up at me, hesitant but sure of herself.
“I need to say something, too. We’re different, but none of that matters.” I keep my hands on Hailey’s body, fearful she’ll slip away as fast as she came into my life. “We don’t have to like the same things or feel the same way about everything for me to know that what I feel with you is what I want.”
“I’m greedy, Adrian.” She tilts her head. “I said I wouldn’t ask you for anything more, but if I don’t, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.”
“It sounds to me like we want the same thing.” I rest my forehead on hers. “I want you, Hailey. With all the trimmings.”
“I have another confession.” Her lashes flutter closed. “I stepped on one of the ornaments on your floor this morning.” She lifts her chin and opens her eyes. “I’m sorry I ruined one of your Christmas memories.”
