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“Oh dear. I didn’t know that. Honestly, I don’t know a lot about it. Is that a sleeping disorder?”
“No worries.” Serena shoots me a stiff smile. “Your son doesn’t know much about it either. And I’m good. I want to help finish these cookies and clean up. Besides, your mom and I were in the middle of a conversation.”
“Oh, no, dear … we’ll talk later. And I’ll have this cleaned up in no time. You go rest. I insist.”
“No. I couldn’t possibly—”
I slide my arms around Serena’s waist, pressing my chest to her back. She stiffens. I stiffen as well, just not in the same way. “Come on, my sweet little Christmas elf, let me take care of you.” I rest my chin on her head, thinking about kissing it, but I’m not sure we’re there yet, in our fake relationship.
Serena’s breaths quicken.
“Martha …” She attempts one last plea with my mom.
“Go. Really.”
I smile at mom.Thank you, Mother dearest.
On a pitiful sigh, Serena surrenders, wiping her hands on a towel. “Thank you, Martha.”
“No. Thankyou, sweetie.”
Oh joy … they’re using endearing terms too. Have they also planned the wedding? I wonder what Serena’s planning on wearing for our wedding night? I’m partial to light pink and lace.
“I don’t need a nap,” Serena grits between her teeth while we ascend the stairs.
“Good. That means you’ll stay awake while we chat, button nose.”
“What are we chatting about, little chestnut?”
I grin.
“So glad you asked.” I slip my hands into the pockets of my cargo pants when she turns toward me after reaching the attic. “I thought we had an understanding. You keep your made-up story to yourself.”
She crosses her arms. “First, it’s not made up. Second, she asked about my current project.”
“Then you lie to her.”
“Whoa … no. Just because you’re lying to your mom doesn’t mean I have to.”
I smirk. “So if you’re not lying to my mom, then you think we’re in a relationship.” I take a step closer to her.
She swallows hard.
“I’ll confess, since I’ve never been in a relationship, I can’t speak from experience, but I have it on good authority that people in a relationship have sex.Eat cookies.”
Her lips part, and I can hear her breaths one right after the other. I havenoidea where I’m going with this or what I’m doing. Just like I have no idea why I’ve been mesmerized by this woman since she plowed over my mailbox.
It’s a joke. We’re joking. Bantering. Pretending. Right? Yet she helps herself to a long glance at my mouth before slowly inching her gaze back to mine.
“I’m never selling this house,” she says like it’s the only thing she can say to sound confident.
“We’ll see about that.” I let my gaze slide along her body.
“You should uh … go help your mom clean up the kitchen.”
Scraping my teeth along my lower lip,notthinking about my mom, I murmur a slow “Uh-huh.”
“You look like your great grandfather.” Her unexpected comment brings my attention back to her face. “I’ve seen pictures of him.”
