AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Julia caught her staring and a silent look passed between them before she ushered us to another staircase.
“Why don’t you go upstairs and get settled,” Julia urged. “Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours.”
“Thanks, mom.” Jameson leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, and I have to admit, I swooned a little. It was clear there was something going on between him and his family, but it was also obvious he loved his mother. Very much.
It made my heart ache a little knowing I would never have anything like that again. I tried to ignore those feelings as I followed him up the grand staircase and into a master suite.
“They obviously expect us to sleep in the same room,” he uttered in a stiff tone. “So you can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I protested. “I can take the sofa.”
It felt weird to be sleeping in his bed while he slept on a couch.
“You’re not sleeping on the sofa, Harper. These next two weeks are probably going to be rough, so you’ll need all the rest you can get.”
“Okay.” I frowned at his cryptic words. How rough did he think it was going to get exactly?
“I have some work to do.”
He wasn’t looking at me, and the tension between us was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. My stomach clenched, and my eyes burned. I wondered if he really couldn’t stand the sight of me.
“Right.” I nodded. “I’ll um, make myself scarce.”
“There’s a library on the lower level,” he suggested. “Or a TV in the next room.”
“Okay.” I blinked back my emotions and walked towards the door. “See you later then.”
***
I wandered around downstairs for a while, unable to locate the mystical library that Jameson spoke of.
As I roamed around this strange house, I was coming to regret my decision. I had no idea what I was doing here. Why did Jameson even want this? I didn’t understand. And I didn’t know how I was going to make it through two weeks of his icy cold exterior.
I couldn’t even imagine pulling this off. How was I going to pretend to be head over heels in love with him when he couldn’t even look at me?
I snuck down an empty corridor and pulled out my phone to text Katia. There were already three texts from her asking me for deets. Her word, not mine.
As I texted her back, I heard voices carrying from the kitchen. Something delicious floated through the air and made my mouth water, followed by the sound of laughter.
Sure enough, when I poked my head around the corner, there were Jameson’s mom and sisters, all sitting around the center island with smiles on their faces.
My heart squeezed in my chest, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I missed having a family. I missed having a mother or an aunt or someone who cared about me. Someone that wanted to spend the holidays with me.
“I told him that until he was willing to put a ring on my finger, I was withholding his special Christmas cookie.”
“Cookie, or nookie?” Lily laughed.
“Maybe both,” Amelia mused. “At this rate, I’ll be too old to enjoy my honeymoon.”
“You’re only twenty-seven,” Julia placated her. “There will be plenty of time for a happy marriage yet.”
“Speaking of…” Evelyn interrupted. “What do you think of Jameson’s new Goldie. Is she mining or what?”
“Evelyn,” Julia chided. “I will not have that kind of talk about your brother’s girlfriend. This is the first Christmas he’s been home in three years, and if you do anything to ruin it…”
“Alright,” Evelyn conceded. “I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking, though.”
“I don’t know,” Lily spoke thoughtfully. “She doesn’t really look like his type. I mean I know she’s dressed the part, but she looks too…”
“Sweet?” Julia supplied.
“Yes,” Amelia agreed. “She doesn’t seem like someone Jameson would date. At all.”
I closed my eyes and let out a shuddering breath. I didn’t want to hear any more of this conversation. This was a huge mistake, and I needed to go find Jameson and tell him exactly that.
