“I didn’t know.”
“I always have been. Crazy about you.”
Silence passed between them like a caress. She was overwhelmed in the best way—trying to process... This was happening! To her. Connor likedher! He’d done all this for her. “I’m pleased to inform you that your dating consultant is crazy about you, too.”
He looked afraid to believe her.
“I am definitely, certifiably crazy about you,” she said. “And I would definitely, certifiably love to go to the Winter Market with you.”
“Shay.” The single syllable held deep emotion. He said no more and if she had to guess, she’d say that was because amazement had stolen additional words.
She knew the feeling.
“I’m only sorry,” she said, “that I didn’t realize how you felt about me and how I felt about you sooner.”
“Looking back, I think there was a reason for that. It wasn’t the right time.”
“We were too young,” she acknowledged. “But now? Now feelssoright.”
“Exactly right.”
He kissed her and she kissed him back in a field dotted with people, a stable, a shining star, and sheep trailing behind Genevieve.
The kiss went from soft to passionate back to soft again, so good it literally made her weak in her long-underwear-clad knees.
When she came up for air, her lips tingled as they observed each other. Over his shoulder, quite a distance away, Shay spotted movement and realized it was Penny, pumping her raised fists in the air.
“Merry Christmas,” he said.
“Merry Christmas.”
She’d wondered what it would feel like to have a boyfriend who was willing to go the extra mile.
It felt like a sacred trust, like hope, and amazing good fortune she didn’t deserve.
Come to think of it...
It felt a lot like Christmas.
