Diego laughed, and the sound did something weird to my insides that I blamed entirely on Mabel’s hot chocolate. “Avoiding me? And here I thought you were making special trips out to the ranch just to see me.”
“In your dreams,” I scoffed, though I felt heat creep up my neck. “Dolly sends me there for supplies.”
“And you’re just the obedient nephew, running errands without complaint?” His eyes danced with amusement. “Somehow I don’t buy that, Freckles.”
“Stop calling me that,” I muttered, but there wasn’t much heat behind it. The Christmas lights caught in his dark hair, making it look like he had stars caught in it. It was stupidly poetic, and I hated that I noticed.
“You know,” Diego said, his voice dropping lower, “you’re the first person I’ve met who looks at a Christmas festival like it’s a root canal.”
“Maybe I just don’t like forced holiday cheer.”
“Or maybe you don’t like anything,” he countered, but his tone was gentle, almost teasing. “Except complaining.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he stopped me with a finger against my lips. For half a second, I thought about biting him, but then I saw the little plastic plant he was holding in his left hand.
“Mistletoe,” he said, a cocky grin filling his face. “You know whatthat means.”
“You’re an idiot,” I said flatly.
“It’s tradition, Freckles,” Diego said, waggling his eyebrows as he dangled the dollar store mistletoe above us.
I felt my face flush with heat. “Put that away,” I hissed, looking around nervously. “People are watching.”
“That’s kind of the point of mistletoe,” he replied with that infuriating grin. His eyes sparkled with mischief in the Christmas lights, making him look unfairly handsome. “Come on, just a little holiday kiss. For tradition’s sake.”
“I don’t care about your stupid traditions,” I muttered, even as I noticed several people nearby had spotted us and were nudging each other, pointing in our direction.
Great. Just what I needed. To be the center of attention in this town of gossips.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” someone started chanting, and to my horror, others joined in.
Diego leaned closer, his voice low enough that only I could hear. “Just a quick peck on the cheek and they’ll leave us alone. Promise.”
I glared at him, but the crowd was getting louder, and Aunt Dolly was watching from across the square with a look that said I better not embarrass her. I rolled my eyes dramatically.
“Fine. One kiss. On the cheek.”
Diego’s smile widened, and he bent down slightly, offering his stubbled cheek. I leaned in reluctantly, planning to give him the briefest, most impersonal peck humanly possible. But at the last second, he turned his head, and my lips landed squarely on his.
The crowd erupted in cheers and whistles. I pulled back immediately, my face burning with embarrassment and something else I refused to acknowledge.
“You tricked me,” I accused, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand even though a part of me—a very small, clearly deranged part—had actually enjoyed the feel of his warm lips against mine.
“Did I?” Diego’s eyes sparkled with mischief, and he still had thatcocky fucking grin on his face that I was quickly growing to hate. “Or did you just secretly want an excuse to kiss me?”
The words had barely left his lips before the flat of my hand collided with his cheek, the resounding slap silencing the crowd that had been gathering around us. But Diego barely moved. In fact, he was still grinning as those warm brown eyes of his watched my fury.
“In yourfuckingdreams, cowboy,” I snapped.
Then, before that handsome face made me doubt once more, I turned on my heel and stormed out of the square.
Chapter 6
Diego
Ireached up, touching the heated flesh of my cheek where Hayden had slapped me. It stung, but not in the way I expected. Something about it sent a shiver through my body that quickly dropped to my cock. Suddenly my jeans were far too tight. Nobody had ever slapped me before.
“You okay, sugar?” Dolly asked, pulling me from my aroused stupor.
