“Yes.”
“But you just told us he was an asshole who wasn’t letting you come home for the holidays.”
“He regrets ever saying that,” Nicholas answered for me.
“Um, okay then. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Nicholas.” She smiled, looking like she wanted to say more, but thankfully she kept her mouth shut.
“Who’s your friend behind you?” she asked.
“No one,” we said together.
“I’m Jeremiah Reaves.” He extended his hand. “I’m just tagging along for business. Act like I’m not here.”
“If you insist…” She motioned for us to take off our coats.
“Have we missed much of the party?” I asked.
“Yeah, right.” She snorted. “The alcohol is just now being served, and Uncle John hasn’t pissed anybody off yet with his stories, so you’re beyond early.”
Ugh, great.
“Nicholas, I need you to do me a huge favor for Jenna’s sake while you’re here.” She looked at him. “Maybe just leave it at ‘boyfriend’ when you introduce yourself, so she won’t get grilled and yelled at by her dad, okay? He won’t take too kindly to the fact that you didn’t ask for permission to date her first.”
Nicholas arched an eyebrow, looking confused.
“Is that Jenna I see down the hall?” someone suddenly yelled.
“Jenna’s here?”
“Jennaaaa?”
The screams from my family members drowned out any chance of us finishing our conversation.
Bracing myself, I clasped Nicholas’s hand and pulled him past the long hall of Christmas trees, shaking hands and hugging my family members along the way.
Before they showed us to our guest suite—a room that overlooked my father’s garden he once shared with my mom—I slipped my engagement ring into my pocket.
They didn’t let us get a second alone to unpack and go over our script. Instead, my aunts showed us into our grand dining room and pushed all types of wine and liquor options in front of our faces.
Taking a long sip of spiced eggnog, I winced as the alcohol burned its way down my throat.
This is only for a few days, Jenna. Just think about the money…
A few hours later
“What are you doing?”I slipped into our room and spotted Nicholas sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I’m checking my email.”
“We agreed that we weren’t sharing the bed.”
“I’m aware, Miss Dawson.” He looked up at me. “I’m just sitting here, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t want you to get comfortable,” I said. “Next thing I know, you’ll want to take a nap there, and then after that, you might get the idea that I want to have sex with you.”
“You definitely want to have sex with me.” He stood to his feet. “Where do you suggest I sleep, then? There’s no sofa or chairs in here.”
“I’ll have my dad bring you some. No, wait.” I walked over to the closet. “Better yet, here.”
