“Exactly.” My stepmom smiled, setting down the cards. “You know better, Jenna.”
“You sure do.” Brandon sat right across from me, a smirk on his face. “No cheating.”
Okay, just end me now…
“Anyone want to explain how the game goes for our new friend, Nicholas here?” my dad asked.
“Yes.” I sat up. “I can explain it to him outside for just a moment.”
“I think I need a refresher on how this game works,” Brandon said. “Tell us both.”
I rolled my eyes, but before I could explain, Elizabeth took it upon herself to play mediator.
“We go around saying a fact or fiction about each other and you have to answer really fast.”
“Ah!” My stepmom kissed her pinky. “Hold on, everyone. Just do small talk while I grab a Band-Aid. Elizabeth, you keep watch for cheating.”
Elizabeth nodded, looking around the table.
Everyone laughed.
Except me.
I was still on edge.
“So, question, Nicholas. I can call you that, right?”
“Just for the holidays.”
“Funny. Why don’t you tell us all how you knew Jenna was the one you wanted to be with?” Brandon asked. “I mean… she’d worked for you for years prior, and you just started dating recently, right?”
“That’s more than one question.” Nicholas pressed his hand against my shaking thigh, stilling me before he continued. “Jenna did work for me for years, but our becoming a couple is a bit of a long story, though.”
“I think we’re all in need of a feel-good tale today.” Brandon leaned back in his chair. “Anyone opposed to that?”
“No, I’d love to know.”
“Me too.”
“Yeah, take your time.”
Brandon rolled his eyes.
“Okay, I’m back.” My stepmom smiled. “Let’s do a few warmups as an example for Nicholas. Everything we’re having for dinner on Christmas this year is one hundred percent homemade.”
“Fiction,” everyone at the table uttered in unison.
“Okay, too easy.” She laughed. “How about, we have exactly five presents for Jenna under the Christmas tree.” She covered Elizabeth’s mouth before she could blurt it out and handed her a card. “Write it down. Then we can go with Brandon next—just for a warmup.”
“Gladly.” His eyes were on mine. “Jenna isn’t just dating or sleeping with her boss,” Brandon hissed. “She’s apparently secretly engaged to him, and for the groom’s sake, I hope there’s one hell of a prenup in the works.”
There was a collective gasp in the room, and Nicholas set down his pen.
“I highly suggest you walk that comment back within the next five seconds,” Nicholas warned.
“Which part?” Brandon looked deranged. “The part where you admit to sleeping with one of your employees or the part where I caution you from marrying a gold digger?”
“Both.”
