“I’m Gina, Maverick’s wife, and I have been dying to meet the woman who created my gorgeous niece.” She pulls back, dark eyes twinkling. “Enrick didn’t mention how beautiful you are.”
I catch Enrick shooting his sister-in-law a warning look, and Gina just grins wider.
“Don’t mind him,” Gina says, still holding my hands. “He gets all broody and protective. But seriously, I’ve been telling him for years that we should have you over, but he kept saying—”
She glances at Enrick, then back at me with a knowing smile. “Well, anyway. You’re here now. Come in. It’s freezing out here. Leave the bags; Enrick will get them.”
She links her arm through mine like we’re old friends, drawing me toward the house. I glance back to see Enrick watchingus. “How was your flight? Winter Bay in December is not for the faint of heart. I’ve got hot chocolate on the stove, the real stuff, not that powder mess, and the kids are decorating their Christmas trees...”
She chatters on, but I’m distracted by the interior of the house. It’s even more stunning inside—soaring ceilings, massive windows showcasing snow-covered mountains, a tree that does indeed touch the ceiling. Everything is elegant but warm, decorated in rich creams and golds with pops of deep red.
“Mommy, look!” Bella races back, dragging a small girl and boy with her. “This is Isa. She’s five, like me! And this is her big brother Asher. Penny and Mycah are somewhere...”
The house fills with the chaos of children as I meet Enrick’s older brother, Maverick—same sharp jaw, same easy smile, but with green eyes instead of blue. Two teenagers hang back: Mycah, who’s clearly Gina’s son from a previous relationship, and Penny, who must be Maverick’s daughter.
Everyone is welcoming, but I keep checking my phone. Two and a half hours until my flight.
“Let me show you where Bella sleeps when she visits her cousins,” Enrick says, appearing at my elbow.
I follow him up a curved staircase, trying not to notice how good his ass looks. Failed.
Lord, some things just aren’t fair. The man got better with age. His shoulders are broader now, and the carefree twenty-four-year-old has been replaced by someone who clearly knows his own power.
It’s not just physical attraction that twists my insides, though that would be simpler. It’s the complicated knot of emotions. Anger at his initial rejection of Bella, gratitude for his eventual commitment to her, resentment for the ease with which he provides what I work overtime to afford, and underneath it all, the dangerous whisper of what-if.
“This is Bella’s room,” he says, opening a door to reveal a little girl’s dream bedroom. A princess suite in soft purples and pinks, with a canopy bed and enough toys to stock a small store. “She helped design it last summer.”
“It’s perfect.” And it is. Everything here is perfect. Too perfect. It makes my three-bedroom townhouse in Atlanta look like a shoebox. “Listen, I really need to—”
“Ms. Okeke sent notes,” he says, moving closer. “Something about Bella’s new bedtime routine? And she’s been having those nightmares again?”
I step back, but there’s nowhere to go. I’m trapped between Enrick and a wall of built-in princess-themed shelving. “Just the one about the dark closet. She’s fine if you leave the hallway light on and crack her door.”
“The rainbow nightlight,” he says. “The one that projects stars. She told me about it when I called. I got one for her room at my place and one for here.” He gestures to the nightstand, where I see the same model I have at home.
“I really need to get to the airport. My flight—”
My phone buzzes with a notification. I glance down, and my heart sinks.
FLIGHT CANCELED DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS. WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE.
“No, no, no...” I frantically open the airline app, but every flight shows the same thing. Canceled. There are no other scheduled flights.
“What’s wrong?” Enrick leans in to look at my phone, and his proximity scrambles my brain cells.
“My flight’s canceled.” I scroll desperately through other airlines. Nothing. “I need to find another way...”
“Desiree.” His hand covers mine, stilling my frantic scrolling. “Look outside.”
I turn to the window, and my heart sinks further. The snow that was pretty and picturesque an hour ago is now coming down in thick sheets. I can barely see the trees fifty feet from the house.
“Nothing’s flying out of Winter Bay tonight. Probably not tomorrow either.”
I close my eyes, breathing through the panic. Stuck. I’m stuck in Enrick Hughes’s perfect mansion, surrounded by his perfect family, pretending I don’t still feel every perfect inch of him standing too close to me.
“Daddy!” Bella bounces into the room. Enrick immediately crouches down to her level, and I watch as he tucks one of her twist-outs behind her ear.
“What’s up, princess?” he asks.
