“Stop me?” She tilted her head. “Do you have something against a sing-a-gram?”
“I’m sorry. What?” Charlotte twisted her hands together, shifting her weight left and right. “A sing-a-gram? You’re here tosing?”
“Yes.” The woman laughed. “I was hired to go to room 300 and sing three carols to a Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun. I take it you are not them.”
Charlotte blinked, her eyes wide as she repeated the same words. “To sing, for them? Not… wow. Okay. A sing-a-gram.”
The woman looked at me, amused.
“Char, hon, we should let her carry on with her sing-a-gram. Penny and Christian would love this.” I nodded toward their door. “We’re leaving now. Excuse us.”
“Wait. I can’t believe Garrett did this. I thought you were—”
“Coming in the morning,” I blurted out. Charlotte did not need to share our first thoughts about this. If I weren’t already secretly in love with Charlotte, I would be now. She was horribly awkward and trying so hard not to be. It was fucking adorable, and I reached over, squeezing her shoulder.
“Some people prefer late visits. Now, excuse me, I’m going to go sing.”
“Let’s go, Char,” I said softly, placing my hand on her back and guiding her toward the elevator. I picked up her laptop with my other hand. “Let’s let her do her thing.”
“A sing-a-gram.” She shook her head, laughing. “I almost called her a stripper!”
I chuckled as we entered the elevator. A beautiful voice carried down the hallway, the stunning woman definitely singing as Christian and Penny stood in the doorway.
What a trip.
I pressed the button to head to our rooms. Charlotte looked up at me, the red spots returning to her cheeks. “I feel silly that we spent all night guarding against a singer. You could’ve been doing other fun things.”
“I’m doing exactly what I want to right now, Charlotte.”
“Oh.”
Maybe it was the mirrors on every side, but the elevator felt small. I saw a dozen versions of Charlotte, all equally gorgeous. I met her gaze in one of the reflections and went to war with myself.
Kiss her. Don’t kiss her.
Do it. Ignore the pull toward her. Deal with the consequences later.
The air felt heavy around us, the scents of cinnamon and her vanilla perfume surrounding me. We just stared, neither saying anything as we arrived on the first floor. It had been years since I had a first date, and this felt like one. The twisting of my stomach and the sweat on my palms felt so strange. My mouth dried up as we walked toward our doors at the end of the hallway.
“Uh, so,” she said, her voice husky. She fidgeted with her phone as we faced each other outside her room. That’s when I noticed something I hadn’t before. There was a mistletoe above her door.
Kiss her. Just do it.
“Charlotte.” I bent down and set her laptop on the ground before nearing her. My heart fucking pounded like I had sprinted from center field to home plate. Placing one hand on the door behind her, I cupped her face with my other. Her chest heaved, and her lips parted as her gaze moved toward my mouth. “Do you still want to be kissed under the mistletoe?”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHARLOTTE
Forget feeling like I was falling through ice. This was like being on a roller coaster when you’ve forgotten to fasten the seat belt, so you were hanging in the air, trying to grip something to save yourself.
Hayden sucked in a breath, his eyes narrowing on my mouth. My knees almost gave out. He was so close. The man of my dreams had just asked if I wanted to be kissed. I gulped for air. I was free-falling into chaos. From the little touches all night, to my crush that never went away… my body was primed.
My stomach bottomed out. My brain left my head.
Hayden lowered his face so our lips were a breath apart. “Can I kiss you, Charlotte?”
Heat exploded between my thighs. His lips had barely touched mine when he asked the question, and yet he waited. Not quite closing the distance but not leaving enough air, so I breathed him in.
