“What?”
“Why don’t you invite Samir to come with you?” he said.
I opened my mouth to protest but the prospect of spending more time with him had a certain appeal to it. Besides, it’d be good to see how he was with kids for longer than two minutes.
When I looked up at Enzo, he was still waiting for an answer, but amusement was evident on his face.
“Why would I invite him?” I said.
I didn’t need Enzo to know I wasn’t that opposed to these twelve dates thing with Samir. Enzo was already insufferable. I didn’t need him to be completely annoying by telling him I enjoyed Samir’s company.
“Why not? It’s your chance to get another date down, anyway.”
I pretended to ponder it over for a minute before I relented and sent a message to Samir.
His response was immediate.
Samir: I’d love to join you.
I swallowed a frog that formed in my throat instantly and tried to bite down the smile that threatened to break through my lips. But I didn’t let it show. Not just for Enzo but for myself too. I didn’t need to get too attached to the idea of Samir.
Even if the thought of seeing him again caused somersaults in my stomach.
He stood outside the bookstore when I pulled up, dressed in a straight, long gray coat that made him look so formal and sexy,and his huge smile only made him more attractive. He got into the passenger seat, and the first thing he did after putting his seatbelt on was turn to the back and wave at Ella.
“Hello, gorgeous girl. Are you excited to go Christmas tree shopping?”
I checked on Ella in the rearview, and she nodded all shy and cute. Gosh, I loved my daughter.
“Thanks for tagging along,” I said.
“Thanks for asking me to tag along,” he replied.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d mind.” I pursed my lips and glanced at him.
“Why would I mind?”
I shrugged.
“Because… picking a Christmas tree. You don’t even celebrate it, do you?”
He laughed.
“I don’t but that doesn’t mean I don’t like being wrapped up in the holiday spirit. This town is so pretty at Christmas.”
I breathed a sigh of relief and focused on the drive that looked like a holiday card right out of Hallmark.
“It is,” I said.
The Christmas music from the radio became a quiet lullaby in the car on our way to Hummingbird County and Peregrine’s tree farm. It was such a weird vibe. We were strangers sitting in a car on our way to do something so intimate and yet it felt… cozy.Almost family-like. But I quickly shook that notion out of my head.
As soon as we got to the farm, I was deflated. The line was so long. There was no chance we’d get out of here any time soon.
“Busy, huh,” Samir commented, and I sighed.
“I should have expected it. Who knows how long we’ll be here. I hope you haven’t got somewhere to be after this.”
“Don’t worry,” Samir said and reached for my knee, brushing it ever so gently, ever so quickly, and yet it left a scorching mark on the spot that traveled to the rest of my body. “I’m all yours.”
