She studies me for a moment before her eyes go wide and she gasps. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”
My jaw drops.
“Don’t lie to me, Jake Partridge.” She points a manicured nail in my face.
“What the hell gave me away?” My hands drop to my side, defences down.
She just throws her head back and laughs. “I know you, Jake. Plus, it makes sense.”
“It does?”
“Of course. She’s obviously been crushing on you since she got her first training bra, and you’ve been in love with her for years.”
Seriously. My jaw cannot get any lower. “Love?” I squeak and she just nods. “I think that might be a bit premature.”
Lisa rolls her eyes but smiles and shakes her head. “Baby boy, you are clueless.”
“We just started this; how could I have been in love with her already?”
“It is more than possible to be in love with someone without being with them. ‘How’s Nel?’ is always one of the first questions you ask when you see Harry, and then you seem to know more about her then he does. You’ve clearly been cyber-stalking her, you weirdo.” She winks at me to show she’s joking.
My mouth is a little dry. “Still,” I croak. “That doesn’t mean love.”
“Not necessarily,” she agrees. “But I think it does in this instance.”
I scrape my hand over my face, finding I can’t disagree with her right now. “Don’t say anything, okay?”
“Yeah,” she sighs. “Probably best not to spring this on Harry right now.”
I snort at that. “Well, he has only himself to blame.”
“How’s that?”
“He fucked up the hotel booking. They only had one room for both of us, so we’ve been sharing a room,” I laugh.
She gasps in delight and claps her hands together. “One bed?”
I nod, snorting in amusement at her enthusiasm.
“Oh God, it’s like a Christmas romance movie!”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Seriously though,” she says placing her hands on my shoulders. “I love this for you, both of you. Lord knows that girl needs some happy in her life right now and you deserve a fulfilling relationship.”
I smile at her. “Love you, Lis.”
“Alright, don’t go getting squishy on me.”
We hug and head back to the kitchen to continue the Christmas celebrations, and I feel as though a weight has been lifted.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“Oh, Jake’s hot now?”
NEL
Ihate to admit this, but this big family Christmas, complete with loud children and people talking over each other and forced socialising, is brilliant. After breakfast, the games started. We played a couple rounds of charades, and I discovered that the only thing worse than Charles and Gordan on a team together is Charles and Gordan on opposite teams. The gentle and always smiling brothers turn into the Kray twins with a little friendly competition. Their wives just roll their eyes and ignore their raucous banter while I was tearing up through my laughter.
