Page 114 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“It’s not that it can’t survive, but why do you need to leave if I’m offering you a place to stay?”

Anthony pulled up to her duplex and put the truck in park and waited for her to respond. Finally, Delilah turned to face him, reaching for his hand and he let her take it.

“There is a difference between us talking about building a life with each other in a home six months from now rather than you offering your trailer up like a sacrifice.” He opened his mouth to argue, but she help up her hand, silently asking to finish and he let her. “I don’t want either one of us to feel pressured into moving too fast or making a decision that could put an unequal strain on our relationship.”

The weight of her words crushed him and he whispered, “Are you saying you’re afraid I would hold it against you if you moved in with me?”

“No,” she protested, her voice coming out high and squeaky.

“Are you sure? Because that’s what I took from that.”

“I think you could grow to resent me for invading your space.”

“Why do you think that?” he asked, dumbfounded that this conversation had taken a complete left turn off a cliff.

“You’ve never lived with anyone except your parents, right? We’d be tripping over each other in that trailer and you’d start resenting my hair everywhere or Leia waking you up at five in the morning to go to the bathroom.”

“And you’ve lived with so many people that you know this for sure?” Anthony hated the cutting edge to his voice, but he’d been talking with her about the house he was building for weeks, inviting her into his life. Yet she was writing him off as a bachelor so set in his ways he couldn’t share his space with her? Did she think he was blowing smoke up her ass when he’d told her that he would take Leia out at night to go to the bathroom? What did he have to do to convince her that he wanted her in every aspect of his world?

“No, but it’s a safe bet and I don’t want to take the chance that I’m right.” Delilah unbuckled her seat belt and crawled across the console to straddle his lap, and he moved the seat back to give them more space. “Can we just stick to our original plan and take this slow? I want to enjoy being with you and not worry about anything when we’re together. You know?” She kissed him softly and he let her, his mouth parting as she teased his lips with hers. “Be my happy place.”

Anthony didn’t say anything more, but her words resonated in him, because she was that for him. Not because she was an escape, but because she’d been the missing piece of a puzzle he’d been searching for. There was no way he was going to lose her now, but she wasn’t ready to believe that he was in this. That he wasn’t going to tuck tale.

Anthony had less than a month to convince her and he would do everything in his power to do it.

Chapter Thirty

Women poured through the double doors of the community center in droves, wearing sparkling formals and short, tight cocktail dresses and everything in between. The Parade of Lights had ended almost an hour ago, but they were still waiting on several bachelors to finish getting ready. Delilah and Holly stood by the doors, handing out programs and directing women inside to Merry, who had their numbers and table assignments. For being such a crunch-time event, it had come together well.

Knock on wood.

The committee had really outdone themselves with the decorations. One side of the community center had dozens of tables with white linen tablecloth and floral centerpieces. Twinkling fairy lights were looped across the ceilings, and the lights had been dimmed to give the room an almost starry night effect. Everyone seemed happy with the results. Mostly everyone.

A blond woman in her thirties took a program and flipped it open in front of her. “I’m just disappointed they waited until now to host one of these.” She looked up, meeting Delilah’s gaze, but speaking to her brunette friend with the pointy red nails. “There are several men not on this list I would have happily dumped money into.”

“I think he’s cute,” her friend said, stopping on a page and holding it out to her.

“Hmmm, definitely tempting. Let’s go find our seats and browse the merchandise.”

This really is like a meat market, Delilah thought, her stomach lurching at the thought of these women talking about Anthony like a rack of lamb. Of ogling him. Betting on him.

Oh, God, what if I didn’t bring enough money?

“Hey,” Holly stage whispered, breaking through her panic. She pointed to her mouth and gave Delilah a wide, garish grin. “Smile. That dress is stunning, but your face … ”

“What’s the matter with my face?” Delilah asked

“You look like you’re judging them.”

“I do not.” Although, she absolutely was, she couldn’t admit that out loud. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“You mean besides the fact that you may not have brought enough cash to buy Anthony?”

Delilah gasped. “How did you know I was thinking that?”

“I’ve seen several women flashing their wads and marking pages. Trust me, if Declan was on that stage, I’d be having a panic attack.”

Delilah scowled. “I thought boyfriends were off-limits.”