Page 91 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

Anthony crossed his arm. “And a decade later, you haven’t learned not to irritate me?”

“Please, it will only get worse now that you are dating my girl.” She tapped that pen twice on the wooden clipboard and Anthony fought the urge to take it away from her. “Now, name.”

“Anthony Russo.”

“Age?”

“Thirty-one.”

“Wunderbar. Occupation?”

Her rapid-fire questions were making his head ache. “You’re really going to go through this like you don’t know the answers?”

“I’ve got all night, Ant.”

“Business owner.”

“Three more. Height, hobbies, and perfect date?”

Anthony caught sight of Delilah laughing at something her interviewee said and his fingers flexed. “Six foot three. I like fishing, camping, hiking, anything outdoors.” She was still talking to the guy and his jaw tightened. “Punching idiots who think they’re funny.”

Holly looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. “Would you get a grip on your alpha maleness? Delilah is crazy about you and has no interest in anyone else. Now, perfect date?”

Anthony continued to watch Delilah give the funny guy she’d interviewed a little wave and the next man stepped up. She was a ray of sunshine whose smile exuded warmth and he wanted to be the one basking in it, instead of sharing her with a roomful of people.

Suddenly, something hard smacked against his bicep and he realized that Holly hit him with a clipboard. “Ow! What?”

“Perfect. Date! I’d like to go home some time tonight.”

“Fine, you wanna know what my perfect date looks like? Just me and my girl, eating a meal, and spending time together. Alone.”

“Was that so hard?” Holly asked, scribbling rapidly with her pen across the paper. Finally, she pressed the top with an aggressive click. “Now, go away! I have twenty more people on this list and you took forever. Next!”

Anthony turned and headed to the back of the room where Pike waited for him. He pulled up next to his friend, shaking his head. “Has Holly always been mean?”

“She once added glitter glue to my body wash when I spent the night at Nick’s house. Yeah, she’s mean as fuck,” Pike said.

Anthony chuckled. “I guess dating her best friend makes her extra mean.”

“Could be. I’ve never been in your position, so I have no idea. Or maybe she’s afraid that you’re going to drop out of the bachelor auction now that you’ve got a girlfriend.”

Girlfriend. It was a foreign word that he hadn’t used for anyone in a long time but Delilah could definitely do justice to that moniker. Since their first kiss, there had been a lot of doubt and misunderstanding between them. Maybe this was the time to put all that to rest and show her how special she is.

“I’ll be right back,” Anthony said, heading back toward Holly.

“Dude, where are you going? I’m starving!” Pike called after him but Anthony ignored him. He reached Holly before her next victim and she rolled her eyes.

“What do you want now?”

“I want to change my answer.”

“To what?” she asked.

Anthony grinned. “My perfect date.”

The rest of the interviews went smoothly, and when Delilah finished her last one a little over an hour later, she was ready to collapse. She walked over to Holly and Merry, who were stacking up their bios in a neat pile on the front table. Delilah set her own pile next to theirs with a smile.

“All interviews complete and accounted for.”