Page 74 of The Mistletoe Mix-up

“Thanks. I appreciate you not wanting to rip off my balls for being in your house.”

“Sam?” Wren called from the back bedroom.

Sam got up and put the contract back. “Yeah?”

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Duke was whining, so I let him out.” Sam looked down at the dog. “We better get back in there.”

Duke trotted along beside him, heading straight for his kennel when they got back to the bedroom.

“Was I out long?” she asked.

“Only ten minutes or so.”

She yawned. “Come back to bed.”

Sam did what she asked, crawling under the covers and tucking her into his body.

“Wren?” he asked.

“Hmmm.”

“Just so we’re clear, if I donate a kidney, then I get to meet the kid.”

Wren glanced up at him, confused. “What?”

“Your contact says if the kid gets sick, I have to get tested to see if I’m a match. I’m just telling you that if I donate a major organ, I get to meet him or her.”

Wren pulled back, staring at his face. “You read the contract?”

“I did.”

“And that’s your only beef?” she asked.

“All I ask.”

Wren shrugged. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

“I’ll amend the contract and get a copy sent to you.”

“Or you can bring it by during our next session,” he said, kissing her forehead. “If this is going to work, we are going to have to do this every day, maybe even multiple times.”

Wren smirked. “Whatever you say, boss.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Wren walked down the rows of trees inside the community center with Duke at her side, studying each beautifully decorated spruce and fir with a smile. The Festival of Trees was one of the biggest charity events of the season, and the organizers had asked a couple of officers to rotate throughout the day to keep an eye on things. Not that there was usually any trouble at this event, but after Wren’s conversation with the chief in regard to the Christmas Bandit, it was decided that they could never be too careful, especially with the amount of money that exchanged hands during the event. Although she’d rather be out patrolling the streets, it was fun to at least see some of the Mistletoe holiday events. Wren thought about her Christmas tree sitting in a bucket with bare limbs in her living room. If she ever got the chance to get over to A Shop for All Seasons before it closed, maybe she would grab a few special ornaments to start off her collection. Wren had very few that had survived her childhood, and although she imagined many handmade ornaments in her future, it would be years before that came to pass.

Wren was still coming down from the high of being with Sam and couldn’t believe that this was all happening. He had stayed over last night, too, and they’d made love twice more throughout the night with no talk about what was best for insemination or anything like that. They’d just spent time together, snuggling and watching TV. It had been wonderful.

Wren kept thinking about Sam’s question, about whether what they were doing would stop once she got pregnant. If this was just an arrangement, then everything else should end once it had been fulfilled, right? So why was it hard to think of Sam not being a part of her life now that they had reconnected? It wasn’t just that he was incredible in bed, which he was, but that he was kind and supportive. Funny and infuriating. He made her smile, and when he wasn’t around, she missed him.

You were the one who said that you didn’t want a relationship. Are you changing your mind already?

Wren was so confused by what she wanted and didn’t want. She’d never been around anyone like Sam, who made her feel comfortable and at peace. Her first instinct was to tell him they’d continue until one of them wanted to stop, but would that get complicated if she became pregnant? Would watching her make decisions in regard to the future for her and the baby be painful for him?