“I’m sure you are, and no one would be hiring you out of pity. I swear.” If anything, Gage had a feeling if Hannah got involved with either project, his other sisters would horn in and look to hire her as well. It was both the perfect solution and the worst.
“No,” she said, snapping him out of his thoughts. “I don’t want to work for myself. Not now. I like being part of a team and I’m not someone who should be her own boss.”
“Yeah, but…”
“No,” she repeated. “That’s…it’s not an option. There’s got to be a job out there for me. I’ll just have to widen my search.”
Great. Not only did he not have the solution, but he was possibly pushing her farther away.
“Hannah,” he carefully began, stepping in front of her. “Don’t do anything rash, okay? I mean…things are going great with us. I hate the thought of you rushing to move across the country because things are a little…limited right now in your job search.” Stepping in closer, he wrapped his arms around her. “I like what we have here. A lot. Am I alone in this?”
Her smile was sad and he didn’t take it as a good sign.
“Gage, this was why I was hesitant to get involved with you at all–even when it was just fake–and we both went into this knowing it was just for the holidays. We’re having fun and I do enjoy our time together. I just…I can’t handle everything else and relationship pressure. So if this is getting too weird for you…”
“No!” he said a little too quickly. “I mean…no. It’s not getting weird. I guess I’m already hating the thought of it ending. Christmas is a little less than three weeks away and time just seems to be flying.”
She placed her glass back down on the island and mimicked his pose. “I’m not loving how fast it’s going either, but I’m very practical and mentally prepared for it.” Going up on her toes, she kissed him tenderly on the lips. “But I think your idea has merit. Maybe if we head up to see your mom and spend some extra time there, it will be a good thing for me. A distraction. Do you think she’ll mind us showing up early?”
The thought made him laugh out loud. “Are you kidding me? This could be the thing that makes her the toast of the whole community! Her son coming to visit sooner so he can stay longer? And a potential daughter-in-law who’s a successful interior designer? Please, I may not even have to buy her a present this year.”
“Gage…I’m not…I mean…we’re not…” She sighed and looked up at him sadly. “You know this is still just for show with her, right?”
A moment of panic seized him because he realized how what he said must sound. Stepping back, he laughed again. “Of course I do! I’m just saying how she’ll make it sound to all her friends. She doesn’t know this is fake and that there’s no chance of us getting married. But for the holidays, that’s what she’s going to believe, so…”
“Oh,” she said, smiling with relief. “Okay. Whew! I just want to make sure we’re on the same page. I’d hate for things to be awkward and then we end up ruining things with your mom’s party and all that.”
“No chance of that happening. Don’t worry.” Then, because he needed something to do, Gage went back to grating the cheese. “When would you like to leave?”
“What about work? Don’t you have to be in the office at some point?”
He shrugged. “Things are sort of chill right now. I really only go into the office because I feel like I should. Most of the staff is working from home because…well…because we can. Things will pick up again after the new year, but because so many of the companies we work with are either closed for the holidays or simply not as active, there isn’t a whole lot that has to be done. A lot of these systems run themselves.”
“Great! Then maybe we can leave tomorrow?” Pausing, she seemed to be thinking about something. “So that will give me…ten days up there before I’m scheduled to leave, right?”
He nodded. “And you’re still not going to go up to see your family?” It was part of the ruse they had created, but now that things were mildly different between them, he hated the thought of her being alone.
“No. I can use the time to be job hunting.”
“Hannah, no one’s going to be doing interviews or hiring Christmas week. Why don’t you just stay with us up in Evergreen? It will be better than being all by yourself.”
“Gage…”
“Just…think about it. No pressure. This is just me being a good friend who doesn’t like to think of you home all by yourself on Christmas morning.”
She walked over and cozied up beside him. “Aww…that’s very sweet of you.”
“What can I say? I’m a sweet guy.” It sounded cheesy, even to him, but she didn’t tease him for it.
“You’re more than just a sweet guy, Gage Lawson. You’re one of the best guys I’ve ever known.”
“Hannah, I…” He was about to blurt out how he felt about her, but knew now wasn’t the time and it would potentially ruin the precarious hold he had on this relationship and send her running.
“Yes?”
So he decided to take a page from her book. “How hungry are you?”
“I don’t know. Not starving, but…” Gage scooped her up in his arms causing her to squeal with laughter. “Oh my goodness! What in the world?”
“Well, you’re not starving and I’m not starving, so what do you say we go inside and work up an appetite?” They were already beside his bed and he tossed her down and watched her bounce a few times before crawling over her. “I promise to give us both a workout and then feed you pasta, wine, and for dessert…”
“Cookies?”
Chuckling softly, he said, “No. But I did pick up some gelato. So what do you say?”
Her arms went around him as she pulled him down on top of her. “I say I’ve never looked forward to a workout more.”
No sooner were the words out of her mouth than Gage went into action.
Repeatedly.
It was crazy how much he wanted her. It didn’t matter if it were minutes or hours. The urge to touch her, hold her, and kiss her was always there. When they weren’t together, he was thinking about her and imagining all the things they were going to do once they were alone.
Part of him truly believed he could show her how much she meant to him without scaring her with the words. They had proven how compatible they were before they even got to the bedroom. Those hours in the elevator did exactly what Hannah said they would–that they knew each other better than couples who had been long-term dating.
He just hoped they’d get to the long-term part.
It bothered him that she was still so hell-bent on leaving and still looking at what they had as casual, but he wasn’t giving up.
Not yet.
Possibly not ever.
His parents may have divorced when Gage was young so he didn’t have a good example of what a good marriage looked like, but he did believe in love. Probably more than he should. And right now he believed in what he and Hannah were building and hopefully a little time in Evergreen surrounded by all-things Christmas, she’d start to believe in it too.