“Well…obviously not a lot of money…”
The elevator doors opened and he was thankful no one else was in there. As soon as the doors slid shut, he stepped in close until her back was against the smooth paneled wall and kissed her. It was becoming one of his favorite places to do this sort of thing. Although, if he were honest, he’d say he loved kissing her just about anywhere. Their time was running out, and she was leaving in two days and…he wasn’t ready.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Gage thought all this time with him and his family would convince her to stay–and not just through Christmas. She hadn’t talked much about her job search, but he had a feeling she just wasn’t talking about it to him. It was something he was coming to learn about her–if it was something Hannah didn’t want to talk about or deal with, she’d simply walk away from it or avoid the subject.
Of course, he hadn’t been asking too much about it either lately, primarily because they were in this semi-fake relationship bubble and he didn’t want to do anything to burst it. Sure it wasn’t the healthiest thing to be doing, but it certainly helped them keep their stories straight if they ignored reality.
But for how much longer?
When the doors opened in the lobby, he reluctantly broke the kiss and took her by the hand. Christmas music was playing and there were already a large number of people milling about admiring all the decorations.
“Your work is a big hit,” he murmured to her, keeping her close. “This is the most festive this place has ever looked.”
“Well…I don’t know about that. But I do know that I’m happy with what we created and I made sure we documented everything so they can recreate it again next year if they want to.”
“Gage! Hannah! Over here!” He looked across the room and saw his sister Christina waving them over. The closer they got, Gage was able to see how pretty much the entire extended family was already together. There was a lot of hugging and greeting and it was hard to be heard over the music, but eventually they all made their way over to the tables his mother had reserved for them.
Before they could even get comfortable, Rebecca came over and asked if she could introduce Hannah to some friends. Gage wanted to protest, but Hannah simply kissed him on the cheek and promised she’d be right back. No sooner was her seat vacant than his sister Christina quickly sat down in it.
“So…?” she said with a knowing smile.
“So?”
“I have to admit, at first I thought it was kind of ‘convenient’ how you suddenly fell head over heels in love right after we were naming women we all wanted to fix you up with, but after spending the day with Hannah, we totally get it.”
“We?” he asked with a small, nervous laugh.
She nodded. “Yup. We. All of us. Although I think Sarah’s still a little upset because she had hopes of you marrying Irene.”
“That was never going to happen and she needs to get over it.”
“Oh, I know and that’s what we all told her and once she let it go, she was in total agreement. She’s amazing, Gage. Seriously. And it really sucks that she’s not staying for Christmas.”
“Well…”
“No, no, no…we get it and it’s only fair that she’s going home to spend it with her own family. After all, this relationship is so new that you both already had plans made. Still, I’m sure you wish she were staying.”
You have no idea…
“I do, but…I get it. Besides, you know how busy things are here between Christmas and New Year’s Eve so…it will be a good distraction.”
She studied him for a moment. “Will it?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just that…” Pausing, she sighed. “I was talking to Bill about it on our way here and he sort of pointed out how hard it must be for you every year.”
For the life of him, Gage had no idea what that meant, so he just waited for her to explain herself.
“You come here and we all get together and you’re…it’s just you. We’re all married and have kids and I imagine there are times when it kind of sucks to be the single one. The odd man out, right? And then we start hounding you about getting married and throwing every single woman we know at you and…I’m sorry. Part of me thought we were helping, but Bill pointed out that maybe it was making you uncomfortable.”
“That’s a bit of an understatement,” he said flatly.
“Look, all I’m saying is…we’re here for you now with Hannah. Whatever you need, we’ll help.”
“What are you talking about? Help with what?”
Her eyes went wide for a brief moment before she laughed and waved him off. “You know…just…anything. You need us to build you up? We’ll do it. Need us to show her how great you are with kids? We’ve got tons of them. The two of you can babysit together.”
“Chris…”
“Seriously, please babysit so Bill and I can go out tomorrow night!” she said frantically, grabbing both his hands in hers before laughing.
There was a part of him that knew she was only joking, but just to be sure, he said, “I’m not spending my last night with Hannah watching the kids. Sorry.”
Yanking her hands back with a faux pout, Christina sighed dramatically. “You’re no fun.”
“Yeah, well…”
They talked about how his nieces and nephews were doing and about what they were getting for Christmas when he began to worry about Hannah. Glancing around the room, he spotted her surrounded by several of the residents who were introducing her to…
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Christina murmured, following his line of vision. “You need to go and put a stop to that nonsense right now.”
Rising, he kept his eyes on Hannah. “I’m on it.” Striding across the room, Gage ignored the greetings and well-wishers who tried to talk to him. As soon as he was close enough, the conversation he heard simply confirmed his suspicion.
“I’m just saying, Hannah,” Betty Allen was saying. “My Steven is a doctor! He lives in Chapel Hill so he’s not too far away from you. Maybe the two of you…”
That was when he stepped in and wrapped his arm possessively around Hannah’s waist and kissed her on the cheek. “I was hoping we’d kick off the night with a dance.”
“That sounds lovely,” she said as she smiled up at him with, eyes full of gratitude. “It was nice to meet…all of you. I hope you enjoy the party!” Once they turned and started to walk away, he felt her sag against him. “Thank you for rescuing me. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of there.”
“I can’t believe they were introducing you to all their sons like I wasn’t even here! I mean…that’s just crazy! Don’t they have any respect?”
“I think every crazy theory your mom has told us about is true. I think Irene dodged a bullet.”
“Why does everyone keep bringing up Irene?” he asked with a growl.
But Hannah just laughed. “Stop. I’m just messing with you. Come on. Let’s go dance.”
That sounded great to him. It wasn’t until they were in the middle of the dance floor and Hannah was securely in his arms that he started to relax.