I lift a hand and wave to him. He runs his fingers over his jaw and smiles back. A man shoving his plate toward me, waiting for his dinner, interrupts our moment.
I get right back to work, serving and smiling, all while chancing casual glances at Hunter. And every time I search for him, he’s staring at me with a grin.
As the hours pass, I continue to serve food and prep the table for desserts. It’s been nonstop, and it makes the time pass fast. Since everyone is now inside, Hunter isn’t needed by the door. He’s been going around the room, clearing trash and making small talk, and I catch him a few times, telling dirty Christmas jokes with a table of men. Currently, he’s playing cards with another group.
Someone put a Santa hat on his head, and to my surprise, he’s kept it there. By the time the coffee is served, the boxes of blankets and coats have come out, and another crew of volunteers is sifting through them, handing them out to the men who have formed two lines to receive their gifts.
Hunter is walking around a table, clearing the plates off into a trash bag, when I hand him two cups of coffee.
“Care for a break?” I ask.
He sees me, smiles, and puts the bag to the side. “Sure.”
As I sit down, he slides the Santa hat off his head. His normally disheveled hair is an upright mess, and it’s beyond sexy.
I put his coffee cup in front of him. It’s black with two sugars. He takes a sip.
“You know how I take my coffee,” he states, impressed.
“I notice things,” I recite a line he’s said to me more than once.
“Oh yeah?” He raises a brow. “Like what?”
I curve my hands around my cup and let the warmth seep through my palms. “You’re a good man, Hunter.”
“I wouldn’t go around, starting rumors like that, if I were you.”
I laugh. “You didn’t just come here to spy on me. It took some legwork to get hundreds of donations.”
“I might have asked the Advertising department for a contact at one of our sponsors to see if they had anything lying around.”
I reach across the table and lay my hand on top of his. “You went out of your way. It’s very admirable.”
He looks down to where I’m touching him and grins. His other hand rises and covers mine. “I’m glad you think so.”
We exchange bashful smiles, and I hide mine behind my coffee cup.
A clearing of a throat interrupts us. I turn around to see Sheryl standing behind me.
“The evening is almost done, and there’s only cleanup left to do. Why don’t you two head home?” she says.
I look up at her and shake my head. “I plan on staying until the very end.”
She smiles. “Your seven hours are up. Go home and get some rest.”
I’m about to argue again when Hunter squeezes my hand. I turn and see him leaning forward with a nod toward the front door.
I say good-bye to the people I volunteered with and give my contact information, so I can be called for more events. I know they can use as much help as they can get, and after today, I think this is something I can find great fulfillment in doing.
Hunter helps me slide my coat on, and together, we walk outside into the freezing December night. The normally crowded streets are vacant, which provides an unexpectedly peaceful moment as we stand under the streetlamp on the corner.
My phone vibrates in my bag, so I stop and take it out, seeing the incoming text message from Branson.
Waiting for you when you’re ready.
I don’t respond. Instead, I lock my phone and place it inside my coat pocket as I spy the car service I booked, parked idly across the street. Hunter is staring at me, waiting with a purposeful stance. I lean forward and raise his collar, pulling it tight to protect his neck.
His reddened cheeks rise slightly. “Walk me to my car.”
I’m surprised by his command but follow along anyway. The other two nights we were together, he walked me home or put me in a cab. It’s only courteous that I return the favor tonight.
We walk down the street, our steps silent in the puffy snow. When we get to his car, parked on the street, he stops just outside the passenger side and turns to me.
“Here’s the thing,” he says with his hands out, like he needs me to stop and pay attention to what he’s about to say. “When I told my mother that a beautiful woman I’m dating was spending Christmas alone, she demanded that I bring her home for the holiday.”
“Why did you tell your mother about me? It’s a faux relationship.” I try to say this nonchalantly, but something inside me flutters at the notion that he told his mother about me. “Tell her it’s sweet that she wants me there, but I’m good on my own. Besides, Branson asked me to go to a dinner with him tonight. I have somewhere to go.”
Hunter has a glazed-over expression as he stares at me. I know what he’s about to say.
“I know,” I start, not letting him say it first. “He’s out of my league. And I have to thank you. You’re a genius. Him thinking we’re together is making him see me as more than an assistant.”
His jaw tightens as he looks down at the snow. “How does that make you feel?”
“Good, I suppose.”
“It doesn’t bother you that he only wants you because someone else does?
He wastes no time in closing the gap between us and places a hand on my waist, pulling me into him.
“Katie,” he says. It stops my feigned indifference and has me staring up into his stone-cold, serious expression. “If you’d listened correctly, you would have heard that I said you’re out of his league. He never stood a chance.”
I have to catch my breath from the gasp that escapes my lips. “You did say that, didn’t you?”
He smiles that deliriously gorgeous grin, leans just a touch closer, and whispers into my ear, “I want you with me this Christmas.”
A genuine rush of elation courses through my body. “You do?” I ask wistfully, trying to maintain my composure. “I shouldn’t impose. Where would I sleep?”
The sides of his eyes crinkle with an air of mischief while he pushes a stray hair off my face. “We can think of something.”
I smash my lips together while I widen my eyes.
He gives a hearty laugh. “I’m kidding. Well, kind of.” He rests his forehead against mine, the warmth of him enveloping me. “Come home with me, Katie. Spend Christmas with me.”
I close my eyes and breathe him in.
Uptown, the man who I thought was the one I wanted is waiting for me to spend the evening with him, embarking on shenanigans that I once dreamed of partaking in.
In front of me is a man who wants to bring me home to his family, and that’s something I never thought I’d ever want to do.
And yet, as I look up at Hunter—the roguish man with a devilish expression and a carefree personality—and fall into his caramel eyes, which open into his soul and bear a goodness he keeps hidden beneath the surface, I know there’s nothing else I want this Christmas.
“Yes,” I say and feel my smile down to my toes.
“Let’s get you home, kid.”
Chapter Nine
I’m nervous, sitting here with Hunter, driving to his parents’ house. I’m a stranger, popping in on a family. And this isn’t any family dinner. It’s Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Tomorrow, I’ll sit around the tree and watch everyone open gifts as the outsider, awkwardly peering at them. My tummy rattles with nerves.