Page 17 of Mistletoe Mistake
"What is it, then?"
“I don't want..." He trailed off for a moment in a hesitant uncertainty that seemed out of character for him, before deciding on an answer. "I don't want to owe you anything."
Owe me? What the hell did that mean?
As I tried to figure it out, my mind flashed back to how things had gone at the hotel the other night and how he had been insistent on settling the ‘terms’ before anything happened between us.
"So, you'd be more comfortable with some kind of payment involved?" I guessed, wanting to be sure I understood.
With his nod, the aching between my legs grew even stronger than before, taking me completely by surprise. Why did Ilikethe idea of him paying me? I had no idea, but obviously, I did. My body’s reaction couldn’t be denied.
Taking another deep breath to steady myself, I made my own proposal. “In that case, let’s agree on a payment.”
His eyes widened in surprise, looking even more startled now than he had when I'd asked him to spend the night with me. “I assume you're not talking about money?”
I had no interest in his money, and I told him so. “No. I have enough money.”
That made him laugh again, a genuine laugh that lit up his whole face, and I liked the way his dark eyes shone when it did. His usual smouldering look was sexy as hell, but when he laughed, I could glimpse something sweet and almost innocent about him.
He shook his head in amusement. “No one has ever said that to me before.”
With a shrug, I smiled back at him. “I'm sure you have more money than I do, but that's not what I'm interested in.”
Cole’s eyes scanned me curiously, trying to determine how serious I might be. “What do you want out of it, then?”
The ridiculousness of his question almost made me laugh. All I really wanted was to spend the night with him, but it seemed like in his head, that would only benefit him. Apparently, I would have to think of something else to ask for.
What could I request instead? As I looked around the room, trying to think of something that would work, my eyes fell on the calendar on my wall. When I’d flipped it over to December on Friday morning, my stomach sank at the sight of all the green and red-coloured events written in. I'd filled it all out at the beginning of the year, back when I still thought I would be getting married this Christmas. I still had tickets for most of the events, but I hadn't been sure if I would still go to them.
That night, Edwin and I had been planning to take his best man, Robert, and my maid of honour, Holly, to the annual Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park. Holly and I were still planning to go and enjoy ourselves, but that left two extra tickets. Maybe it would be fun to bring Cole and Jackson with us? It would be nice to have people there who didn't know about the messiness of my personal life, giving me something else to focus on rather than thinking about what might have been.
With my mind made up, I turned back to Cole. “I have some extra tickets tonight for a Christmas event. Come with me.”
The mere mention of Christmas made his expression darken, which in turn made me even more curious. He hadn't been kidding: he really didn't like Christmas, and I couldn't help wondering why. There had to be more to it than what he'd said the other night. I could understand finding it mildly annoying, but what I saw on his face right now was outright dislike.
His reply sounded suspicious and cautious. “What kind of an event? I'm not going to help you chop down a tree or anything.”
The idea of Cole standing in a field of trees in his expensive suit made me laugh. "This is England, not New England. We don't have fields of Christmas trees around every corner. I have an artificial tree and it suits me just fine.”
His lips twitched, but he quickly pulled the smile back. “What did you have in mind, then?”
“Holly and I are going to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. You and Jackson could come with us.”
“And then what?” he asked, clearly trying to lay out the terms of my proposal in his head.
“If we have a good time and you aren't a total killjoy, you and I can go back to your hotel afterwards. You spend a couple of hours with me, I spend a couple of hours with you. That's it. No further complications.”
As he looked away from me, I could almost see the wheels in his brain turning, trying to calculate the risks, and I couldn't help wondering what had happened to him to make him so guarded about even casual sex. I hadn’t asked him for any kind of commitment and I had no plans to.
"I suppose until you sign the contract, we're not actually working together." He said the words thoughtfully, still thinking it over.
"Right. We need to have our lawyers look things over anyway. By the time we're ready to sign, this will be over and done with. We'll have got... whatever this is... out of our systems.”
He nodded, making it clear he also thought it would be simply a matter of breaking the sexual tension so things could be normal between us.
“What happens at this Wonderland?”
Cole leaned back in his chair as a thrill of anticipation ran through me. Did that mean he would accept my offer? I tried not to show my excitement at that prospect and simply answer his question instead. “It's kind of like a carnival.There are rides and food and a market. It's a lot of fun, actually.”
