Page 17 of Mistletoe Mischief

She paused and looked at what she was doing, shook her head and began to tear the paper haphazardly. It was a tube, with no indication of what was inside. The end of the tube popped off easily and she began pulling out tissue paper.

And more tissue paper. And more.

“What the hell?” she muttered.

Finally, a small, hard, wrapped box fell into her hand when she upended the tube and gave it a good shake. It was wrapped in the same silver paper. Cass stared at it for several long seconds before she started unwrapping again. This time she revealed a small chocolate box that saidKentucky Bourbon Ballsacross the top. She gave Roger a critical look.

“If you spent that much money for chocolate I’m going to march right back in there and get your money back.”

Roger was grinning, though, as if he knew what was in the package. Cass opened the box and pulled out another wad of tissue paper. She began unraveling it. Finally, a shining gold ring was revealed. Cass gasped as the stone caught the light. It looked like a real diamond. And the gold looked real, too.

Beside her, Roger snorted.

“Well, if that isn’t a message I don’t know what is,” he murmured.

Cass began to shake as he took the ring from her trembling fingers. Her gaze lifted to his in spite of the fear in her heart.

There was a calm smile on his incredibly handsome face. He took her left hand in his own. “Cassandra Jones, I’ve had an unbelievable night and day with you. Going on a blind date with you was the best thing I’ve done in a very,verylong time. Would you consider this ring a promise to invest in exploring this relationship further? We’ll call it a pre-engagement ring.”

Cass sniffed, trying not to bawl in front of him, but it was hard. He slipped the ring onto her left ring finger and she gasped. It fit as if it had been made for her.

A tear rolled down her cheek to drop onto their clasped hands. Tugging her toward him, Roger kissed away her tears. Then he kissed her lips.

Cass couldn’t breathe. There were so many emotions raging in her body. She had no idea what to say or do. She couldn’t even get a full breath.

“If you don’t at least nod or say yes,” Roger said, voice deep, “you’re going to break my heart.”

Then she could hear the anxiety in his own trembling voice. This wasn’t easy for him either.

“Yes,” she told him firmly, taking in a huge gulp of air. She needed to tell him what she felt. “You scare the bejeezus out of me but I definitely want to explore thisthingbetween us. You have made me feel more in the past twenty-four hours than I’ve felt in the past four years. No, let me change that. You’ve made me feel more in the past twenty-four hours than I ever have in mylife. I want to live like this with you, discovering everything about you, loving you.”

His eyes gleamed with moisture and she blinked to clear her vision. She couldn’t imagine anyone being this emotional overher. The girl with nothing.

Roger leaned in and rested his wet cheek against her own, then he kissed her. He tasted spectacular, even more so now that she knew this washerman.

Damn that sounded so strange. That plastic mistletoe mischief had actually worked…

Epilogue

Roger lookedat what he held in his hand and felt an elemental shift in the very core of his being. Cassandra was more woman than he’d ever met before, and he was fascinated bc everything she did. They’d been together for days now, every spare hour they could get together, but he had no desire to leave. Ever.

That was a very strange feeling for him. Normally, after a few hours, he needed to escape whatever company he was with. Even his buddies from work could wear on his nerves eventually, but not Cassandra. Every expression on her face, every movement of her body, every word out of her mouth was fascinating and precious to him.

And now he was counting down minutes until she called. He had to work later tonight, but he would spend the evening hours with her.

Excitement burrowed through him. She was late calling, and he was anxious as hell to get over there to be with her.

Moving around the apartment, he picked up a few clothes, tossing them into the laundry basket. There were a few dishes he loaded into the washer. All busywork he’d put off while he’d been absorbed in her.

When the text lit up his phone that she was leaving work, he gathered his things and walked out the door.

He would be starting the rest of his lifetonight.

* * *

Cass looked out the window, wondering if she had time to hop into the shower before Roger got there for dinner. An unexpected snafu at work had derailed her regular escape time, and she hoped he was okay with eating quickie spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. They hadn’t talked about Italian food yet.

Seems like they’d talked about everything elsebutthat.