"That sounds fair. I made a playlist," he says as he gets on the highway. "What do you think?" He hands me his phone, which I appreciate. There's plenty of guys who would never dare to hand a woman their phone, especially a woman they've just gotten to know because they don't want one of their DMs to pop up with some nude pic or a message that would create tension. But Andrew doesn't seem to mind. He just gives me his phone casually.
"This is cute," I say, taking in his curated list. I have never met a man like him and I am feeling all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings as I scan the songs. He is the kind of man my grandpa would have called a keeper.
"It's a playlist from all the best Christmas movies. I figured you like Christmas considering you came into work today wearing a Santa hat."
"I love Christmas. What's your favorite Christmas memory?" I ask him as he merges onto the interstate.
The next few hours go by quickly because we're reliving all of our Christmas memories gone by. His Christmas mornings with his sisters and my Christmas mornings with my grandma and grandpa around the fire. Detailing our best presents ever, the worst ones, the Christmases in high school when we were forgotten by our crushes or remembered.
We're laughing and giggling and the gingerbread lattes are long gone. We're buzzed, electric, and our fingers brush. His eyes find mine, and I feel like I'm in a romantic movie.
It has nothing to do with the playlist. It has everything to do with the moment, with him, with me. With us.
I look over at him and I know he is my fake fiancé for the weekend, but this isn't something I want to fake. I know what I want.
This is what I want for real.
CHAPTER 5
ANDREW
We spend the night taking turns driving. And I'm glad we do it this way because by the time morning comes around and we're winding our way into Cedar Valley, both Angel and I have gotten enough rest to make it through the day in one piece.
"My grandma's probably going to have a full-fledged breakfast waiting for us."
"Should you give her a call," I ask Angel, "letting her know we're close?"
"Good idea," she says, giving a yawn mixed with a smile. "You really are a pretty thoughtful guy. Is that because of your sisters or your mom or both?"
"Probably a mix of both. And like I said, my dad's a pastor, so everybody had to live by the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
"Wow," Angel says, squeezing my hand before pulling it back. "Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away there."
"I don't mind," I tell her honestly. "I mean, I figure we're going to have to play a part when we get to your grandma's house, so maybe we should get more comfortable touching one another."
I lick my lips remembering our kiss, the one I stole from her, took without asking. But she kissed me right back without hesitation. I wonder what she thinks of that now.
"Speaking of touching one another, should we discuss that kiss that happened back at the studio?" she asks, as if reading my mind.
I turn down the music and pull over to a rest stop. "You want to rehash that right now?"
Angel shrugs, wrapping her fingers around her hair and twisting her long blonde curls. "I don't know. I don't think we should just ignore it. It did happen."
"It just felt right," I tell her. "What do you think?"
"I agree. It did feel right," she says, her eyes alive.
"I mean, we'd just been planning our fake engagement and everything, right?" I say, chuckling, trying to shrug off my other feelings that it meant more than a fake engagement to me. I turn off my ignition. "Speaking of fake engagements–"
"Just a sec," she says, pulling out her phone. "I'm just going to text my grandma real quick and let her know I'm on my way." Her thumbs hurry across her screen as she jots out a message to her grandma. "There, I let her know that we're 10 minutes out. Okay, you were saying?" She turns in her seat toward me and I turn toward her.
"Right," I say. "Well, if we're going to pretend we're engaged, I figure we need to make it look real."
She nods, "Right. Wait, what do you mean?" She laughs, her smile so damn beautiful.
I pull a black jewelry box out of my pocket. "Well, I thought I ought to give you a ring." I swallow, pulling it open, revealing to Angel a four-carat antique diamond ring, a solitaire, set in a silver band, a ring truly fit for an angel, fit for her. It's an emerald cut and it's insanely gorgeous. There's snow outside and it glitters like it was falling right here, a snowflake.