Mistletoe Baby (Crescent Cove 9.50)

“Totally. Get out of here, you crazy kids.”

The word kids stopped me in my tracks. At least that was a bright side. Just one kid. Maybe.

Then again, Callum had triplets in his family. Was that hereditary? I gazed down at my stomach, nicely hidden by my smock.

Nope, I was not going there. I wasn’t a big person. There was no room for…all that.

“Are you okay?” Callum asked, peering over my shoulder as I stared at my belly.

“Yes, I’m fine. One second.” I whipped off my smock and returned it to my area before grabbing my jacket.

He was waiting for me by the door, and we walked out to the street where he’d parked in silence. When he motioned to a Jeep instead of his hot yellow car, I did a doubletake. “You sold it? Why? I have good memories of that car.”

“Me too.” The huskiness of his voice made me curl my fingers into my palms. “But no, I’m just getting some custom work done on it at Dare’s shop. He gave me this loaner.” He opened the passenger door for me. “What do you think of it?”

“I love Jeeps, but if you get one, I hope you paint it neon green. Normal colors don’t seem to suit you.”

“They don’t?” He sounded inordinately pleased.

“Not anymore. I mean, when I first saw the grandpa sweater—” I couldn’t stop from giggling when he poked me in the side. “Very attractive grandpa.”

“That’s better.” He frowned. “How old are you anyway?”

“Twenty-four.”

“Whew.”

“What about you?”

“Thirty in a few months.”

“Did you suddenly think I was barely legal? Little late to worry.”

He leaned in and spoke against my temple, ruffling my hair with his deliciously warm breath. “I’d have to take my luck with that sort of sin, since I can’t seem to stay away. Now get in.”

As I did what he asked, I realized I was shivering—and not from the cold.

My hottie artist hookup was dangerous. Not physically, but in every other possible way.

He didn’t tell me where we were going, and I didn’t say anything as he drove up one of the side roads that led around the lake.

Until he stopped at a hidden lane called Wolf Hollow Way and signaled to make the turn.

We were near the house. My house. I’d never gotten quite this close before because this was a private road surrounded by enough trees to make me think of all the scary movies I was only brave enough to watch with all the lights blazing and a big bucket of popcorn. He veered off and drove into a clearing that opened up near the lake, pulling to a stop close to the water.

I opened my door and stepped out, taking a deep breath of air tinged with the scent of the lake. The sun glistened off the cover of ice, nearly blinding me for the second it took to pull out my sunglasses from my jacket pocket.

“You’re going to get arrested for trespassing,” I warned instead of all the much nicer things that flitted through my brain.

Like…

How beautiful. Thank you for showing me this. How did you know I needed the water and the sunshine?

He didn’t blink as he walked around the Jeep to stand with me. I moved back and he shut my door. Always a gentleman.

I didn’t know how to share the sweeter parts of myself with him without being worried that he’d toss them back in my face.

For a moment, he shifted from foot to foot, as if he was weighing what to say. Then he went for broke.