Nice Until Proven Naughty

“I know you wouldn’t.”

“Then what? What were you afraid of?”

“Us.” My shoulders sag with relief. It feels so good to get this off my chest. “You’re my best friend, Ben. Not only that, but we’re business partners. What if we don’t work out and I lose you and the business?”

“That would never happen.”

“You really think we’d stay friends if a relationship between us didn’t work out?”

“That’s not what I mean. What I mean is there’s no possible way we won’t work out.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I love you. I’ve loved you since the day you threw my boots into the pond when we were seven.”

“I swam in and got them out,” I say, wiping a tear from my face. “And I love you, too.”

Ben slides his hands up my arms and grips them lightly. “You do?”

I nod. “You were my first love.”

Ben takes my cheeks in his big, warm hands and drops his forehead to mine. “I want to be your last.”

I push up on my toes and close the distance between us. We keep the kiss simple and sweet and when we separate, I pull the card I’ve been carrying around with me out of my back pocket. “This is what I wanted to give you the other night at the party.”

Ben takes the red envelope and tears into it. He reads the card and then reads it again. “Dani, this—”

“Is the same card you gave me last year. Only now, I’m giving it to you. I’m ready for what you’re offering. That is, if you’re still offering it.”

“I have something for you too.”

“Just tell me I have you—you’re all I need.”

“Humor me.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out an envelope. I rip into it with the same gusto he used and sob when I realize my Christmas wish came true.

“All I want for Christmas is you,” he says, repeating what he has written inside. It’s the same thing he wrote last year, and this year my answer is completely different.

I throw my arms around his neck. “I’m yours.”

“Best Christmas ever,” he whispers against my lips. “I guess I won’t be needing the five cards just like that one that I’ve got at home.”

“Why five?”

“You might’ve turned me down last year, but I wasn’t about to give up on you. You’re worth more than that. You’re perfect for me, and I knew then that you loved me as much as I loved you, but I needed you to realize that on your own. I didn’t want to push you. But, I was prepared to keep trying over and over until you were ready for what I have to offer.”

“What’s that?” I ask, my heart beating wildly.

“Forever would be great.”

I grin. “Is that what you want for Christmas?”

“Long term, yes. But short term—tonight—I’d really like you, naked, wrapped around me.”

“Ben Wallace,” I say, running my hands up the front of his shirt and popping open the first button. “Do you know what I want?”

Heat flares in his eyes when he shakes his head. He runs a tongue along his bottom lip. A lip I’m going to suck on in about thirty seconds. “No, but I’m hoping it involves me.”

“Oh, it does.” I pop open the next button and the next. “I want your package under my tree.”