Chapter 7
I don’t think I’d ever enjoyed caroling as much as I did last night. That look on my mom’s face when Cole’s mellow tenor joined our chaotic enthusiasm. I still couldn’t believe Cole and Olly had gotten away with their plan. But then again, I guess I’d underestimated Cole’s charm. The smile on his face had everyone else joining in with the alternative lyrics—even my mom.
Although Chrissy suggesting we sing ‘ A Very Merry X-Mas ’ was a little much. Cole’s song was not appropriate for the kiddos to sing. But it was a bit of a knife turn for Aspyn. She’d looked like she was sucking on a lemon all night.
And I was petty enough to enjoy it.
So I might’ve been humming ‘ Jingle Bells’ as I walked up to Cole’s front door. I didn’t need to knock though. Cole had given me the code to the door a few days back.
But no delicious scents greeted me. And neither did Cole. I followed the muffled sound of a conversation.
“…bury it. I don’t care what you have to do.” Cole paced back and forth in the great room. He stopped and raked a hand through his hair. “No. No, I’m not doing that. I don’t—gah, just keep them off me for another week. That’s not too much to ask, is it? One more week without this insanity?”
I shifted my weight, and the movement had Cole’s eyes shooting my way.
He stared intently into my eyes, still holding his cell up to his ear. “I don’t care what you have to do, Jase. Just get it done. I’m still on vacation here.”
Cole ended the call without saying goodbye, shoved his phone in his back pocket, and crossed the room to wrap his arms around me. “Are you okay? You didn’t return any of my texts.”
“I can’t text and drive.” I laughed as I cuddled into his warmth. “And my car’s so old, I don’t have any hands-free tech. Why didn’t you call?”
He sighed and squeezed me tight. “I didn’t want to distract you.”
That made no sense. He texted but thought a call would distract me? I took a step back and gave him a searching look. “What’s going on? Why are you all agitated? What’s put that look on your face?”
He stared at me for a second and a muscle flexed in his jaw. Finally he sighed and said, “I guess this means you haven’t seen the headlines today?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Unrest in the Middle East? Political bullshit? I haven’t exactly stayed up with the latest news since I lost my job. It’s usually all depressing shit anyway. Why? What happened?”
“Apparently my disguise didn’t work. Someone snapped some pictures of us caroling last night and posted them on socials. The Babbler picked them up, and this evening even a few network news stations ran them. I…pictures of your family are all over the news. They blurred out the littles’ faces, but you, your sisters, their spouses, your parents are all out there. And it’s only a matter of time before your name is everywhere too. I just…I’m so sorry, December.”
I blinked. This was so…
I blinked again.
“I’ve got my manager on it,” he went on agitatedly. “But we can’t get the pictures or video down. It’s gone too far outside our reach. He wanted me to pack up and come home, but I don’t wanna. I want to be here—with you. I’ve arranged for security protection for your parents and your sisters. Hopefully that helps some and will keep the media and paps away.”
When I still didn’t say anything, he babbled on.
“This place is fairly secure. No one even knows I own it. But security will be here in a few. They’re just going to park out front. Make sure no one harasses us.” He blew out a breath. “You’re not saying anything. What are you thinking? Are you regretting even meeting me? I’m so sorry, sugar. I never thought—”
I stopped his verbal flagellation with a finger on his lips. “I thought you didn’t believe in regrets.”
He pressed a kiss to my finger then pulled my hand away to hold it. “I didn’t, at least not until I met you.”
“Ouch.” I blinked and gave a little disbelieving laugh.
“Shit, I didn’t mean it like that. I just, I’ve never really had my celebrity affect someone else like this before. The few girls I dated kinda courted it—liked it. I suspect it was the entire reason they wanted to be with me. And it’s been so long since they’ve harassed my family… I forgot. I guess I got caught up in the little bubble I’ve made with you, and I forgot about the world outside.”
“I like our little bubble too.” I gave him a soft smile.
“But I can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Even if I were to go home, they’d still come and harass your family. I’m so sorry, December.”
I shook my head. “I’m not. I don’t regret a single second of being with you. And if this is the price we have to pay, then I’m totally fine with it. It’s worth it. You’re worth it.”
“You say that now.” He closed his eyes and shook his head. “But you don’t know.” He sighed heavily.
“So, it’s Christmas cookie night tonight. How about we go over to my parents’ house and fill them all in? I suspect that’s why I have…eighteen missed calls from my mom. Wow.”
“Shit.” Cole pulled out his phone and tapped away at the screen while I called my mom back.
“December Bailey James!” my mom answered without even saying hello first. “Do you not understand how telephones work? If it weren’t for the family tracker app, I would’ve reported you missing! How could you not call me back for hours and hours? What is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but I was working. I can’t drive and talk. You know how I get distracted. So I put my phone on ‘Do Not Disturb,’ and forgot to take it off after work.” I was kinda notorious for having crashed into a parked car once while talking on my cellphone. My family never let me forget it. So ever since, I’d been so careful not to talk or text while driving. I didn’t want to repeat that mistake ever again. The teasing was too relentless.
“And when were you going to tell me that that was the Cole Jackson last night?”
“Uh…I kinda thought it was obvious.”
“Well, it wasn’t. Do you know how embarrassing it was to hear the news from Angela Agate? She assumed I knew since we spent all last night with him.”
“Um, I’m sorry?” I said it like a question because this was such a surreal conversation. I’d thought the media was pestering them. “Why are we even talking about this? What happened to ‘who I wanted to spend my time with was my business?’”
“It is. I mean…” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I was just surprised. And embarrassed. Seriously. Angela was such a bitch about it. You don’t even know.”
I choked, fighting to keep my laughter inside.
But I failed.
I laughed and laughed.
After a minute, I straightened and wiped my eyes. “Sorry. That just surprised me. It’s still weird when you talk to me like I’m an adult.”
“You are an adult, December.”
I heaved a sigh. “I know. I just forgot there for a minute. Listen, Mom, would it be okay if Cole and I stopped by? He wants to talk to everyone.”
Dead silence hummed on the line.
“Mom? You still there?” I held the phone away to make sure we still had a connection. We did. “Mom?”
“The house is a mess! We’ve got baking crap everywhere! I can’t, I don’t—”
“Mom, it’s fine. I promise. Cole will probably even want to stay and decorate some cookies with the littles.” I raised my eyebrows at him, and he nodded back.
Cole gave me a thumbs up. “Sounds like a blast. I can’t wait.”
“Did you hear that, Mom? He wants to do more Christmas with the crazy James family. You guys didn’t scare him off after all. We’ll see you in a few. Bye!”
I hit the end call button and sent Cole a wide-eyed look. “She’s seriously lost it.”
“Shit. Is the media all over them already?”
“Oh no, it’s not that—mostly because she didn’t mention it. She’s freaked because she didn’t recognize you last night and had to hear the news from her nemesis, AKA their neighbor, Angela Agate.”
Cole’s shoulders shook as laughter bubbled out of him. “Your mom has a nemesis?”
“Oh yeah. Life’s not worth living unless you have a nemesis. Didn’t you know that?”
Cole grabbed his keys from the hook and grabbed my hand before pulling me toward the garage door. “I don’t think I got that particular life lesson from my parents.”
“It’s mostly just big with my mom. She’s all about one-upping the neighbors. Number of children. Number of grandchildren. Christmas decorations. Fourth of July decorations. Halloween decorations. Gardens.”
Cole hit the button to open the garage doors. We walked to his Range Rover.
“Although there was the one time that their basement flooded, and I always wondered if my mom had anything to do with it.”
He stopped next to the passenger door and gave me a disbelieving look.
I shrugged. “They were out of town and gave my parents a key to bring in their mail. I guess a toilet in the basement started leaking and flooded the whole level? Seemed like suspicious timing to me. Joke was on my mom though. They got a huge settlement from insurance and updated their basement into this kickass family gaming room. It was the place to hang out that summer.”
Cole chuckled as he shut the door after I’d climbed in then crossed around to get in the driver’s door. As he popped back inside the car, he was still laughing. “Your family is amazing.”
He was backing down the driveway when something occurred to me. “Wait. Shouldn’t we both drive? Doesn’t really make sense to go together then for me to run over again. I’m exhausted. I need to get some actual sleep.”
“Nah. Let’s grab a bag for you, so you can leave some stuff at my place. All this back and forth is getting to be ridiculous. And I’d feel better having you close with everything going on.”
I sank back in my seat with a smile. He wanted me to leave my stuff at his place! I fought the urge to squeal my excitement.
God, I was falling hard.
“You know I could’ve sworn you didn’t recognize me when we first met.” Cole slowed for a stop sign and signaled his turn. “You treated me like a regular guy—not an ounce of starstruck wonder on your face or in your voice. And I could tell you weren’t impressed with my whole flower schtick.”
“Right.” I shrugged. “In all honesty, I didn’t recognize you at first. And as for your whole flower schtick, I’m not going to lie—it was charming as hell. I just wasn’t in the best headspace to meet an amazing guy like you. That’s why I was so resistant at first.”
“But you gave in. And thank god you did.” He reached over and held my hand as he confidently drove one-handed through the snow-covered roads. “When did you figure out who I was?”
I groaned and let my head fall back against the headrest. “It was after the first grocery delivery. So you were right. I had no idea who you were when we first met. For the record, I did think you were hot though. And I was totally embarrassed when you found me making snow angels covered in your groceries like a hot mess.”
“You got the hot part right, but you were far from looking like a mess. You looked like you had zero fucks to give. It was so goddamn hot.”
I rolled my eyes, but I was grinning when I turned to look out the window as we pulled up to my parents’ house. Only my sisters’ cars were parked in front by the curb.
So far so good.
Famous last words and all that.