“Love you too, Millie. Bye.”
The line went dead and I let out a deep breath.
Tonight. I’ll do it tonight.
“YOU HAVE TO stand under it and spin.”
Staring at Nash, I laughed. “Spin?”
He nodded. “Yeah. While looking up.”
“Do you want me to get sick?”
“I’ll hold your ponytail out of the way if you do,” he stated with a sexy smirk.
Rolling my eyes, I pushed him. “Gosh, thanks. You just made me drink hot chocolate. I ate a s’mores and a pretzel. I will surely get sick if you make me spin.”
“Don’t forget the hot apple cider we had when we first walked up.”
“Right. That too.”
Nash glanced around, grinned, then grabbed my hand. “Come on. I know a way to let your stomach settle before the great spinning.”
Trying to ignore the way his touch made my body ache for more, I allowed him to pull me over to a horse and carriage.
“How about we take a spin around the park?”
“I’d love that!” I replied, letting Nash help me into the carriage.
“The full route, sir?” the driver asked with a joyful smile.
“Yes, my girl here needs to let her goodies settle before we spin around the tree.”
With a wide grin, the driver glanced over to me. “You have to spin around the tree. It’s a tradition.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said with a light laugh. It was hard to focus when Nash’s words replayed in my mind.
My girl. He called me “my girl.”
“Then I won’t offer you any hot chocolate.”
Nash held up his hands. “No, just a warm blanket.”
The driver pulled the blanket off the seat across from us and opened it. Handing it to Nash, he draped it over us. He lifted his arm and placed it around my shoulders, pulling my body up against his. The heat between us
would surely keep us warm.
As we took off, I drew in a deep breath and said, “Christmas. I smell it in the air.”
“I bet your Christmas back home is beautiful.”
“It is,” I agreed, resting my head against his shoulder. “My favorite thing, though, is waking up, going down to the kitchen, and watching my mother make breakfast. It was a huge ordeal. She made everything from homemade waffles to biscuits and gravy, muffins, you name it, the woman made it. My father would always get up with her and help. They said it was their quiet time together before the madness of Christmas started.”
Nash chuckled. “Did y’all have Christmas at your house? With family and all? Or you went to someone else’s house?”
“Oh yes. Everyone came over in the afternoon. Since my mom cooked breakfast, Christmas dinner was usually a potluck type of thing. Everyone would bring something.”
“Sounds nice.”