Chapters (48)
- 1. One
- 2. Two
- 3. Three
- 4. Four
- 5. Five
- 6. Six
- 7. Seven
- 8. Eight
- 9. Nine
- 10. Ten
- 11. Eleven
- 12. Twelve
- 13. Thirteen
- 14. Fourteen
- 15. Fifteen
- 16. Sixteen
- 17. Seventeen
- 18. Eighteen
- 19. Nineteen
- 20. Twenty
- 21. Twenty-One
- 22. Twenty-Two
- 23. Twenty-Three
- 24. Twenty-Four
- 25. Twenty-Five
- 26. Twenty-Six
- 27. Twenty-Seven
- 28. Twenty-Eight
- 29. Twenty-Nine
- 30. Thirty
- 31. Thirty-One
- 32. Thirty-Two
- 33. Thirty-three
- 34. Thirty-Four
- 35. Thirty-Five
- 36. Thirty-Six
- 37. Thirty-Seven
- 38. Thirty-Eight
- 39. Thirty-Nine
- 40. Forty
- 41. Forty-One
- 42. Forty-Two
- 43. Forty-three
- 44. Epilogue
- Afterword
- Also by
- Acknowledgments
- About Author
She shrugged as an answer and took a deep breath as I pressed into the ball of her foot.
“Have you ever been in love?”
“Once.”
“And?” I prompted, but had a feeling I knew the answer.
“And it’s overrated.”
Whoever broke her heart was depriving not only himself, but the whole world.
Sighing, I continued sweeping my thumbs over her feet. What would it take for me to know Olive? Truly know her. Not the image, not the outer shell, but the real Olive. The one who sometimes snorted when something was too funny, or the one who secretly loved her mom’s pie but hid it. That was the Olive I needed. The real one. Not whoever this woman in front of me was. Maybe if I gave her a piece of my own past, I would get some of hers in return.
“You know, I was cheated on once in high school.”
Olive's eyes widened. “Really? You?” I liked how she said that, as if she couldn’t believe anyone ever cheated on me. It puffed up my ego.
“Yup. I wasn’t always this good looking, babe. I dated this girl for a few months and caught her with a guy from another school at a party. It broke my heart, but I was quick to realize if she didn’t want me, I wouldn’t sit around and mope about it. I was a scrawny little thing, but I was smart and funny. If she couldn’t see that, it was her fault. Not mine.”
Olive relaxed under my touch, and I inched a little closer.
Give me something, Grinchy, I silently pleaded.
Finally, she whispered, “I was too, you know.”
I dipped my head and raised my brows, telling her to continue.
“A long time ago, when I still lived here, I was cheated on. Walked right in on him with another girl after we graduated college. That was one of the reasons I was scared to come home.”
I couldn’t picture someone cheating on this girl in front of me. She was everything. It was comical, how I didn’t care about my past girlfriend cheating on me with some basketball player at a stupid party, but I was ready to break a man’s fingers for ever hurting Olive.
“Does he still live here?” My deep voice was rasped.
“Oh, no. He moved away almost right after. I’m not sure where he is, but that’s probably a good thing.”
It was a good thing. If I had any clue this guy was in town, well…I would hate to end up in jail before I could finish my twelve days of Christmas with Olive.