“I don’t need an apology, or pity.” Holly shrugged again. “AndI really don’t know why the snow globe tipped you over the edge, but maybe we can just call it even now.”
He winced. Not his best moment. “That’s a long story.”
“You don’t owe me anything.” The defensive look in her eyes almost made him miss Cindy Lou Who.
Almost.
He ran his hand through his hair. “Look, I don’t know about even, but I do hope you know that my agreement with Ryan…it really wasn’t like that.”
“So youdidcome to be my date?” She pointedly dipped her head. “And no other reason?”
“Well…” He squinted, hating that he couldn’t tell the truth…and equally hating that he couldn’t lie. “Okay, maybe it started like that. At first. But when I got here—”
“Spare me the humility. I’ve seen the movies, Nick.” Holly waved her hand through the air. “Let me guess. ‘It all changed after I saw you. Blah, blah, blah.’ ”
He hesitated. “I wasn’t going to say that, exactly.”
“But something like it, right?” Holly’s gaze held his in a challenge.
Then he noticed for the first time how badly she was shivering. He shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her shoulders. “What movies?”
“Allof them. It’s the same shtick, right? The handsome reporter who uses the ‘always a bridesmaid’ to further his career. The snarky editor who uses her assistant for a visa.” She huddled inside his coat, which had to be proof of how cold she was, since her expression looked more like she’d rather smother him with it. “The executive who uses a journalist to bet his friends he could make someone fall in love with him in ten days.”
Her referencing the same movie as the love fern he’d been joking about sent a splinter of guilt through Nick’s chest.
She clutched the coat collar around her shoulders. “Notice the pattern?Uses.”
“It wasn’t a bet, I promise you that.”
“Fine. You did my brother a favor, then, or whatever.”
Nowhewas cold. Nick stamped his feet as Frosty swayed in the wind next to them. “Ryan was worried about you.”
Holly groaned, pulling the jacket so it covered her face. “That’s even worse.”
Nick started to defend Ryan, then thought about it from Holly’s little-sister point of view. He’d be humiliated, too, if the tables were turned. Something he really should’ve thought about before agreeing to come. Granted, Ryan should have too.
What a mess.
He tugged at the jacket, holding it open so he could see her expression. “You don’t understand. It wasn’t like he had to twist my arm or anything.”
But even as he spoke the words, the truth tapped him on the shoulder. Would being Holly’s date have been enough to convince Nick to spend Christmas on the farm, without the bonus of scoping out the property for his dream? No.
Andthatpart he couldn’t explain to her. His hands slipped off the jacket.
She stepped back. “Maybeyou’llunderstand why I have a hard time believing that.”
Frosty’s smile seemed to stretch wider above him, mocking. Maybe Nick should at least share what truth he could and quit taking the coward’s way out. He’d rather get as much out in the open with Holly as possible—the part that was his to tell.
He flexed his fingers. “It wasn’t a bet. Ryan knows about this nonprofit I have in mind, and he said if I came home with him, he could connect me with your parents as potential investors.”
Holly blanched. “So, not a bet. A bribe.”
Nick started to argue, then sighed. He couldn’t stop her from seeing it that way. And that was exactly how it sounded.
He briefly closed his eyes, unsure how to fix the damage he’d done. Regret nestled on his shoulders. And on top of that, disappointment. What was wrong with him? He should be relieved. This entire conversation, awkward as it was, meant no more booby-trapped doors or forced Christmas excursions or holiday songs or inflatable sneak attacks.
But it also meant less attention from Holly—which shouldn’t bother him. The things she had done to give him said attention only caused him stress and exhaustion. Yet they’d also made him laugh and participate and feel connected to a real family over the holidays.
