The only exception is Kiera, and she’s made it quite clear she’s not ready for the dating scene yet.
Emily releases a disappointed breath. “I’m sorry, Uncle Adam. I tried.”
“Maybe you should go with your original plan of asking Santa to bring him one for Christmas,” Landon says on a chuckle.
I stand and elbow him in the ribs. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I accidentally hit you?” I flash him a teasing grin.
He pulls me against his body and presses his lips against mine.
They eagerly return the sentiment.
I’m vaguely aware of a murmur of voices and then…
“Ewww. Don’t kiss.”
We separate, and I look at the little girl. “Did your uncle tell you to say that?”
She nods, her head moving in a jerky exaggeration.
The kid who’s on Santa’s lap scrambles off. Adam escorts Emily over to the man and lowers her onto his lap.
She stares at Santa, eyes wide.
Santa says something to her…and she keeps on staring.
Adam prompts her to say something. She nods, eyes still round with awe.
“I guess she won’t be asking Santa to bring Adam a girlfriend after all,” I say, laughing.
Landon wraps his arms around me from behind. “Looks like you might be right.”
If whoever has a contract out on me sees us now, there’d be no doubt in their mind that he’s my boyfriend. It might not be true as far as Landon’s concerned, but no one would know that. He really is a good actor.
Landon’s phone pings that he’s got a text. He pulls it out of his pocket and checks the screen. A frown wrinkles between his eyes.
“Is everything all right?”
He doesn’t respond, too busy typing his reply.
The phone pings again a moment later.
He returns it to his pocket. “Everything’s fine.”
He might say that, but his voice tells me otherwise.
If he really were my boyfriend, I’d try to get him to talk about whatever’s bothering him. Maybe not here, in public, but definitely back at his place.
But he’s not, so I’m not sure what to do.
Emily and Adam return. Her shell shock has vanished, and she skips toward us. Adam is right behind her, checking his phone.
His gaze lands on Landon. Landon nods at some unspoken question between them.
Without saying anything to me, Landon walks to a pile of trees leaning against a wall, their branches tied together with nylon string.
He grabs one. “This looks good.” He walks toward a table where a woman is collecting the money for the trees.
“Is something wrong?” I ask Adam.
