car.”
“That’s probably the truth.”
“Now where were we?”
“You were distracting me. Across the street, sir.”
He inclined his head. “As you wish.”
I dragged him across Main Street. “Don’t quote Princess Bride at me.”
“That’s it. You’re marrying me for real.”
A giggle escaped before I could squash it. “We’ll see.”
We wandered around the vendors who were hawking their wares, and we made sure to have cider and donuts from the nearby Happy Acres orchard. They had quite the entertainment lineup.
When I heard female giggling, I craned my neck. “Look at that crowd.”
Callum boosted me up and I grabbed hold of his shoulders. He grinned up at me. “What’s happening, do you think? Is it someone famous or one of the three-hundred babies who have overtaken this town?”
I laughed. “A bit of both actually.” There was a carriage there for sure, but the long dark hair of a tall man holding court told me it was a bit more. There had been a lot of excitement in Crescent Cove, thanks to my friend Ivy’s semi-famous rock producer husband.
He had quite a few famous friends, including one who spent part of the year at Happy Acres.
“Pretty sure that’s Ian Kagan over there.” I slid down Callum’s body. His hands firmed around my waist as he set me on the ground. My nipples tingled through a few layers. What was it about this guy?
He frowned. “Why is that name familiar?”
“Depends on if you listen to the rock stations.” I rested my palms on his chest.
“Do you?”
I shrugged. “I enjoy music. We fight over which channel to put it on at the salon.”
“Is that right?” He toyed with the ends of my hair. “That’s how you did the Cinderella transformation in less than an hour?”
“A woman never tells her secrets.” I looked away. Better to remember that I’d be turning back into that pumpkin at midnight.
He nudged my face back toward him. “Lest you forget, it was you who caught my attention yesterday. The girl with messy braids. I’m pretty sure they were pink too.”
I blushed. “Yeah, I drew the short straw for testing out a new temporary rinse. Took me four washes to get the cotton candy color out of my hair.”
“I enjoyed the pink, but I like the real you.”
“How do you know which is the real me? I could change my hair daily.”
His lips tipped up. “I’d like to find out.”
I stepped back and headed for the gazebo, but he caught up to me at the large oak tree and stopped me with a hand on my arm. “Is that so hard to believe?” he asked.
“What? That you want to get to know me?”
He nodded.
“Yes, actually. You’ve got the keys to your shiny ride. What’s keeping you here?”
“You. Ever since I joined you under that mistletoe.”
“Why?”
“Why not?”
I shook my head. “I’m not the girl who—”
“Has fun?”
I blinked. There wasn’t an easy answer for that. I worked. I saved. I focused on the future. On finally doing something I loved and was good at. That was my idea of fun. Being stable for the first time in my life. I never wanted for money because I’d learned to budget from a very young age—because I ‘d had to or I went hungry.
Fun wasn’t part of my life.
“Take a chance on me. With an open mind and—”
“Legs?”
“Why Miss Lawton, that’s positively scandalous.”
I frowned. “How do you know my last name?”
“The very helpful Mrs. Gunderson. She gave me the skinny on most of the town. I didn’t know about the famous rockstar though.”
“He doesn’t live here. His best friend does, so we see him from time to time.”
“Such a peculiar little town.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”
He took my hand again. “Your hands are ice.” He took my other one and sandwiched it between both of his. He brought them up to his mouth and blew into the cup he’d made around them. “Pretty sure it’s not the only thing thing that’s icy.”
I stiffened.
“Don’t get your back up. Just give me a chance. You’ve already made up your mind about what we are. And if that’s really how you feel, I’ll walk away. I’ll hate it, and I’ll always wonder what if, but I’ll respect your wishes, Ellie. Always.”
Chapter Seven
CALLUM
In the distance, a cheery bit of bells and drums had a small crowd singing along. I braced for the brush off as a guy doing a fair impression of Michael Bublé sang “Please Come Home For Christmas”.
Ellie had been looking for reasons to kill our date since