Page 18 of The Christmas Mistake

“Alright, sure. Tell me what happened. It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do with my life on a Friday evening.”

“Well, I took her, and we got eggnog and won a few prizes at the fair.”

“Great.”

“But then we ran into her mom.”

“What?”

“Her mom was at the Markets. One moment we were walking pretty happily through the place, and then the next she was calling over her fucking mother from outta nowhere. She was introducing her to me before I had the chance to fully realize what the hell was going on.”

“And this was your first date together, and she was introducing you to her mom?”

“Hell yeah.”

“What the fuck did you do next?”

He shrugs. “What else could I do? I sprinted out of there.”

I stare at the man, open-mouthed. “You ran away?”

“Yep. Hell no am I speaking to a girl’s mother on our very first date. I thought fuck that and ran for it. Ran for the hills.”

I’m about to unload on Aidan. Give him a piece of my mind.

But then my phone rings on the table in front of me.

Who’s calling me late on a Friday night?

My boss.

Oh, shit. This must be serious if the man’s calling me right here and right now.

“Hold on to that thought,” I tell Aidan, silencing him. “I gotta pick this up.”

7

CHASTITY

The man who was eyeing us from across the bar is smooth. Real fucking smooth.

“Can I buy you ladies some shots?” he asks when he gets close enough.

I’ve been dreading him coming over. I’ve been dreading whatever cheesy pick-up line he was going to throw in my direction once he’s reached Evie and me, but you know what?

I could do with a shot. I could do with a smooth man right about now.

“Tequila’s my poison,” I reply back bluntly to the man, not wanting him to think I’m easy. I want to pose a bit of a challenge to this smooth-talker.

The man is unfazed. He smiles. A devilish smirk.

“And for you?” he asks Evie. I feel my friend’s excitement even from behind my back.

“I wouldn’t say no to a nice shot of Tequila as well,” she replies.

The man’s smile grows wider.

“Tequila it is,” he says, flicking his hand for the bartender. He turns to his friend on the other side of the bar with an inviting nod of his head. “Brad, get over here. There’s enough of these lovely ladies for the both of us.”