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“I mean, I could if I wanted to. I’ve taken it off before. I don’t usually take Thanksgiving or Christmas off because my family is in another state. Which is good because a lot of the people who want those holidays off have families they wanna spend time with.”
“Whereas Halloween and New Year are for those people who probably don’t have a family at home to worry about.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm, good, take it off.”
I opened my eyes, squinting at him. “What?”
He did the same, eyeing me with a smirk. “I said, take the holiday off.”
“And do what?”
“Besides me?”
“Ugh,” I grunted, pushing at his shoulder. “Okay, cuddle time is officially over. I have reached my fill of you today.”
He ignored me, instead rolling over, wrapping an arm around my waist, and laying his face against my stomach. “You’ve been dealing with…all this for quite a while. It’s good for you to take a break once in a while and remember there’s a good life out there to enjoy. So, find someone to take your spot, and I’ll help remind you.”
“And what will we do?” I asked, then frowned. “And serious answers only.”
“I mean, sex would definitely be on the table,” he said with a chuckle. “But you leave the details up to me, understood? But there are a few ground rules.”
“I’m almost too afraid to ask.”
“That I’m allowed to treat you in public as though you didn’t work for my mother. All the rules that count while you’re here don’t count out there.”
I hesitated. “Uh, is this a date?”
“You can call it whatever you like,” he said with a shrug. “But you’ve given me so much hell for the kind of life I live. I look forward to the chance to show you it’s not nearly as bad as you make it out to be in your head.”
“Uh…”
“Good Lord, Kevin, I have no intention of dragging you to some alcohol or drug-fueled party or slathering you in honey for people to lick off.”
I cocked my head. “What was that second one?”
“Oh. It was a dare, well, part dare, part charity. Pay money to lick a bit of honey or cream off a good-looking person. Honestly, I meant it as a joke, but it certainly did make some money…and a mess.”
“Were you one of those people?”
Shane rolled his eyes. “I didn’t participate, except to sit back and watch and make sure the proceeds went where they were supposed to, rather than disappearing back to whence they came.”
“How…huh, noble of you.”
“Ugh.”
“I would have said honest, but then you would have made some smartass comment accusing me of thinking you’re dishonest. So annoying you with ‘noble’ was the safer option.”
Shane tapped me on the stomach. “Well?”
The idea seemed to fly right in the face of the two of us simply taking things casually. No matter how he dressed it up or dismissed the implications, there was no denying it sounded like a date. In fact, he hadn’t outright denied it was a date and given a very Shane evasive answer.
Yet not more than ten minutes before, I had been thinking about how nice it would be to see his face in the morning light or how good he looked when he was just himself. Maybe this was a chance for me to see more of him like that, or maybe it was a chance for me to shake whatever stupidity was trying to take root in my head by witnessing him be the same asshole he’d been in the beginning. At least then, it would prove I was letting myself go too far and letting stupid ideas come to life.
“Alright,” I said, flicking a stray lock off his forehead. “Including your stipulations. I’ll put in the request when I get back to the house. It will probably be granted since my boss likes to make sure we have time off, sometimes even forcing us.”
“Clever woman,” he said, closing his eyes and letting out a peaceful sigh.
