Page 43 of Cakewalk

Holden stood then, giving her a stunned look, like he couldn’t believe she’d just quoted his own godfather’s words to him. She suddenly felt very self-conscious, unable to tell if he was impressed or thought she was potentially a little crazy. Maybe both.

“You really do know that book inside and out, huh?” he asked, thankfully sounding impressed rather than concerned.

“I told you, I wrote my capstone paper on it. It’s my favorite book,” she responded.

Holden just stared at her for a moment, before making a show of turning to walk out of the kitchen and into the living room. A moment later he returned, phone in hand, tapping away at it like he was sending a text.

“What are you doing?”

“That’s it. I’m canceling Christmas. Both my father and Uncle Field are just going to adore you, and once you bust out knowledge like that about Caulfield’s books, we’ll never heard the end of it! Can’t have my godfather stealing my girlfriend, now can I?” he told her, a sly grin on his face.

Gigi stopped mixing the frosting, and she felt her pulse start to race. Girlfriend? Did he just call her his girlfriend? Did he even realize what he just said?

"Girlfriend?”

* * *

Holden

Holden hadn’t actually meant to use that word out loud. Girlfriend had been the term he’d been using in his own head to think about Gigi ever since that night at the gazebo. But in his own mind was a very different place than actually voiced. Surprisingly, saying it out loud felt really good.

“Ummm, yeah,” he admitted, feeling a little ridiculous. For as good as it felt to use that term, he was suddenly very aware that they hadn’t had any kind of conversation about what they were. He knew it was something—neither of them were the type to only be in this for the “benefits”—but he probably should have initiated this conversation a little differently. “That’s kinda what I’ve been referring to you as in my head. If you have a better term…”

“I like that one,” she said, her eyes full of warmth.

“Good, so do I.”

“But I can’t make any promises to not run off with Caulfield Montgomery. A girl would be crazy to turn down a living legend like that!” she teased.

Holden lunged across the kitchen, earning a playful shriek from Gigi. Grabbing her around the waist, he lifted her slightly off the ground, spinning her around. The skirt she was wearing flared a bit as she wiggled and giggled in his arms. The sound of her laugh went straight to his dick, and it took all he had to not haul her to the bedroom right then and there. But he knew she had cupcakes baking, and he didn’t dare put her at risk of burning something else.

Putting her back on the ground, he twirled her around so she was facing him, her eyes still filled with the giddiness of the moment. He loved seeing her this happy. In moments like these, it seemed like all was right with the world, and they were both exactly where they should be. Long gone were the ghosts of their pasts, and the only thing that existed was the two of them.

BEEEP!

“You, young lady, have been saved by the bell, it seems,” he said to her, not letting the oven’s timer ruin the moment the way it had the last time they were in this situation.

“It’s nice to have the appliances on my side for once!” she commented. When she bent over to pull the pan out of the oven, the sight of her glorious ass was more than Holden could bear. His dick strained against his pants, and his hands itched to take hold of the perfection he knew was under that sky-blue fabric. Feeling a little impish, he took a step closer and lightly smacked her backside, earning another shriek.

“I probably deserved that, huh?” she said, returning his playful grin.

“And so, so much more,” he told her, leaning in for a kiss. Her lips were sweet, like the frosting she had just been mixing, and Holden was more than willing to spend some time getting lost in her this afternoon.

“All teasing aside though,” Gigi said, turning serious. “I don’t want to mess up Christmas. Not just because my favorite author happens to be coming, but because this is your family. I’m going to be so embarrassed if I screw this up. What if I give everyone food poisoning?”

“Hey, hey now,” he said, wrapping his arms around her. “None of that. Where’s all that confidence you’ve found?”

“It’s currently freaking out that I’m going to ruin the holidays with your parents!”

“Sweetheart, you have become a magician in the kitchen. Whatever you make is going to be spectacular. But do you want the real secret to winning over my dad and Uncle Field?”

“Yes!”

“As long as you have sweet tea and lemonade for them to make an Arnold Palmer, we'll have a house full of happy campers.”

Gigi’s eyes went wide, and her mouth flew open with surprise. Holden had no idea what he said that was so shocking, but whatever it was, it seemed to have sent Gigi into a tizzy.

“That’s it! An Arnold Palmer cupcake! A sweet tea cake and lemonade frosting,” she exclaimed. “That’s the signature item!”