Faking It with My Bossy Ex (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

6. Dylan

Chapter 6

Dylan

“I don’t understand how this happened. I made the booking on your website almost two weeks ago. You can’t just not have space.”

That voice. My feet stop working for half a second as I push through the door of Cozy Haven Inn.

The heat from inside hits me, but I barely notice. Amy's at the front desk, all tense shoulders and death-grip on her phone. That tone in her voice—yeah, someone better fix this fast.

And of course I'm already walking toward her.

“What's going on?” I ask, leaning an elbow on the counter beside her. I'm close enough that I could count the inches between us. My body hasn't forgotten how natural it felt to close this gap, to wrap my arms around her waist from behind. My hands twitch at the thought.

Her eyes widen and her mouth makes a little ‘o’ shape. Her startled expression quickly turns guarded.

“Are you following me? Stalking is a serious offense, you know.” She's shed most of her winter armor, down to just a light jacket over a form-fitting turtleneck. The same one she wore on our last Christmas together. Back when I thought we had forever ahead of us, back when I believed I could protect her from any harm.

I thought I wouldn’t regret pushing her away. I thought I was protecting her dream. But seeing the hurt she's trying so hard to hide behind that anger, I'm not so sure anymore.

“I'm not stalking you. Would you like me to be stalking you?” I’d enjoy it, and she knows it.

“No.” She glances at Mrs. Parker, who is watching us both with a curious expression.

“I booked a room here, too. Cabin seven.”

Mrs. Parker starts typing away on her computer, which looks like it's one of the first invented.

“Oh.” She frowns. “I'm sorry. It looks like both of your rooms are already occupied by someone else.”

“What?” Amy's frustration suddenly makes sense.

“Hold on one moment. I'm going to double-check in the back.” She shuffles away and disappears into the back room. As soon as she's out of sight, Amy turns to me.

“How did you manage to book a cabin at the same place I did?” Amy shakes her head, a frustrated little frown settling over her features. Perhaps it’s meant to be intimidating, but endearment is all that comes to mind.

“It wasn't intentional, I promise.” I hold my hands up in my defense.

“It certainly looks intentional. She says that my room is overbooked and the only place she has left is a couple’s cabin. Don't even try to get it before me.”

“Wouldn't think of it,” I smirk. I'm definitely thinking about it. The back seat of my car isn’t exactly big enough to stretch out comfortably.

Mrs. Parker comes back, a disappointed look on her face.

“I'm so sorry. I never imagined that it would be so hard to figure out online booking. I guess technology isn't really my thing.”

“About the couple's cabin. I’d like to rent it. I’ll pay whatever the extra cost is.” Amy jumps to the question as if she’s afraid I might try to negotiate it away from her.

Mrs. Parker’s shoulders deflate. “I wish I could rent it to you, but I can’t. It’s only for couples. I’m donating the proceeds from all of my couple's cabins to the fundraiser efforts. We’re doing the Christmas Couples Contest. There will be prizes for games, and all of the cabins are participating. We do it every year.”

“But every hotel is already full in town. I'm not going to be able to find a place to stay.” Amy shakes her head.

“That's all right,” I chime in and scoot closer to Amy. If there's one thing I know about Mrs. Parker, it's that she's stubborn and she's not going to budge just because we plead with her and I’ve just gotten a fun idea.

“Amy and I are actually a couple. That's why we both booked here. We just thought it would look more appropriate for us to stay separately, but since you only have a couple’s cabin, there's nothing else we can do but stay together.”

I throw my arm around Amy's shoulders, pulling her close. The familiar scent of her shampoo washes over me, and I have to resist the urge to bury my face in her hair.

I miss what being with Amy brought to my life. Staying with her in a room for a week, who knows what might happen?

She looks up at me. Her eyes are frantic and she mouths the word no.

“Really?” Mrs. Parker looks between us, most likely trying to spot an ounce of love or infatuation.

“Smile,” I whisper into Amy’s ear, making it look like I’m pulling her closer. She pulls away slightly, her shoulders stiffening even more. She hates this, or maybe she likes it.

“Yup, that’s right. We had no idea there was a special option for couples, and you know how gossip can be in this town. We were thinking about keeping things under wraps for now, but no time like the holidays to come clean. Right, sweetheart?”

I’m savoring every minute of this, the feeling of her body close to mine, the soft scent of vanilla in her hair, tickling my nose.

Amy is staring daggers at me, which I’m pretty sure isn’t going to help our chances of being believable. Then again, Mrs. Parker is wearing glasses, so our chances are fifty-fifty.

At this point I’m all in, and hopefully, so is Amy.

“The two of you want to rent the cabin together?” Mrs. Parker looks at us.

Yeah, that’s right. We haven’t exactly been acting like a couple since we walked in.

“That’s the idea,” I quip. “It’s last minute, but also perfect, isn’t it, sweetheart?” I squeeze Amy’s shoulder.

“Perfect,” she bites out.

“How long have the two of you been together?” Mrs. Parker asks, her eyes narrowing further. Looks like her glasses work better than I anticipated.

“We were together for the last year of high school and a few years in college. Life got in the way, and then we sort of fell back in love unexpectedly.” I wink at Amy and her glare deepens. Any minute, she’s going to dismantle this little charade.

“Awww,” Mrs. Parker melts. “I just love a good love story. That’s why I run the Couples Contest.” Her face lights up.

“Hold on one second. Let me get your keys and the guest book, then I’ll finish signing you up.” She hurries from the room. As soon as she’s gone, the temperature in the room plummets. Amy spins toward me.

“What on earth are you thinking?” she hisses. I chuckle. There’s the feisty woman I know and love. The one I miss every day.

Man, I just want to come clean, tell her I screwed up, that this whole plan was stupid, and that I've missed her like crazy every single day.

But it’s not just my secret to spill, it involves people she cares about, and I don’t want to break her heart again.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she demands, an adorable glare creasing her brows.

“Come on, darling, we’re in love, remember?” She splutters and shakes her head, and I try not to lose all control right then and there.