Page 265 of Burn Bright

Oh no. I straighten up, facing him fully. “Ben, you need to be with your family?—”

“It’s not that.” His smile crawls higher, his eyes flitting over my body. “Your concern for me is cute, Fisher.”

“Stop flirting.” I purse my lips to restrain a smile.

“I told my parents I wanted to stay in New York to be with you and Beckett,” Ben explains. “He rarely goes to the lake house for the holidays because ofThe Nutcracker. If he does, it’sveryshort. Next thing I know, all my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad have declared Christmas is at the Cobalt Estate this year. Just my immediate family is staying back, and honestly, I didnotwant them to at first because…if something were to happen in Philly, it’d be because of me. Because they’re doing thisfor me.But maybe it’s good to work through it with them.”

My lungs inflate with a deeper breath. He’s going to behere.Well, a couple hours away, but that totally beats being in a secret location at least five or six hours from the city.

“Are you grinning?” Ben asks.

“Youare grinning,” I point out because his grin is ginormous and very bright and coaxing mine out to new levels.

“Don’t stop.” He curves his arms around me.

“My cheeks fucking hurt. How do you do this all the time?” I stretch out my jaw.

And then he says, “You want to spend Christmas with me?”

My face falls. “Wait, what?”

“I talked to the powers that be, and you’re invited to stay the week at the Cobalt Estate for the holidays. In Philly.”

“I’m invited?” My brows hike. “To Christmas?”

“Yeah.” He laughs a little off my surprise. “There’s a guest room in the house. But you’ll probably be allowed to spend the week in my bedroom. I don’t think my mom will care. She loves you.”

“Wait, she loves me?” I touch my chest. This is too much at once. “Are you sure? Did she tell you that or are you guessing? Because you can’t be playing with my heart like that.”

“It’s averygood, educated guess,” Ben replies into a wider smile, then slips the earmuffs off my neck, as evidence. “She designed these for you.”

“No, she didn’t,” I retort, getting hot all over.

“Yeah, she did.” He shows me aCalloway Couturelogo underneath the black headband. I figured these are from her boutique.

“She just grabbed me some of her merchandise.”

“No, there are noearmuffsin her fashion line. She made these specifically for you.”

Tears sting my eyes. What the fuck…? “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“She was worried about coming on too strong. I don’t think she wanted to smother you.”

I hold the earmuffs delicately as if they’ve turned to glass. “Is it weird that I think I love being smothered?”

He’s smiling more. “If it is, then I’m just as weird. Because I want to smother you with all the love I can give.”

My heart is so full. “You give a whole lot.” I sink against his side even more. “Christmas,” I say wistfully. “With your family.”

“So that’s a yes?” Ben asks.

“No, I’m going to have so much fun watchingElffrom the backseat of Harold this year,” I say into a scowl.

Nowhe’sscowling. “Is that what you did last year?”

“Maybe…”

He sighs. “Please say yes.”