Page 94 of Merry Fake Bride

“Excellent. Please, come through. Everyone is here.”

In the lounge, Kairo is greeted warmly by my father and all the other friends who have dropped by to help him celebrate.

As warm as the scene is, I notice some tension on Kairo’s face and a small bubble of guilt worms through me.

I should have warned him that this wasn’t just a family affair.

Despite it, the tension seems to bleed away as he presents my father with a rare bottle of Scotch that’s even older than heis, and everyone cheers while joking that something so lavish isn’t meant to be drunk, but my dad ends that by immediately opening the bottle and pouring a glass.

“I think he likes it,” I murmur in Kairo’s ear. “What a sweet gift.”

“I’m glad he likes it,” Kairo replies, leaning close to me so I can hear him over the rising laughter in the lounge. “I saw some of the other bottles he collects when I was here for Thanksgiving, so I thought he would love another.”

“That’s so thoughtful.” Our eyes meet. “Thank you.”

Kairo’s gaze falls away and he straightens up while clearing his throat. “You’re welcome.”

After the introductions and a few shocked responses when people learn Kairo is my husband, it’s on to party games.

It doesn’t matter my father’s age.

He clings to the youthfulness of party games with the strength of a stubborn toddler and there’s no escaping them, not even for Kairo.

We start with dangled candy canes and Kairo lets me gently tie his hands behind his back, then I set him loose on the string being held up by two of my father’s friends.

They certainly don’t make it easy for him, but I can’t take my eyes off him.

The sparkle in his eyes, the breathless laughter that escapes him each time he lunges for a dangling candy cane and misses, the way we all know he could make the game too easy by standing up straight, but he doesn’t to keep it entertaining.

By the time he catches a cane between his teeth, his face is flushed with merriment and cheers rise around him while I gently untie his wrists.

“Good catch.” I chuckle as the game continues behind us. “You should check the tag.”

Kairo turns to face me with the cane still held between his teeth.

His eyes are bright, his hair has lost the perfectly combed look, and his smile is so warm that my heart skips a beat.

The urge to remove the cane for him rises like a swelling wave.

Thankfully, he removes the cane from his teeth before I lose control and checks the attached tag while licking his lips.

“I’ve won a bauble?”

“Oh!”

Clutching his hand without thinking, I pull him toward a table tucked near the window.

On it rests a bowl full of creatively, if badly, painted baubles. “You can choose one! They’re gifts from some of the classes at school we raised money for.”

“Wow.” Kairo’s brow lifts. “This town is…” He trails off and picks a green bauble covered in so many gold stars that they overlap one another. “I like this one.”

“Perfect!” I release his hand before his touch becomes too warm. “It suits you.”

“You think?”

“Mmhmm. You’re a man who tries to do too much so all your stars overlap. But if you take a breath and relax, you see the green underneath.”

“How poetic.” Kairo chuckles. “Thank you.”