Page 95 of Merry Fake Bride

The game continues until all canes are claimed and then it’s on to the next game.

I partake in neither game—being tied up or blindfolded sparks too many bad memories, so once again, I’m in charge of preparing Kairo for his round.

“What’s this one?” he asks softly as he stands before me.

“This is like pin the tail on the donkey, only you’ll be given a mystery item and you have to place it on the Christmas tree behind you. Blindfolded.” I pull a silk handkerchief from my pocket and wave it before him. “Do you want to?”

Kairo’s eyes don’t leave my face as he nods. “Sounds fun.”

“Okay. I’m going to blindfold you and then my mom will choose your decoration.”

“Do you need me to kneel so you can reach?” His voice is so soft, almost intimate, as if we’re the only two people in the room.

I shake my head and slowly fold the handkerchief to create a makeshift blindfold, then I reach up and slowly place it over Kairo’s eyes.

Tying it around the back of his head means leaning fully into him, so I stand on my tiptoes and carefully wind the blindfold to the back of his head where my good hand and my cast-affected fingers fight one another to tie a gentle knot.

It’s difficult.

I’m so close.

His body is pressed right against mine, his breath ghosts my cheek with the angle I’ve chosen, and his lips are inches from mine if I turn my head.

The knot slips between my trembling fingers and as my distraction grows, I wobble and slip.

Only I don’t fall.

Both of Kairo’s hands suddenly grasp gently at my waist and the urge to flinch away rises inside me like the lash of a whip.

Only… It’s different.

Rather than the spike of fear I’m so trained to experience at touches to my body, it’s more akin to a surge of excitement and my breath catches in my throat.

“Careful,” Kairo murmurs softly in my ear. “Don’t fall.”

I can’t speak.

I’m boiling up from the inside being this close to him and I completely forget how easily someone could be watching us.

It feels like we’re the only two to exist and I want to kiss him.

God, do I want to.

Even though I told him I wasn’t interested. How can I mess him around like that?

The knot finally tightens and I step away.

Kairo’s warm hands easily slip from my waist and I distract myself from my fluttering heart with prayers that he didn’t feelthe seams of the shapewear holding all my curves and bumps in the right place.

If he did, he doesn’t say a word.

As I step away, our bubble breaks and the real world surges back.

My father spins Kairo four times then my mom places a reel of tinsel in his hands and sort of directs him toward the tree.

I watch him and laughter bubbles up as he stumbles around and hugs the tree, his head jerking away from the branches as he tries to drape the tinsel appealingly.

It falls from the tree more times than anyone can handle, and it’s not long before most people are laughing too hard to stand.