If You Give a Grump a Holiday Wishlist (Aspen Grove #0.5)

by Ann Einerson

“You make me feel things I’ve never experienced before.” I keep my voice low and steady. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m insanely attracted to you, and now that I’ve felt your mouth on mine, I’m consumed with thoughts of kissing you again.”

“You’re so damn beautiful, it’s messing with my head,” I utter quietly. “Tell me you’re not attracted to me, and I’ll stop. Say the word, Presley, and I’ll walk away.”

The man may be considered a force to be reckoned with in the boardroom, but I learned last night that he’s a total sex god in the bedroom.

“I think my new favorite pastime is making you come.”

There’s no doubt about it. Presley Stafford is my goddamn kryptonite.

I wish I could be a part of it for real.

He might not know it, but he’s helped to bring back the magic of Christmas that I thought I lost.

I might have told him that what we’re doing is just for fun, but the truth is that I’m falling for him. I’m not foolish enough to think that someone like Jack Sinclair could have real feelings for his assistant, but a girl can dream, right?

To her, I’ve always come across as aloof and cold, because I was doing what it took to keep things strictly professional between us. In truth, I think I’ve been in love with Presley Stafford for the better part of three years, and I’m finally done pretending that I’m not.

“Now that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to call you mine, I don’t ever want to let you go.”

“We’ve all done things we regret, and all we can do is learn, grow, and move forward. As far as I’m concerned, the past should stay in the past. There’s no question you and Presley belong together.”

“You don’t know me that well. How can you be in love with me?” she says with confusion. How can she possibly think that I don’t know her after all this time?

“Your favorite color is lemonade pink—not magenta, not fuchsia, lemonade. You hate raw tomatoes, have an unhealthy obsession with seasonal coffee creamers, and you keep a jar of pink and red Starbursts in the top drawer of your desk. Every Tuesday, you wear your lucky black pencil skirt—the same one you wore to your job interview. And when you’re nervous you play with the charm bracelet on your left wrist. You send all my employees generous birthday gifts and say they’re from me, even though you use your own money because you think I’d say no if you asked me to pay for them. You’ve taken Gary the Doorman to lunch every Friday since his wife passed away last year. And despite your apartment being twenty minutes from the office, you walk to and from work because you like to immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the city.”

“I’ve spent the past three years paying attention to every last detail where you’re concerned. Not out of obligation, but because you genuinely matter to me.”

What I can’t do is pretend this never happened.” I motion between us. “What I feel for you is real, and I refuse to act like it doesn’t mean anything when, in truth, it means everything.”

“Easy, baby. I can’t give you what you need with all these clothes on.”

God, I can’t believe Presley belongs to me. She has me completely under her spell, and I’ll spend the rest of my life devoted to filling her life with happiness and joy.

Presley Stafford is officially, and forever, mine.

“I’m happy you’re here,” I whisper in his ear. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he assures me, pressing a soft kiss to my hair.

My trip home to Aspen Grove didn’t turn out how I had planned, but now I know what happens if I give a grump a holiday wish list… He falls in love.

Presley Stafford will forever hold my heart. I love her with all that I am, and will spend the rest of my days showing her just how much she means to me.