Love By Design: A Blind Date Holiday Novella by Samantha Christy

Author:Samantha Christy [Christy, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-28T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

Champagne has been flowing for hours. High heels are scattered on the edge of the dance floor. Men’s shirts are sticking to their bodies with sweat. All signs of a successful and fun reception.

Stryker tugs me against him—something I’ve learned he really likes to do—and asks, “How long do I have to wait to get you out of that dress?”

I giggle. “Addy and Hawk will be leaving soon. I have to stay until then.”

He nods to Mia, who has been carrying around the bouquet for an hour as if it’s an extension of her arm. “How come you didn’t participate?”

“Not looking for a husband.”

“Ever, or just now?”

“Don’t know. Haven’t decided yet.”

“I think being perpetually single is overrated.”

I lean back and stare. “Okay, I’ll bite. Tell me why.”

“For one, I think it’s perfectly fine at our age, in our twenties, when we have so much life ahead of us. But then I look to the future and think of people like my parents, how happy they are together. I see the life they built, the struggles they had to go through and all the adversity it took to get there, and it just all makes sense. There are truly people in this world who are fated to be together.” He shakes his head as if he hasn’t meant to be so serious. “And if that didn’t get you, how about this: say you fall and break your leg, who will be there to fetch your crutches, help you to the bathroom, and get you into cabs?”

“A roommate could help with that.”

“If you have one, which you don’t.”

I cock my head. “And you know this how?”

“I may have asked around.”

I let that sink in and try to determine how it makes me feel. Stryker Taylor—baseball star, millionaire, and from what I can tell so far, honorable guy with a tongue as impressive as his pitching arm—has been asking about me.

“Oh, come on, Hol. I know you looked into me too. You knew I got drafted out of college.”

“Yes, but as a woman I was just doing my due diligence. I needed to make sure my date wasn’t on the FBI’s most wanted list.”

He laughs boisterously and swings us around. When he leans in and kisses my neck, my eyes close. Because it feels so damn good. His lips feel soft, warm, and so freaking perfect.

“I wish I could tell you my parents’ relationship was as good as yours,” I say. “My dad is not anyone I’d consider a role model. Mom divorced him when I was young. She has since remarried and is totally happy now.”

“I think everyone goes through hard times. It’s how you deal with it that matters.”

“So your parents? They’re good? How long have they been together?”

“Twenty-two years.”

“Wow—so one of them clearly wasn’t ready to jump off the single wagon back then. I mean, you’re twenty-five, right?”

“Brady isn’t my biological father. He adopted me when I was four.”

“Really? I guess I didn’t do enough stalking after all.”

“My mom was his physical therapist after he broke his elbow.

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