A Little Christmas Magic (Tis the Season Holiday Collection #9) by Jacqueline Ramsden

Author:Jacqueline Ramsden [Ramsden, Jacqueline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Lesbian Romance, Holiday, Christmas, Fake Relationship, Only One Bed, Found Family
Goodreads: 63342279
Published: 2022-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Nine

“Are you okay?” Ellis whispered after a moment. Xyr mouth was right by her ear, so, even with the hubbub in the pub, she could hear that soothing, familiar voice clearly.

“Yeah,” she breathed before realising she wasn’t acting at all like she was okay. She stepped back abruptly, clearing her throat in embarrassment. “Sorry about that. I… don’t know what came over me.”

Xe’s brow puckered a little. This evening, xe was makeup-free and rocking the button-up-and-grandpa-cardigan look a million times better than Adam was.

Lowen shook her head, unsure where that thought had come from. It was true, but still.

“Do you think,” Ellis said carefully and quietly, just for them, “that maybe it was something to do with whoever was just at the bar with you?”

Lowen winced. She had been hoping nobody had seen that. Or, if they had, that it hadn’t looked as awkward as it felt. “Oh, that’s just— Well. That’s just Adam.”

Ellis tilted xyr head, xyr eyebrows raising a little. “Was it? And do we know Adam?”

There was something about the way xe said ‘we’ that made Lowen feel buzzy inside. She didn’t understand any of the emotions she was feeling tonight. It was a roller coaster and she wasn’t one for those. She was the one who organised the tickets and made sure everyone got to ride if they wanted to.

Ellis was the one who rode roller coasters. Maybe xe’d finally feel high up enough at the top of a roller coaster.

“We…” Lowen shrugged. What would be the point of lying to Ellis? She knew she didn’t want to and, judging by their interactions, xe’d just see through her anyway. “We don’t really know Adam. He’s friends with my friends, Bijal and Pemba.” She gestured in the direction of their table, even though it was impossible to see them through the crowd. “That’s who I was at the Christmas market with on Saturday.”

Ellis nodded, a slight pucker still between xyr eyebrows. Lowen followed one of those blonde curls up xyr forehead and realised that, for the first time, she was seeing xem without a hat. Xe looked great like this too.

“Sorry,” Lowen said, feeling herself blush again. “I don’t know why I’m being so weird tonight. I’m just not good with— Well, when people— Or, rather, when I think… or it feels like… you know… people might be…”

Ellis slowly lifted a hand towards Lowen’s arm, looking at her questioningly. Xe was asking without words whether it was okay to touch her. Lowen nodded. Relief flooded through her. She wasn’t sure anyone had ever asked if touching her was okay.

It was only as the warmth of xyr hand soaked through Lowen’s jumper that she realised that xem asking meant xe’d probably noticed Lowen’s discomfort when Adam had touched her. She prayed nobody else had noticed, especially not Adam.

“You don’t like it when people hit on you,” Ellis said, careful again to keep xyr voice down so the people around them wouldn’t hear what they were talking about.

“It’s not that,” Lowen insisted.

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