The Christmas Pact by Vi Keeland

Riley

I almost felt bad for him.

But I’d had two cups of Mom’s famous spiked eggnog, and watching Kennedy squirm was the most fun I’d had at one of these Christmas open house parties in years.

“Thanks for the heads up,” Kennedy whispered in my ear as I passed him a glass of eggnog. “Your father was a freaking colonel, and your mom’s Mahjong friends are a retired major and two captains in the Army.”

I smiled sweetly. “Well…I could have warned you, yes. But what fun would that have been?”

Miriam Saunders, the highest ranking of the three, pointed at Kennedy. “If you’re in training, how did the two of you meet? You must be stationed at the Johnson Space Center. Houston’s a long way from New York City.”

“Ummm. Yes, ma’am. I’m about to start training in Houston, actually. But Riley and I met while I was in town visiting some family.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I thought you said your family is from Rochester.”

“They are. Well, my dad’s family. My mom has some family in New York City. I was visiting them.” He swallowed hard and added, “My grandmother, actually.”

The major squinted. “So you met our Riley while you were in town visiting your grandmother?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Mm-hmm. How did that come about, exactly?”

It was the first time Kennedy didn’t look so comfortable. He glanced over at me for help, and I grinned and sipped my eggnog.

“Riley likes to tell the story about how we met. Don’t you, sweetheart?”

“Oh, you know I do. Because it is quite the story. But, darling, you tell it so much better than I ever could. Go ahead, pumpkin. You tell them the story.”

Kennedy cleared his throat. “It’s a little embarrassing.”

I arched a brow. I should have known better than to challenge this man. His eyes sparkled and he leaned in toward Miriam. “For her. It’s a little embarrassing for her.”

He then proceeded to tell an elaborate story about how he’d been visiting his grandmother who lives across the hall from me, and I’d been cooking leftover pizza in the oven for breakfast. Apparently, I’d put the entire cardboard box that it had been delivered in, into the oven—because, yeah, I was that much of an idiot—and started a fire in my own kitchen. Kennedy, being the Boy Scout that he was, had smelled something burning and rushed over with a fire extinguisher and saved my life.

“And the rest, as they say, is history.”

My mouth gaped open in shock as I looked from Kennedy to the squad and back again. They were buying this shit! I’d known these women my entire life. They couldn’t possibly believe this stupidity.

Yet Miriam shook her head at me and tsked. “Pizza for breakfast? Your mom is such a good cook, Riley. It’s a shame you didn’t take after her.”

Unbelievable. They bought that Kennedy was an astronaut and that I’d cooked a cardboard box. All this man had to do was flash that smile of his, show those dimples, and even the toughest women I knew couldn’t resist him. He had turned the brains of these intelligent women into mush. Well, apparently…because I’d brought him here, hadn’t I?

During a break in the conversation, I told the new Kennedy groupies that I needed to steal him away to meet a few people. I steered him into the kitchen, closed the door, and turned to face him. “How do you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Tell ridiculous stories and people believe you?”

He shrugged. “I find it’s easier to get away with telling a big lie than it is to tell a little one.”

My sister Abby chose that moment to walk into the kitchen. “Oops. Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds. Mom asked me to grab some more dip from the fridge.”

Kennedy snaked an arm around my waist. “It’s my fault we’re hiding.” He gazed down at me. “Your sister looks so beautiful tonight. I just want to hog her all to myself.”

My sister made an awww face and grabbed the dip. She winked at me on the way back out to the living room. “He’s a keeper, Riley.”

Once she was out of earshot, I groaned as I rolled my eyes. “Very nice. More big lies.”

Kennedy’s brows drew together. For a half second, I almost believed that he hadn’t been bullshitting again. “You do look nice tonight. I should’ve told you that when you changed earlier.” His eyes wandered down my body and back up, snagging on my cleavage and lingering there.

I huffed, “God, you’re almost believable.”

He shook his head. “I’m not lying, Riley. I think you look beautiful tonight.”

“Sure,” I snickered.

Kennedy looked back and forth between my eyes. “You have a small freckle on your right breast, just…about…here.” He ran his fingertip along the scooped neckline of my dress. “And when you get nervous, you twist that ring you wear on your pointer.”

I had to look down at my chest to confirm. Sure enough, it was really tiny, but I did have a small freckle on the inner curve of my right breast. How the hell did he even notice that? When I looked up, he read the confusion on my face.

He smiled and leaned in close to my ear. “Told you I wasn’t lying, Riley. I can’t keep my eyes off of you in that dress.”

My belly did a little somersault, and I felt my breath catch when he pulled his head back and looked into my eyes. Luckily we were interrupted again. This time, by my mother.

“There you two are. The roads are getting pretty bad. Kennedy, dear, you can’t possibly drive back to Rochester tonight. You’d better plan to stay the night here and head to see your family in the morning.”

I walked over to the kitchen window and looked outside. The picturesque light snowfall from earlier had transformed into white-out conditions.

Kennedy looked at me, then back at my mother. “Are you sure?”

“Of course! I insist.” She joined us by the window, patted his arm, and whispered, “You can stay with Riley in her room.”