Series: Cobalt Empire Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 234
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 226965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1135(@200wpm)___ 908(@250wpm)___ 757(@300wpm)
My face contorts. “What handbook?”
“The Ben Cobalt Boyfriend handbook that I created right fucking now. Section 1. Paragraph 1. It’s all right there.” He waves a hand like there’s an imaginary handbook in the air that I can read.
I fight a smile. “Does this handbook have any other info? Like when your big family exodus from Philly and New York is happening?” The Hales, Meadows, and Cobalts typically spend the holidays all together outside the city. At a lake house.
Somewhere mountainous, private, and secluded from the public.
The location has never been leaked, so I had no clue where Ben would be going for Christmas. Until he told me it’s in the Smoky Mountains. He’s painted the picture of this boisterous, chaotic, festive atmosphere, a giant house filled to the brim with family. How there might be bickering and tears, but it’s followed by a lot of laughter. It always smells like cinnamon rolls and fir trees.
It’s hard to imagine.
I don’t even know my cousins. Ben is close to practically all seven of his. And my childhood home smelled like microwaved pork roast and burnt gravy.
The lake house isn’t as exclusive as Wednesday Night Dinners since their security know of the location, but Ben has said no one has ever invited a girlfriend there for the holidays. I’m sure his parents worry about a break-up and the scorned ex tipping off the tabloids. It’d ruin a very private place they’ve maintained for decades.
“I’m just wondering when you might be leaving,” I clarify. “How much longer do I have with you before you go?” We’ll be spending Christmas separately, and I’m kind of hoping it’s the day before. Maybe he’ll pack up on the 24th.
“Yeah, about that.” He glances at the ice rink, then down at me. “I’m not going.”
Oh no. I straighten up, facing him fully. “Ben, you need to be with your family—”
“It’s not that.” His smile crawls higher, his eyes flitting over my body. “Your concern for me is cute, Fisher.”
“Stop flirting.” I purse my lips to restrain a smile.
“I told my parents I wanted to stay in New York to be with you and Beckett,” Ben explains. “He rarely goes to the lake house for the holidays because of The Nutcracker. If he does, it’s very short. Next thing I know, all my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad have declared Christmas is at the Cobalt Estate this year. Just my immediate family is staying back, and honestly, I did not want them to at first because…if something were to happen in Philly, it’d be because of me. Because they’re doing this for me. But maybe it’s good to work through it with them.”
My lungs inflate with a deeper breath. He’s going to be here. Well, a couple hours away, but that totally beats being in a secret location at least five or six hours from the city.
“Are you grinning?” Ben asks.
“You are grinning,” I point out because his grin is ginormous and very bright and coaxing mine out to new levels.
“Don’t stop.” He curves his arms around me.
“My cheeks fucking hurt. How do you do this all the time?” I stretch out my jaw.
And then he says, “You want to spend Christmas with me?”
My face falls. “Wait, what?”
“I talked to the powers that be, and you’re invited to stay the week at the Cobalt Estate for the holidays. In Philly.”
“I’m invited?” My brows hike. “To Christmas?”
“Yeah.” He laughs a little off my surprise. “There’s a guest room in the house. But you’ll probably be allowed to spend the week in my bedroom. I don’t think my mom will care. She loves you.”
“Wait, she loves me?” I touch my chest. This is too much at once. “Are you sure? Did she tell you that or are you guessing? Because you can’t be playing with my heart like that.”
“It’s a very good, educated guess,” Ben replies into a wider smile, then slips the earmuffs off my neck, as evidence. “She designed these for you.”
“No, she didn’t,” I retort, getting hot all over.
“Yeah, she did.” He shows me a Calloway Couture logo underneath the black headband. I figured these are from her boutique.
“She just grabbed me some of her merchandise.”
“No, there are no earmuffs in her fashion line. She made these specifically for you.”
Tears sting my eyes. What the fuck…? “Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She was worried about coming on too strong. I don’t think she wanted to smother you.”
I hold the earmuffs delicately as if they’ve turned to glass. “Is it weird that I think I love being smothered?”
He’s smiling more. “If it is, then I’m just as weird. Because I want to smother you with all the love I can give.”
My heart is so full. “You give a whole lot.” I sink against his side even more. “Christmas,” I say wistfully. “With your family.”