Before going to the story, it's time for another dedication, and today, I dedicate this chapter to @Watson1416 because she and Penelope have some things in common: they both have crazy ideas and enough boldness to put them into action, even if @Watson1416 is more about pranks! 😂😉 Love you and your hidden devious side! Stay awesome 😘❤

"Okay, I understand it's all about sharing moments with your family–"

"And your loved ones," I add, trying to catch those cinnamon eyes with my meaningful look, but Aden only nods.

"And your loved ones. But it can be at any other period of the year, so what is so special about the holidays?"

I lift my head up to the squared white ceiling, hoping that Santa will maybe help me. It's been about half an hour that we're here, but Aden doesn't seem to make any progress at Christmas or anything holidays-related. It isn't that he isn't trying, yet he just seems to be lacking totally of the Christmas spark we all have inside.

I let my gaze come back down, being caught once again by the contrast between the tidy white desk along with Aden's neat gray suit and the wide look in his eyes that resembles a lost puppy in front of all my explanations and the various Christmas pictures I've brought.

"I don't know... It's something special in the air... Maybe the fairy lights, the children's laughers, the snow... You can't really describe it, you gotta feel it."

He blinks his puppy eyes at me, and I swear no one can be as frustrating and adorable at the same time.

"No offense, but it mostly looks like a commercial strategy for me."

This plan is gonna be more complicated than I've imagined...

Speaking of plan, as if summoned by my disheartening thoughts, my phone starts ringing.

"Oh, sorry." I reach for my phone, looking at the screen but not even reading the name flashing as I say to Aden, "Just give me one minute."

"Sure." He offers me a soft smile, already diving back into studying the holidays' photos and articles as if it was a school subject to study, and he looks so cute doing it.

But I have to focus, so I quickly answer the phone, walking to the corner of the room. 

"Hello, Mom? I'm at work, I can't talk to you now. It can't wait for tomorrow?"

I throw a glance at Aden, not really listening to the voice on the other side of the phone.

"Mom, I've already told you I'm fine by myself!" I try to raise my voice, yet keeping it a whisper so it looks like I don't want Aden to hear, when in fact, it's the contrary.

Luckily, his office is quite small, so even my 'annoyed' whispers can be heard in the few feet separating us.

"So how's it going with the 'lover boy'?" I hear Amy on the other end of the phone along with some snickering from Kyle in the background.

They are making it really hard to keep a bothered face when I feel the corner of my lips tickling with an impending laugh. But I stay in character like a professional actress.

"No, I'm not interested. I can take care of my love life, so stop trying to play the matchmakers."

I glance up at Aden with an embarrassed expression that I think should earn me an Oscar with my friends' teasing on the other side of the phone, and I cross his cinnamon gaze for a second before he quickly averts it. 

But the way his eyebrows are slightly creasing and his fingers are frozen on the piece of paper he's holding lets me know I've caught his attention and interest. I can almost picture the wheels spinning in his head, trying to guess what I'm talking about. For someone so closed-off with a strong carapace, he is so easy to read; well that's maybe because I'm used to observing him a lot.

I think he's ready, so I finish with, "Yes, I know. See you tomorrow, and please no trap! Love you."

I end up the call on a 'hook him up' from both of my friends, and I come back to Aden's desk in two steps – literally, because his office is that small, although he already has a private office, which isn't my case, as the economy section is a bigger part of the newspaper than my decoration articles. I can almost hear Amy's voice telling me that I would have my own office at ID Decor Magazine, but actually, I don't know. Maybe I could have a dull storage room, or a wide fancy office, yet being alone or with malicious colleagues. However, I can't think about this now. I have another priority.

Thus after one last long bothered look at my phone, I put it away and let out a big sigh. "I'm sorry..."

"No, it's okay." Aden smiles, and I guess I'll have to throw a line.

"Family... I guess it's one of the joys of the holidays." I force a soft embarrassed laugh, and I don't even have to fake the warm rushing on my cheeks under Aden's attentive gaze.

"Is there a problem?"

"No, no, not really... It's just the eternal same discussion with my family, but I don't wanna bother you with it..." I shake my head, avoiding his gaze more because of the way it unsettles me than for my actress performance. 

My heart is starting to pick up its pace as I know this is THE moment, and my last chance is inching closer. "But it's maybe one of the only things that I don't like about Christmas!"

"What is it? I mean, it could help me for the Christmas spirit." His brown eyes twinkle at me with a curious glint, and I hide my grin and the jump of my heart with a chuckle.

"Um, I don't know... I don't think it happens to other people, but my family likes to pester me to find a boyfriend, and actually, they even like to set me dates with almost every male in the area," I explain, repeating the words I've prepared and learned carefully, trying to put the right inflection between frustration, annoyance, and a dash of embarrassment. "That's why my mom was calling me: to ask me for the hundredth time if I was coming alone and to talk to me about some 'acquaintance' that would be 'perfect' for me." I roll my eyes, running my fingers through my jet-black hair in a gesture that I hope looks slightly sexy, though, at this point, my nervousness makes it hard to tell. "That's really the thing that will spoil my week," I add with a heavy sigh.

"Have you tried explaining them?" Aden asks, and the line forming between his furrowed eyebrows lets me know he sincerely wants to help. I've told you he's a sweetheart!

"Yes, I have, but they don't understand. They think they're helping me, and they will certainly never change their mind until I bring someone home."

Now the most important part that I have to put smoothly...

"Maybe I should just bring a fake boyfriend to spend peaceful holidays!" I laugh lightly, shaking my head, but quickly stopping to check his reaction.

However, the thing is he has no reaction. His eyebrows are still pulled together in reflection and apparently compassion for me, yet there is nothing more except the flicker of a quick amused smile.

I don't try to fill the silence as I pray the idea will light up in his beautiful head, and my heart is thudding faster with each second as the slightest sound of a breath makes me jump in hope. Yet nothing comes.

I should have expected it, but my heart still drops slowly until it tumbles completely when Aden grabs a paper again. He's already moving back to the article. This is my last shot. This isn't how my plan has been supposed to go, but fortunately, I have a plan B.

I straighten up, my eyes growing bigger. "Maybe I could!"

Aden's eyebrows shoot up, and I don't know if it's in confusion or surprise, but I continue, "I mean I would just need someone who has no plan for the holidays and that would be willing to pretend to be my boyfriend for a week!" I grin as if proud of my idea, when inside I'm shaking in fear that he will think that I'm crazy. After all, if even my crazy friends have thought this is a mad plan, what will he think?

"Wow! That's an idea! I would have never thought of this."

This, I have noticed! But apparently, he doesn't look scared. I would say he's rather impressed as his wide eyes are staring at me.

"Do you think this could work?" I ask, biting my lip.

"Um, maybe..." He shrugs, offering me an encouraging smile that wraps the certainty that my real plan can work.

"I don't know... that would be lying to my family... But at the same time, it would be for everyone to spend nice holidays, and that wouldn't hurt anyone..." I pretend to be weighing the pros and cons that I've already measured precisely since yesterday. "I don't know why I'm even thinking about it! How would I find someone in just a day?" I shake my head, letting out a defeated sigh and waiting again.

Aden just nods at everything I've just said, his eyebrows finding back their crease as he genuinely seems to be thinking about it, yet not coming up with anything.

How can he be so oblivious? Does he really not think about the most evident under his nose? His own nose?

I guess I'll have to do it myself... I slowly lift up my head to him again. "You..." I whisper, not finding more voice as the loud beats of my heart resonating in my throat are like ticking the seconds until Aden realizes the underlying plan of this idea.

"Me?" He blinks, as lost about my secret plan as about what I'm talking.

"You, you could be my boyfriend – I mean my pretend boyfriend." Okay, maybe it isn't entirely a slip of the tongue, not entirely... maybe... "You've told me you're free next week, right? And that way, you could experience a real holiday for your article."

"Yes..." He nods slowly, leaving me in a few excruciatingly long seconds of silence. "That could really help me with those articles, and if it can help you... I guess it's a win-win deal. Okay." He offers me one of his easy breath-taking smiles.

Why have I ever been worried he could second-guess something when he's so unaware of my love for him, of love in general?

"Really?! You're sure?" It's almost too easy, well after how I've struggled to bring him to the subject.

"Yes, sure, if you are?"

"Oh, thank you! You save me!" I don't have to fake; my excitement is so real, tingling all my nerves like flashing fairy lights.

"No, I think you do because I'm really lost at this Christmas thing." He glances at the pictures and articles spread out on his neat desk with the same puppy look.

"We both need each other..." I smile shyly. "Let's hope we can make a credible couple!"

"Yes, why not." His casual shrug makes my heart leap, but it drops as fast as his eyebrows scrunch up in a frown again. "But what will you tell your family if you just told them you're going alone?"

"Oh, this... I think they'll be so overjoyed that they won't mind, but maybe we can find a plausible excuse..." I pretend to think when I already have the perfect one. "Um... Why not tell that we didn't want people to know since we're working together?"

"A professional reason, yeah, that sounds plausible... and we decided to spend the holidays together because finally, our relationship is getting more serious? But what will you tell your parents after the holidays if they don't see me for the next family meal or something like that?"

Aden really has a talent to take my heart in every direction, and I feel like a snow globe flipped from hope to disillusionment.

"I can tell we decided to break up, but we stay friends. At least, they will leave me in peace for some time." And with a bit of luck and Christmas magic, maybe I won't have to go to this part...

"Okay, so I think we got a deal." He holds out his hand, and I feel all the sparkles fly on my skin the second my fingers touch his.

Getting lost in his heart-melting smile, I know that my Christmas romance is just right there, in the palm of my hand, and I really do believe I can have it.

"So now we're heading – where are we heading by the way?" He furrows his eyebrows together once more, yet his gaze holds a playful, merry glint this time.

"New Jerse – Oh shit! The plane tickets?!" I can't believe I've almost forgotten this detail. Aden, his warm eyes, his breath-taking smile... can be so distracting. "I'll try to find you a ticket, and don't worry, I'll pay. That's the least I can do."

I'll use some of my savings; that will be my present to myself – not Aden in a gift package, even if it's an enthralling image, but my Christmas romance. Though now, my mind is wandering to an Aden in just underwear... a sculpted chest and a bow... No, I gotta focus if I ever want this to come true.

"No, let me take care of it. My father travels so much, I can have discounts and negotiate a last-minute ticket," Aden assures me. "Just give me the info about your flight."

Oh, yes, I often forget this detail! Aden is the heir of a rich businessman, but instead of following in the family business, Aden has chosen to work on his name, another thing that makes him the perfect leading role, along with his dark brown hair, his cinnamon eyes, and his Adonis's body.

"You're sure?" Could it be his Christmas present for me? He doesn't know yet how much it could be as he just nods. "Thank you! And in return, I promise to make you find the Christmas spirit!" And maybe something more...

"I trust you, but still good luck!" He lets out a quiet chuckle, glancing around the desk and the many papers with the same lost look, and I let my own gaze wander on him just a little bit more.

My eyes slide from his sharp, always-perfectly-shaved jaw that I would love to feel the smoothness under my lips, then to another part I dream to touch: his tempting lips parted in a light pout, and while his gaze is still focused on the amount of work he will have to put in, mine travels to his strong arms, my heart already fluttering as I imagine how warm they will be around me, then to his large hands that my skin is itching to brush. My wandering of gaze and thoughts only lasts for a few seconds, though, because my gaze lands on his silver watch.

"Um, I should go back to work."

After all, I'm still at work, even if it's starting to look like the first act of a Christmas romance.

"I guess we'll see the details later." I get up, leaving all the sheets I've brought on his desk, since he needs them more than I do. "And if you think of something else to organize, tell me."

In a rush of boldness, which I have no idea where it's coming from – maybe I'm inspired by the heroines in my romance movies – I get around his desk and lean to his cheek to offer him a soft kiss. "Thank you."

His eyebrows shot up, but I don't wait more for his reaction, exiting the room with my heart hammering in my chest and a wide foolish smile on my lips.

I barely get to take one step in the hallway that my friends are jumping on me with grins as large as mine and curious twinkling gazes.

"Soooo?! Is lover boy hooked?" Kyle asks, his eyebrows wiggling.

"You sounded convincing on the phone, and judging by your smile, I would say yes!" Amy adds almost at the same time.

"Shh!!" I glance frantically behind to be sure no one has heard, and I try to push my excited friends back to my desk, which makes me feel like a supermarket Santa trying to calm down candies-excited kids. "Do you want the whole building to hear us?!"

Though the second we get to my desk, the supermarket Santa might be as excited as the kids as I jump up and down, high on something sweeter than candy canes. 

"Yes, it worked!" I whisper-shout my enthusiasm that my friends have already guessed. "I have my 'fake' boyfriend." I proudly sit on my wobbly chair and we all start laughing, trying our best to keep quiet while half of the people around is trying to work – the other half seems almost as agitated as us, remaining childlike and sharing chocolates for the few hours we have left here.

"Um, I think it's time for the final touches of my first step, right?" I look at my friends after having checked the time.

Amy is about to go back to her office – well, she has been meaning to for the past ten minutes now, but my box of chocolates and our blabbering have held her back – while Kyle is already at his desk, which is the one just next to mine.

A good half-hour has gone since my victorious exit from Aden's office, and between our excitement and fantasizing about my romance and my friends complaining about their imminent family holidays, we haven't managed to go back to work yet. Luckily, my tasks are already finished. This is my favorite time of the year, so generally, I write the articles easily and always early.

"Me, I'll go back to work because me, I don't want to be on Santa's naughty list..." Amy presses her lips in a taunting smile.

"Oh, Penelope is already on the naughty list!" Kyle winks, and I realize he's more than right with all the lies I'm inventing, and I'm just starting... But it's made with love, so maybe Santa can forgive me.

Anyway, I brush it off, leaving my desk and my friends, who are still talking and not working. I guess I won't be the only one on the naughty list! I bet they will still be complaining about their families when I come back, which I don't understand. I'm really happy to be coming back home, and not only because of my little Christmas romance plan. I miss my family; it has been too long for my liking that we've been all reunited, and there will be a new addition to the family that I hope will last.

I knock on the door with this thought in mind, but as I push the handle, the shyness creeps back like the heat on my skin with the fresh memory of how I've left some minutes ago.

"Hey, sorry to bother you again."

"You don't, what is it?" Aden smiles, apparently not bothered by my interruption, nor by my little gesture from earlier.

Maybe he's liked it? Or he's just seen it as a 'friendly' gesture?

"Um... About our 'pretend' thing..." I find some reassurance as he nods. "I thought that maybe we should go over some details to make it more credible and learn a little bit more about each other, things that are important to know as a couple, like our favorite movies, our pet peeves, food allergies..."

This is one of the most important things I've learned from all those movies. They always go unprepared, and it creates awkward situations. But I won't be that mindless, especially because I don't want my parents to suspect anything.

"Yeah, that's clever," Aden notes with a smile.

"We could meet for lunch to talk about it?"

This is also the other aim of this little 'preparation': spending more time with Aden.

"Uh, I can't, sorry. I have an interview with Paul Krugman. He's in town for a few days, and this is such a luck to get an exclusive interview for next year's newspaper!" His eyes light up like sprinkles of sugar added on the cinnamon colors, while my blue ones grow bigger.

I have no idea who he's talking about, but whoever this Paul is, I'm cursing him for stealing my little date.

"Sorry," Aden repeats, my wide eyes probably letting him see too clearly the disappointment. "It'll probably last until the early afternoon."

"And after, I've promised to babysit my little neighbors during their parents' Christmas shopping..." I think out loud, twisting my brain to find a way.

"Um... you can send me the questions and details by e-mail, and I'll return them to you, so we can each learn everything," Aden suggests, already typing a memo of his idea on his phone.

This sounds so professional... But I guess I have no choice. This plan has been going too well so far, and it's almost sounded too good to be true. Of course, Aden won't fall for me in one day, and we'll have other occasions to spend time together; we'll have a whole holiday together.

I find back my motivation and my grin with this thought and with Aden's gentle smile.

"Okay, I'll try to prepare it quickly, so we'll have more time to learn."

I don't think I'll need it because I already know a lot about Aden, but this Christmas, he'll get to learn more about me.

Here it is! Aden has accepted the 'deal' like the sweetheart he is! 😊 But also, so oblivious! 😅 Do you think Penelope will be able to open his eyes and will she get the present she dreams of, with a bow on top? 😉😂❤🎁

Let me know in the comments, and of course, vote if you liked this chapter ⭐!

Your comments and feedback are already like little presents of the Advent for me 😊🥰❤😘🎄

Also, I don't know if you've noticed, but I've added songs with the chapters (I also added some in the first 2 chapters) because I think it makes it more cheerful and magical, so it's perfect for this period! 😊 Let me know if you like them!

Also, don't hesitate to suggest me some Christmas songs because it's hard to find one for each chapter! 😉🎵