Cole's Christmas Wish. Tracy Madison

are you doing?” she stammered.

      “Ascertaining you’re still a female,” he said. “And you are. So yes, Rachel, you’re a complicated woman. As is my sister, my mother and every other woman I’ve ever known.”

      Unable to regain her bearing, Rachel started walking again, though she had no clue where they were headed. Over her shoulder, she said, “I guess that means you owe me.”

      He caught up to her, his long stride erasing the distance she’d created in no time flat. “Owe you for what?”

      “Why, preparing you for this relationship, of course.” With a flip of her hair, she marched forward, refusing to look at him again so soon after her body had darn near melted.

      Once again, he entwined his arm with hers. He slowed their pace down to that of a leisurely stroll. In a voice dripping with laughter, he said, “Oh, you have, and you’re right, I absolutely owe you. What’s your price?”

      “We can start with ‘Cupcake’s’ first name,” Rachel said as they approached the local elementary school. Hmm. If they were having lunch here, did that mean Cole’s girlfriend was a teacher? “It’s becoming tiresome referring to her as a baked confection...or the generic ‘her’ or ‘she.’ So what gives, Cole? What’s her name?”

      “Driving you crazy that you don’t know, isn’t it? There,” Cole said, nodding toward and then leading them in the direction of the school playground. “I’ll brush the snow off one of the benches and we can get settled.”

      “Cole!” Rachel said, exasperated, and okay, a little crazy. “What. Is. Her. Name?”

      “Uh-huh, driving you crazy. I bet,” he said slowly, “you’re coming up with all these excuses why I haven’t told you yet. One of them is probably that my family doesn’t approve.”

      “Do they?”

      “They like her just fine, Rachel.” He shrugged, causing a lock of black hair to fall on his forehead. Her fingers itched with the want to stroke it back into place. “But I can’t tell you her name.”

      “You...can’t tell me your girlfriend’s name?” Rachel yanked her arm out of Cole’s and settled her hands on her hips. “Why in the world wouldn’t you be able to give me such basic information about the woman you’re seeing?”

      “Why do you do that?” he asked instead of answering. “Repeat my statement in question form, as if ascertaining you heard me correctly? You know me well enough, or you should, to know I don’t say something unless I mean it.”

      “Because what you’re saying is absurd.”

      “Only because you don’t have the proper information.” Cole handed her the box of food. “Give me a minute here, and I’ll explain everything. Over lunch.”

      It was a Thursday, but the playground was empty. Too cold and snowy for outdoor recess, apparently. Rachel shielded her eyes and turned in a circle, looking for the woman they were supposed to be meeting. No sign of Cupcake. Shouldn’t she be here by now?

      “She isn’t here,” Rachel said, giving heed to the instinct she’d had ever since Cole’s phone call that morning. “She isn’t coming. She was never coming. Isn’t that right, Cole?”

      Cole faced her, his expression serious. “No, she isn’t. I used meeting her as an excuse to give us some privacy, without Andrew’s presence.”

      “I see.” Rachel counted to ten, slowly. “Why?”

      “Because I need your help.”

      “My help? What type of help?”

      “See? You’re doing it again, making a question out of my statement.”

      She tapped her foot once. Twice. And waited.

      “It’s like this, Rachel.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “My mind is set on proposing to this woman I love, on Christmas day. But I’m experiencing some...let’s call them difficulties, in getting her to see our relationship the way I do. I need your help in romancing her, priming her, so to speak, so she’ll say yes.”

      “Proposing? As in...marriage?” Rachel whispered, not caring in the least that she’d rephrased his statement as a question. “As in, this Christmas?”

      “That’s my goal. And that’s why I can’t, or won’t, tell you her name. I want someone who doesn’t have any preconceived notions about...Cupcake.” He paused, as if weighing his words. The corners of his mouth curved into a tiny grin. “Yep, that’s what I need. Someone who can be objective in their advice, based on what I see in this woman, in what I tell them.”

      Rachel swallowed, backed out of his hold. “And you’re afraid that if I know her name, I’ll...what? Somehow learn something about her that will hinder my ability to...help you woo her? By the simple virtue of having her name?”

      “Exactly! Why, you might accidentally bump into her at the Beanery, or at Foster’s. If you don’t know her name, you won’t know it’s her, see what I’m getting at? Or you might hear some folks chatting, and if her name came up, you’d be all over that.” His smile widened in smug satisfaction, as if he were extraordinarily pleased with his explanation. “This way, you have to rely on the information I give you, so your viewpoint will be the same as mine.”

      “I see.”

      “I knew you would.” Cole grabbed Rachel’s hand and squeezed tight. “This woman is special. Every detail needs to be right. Just right. She deserves so much more than she knows, and I want to be the one to give her everything. And more.”

      Wow. Just...wow.

      “I guess I don’t understand,” Rachel somehow managed to say. “If you love her, and she loves you, why do you need any help? Especially mine?”

      Turning away, Cole brushed the snow off the bench and gestured for her to sit. She didn’t. Just kept her mouth shut and waited for him to answer her question.

      “She’s had...some problems with a few of her past relationships. And a rocky childhood, I guess you’d say. She has all these barriers because of both.” Cole shifted his gaze away from hers. “I’m afraid if I’m not careful, she’ll bolt. I can’t let that happen, Rach.”

      “Oh.” His logic clicked solidly into place with a sickening thud. A tremble passed through her, and then another, before she found the courage to voice the obvious. “Her past sounds a lot like my past, doesn’t it, Cole?”

      He nodded.

      “So from your perspective, we’re both impatient, complicated women who share similar issues.” Moisture appeared behind Rachel’s eyes, threatening tears. She blinked them away. Fast. “That’s why you want my help in particular, correct? Because you think I’ll somehow have an inside track into how to get around these specific barriers?”

      “That and the fact you’re my best friend.”

      “Right. Best friend.” Well, at least he was honest. The throbbing in her temples returned. “I... This is a surprise.”

      Cole watched her with a speculative gleam. The tense set of his shoulders, his jaw, his very stance declared how important this was to him. “I don’t need an answer right now,” he said. “I know I’m asking a lot, especially since this could potentially steal time you’d planned on having with Andrew. Ask whatever you want, take however long you need.”

      Closing her eyes, Rachel tried to rationalize a way she could gracefully decline. She could use the Andrew excuse he’d just given her, but honestly, based on the happenings that morning, she felt fairly sure the majority of Andrew’s vacation would be claimed by work.

      She could just say no. Simply state the prospect made her uncomfortable. Oh, God. This was...unthinkable. Her chest tightened with pressure and her throat closed.