Miss Mistletoe Read Online Free

so kind to his friend’s little cousin, then she would have never fallen in love with him. As ridiculous as it would sound to someone else, it
was
his fault.
    But even so, the blame for her actions that last night they’d seen each other lay solely at her feet.
    She closed her eyes, assaulted by a barrage of memories so strong, it was as if she were once again standing in Aunt Vivian’s ballroom, surrounded by the trimmings of Christmas and the low roar of a hundred guests laughing and making merry. . . .
    She had strategically situated herself beside the mistletoe, hoping against hope that Finn would reemerge from wherever he and Richard had gotten off to. She knew there wasn’t much time, and each second that ticked by was both unbearably slow and entirely too fast. Nervousness had her belly doing somersaults, and she pressed a hand to her middle in the vain effort to quell her fluttering nerves. Her eyes darted to the arching doorway above her for perhaps the twentieth time in the past ten minutes. Of course, nothing had changed in the last fifteen seconds.
    There were still only two berries left on the mistletoe.
    Two.
    She swallowed, glancing around the crowded room. Blast—where
were
they? She willed the people around her not to approach the alcove in which the bough was hung, not to kiss one another and carelessly strip one of the few remaining precious berries from the mistletoe. She knew the tradition—once the berries were gone, that was it. No more kissing until next Christmas.
    The problem was, she couldn’t wait until next year. There was no telling if he would even be here then. She had waited for at least seven of her sixteen years to be noticed by him—if it didn’t happen tonight, then it never would. Since he had graduated from Eton last spring, she knew there would be no more summers together at Hertford, where she visited her cousins, and Finn rusticated with Richard for a few weeks before their next semester began. Soon he would be off to university—Oxford to Richard’s Cambridge—and if he was to think of her ever again, she had to do something he wouldn’t forget. Something that would open his eyes to her, and force him to see her as the young lady she was becoming, and not the girl she had been.
    And this was her chance.
    At last she saw him, his dark mahogany head catching her eye as he and Richard entered the back of the ballroom. Relief and hope washed through her like a cool breeze in the overheated room. She had only to catch their eye—a friendly wave should be enough to get them to come say hello.
    Another guest, Mr. Brody, stepped into her line of vision then, and Cece suppressed a groan. Being short was such an inconvenience. Her irritation was quickly replaced by alarm as the man started toward the mistletoe, Miss Carrington giggling at his side. Oh no—the two of them were practically betrothed! They wouldn’t hesitate to take part in this particular Christmas tradition.
    But even as she longed to block their path, Cece knew there was nothing to be done. She watched helplessly as they stepped beneath the waxy green leaves. Mr. Brody pressed his lips to his sweetheart’s cheek, then winked at the crowd as they smiled indulgently. When the deed was done, he reached up and plucked a berry from the arrangement before escorting Miss Carrington to the punch table.
    Only one berry remained. One precious, irreplaceable berry that could mean the difference between finally catching Finn’s notice and losing him forever.
    As if sensing her desperation, Richard suddenly looked up. Their eyes met and she lifted a hand to beckon him over. Her cousin grinned and nodded, tapping Finn on the shoulder and pointing in her direction.
    Cece’s blood went first cold then boiling hot as the corner of Finn’s lip tilted up in a slight smile before he started toward them. He was coming! The knot of tension in the middle of her chest loosened a little more with each step they took. It was an