“Don’t worry, it’s not your real gift,” he said. “Just something small.”
He placed a small black bag in her hand. Lily glanced up at him curiously and he nodded, urging her to open it. Lily reached inside the bag. She grabbed two small items. A Black Santa figurine and an I <3 NY keychain.
She laughed out loud then, remembering the imaginary date from their emails.
“This is perfect,” she said, grinning up at him. She kissed him softly. His mouth tasted sweetly of hot chocolate. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled back and wrapped his arms around her, moving his hands up and down her arms to generate warmth. “It’s freezing. How about we go back to my place now?”
“Okay,” Lily said, snuggling closer.
Nick wasn’t a figment of her imagination or a faceless stranger behind her computer screen. He was right there in front of her. The realest thing in the world.
She kissed him again to prove just how real he was.
Acknowledgments
Writing adult romance has always been a huge dream of mine, and for a long time I was afraid to pursue this dream because writing in a new genre/age group can be very intimidating! I love this book so much, and I’m so grateful for everyone who helped bring this story to fruition.
Thank you to my agent, Sara Crowe, for always believing in me and my stories and my ability to tell these stories, regardless of how afraid I might be to write them.
Thank you to my editors, Cindy Hwang and Angela Kim, who guided me （and Lily and Nick!） on this journey in the most supportive way. I’m thankful for the rest of the team at Berkley as well: Adam Auerbach, Stacy Edwards, Christine Legon, Daniela Riedlova, Dache’ Rogers, Lila Selle and Randie Lipkin.
Thank you to my friend and critique partner, Alison Doherty, who listened to my pitch about Lily and Nick years ago and encouraged me to take the leap and write their story. And thank you to my work wife, Dana Carey, who made my days of working in publishing so much more worthwhile.
Finally, thank you to my family for being so supportive. Especially my grandma Peggy, who always made a point to ask if I was still planning to write a story about sisters named after flowers.