#csgifset

Two weeks before the New Year’s Eve Ball, Hope was at Granny’s with her best friends, Melanie and Robyn, bemoaning the fact that Gideon still hadn’t done as she wished. Her only saving grace was that he’d not asked anyone else either — of that, she was sure. So far, she’d tried everything she could think of to let him know she was available. At the speed he was moving, though …. 

“Earth to Hope.” Melanie snapped her fingers several times. “Earth to Hope.” 

“I’m sitting right here, Melanie,” Hope grumbled. “What’s the problem?” 

“You were staring off into space again,” Robyn replied. “Were you dreaming about Gideon?” 

“Shush,” Hope hissed. “He’s sitting right over there!” 

“He can’t hear us,” Melanie assured her. 

Hope glanced over her shoulder toward where Gideon was sitting with her uncle, Neal, and had to agree with Melanie. There was no way they could be heard from that far away. 

“You should have told your uncle to tell Gideon to ask you out,” Robyn suggested. “It would have saved a lot of circling around each other.” 

“Don’t you know circling around each other is part of the fun?” Hope grinned. “Or at least that’s what my mother says.” 

“You don’t believe her, though. Do you?” Melanie followed up. 

Hope glanced up from where she’d been pleating and unpleating her napkin. “Why would you say that?” 

Melanie nodded down at the table. “Because you’re nervous. If you were having fun, you wouldn’t be nervous.” 

Did she agree with her friends? She wasn’t so sure. Yes, she enjoyed flirting with Gideon. But it would be so much easier to enjoy flirting with him, if she knew what he thought of her. 

“You could ask him, you know?” Robyn offered pragmatically. “This is the twenty-first century, after all.” 

“I know,” Hope sighed. “But …” Again, her gaze was drawn over her shoulder to the table where Gideon and Neal were still involved in a deep conversation. Robyn was right. She could ask him. 

“Go on,” Melanie encouraged. “But what?” 

Hope shrugged. “My father is a little old-fashioned and well …” 

Robyn frowned. “But didn’t I see in the book that your mother asked your father out first?” 

“That was different,” Hope murmured. “My father didn’t think he was good enough for my mother.” 

“And you don’t think that’s an issue with Gideon?” Melanie asked. “After all, his father and your father have a history.” 

“Which I’m fully aware of,” Hope snapped. “But I want him to ask me. Do you think I’m expecting too much?” 

“I would say ‘have hope,’” Melanie grinned. “But something tells me you don’t need it.” 

“Why?” 

“Because,” Robyn tipped her chin slightly in Gideon’s direction, “ he’s headed this way.” 

“He’s what?” Hope squeaked. 

“On his way over,” Melanie whispered. 

Hope glanced over her shoulder, and when her gaze briefly met Gideon’s, her heart dropped into her stomach. 

Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! She leaned on the table. “How do I look?” 

Melanie rolled her eyes. “You look fine. Stop worrying.” 

“Hope,” Gideon’s aftershave titillated her senses, “can I speak with you for a moment?”  

Hope’s gaze slowly lifted until her blue eyes clashed with his dark ones. “Sure.” She wanted to roll her eyes at just how breathy she sounded. “Can I help you with something?” 

Gideon’s gaze touched on Melanie and Robyn, then back to Hope. “Can we speak alone? Would that be alright?” 

“Oh, Okay. That would be fine.” Then she wanted to roll her eyes at how ridiculous she sounded. 

“Can we talk now?” Gideon asked again. 

“Go on,” Melanie mouthed. 

Hope took a nervous breath and slid out of the booth. The butterflies in her stomach took off at once. It forced her to focus on putting one foot in front of the other as she followed Gideon across the floor. 

He led her around the building to a secluded corner and crowded her, pushing her to back up against the wall. Being close to him was everything she’d ever wanted, but now that it was happening, her heart was racing, and the urge to giggle was strong.   

“Is this okay?” Gideon asked hesitantly. “I noticed that—“

“—Everyone was staring at us?” Hope muttered. 

“Yes.” Gideon smiled. “Are you okay with that?” 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“Well,” he went on. “Our fathers …” 

“Will never be best friends,” Hope replied. “Why?” She hesitated for a beat. “Are you scared of my dad?” Then she wanted to smack herself in the head that those words had fallen from her mouth. “Scared?” Gideon laid his hand on his chest. “Me?” 

“There’s no one else out here.” 

“I’m not scared.” Gideon propped one hand on the building next to her head and leaned in a little closer. “Should I be?” 

“It depends.” 

“On?” 

“Why you brought me out here?” 

Gideon’s gaze dropped to her mouth, then right back up. It caused her lips to tingle and made her wonder what it would feel like if she just went for it. 

“Hope.” He brushed her hair behind her shoulder and took a half step closer. His dark eyes mesmerized her, and his heat reached out. “I was wondering if you would go to the Snowflake Ball with me?” 

Her breath caught, and the words Be cool! Be cool! were on repeat inside her head. But having Gideon ask her to go to the dance had been her dream for longer than she could remember. “Yes!” She fought to keep from squealing. “Yes, I’ll go to the dance with you.” 

A slow smile crawled across Gideon’s mouth. “You will?” 

“I will.” 

His eyes twinkled, and before he even opened his mouth, somehow, she knew what he was going to say. “And you’ll protect me from your father? If it’s necessary, that is.” 

Hope giggled. “I’ll protect you.” 

“Good,” he replied in a husky voice. “I’ll pick you up at 8:00 p.m.”  

“I’ll be waiting.”  

Gideon brushed his knuckles down her cheek. “We’ll have fun.” 

Her breath hitched, and she fought to push the lump in her throat down. “We will.” 

“Shall we?” He inclined his head toward the diner door. 

In a daze, Hope followed him back inside and slid into her booth seat. “Well,” Melanie and Robyn cried simultaneously. “What happened?” 

“What happened?” Hope asked absently. 

“Did he ask you to the dance?” Melanie pushed. 

“Did you say yes?” Robyn followed up. 

“What are you going to tell you parents?” Melanie questioned. 

Hope glanced from one friend to the other. “What do you mean?” 

“You know the history between your fathers,” Robyn stated. “Will there be bloodshed?” 

“Bloodshed?” Hope giggled. “Aren’t you the one who said this is the twenty-first century?” 

“True,” Robyn sighed. “But that had nothing to do with the possibility of a duel.” 

Hope rolled her eyes. “There’s not going to be a duel. Everything will be fine.” 

“Good luck with that.” Melanie smiled sympathetically. “I’m glad I’m not you.”  

“Gee, thanks.” Hope glanced over her shoulder in Gideon’s direction again, and their gazes clashed. “I told him I’d protect him if I needed to.” 

Robyn waggled her eyebrows. “But who’s going to protect you from Gideon?” 

“Do you think I need to be protected from Gideon?” Hope murmured. “I’m not so sure.” 

“I guess it depends on what you want,” Melanie replied. “What do you want?” 

Once again, Hope’s gaze clashed with Gideon’s. What did she want from him? The memory of how he’d made her lips tingle when he’d looked at them had her turning back to her friends. “What do I want?” 

“Yes, Hope,” Robyn nodded. “What do you want?” 

“A kiss,” Hope sighed. “I just want a kiss.” 

***

Fin ... at least for now. 

Will she get it? Should the story be finished? 

Happy 2023! May all your dreams come true.  

Tagged a few people who were on the initial one.