Loving Cousin

"I can't promise it will be easy, but I'm going to try very hard to make it work."

I threw myself at him, kissing him hard despite my tears and snot. He held me tight and whispered my name. "Why does Mom have to be home today," I growled in frustration.

"Uh, Kate?" he murmured as he pulled back to look at me.

"What?" I asked and when he nodded out the car's windshield, I looked around and saw where we were. "This isn't the movie theater."

"No."

"Don't you think you're being a little presumptuous?"

"Nope, just hopeful," he said, giving me a sheepish grin.

I pouted. "So, after all that reading, we don't actually get to see the movie?"

"I have it on my tablet. If you really want to see it, we can watch it in bed."

I kissed him again, but softly this time. "I like the way you hope."

John let me climb back into the passenger's seat and then drove us around to the hotel's front entrance. The valet opened the car door with a flourish. "Merry Christmas, do you have reservations?"

John came ar