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She nodded. "Duly noted. So the lake is just for relaxation?"
"Exactly!"
She glanced out the window, and I could see her reflection from the corner of my eye. She was smiling.
"How was your day?” she asked.
"Good. Productive." I had no idea what made me say it, but I found myself adding, “Until my assistant told me that my ex-wife wants us to give up the rights to some pictures of her.”
“Oh.” Reese was instantly on alert, her shoulders going up to her ears.
Damn, why did I have to bring it up?
I took her hand in mine, brushing her wrist with my thumb. "Don't worry. Sometimes models do that, wanting to monetize the photos themselves. I shouldn't have brought it up."
"No, I'm glad you're sharing things with me. I mean, I'm dumping all of my ex issues on you, after all."
She looked like she wanted to add something more but then cocked her head to one side, avoiding my gaze.
"So what does that mean? Are you going to see her again?" she asked after a moment.
"No. There's no need for that. Legal and HR can deal with it all. They just wanted to let me know."
"How do you feel about... I don't know... anything related to your ex?"
"Every time I talk about her, it leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth. I keep waiting for that to fade away."
She laughed nervously. "Spoiler alert: it might never happen. Of course, it depends on how much trouble she causes, but in my experience, it only gets marginally better."
“Then let’s talk about something else. Tell me about all the Christmas presents you bought for your family.”
“Ha! That’s going to take up the whole drive.”
She wasn’t kidding. By the time she finished telling me about the last gift—a makeup kit for Paisley, we arrived at the house. I entered the property slowly and looked at Reese. Her reaction didn't disappoint.
"Hey, you didn't tell me it would be all decorated." She was grinning ear to ear. Thank God the Christmas lighting looked tasteful and wasn’t gawdy.
"I hired a company after you were at my condo. I’d planned to invite you here and figured you'd love it."
"This is incredible.”
I was addicted to making her smile and loved to see her happy. It filled me with a sense of accomplishment unlike anything I'd ever felt before.
Part of it was that Reese appreciated things. She didn’t expect anyone to do anything for her, so when I gave her something, like the flowers, her reaction was over-the-top, and I loved it.
She jumped out of the car and took a few steps toward the house. Then she turned on her heels and came back to the car, opening the back door and grabbing her flowers.
Chuckling, I went to the trunk, taking out our luggage.
"Come on, let’s hurry up!" Clearly she couldn't wait. Her childlike enthusiasm was contagious.
She swung her hips slightly from left to right as we walked toward the house. I tried to look at it objectively and not be a scrooge. I'd always felt like decorations were a waste of effort, but maybe because of Reese’s reaction, I now appreciated it. The whole place seemed more welcoming.
The company did a decent job. They'd put strings of white lights everywhere, and it really brightened up the outside.
I unlocked the front door and opened it. Reese gasped, and I followed her gaze immediately, wondering if there was any damage inside, a burst pipe or something.
But no, she was just reacting to the Christmas tree. Again, the company had done a decent job. They went for a mix of red and gold with white lights—classy and tasteful.
