Jacob held out his phone. “Seems like wasted time.”
She looked at the screen just as Natalie swore then apologized from behind her. “Maisie, you didn’t upload the last photo.”
She whipped around, ignoring her brother’s phone to look at Natalie’s. The Seek and Find app showed the two teams but only the guys’ team had a bunch of stars flashing over their list.
A garbled sound left her throat. “That’s not right! You watched me. I totally uploaded it.”
“Did we win, Uncle Nick?” Asher jumped off the stairs and raced back to his uncle.
“Are you on my team?”
Maisie turned around in time to see Nick pick Asher up and hold him high as his nephew giggled out a “yes.”
“Then we won, buddy.”
The guys high-fived and sang “We Are the Champions” loud enough that a few of the people walking through the tree lot looked over. Part of her wanted to laugh but another wanted to challenge them to a do-over. She wasn’t known for being the best sport but asthe youngest of three, growing up in a household where her siblings excelled at every damn academic thing put in their path, these things mattered to Maisie. What she lacked in ability to understand a textbook on the first read through, she made up for in card, board game, and challenge skills. This washerarena. And currently, everyone was looking her way.
It’s fine. Just a game. Just some lighthearted fun.She forced a laugh. “Technicality but okay.”
“Maisie,” her mother said. “Winning isn’t the most important thing.”
“Maybe not but it was the point,” Maisie said.
Nick bit his lip, eyes wide. Right. Not making the best impression.
“Be a good sport,” Jacob said.
Easy for him to say. He was good at everything.
“Technology shouldn’t work against us,” Natalie said, enough of a sulk in her tone to appease Maisie.
Ellie walked over to Asher and pulled him into her arms. “I, for one, am excited to change into pajamas and watch some holiday movies. If that’s losing, I’m all for it.”
Maisie’s shoulders relaxed. “You’re right, Ellie.” She didn’t stick her tongue out at the guys but she did give them a saucy look before walking past them. “There’s more important things than winning.”
She heard Natalie grumble, “Like snacks? I’m really hungry.”
Her mother laughed behind them.
Shaking off the last of her poor sportsmanship, she went up the stairs. “I’ll put everyone’s reindeer onesies in their rooms. Boys, you’re only off the hook for now.”
She turned around at the door when her brother called her name.
“Can we borrow your camera to take pictures of you ladies in the onesies?”
All of the guys laughed, including Nick. She bit her cheek to keep from laughing along until she was in the house.
At the top of the stairs, a wide landing spread out into aUshape with bedrooms and the bathroom along the right wall, a hallway that went to the left, and, she knew from exploring, another hallway that went left from there, creating the other arm of theU. Each wing, because the openness, high ceilings, and spacious rooms definitely granted them that title, had three doors off of it.
It was a dream house regardless but as a photographer, she particularly loved all the hard lines paired with soft décor. After dropping off the onesies she’d had specially made, she headed for her room to put hers on.
She stopped short when she rounded the corner. Nick was coming up the stairs and stopped on the landing. His smile spread in slow degrees, going from cute to hot in too few seconds. Any lingering grumpiness over her loss dissipated and spread like liquid heat through her limbs.
“Where’s your jammies?”
Shewantedto wear the pajamas. She’d had them custom made from a woman she knew through her fashion photography days. They were fun and the pictures would be adorable. So, why did the thought of wearing them in front of Nick make her want to hide in her bedroom?
“I’m about to change,” she said primly.
