“Relax. We’re only here for one thing.” Lacee weaves me in and out of holiday shoppers until we end up in the dangling ornament section. “My parents used to bring my sisters and me to this store every year to pick out a new ornament for our tree. We always tried to choose something that reminded us of the year we’d had.” She turns to me with her big bright smile. “I think we should choose something for the other person so we can always remember each other and this Christmas.”
“Like a memento? Like a Hallmark Christmas movie memento?”
She stands taller. “Don’t knock Hallmark Christmas movies. There’s a reason people eat those shows up.”
“Is it because they like mediocre plots, subpar acting, and G-rated kisses you have to wait the entire movie for?”
Lacee punches my arm.
“I’m joking.” I face the giant wall of trinkets in front of me. “If we pick out an ornament for each other won’t that break the rules? You said no attachments.”
Her blue eyes narrow. “Are you going to become physically attached to the ornament?”
“I doubt it.”
“Then I think it’s okay.” She walks to the next aisle, searching the shelves.
I don’t follow. Instead, I head in the opposite direction, scanning decoration after decoration.
“Finding anything?” she asks as we pass each other. Her fingers brush against my hand, burning my nerves with her soft touch.
“There are a few good options.” I walk around the corner, scanning new rows.
“Are you ready to reveal?” Lacee pops her head into my aisle.
Yeah, I found the perfect one for you to remember me by.” It’s a reindeer and at the bottom, written in red, is the wordBlitzen.
Lacee skips around the corner. She’s got her hands behind her back and an animated smile on her lips. “Okay, then. On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”
We both hold up our ornaments simultaneously, dangling them from our fingers.
“A Hydro Flask,” I say as I run my fingers over the top of hers. “Simple yet so profound.”
“Right?” She beams back at me before pointing to the ornament I chose. “And Blitzen, gentle yet so aggressive.”
“He is aggressive. You’d have to be there to believe it.”
Lacee’s smile mocks me. “I was there, and I still can’t believe it.”
I reach for her, wrapping my arms around her body. “I have to pay for these things.” She squeals as I lift her feet off the ground, carrying her as if she’s a stuffed Santa decoration I’m going to buy and take home to display on my porch.
“I’d be careful if I were you.” She kicks her legs, trying to break free from my grasp. “I know karate.”
“I’m not worried about it.”
All day I haven’t been worried about anything, and that’s my biggest mistake. There could be an entire fleet of danger on the horizon, and I wouldn’t even notice.
Rule number three: never let a woman distract you so much that you can’t work.
I’m pretty sure I’ve broken that rule one hundred times today.
NINETEEN
PARK
I pullthe rental car down a darkened road. “I thought you said we were having chicken pot pie with your family?”
“We are.” She points up ahead. “Turn left here.”
