“About what?”
“The presents, what else?” I say in exasperation.
“Nope.”
“Uhhh, you’re so obnoxious.” His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “It won’t kill you to give me one hint.” Now hisface relaxes back to amusement. When did I get to read Beau Rayburn’s expressions so well? “Is it animal, vegetable, or mineral?”
“Well, I’m not wrapping up an animal for twenty-four hours before it’s opened.”
“Twenty-four hours!” I shout a little too loudly. Reacher picks his head up to stare at me from the end of the bed. “We could open them now. No one’s going to know we didn’t wait until officially Christmas Day. It’ll be our little secret.” Beau continues to eat without saying a word.
“At least let me shake them,” I beg. “I bet I can guess based on one shake. I’ve done it before. I used to shake the crap out of our presents as a kid.”
Chewing slowly, his gaze flicks up to mine then back down to the cake. I have the sudden urge to slap that plate out of his hands.
“My sister used to unwrap hers early to see what they were,” I continue. “She’d rewrap them so Mom never knew. She hates surprises. I bet your family didn’t even open them on Christmas. I bet you waited until after.”
“We’re not barbarians,” he says. I blow out a breath. My cake remains hardly touched as I change tactics.
“You know,” I say, pushing up on my knees to face him. “I could let you unwrap an early present too.” I’m doing my best to be sexy.
“You’re trading sex for a shake of a present?”
“Okay, fine. No.” I slump back down on the couch. Picking up my food, I take angry bites of it.
Does he not understand how much I love Christmas? We always got to pick out one present to unwrap on Christmas Eve. It made the torture worth waiting to unwrap the rest the next day. Parents can be so cruel. So can sexy, single men apparently.
“Is this you throwing a tantrum?”
“Maybe,” I answer.
“How about this,” he says. “How about I keep you occupied all day so you don’t think about those presents?”
“Sounds like a reasonable plan. How?”
“I have to check water today. You can go with me. We’ll take the tractor, so you’ll have to sit on my lap, but you’ll be warm. It’s bright and sunny today. We might can build a snowman if you’re good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he says, standing. Bending over, he boops my nose. “But you have to be good.” Sweeping up the plates and mugs, he walks into the kitchen. I have to be good, huh. Just how good do I have to be? I think I’m starting to prefer naughty.
ten
BEAU
It’s still freezing outside.I left Harmony to dress while I refilled the generator with fuel. She joined me to stack extra firewood in the mudroom. She had already moved the warm wood to the living room by the time I brought the first bundle over from the barn. I was smarter this time and fashioned a sled out of an old door to drag it over on. Four loads, and there is enough to heat the house for a while.
I decide to leave Reacher in the house. There is definitely not enough room in the tractor for all of us. Harmony is adorable in her oversized coveralls. She really does look like that kid from the movie with her arms held away from her body in the snow.
I start the tractor to warm it up then haul her inside. It’s not the easiest task with both of us completely ensconced in outerwear.
Once we’re both inside, I slide onto the seat and back the tractor out of the barn. I shift it to start forward and wrap an arm around her waist. Gently, I lower her to my left leg. It won’t be easy to shift, but I don’t care. Something seems right having her with me. Like she belongs here.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“I’m good. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is,” I agree. It’s all beautiful—her, the landscape, everything. “Tell me if you get tired.”
