He shook his head. ‘I do seem to be…what’s the phrase…? Wool-gathering today,’ he agreed. ‘But I’m fine. Now, what’s the plan for Operation Christmas Lights?’
She tilted her head as she looked at him and didn’t answer for a moment, as though she wasn’t sure she believed him. ‘Operation Christmas Lights? Shouldn’t it be more of a secret code than that? Maybe Operation Dazzle?’
He smiled; she was certainly dazzling him. ‘Operation Dazzle it is.’
‘Great, I figured we’d get the tacks all in place and then this evening just before the switch-on, we’ll get all the lights up. She won’t notice the little tacks I’m sure.’
‘And have you decided exactly where you want them?’
‘Yep. Mostly. Around the windows and then the icicles on the porch and the other fairy lights can just go around the wall and the gate. I got a bell and a star but I’m not going to put those up. They’ll be too obvious and I don’t want to go too crazy with it all.’ She chewed on her thumbnail.
‘I’m sure it’s going to look beautiful and your grandmere will change her mind about it.’
‘Ha. Unlikely. But this is for me. She’s inside the house – she’ll hardly have to look at them, will she?’
They went outside with the stepladder from his maman’s kitchen and the box of tacks. She passed them up to him one by one as he made a start above the porch for the icicles, tapping them in gently with the hammer.
‘Oh, shit, Olivier – she’s coming back,’ Ashleigh hissed at him from the bottom of the steps.
He glanced over his shoulder and squinted. She was an excellent lookout. He could only just see the top of Christine’s navy blue hat as she turned back towards the house at the crest of the road.
Ashleigh had hold of his jumper and tugged him to get down the ladder. He jumped off and she shoved the box of hooks into his hands. He jammed them in his pocket as she grabbed the steps, folded them and dashed towards the bins, sliding the steps behind them. Then she grabbed him again and together they crouched down low and snuck over the wall, like a pair of very bad commandos.
They crouch-walked to his open door and then found it was locked because the gentle breeze had blown it shut. His heart was hammering at a ridiculous speed and it was only half to do with the way they were acting like they were criminals on the run. The rest was because Ashleigh was pressed right up against his back as he fumbled his keys out of his pocket and tried to reach the lock.
It was no good; he had to stand up. He opened the door quickly and Ashleigh, who’d been leaning on the door, trying to keep out of sight, fell through in a tangle around his feet. Rather than stand she just started to crawl around his legs, and he tripped over her on the way in. He landed next to her, managing to bring the coat rack down with him and she pushed the door over with her boot.
There was a draught along his leg from the small gap in the doorway but his body was on fire where he was pressed side by side with Ashleigh. The coats dangled above them, making a dim curtain.
‘Crap, d’you think we made it?’ she whispered, her eyes somehow still managing to shine in the darkness.
‘I have no idea.’ He shuffled a little, trying to push the door further shut, causing his knee to slide over her leg in the process. He was going to have to move soon otherwise another part of his body was going to be pressing against her hip and he doubted he’d be able to blame it on the box of tacks in his pocket.
‘Oh, shh.’ He raised his finger to his lips as he heard the squeal of next door’s gate opening. No point pretending he wasn’t overly familiar with listening out for the comings and goings of his neighbours.
Ashleigh appeared to hold her breath, and then she pressed her hand to her mouth, little snuffles and squeaks of giggles escaping out. His chest filled with an entirely different warmth as her eyes crinkled, little tears of laughter leaking out. ‘Help,’ she gasped at him, as she struggled to contain her laughter. ‘I can’t hold it in.’
He pulled her in towards him and put his hand to the back of her head, pressing her face into his shoulder. He felt her body shaking, the warm huff of her breath against his skin and all eighteen months of his being single seemed to come crashing down on him in an instant. He willed himself to think of other things. He pictured her grandmere next door – perhaps she’d realised she had something in her teeth and was picking it out in front of the mirror.
He strained his ears, thinking if her grandmere had changed her mind and was back home for the afternoon, they could feasibly move away from the doorway now without risking her noticing.
No. There was the door slamming shut again. Feet on the path and the squeak of the gate. How long to give it before they could move? Ashleigh’s giggles seemed to have subsided but she was still pressed tight against him, breathing softly into the crook of his neck. Her hair was so soft beneath his hand. It would only take a little flex of his fingers to run them through it. A tiny decision really, to move the muscles in his hand, caress her and make her realise how he felt about having her in his arms.
She rolled back slightly, and his hand slid down naturally to the back of her neck. His heart thudded hard against his breastbone and her eyes widened as they met his. She licked her lips and his breath hitched in his throat as it drew his gaze down. That perfect Cupid’s bow called to him. He found himself moving towards her, so slowly he almost didn’t realise he was doing it until her lips parted and the warmth of her breath touched his chin.
There was a knock at the door, and it pressed against the sole of his shoe.
‘Olivier?’ Christine’s voice called out and they both sprang apart from each other. ‘Olivier? You’ve left your door open and your keys are in it.’
He scrambled out from beneath the coats and attempted to stand up in a way that it didn’t appear he’d been lying in front of the door. Ashleigh pulled her feet up, so she was hidden beneath the coats and he opened the door.
‘Oh, thank you, Christine,’ he said, putting a hand to his head and shaking it, as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just done. He hoped embarrassment would explain away his reddened cheeks. ‘I…er…popped out to my car to grab something and must have forgotten as I came back in.’
Ashleigh’s grandmere narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Isn’t Ashleigh in there with you? Couldn’t she have just opened the door for you?’
‘Yes, of course, but I didn’t want to disturb her – she’s all set up in the kitchen – working hard.’
She nodded, like she didn’t really believe him, and he could hardly blame her, if he looked half as flustered as he felt. Even Simon was sitting on the step with his head cocked as he looked up at Olivier, one of his little ears flopping to the side. Olivier yanked the keys out and jingled them.
