Page 33

He folds his arms and studies it from several angles. “It’s a bit . . . haphazard.”

I turn the box around so I can compare our finished masterpiece with the picture.

Oh, dear.

On the box, the mansion is perfectly symmetrical, with elegant turrets, immaculate white trim, and a porch that looks like it could actually support its own roof. Ours is leaning slightly to the left, the roof is covered in icing fingerprints, and one of the turrets looks like it suffered a serious injury during construction.

I start laughing. “This is the ugliest ninety-dollar house I’ve ever seen.”

Vince laughs too, looking at the box, then at our creation, shaking his head.

“But I think it’s beautiful,” I add, still laughing.

He ruffles my hair.

We carry the finished mansion carefully between us into the living room and place it on the sideboard beneath the Christmas garland. It’s crooked and ridiculously ornate, but with the tree lights glowing behind it, I think it looks wonderful. I take several photographs from different angles, trying to find one that doesn’t show the damaged turret.

Vince watches me for a moment, then heads back to the kitchen to deal with the mess we’ve left behind.

While Vince cleans up the kitchen, I decide to get a head start on tomorrow’s dinner table. I spread the good tablecloth over the dining-room table, arrange the plates and napkins, and put the Christmas centerpiece in the middle. It looks pretty good, actually. Just one more thing needed.

I head to the basement and rummage through the plastic storage bins until I find a box of Christmas crackers underneath a bundle of spare garland. I’m about to put everything away when I notice a sprig of plastic mistletoe tangled up in one of the garlands, complete with little white berries and a faded red ribbon.

I untangle it and head back upstairs, carrying the crackers in one hand and the mistletoe in the other. I arrange the crackers beside the plates, stand back to admire my work, and then wander into the kitchen.

Vince is drying his hands at the sink when I appear in the doorway, holding the mistletoe behind my back.

“Look what I found.” I hold it above his head and grin. “Mistletoe. Now you have to kiss me.”

He gives me a look. “Sophie.”

“Oh, c’mon,” I say, swinging the mistletoe a little. “It’s a Christmas tradition. You can’t ignore Christmas law.”

For a second, he just stares at me. His jaw gets tight, and the look in his eyes is all warning, like he’s holding something barely in check. “Sophie.” The word sounds almost angry. Not playful at all.

I keep the mistletoe dangling, although I’m starting to feel like a real idiot. But I’m trying to act normal toward Vince, and this is something I would have done a year ago without thinking twice. So, “What?” I say lightheartedly. “It’s not like I made the rules.”

He sighs, and for a moment I think he really might tell me to knock it off. I feel the tension in the room winding tighter and tighter, while I lock my smile in place and pretend not to notice it.

Then, finally, the fight leaves his face all at once, and he shakes his head.

He bends down and brushes his lips over mine. It’s quick, dry, almost businesslike—except his mouth is warm, and it lingers for half a second.

The shock that rips through me is so sharp I drop the mistletoe. When he pulls away, I’m left blinking up at him, breathless.

He stares back at me.

“Vince,” I say, barely above a whisper.

And then he grabs the back of my neck and pulls me in. This time, the kiss is real. Hungry. He presses his mouth to mine, and his tongue is in my mouth and I’m kissing him back, hard, my hands clutching at his chest. His hand moves to my hair, fingers tightening, and I melt against him, every nerve ending in my body on fire.

Ten

Sophie

Before we moved in with Vince, I had never celebrated Christmas.

Elena couldn’t be bothered with trees or decorations or presents. One year, when I was twelve, my mother announced that she was giving me the gift of independence and dropped me off at her friend Diane’s house over Christmas while she took her latest boyfriend to a resort in Mexico.