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Chapter Fifteen
Lexi
I’ve been home from work for maybe fifteen minutes when a knock sounds at my door. It was a crazy busy Saturday with several walk-ins trying to squeeze in a quick cut, color, or whatever before Christmas. Even though I had a full schedule, I was still able to add two kids’ cuts and help a frazzled mom who tried an at-home dye kit the night before.
It didn’t turn out so well.
When I open the door, I find the world’s ugliest Christmas tree. “What the hell is that?”
Linkin steps inside the entry, forcing me to step aside to let him and his tree in. “It’s a Christmas tree.”
“That’s the ugliest, saddest tree I’ve ever seen,” I retort as I shut the door. “Charlie Brown would even be embarrassed by this tree.”
Linkin’s inside the living room, positioning the tree, which is already nailed to a wooden stand, in front of the picture window. “Apparently, the selection isn’t so great when you wait to buy a tree until the week before Christmas.”
“Why did you buy it?” I ask, shaking my head at what can only be described as a small tree with only four branches.
“Because you didn’t have one,” he states matter-of-factly as he turns the tree to display its best side.
Of which there isn’t one.
When he turns, his dark chocolate eyes find mine, raising my blood pressure and making my body hum with excitement. Before I even register that he’s moving, Linkin stands before me, towering over me like a giant, and takes me in his arms. I wet my lips without realizing it just before his own lips come down and claim mine. It’s a slow, gentle kiss, but I still feel it clear down to my toes.
“Hi,” he whispers, pulling back slightly.
“Hey. You bought me a tree.”
“I figured you should have one.”
“It’s kinda ugly,” I say with an easy grin.
“True, but she has potential. Here,” he says, turning and grabbing the paper bag he had under his arm when he came in.
“What’s this? The fire extinguisher for when this bad boy goes up in flames?”
“No, Negative Nelly, it’s your decorations,” he says, tapping my nose.
“You bought me decorations?” I ask, unable to mask the surprise.
“Actually,” he starts before clearing his throat and looking a little sheepish. “No. I couldn’t find anything left at the store that wasn’t crap, so I made a call.”
“You made a call?” ask, reaching for the bag. “Like, to your people?”
“Yeah,” he says as I pull homemade construction paper garland out of the bag. “My mom helped my brothers make some ornaments and garland-y stuff to hang from the branches.”
I pull the brightly colored chain-linked paper from the bag, smiling widely as I go. When I reach the end of the garland, I pull out several homemade ornaments. There are many paper swords and even a few plastic Army guys tied with string. It melts my heart.
“That’s very sweet of you, and them. Thank you,” I say, pulling him in for a hug.
“Don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” I tell him, but suddenly it feels like I’m talking about more than just his soft side. It feels deeper, and even though I don’t know much about Linkin, except what he shows on the surface, I feel like I’m safe with him. And I’m not just talking physically.
“Come on,” he says. “I have about forty-five minutes before I have to head over to Lucky’s. Shouldn’t take us longer than,” he glances at the sad tree up and down, “five, six minutes tops to decorate this beast of a tree.”
I grab the garland and join him in front of the tree. “No lights?”
Linkin shakes his head and lowers his voice to a whisper. “No way. I bet if you even breathe the word match that it would ignite.” Standing up tall, he adds, “And since the only thing I plan to ignite is your loins, I figured I’d leave the twinkling Christmas lights off.”
