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“How generous of you.”
We spend the entire morning in bed, just lounging and kissing and talking. I’d be content with spending the entire day there, but Tanner tells me it’s time to get up far too soon. He drags me into the bathroom for a shower and washes every inch of my body, taking great care to lather every part of me.
After that, he tells me to get dressed in something nice, and I pick out a red, flowy dress that I had just bought. I fix my hair in a fishtail braid that comes down over my left shoulder, and I finish the look with some red lipstick, courtesy of Mrs. Johnson. When I go back out into the living room, Tanner is wearing a crisp dress shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a pair of slacks that makes him look amazing. He smiles as I join him, pulling me close.
“You’re beautiful,” he says quietly.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” I say back, running a hand up one of his strong arms. “What are we doing?”
“We’re having Christmas lunch,” he tells me.
“With who?”
“Some friends of yours.”
Some friends of mine?My mind goes to Allie, but I know she’s working today. Who else is there? Tanner refuses to say, and when he leads me to his car, he makes me put on a blindfold.
“Are you serious?” I ask as he’s making sure I can’t see anything.
“Dead serious. Don’t peek, okay?”
I sigh. “Fine.”
He starts up the engine, and I can feel us begin to move. I try to figure out where we’re going, but I suspect that Tanner is taking a few extra laps around town just to confuse me. After a while, we pull to a stop, and I reach for the blindfold, eager to get it off me.
“Not yet!” He quickly turns to me and takes my hands away from the knot on the back. “I’ll lead you there.”
“I really hate surprises, you know that?”
I can practically hear him smile. “I think you’ll like this one.”
We’re walking across some asphalt, my heels clicking all the way until we reach some stairs. Tanner tells me that there are five steps and to be careful. I hold onto his arm and manage to keep upright somehow. I would have worn flats if I’d known I would be climbing stairs completely blind. It gets instantly warmer when we go inside, and I sniff the air. Something smells familiar. There’s the scent of food somewhere, but that’s not what has caught my attention. There’s a smell of disinfectant and heavy perfume mixed into one. I gasp.
“We’re at my job!”
Tanner groans. “I told you not to peek.”
“I didn’t,” I assure him. “I can smell it.”
“Oh.” The blindfold falls away from my eyes. “I guess we don’t need this anymore.”
I look around. The place is decked out for Christmas. They must have done this today because it wasn’t like this when I left work yesterday.
It looks pretty great, actually. Garlands are hanging from the wooden staircase, and there are candles and glitter everywhere. I see a familiar face walking toward us down the hall. Mrs. Johnson is striding down the hallway, dressed in a red jumpsuit, her back straight and her head held high.
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Johnson,” I greet her when she’s within earshot.
“The same to you, dear Sophie,” she says and squeezes my hands. “And to you, of course, young man.”
“Mrs. Johnson, this is Tanner,” I introduce him, and the two smile at each other.
“Yes, I figured as much. We spoke on the phone the other day.”
I frown. “You did? Why?”
“To set this all up, of course.”
I look up at Tanner. “We’re celebrating Christmas here?”
