AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lena beamed at him. “You can!”
There was an awkward silence as everyone present took stock of the competition and calculated whether they wanted to work alone or with a partner. At least, that’s what he assumed was happening, because it was exactly what he’d already done. He’d made his decision when he’d asked the question. He cleared his throat, trying to catch Carissa’s attention. When she finally looked his way, he made his move.
“Want to help me win this thing?”
Carissa pinned him with a look he couldn’t quite read, either mischievous or calculating. He wasn’t sure which. “Winning isn’t everything, Big Nick. Maybe you should just enjoy the experience.”
“And I like to experience success.” She laughed and shook her head at him, and he decided to try another tack. He leaned across the table, like he had some great secret to share with her. Then he went straight to the argument he hoped would generate the most sympathy.
“Look, I’ve never built a gingerbread house before, let alone decorated one. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Wait… what?” Carissa reared back and stared at him, her head cocked. “Are you serious?” He got the distinct impression she thought he was lying.
“Never been more serious.”
“You’re telling me you’ve never made a gingerbread house?” She narrowed her eyes like she was studying him for any tells that would prove he wasn’t being honest.
“Never, not in all my years on this planet. It’s a little more… domestic than I usually go in for.” He knew the instant he said it that it was the wrong thing.
“Domestic?”
“Crafty. That’s a better word. What I mean is, I’m not really much of an arts kind of bloke. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, only that it isn’t my skill set, generally.”
“You’re more of an action and adrenaline kind of guy?” He wasn’t sure he liked how much she seemed to understand about him.
“Exactly.”
“Well, I guess if you want to win this thing, I’d better show you how it’s done.”
“Is everybody ready?” Lena held up her phone, showing the timer set for an hour and thirty minutes. A general murmur went up from the group. “Okay, here we go in three…two…one…you have ninety minutes!”
Carissa leapt into action, pulling one of the gingerbread house kits from the middle of the table to the empty space between them. The picture on the front showed a tiny village of three different gingerbread cottages. “Okay, so the first thing we need to do is figure out our base. I think we should build the gingerbread houses on the box. Maybe you could—”
“Why do we need a base?”
“Because we’ve got three houses, and we’re going to need to be able to move—” She shook her head. “Look, if you’re going to make me explain everything, it’s going to waste time. C’mon action-man. We need a base.” She opened the box and emptied it.
“What do you want me to do?” There was what looked like the equivalent of a shark feeding frenzy going on at the supplies table, as the other guests grabbed candy to fill their bowls.
She pushed the box toward him. “You break this box down. And—do you have a knife?”
He reached for his pocket and she smiled.
“Excellent. I hoped you would.” It shouldn’t have made him feel anything, but he swore it gave him a little buzz to know he’d met her expectations. “You cut off the flaps, so we have a good flat rectangle of cardboard, and I’m going to go snag some supplies.”
He didn’t mean to, but when she’d pushed away from their table and turned to thread her way through the other guests, he couldn’t stop himself from watching her. Gone were her travel leggings and her too-short pajama shorts and her curve-hugging riding pants. Instead, she wore a short, swingy skirt that flounced as she walked. He’d seen more of her legs—feltmore of her—when he’d carried her up the stairs the other night, but that skirt… He liked what he saw as much as he’d liked imagining what he couldn’t.
“You working on something there, Lachie?” Heath stood at his elbow.
“A base, I guess. Carissa says we need it.” He’d already flattened the box and had cut off the end flaps, but he didn’t look up. He wasn’t an idiot, and he knew Heath wasn’t only asking about the gingerbread house project.
“Grinch Guy!” Lena had sat in the seat next to Carissa’s. “Leave Lachie be!” She widened her eyes and jerked her head to the seat on the other side of her. “Carissa’s a big girl.”
“You really like her?”
Was it that obvious? “Yeah, I think I might.” He wasn’t going to bare his soul in public.
With a grunt, Heath gave Lachlan’s shoulder a squeeze. “Maybe you should do something about that.”
