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“I missed you, Tanner,” Shiloh gushes.
A flash of fear goes through me. This is it. This is when it’s too much and he pushes her away.
I shouldn’t have underestimated Tanner.
“I missed you too, little one,” he kisses the crown of her head as she snuggles into him, and he shifts away from the side of his truck enough to open the back door. “Got you a special seat fit for a princess.”
She laughs, the sound tinkling in the cold air. “Because it’s pink?”
“Nope,” he pops the p, “because it’s yours.”
He places her in the back and she’s happy as can be buckling herself in. When he looks back at me, my feet come unglued and I’m moving toward him without really thinking about it. I don’t get the chance to launch myself at him—like daughter like mother—because his arms are long and they wrap around me and haul me against his chest, making me feel safe and secure.
“Missed you too, pretty girl,” he whispers against my hair, and I melt. “Still can’t stop thinking about you.”
So many things fly through my mind, but I can’t seem to voice a single one. I’m scared. I know he’s not my ex or like the people in town but allowing him in is the most frightening thing I’ve done in my life.
Because I know he could devastate me by walking away. And not just me, it would devastate Shiloh too.
“Come on, the surprise isn’t in our driveway,” Shiloh calls out from inside the truck, and we laugh at her excitement and exasperation.
He pulls the door open for me and steals a quick, chaste kiss as he does. I’m a little shocked by it. Not that he kissed me, but because of how damn good it felt. I want more. A lot more.
Tanner smirks before shutting my door and sauntering around the front of his truck like a king. Honestly, he’s earned that strut. I only wish I could be watching his ass while it happens. Or his thighs.
The man is sexy as hell and it’s difficult not to jump him. I never thought I’d have a sexual relationship with a man, which is probably strange for a 24-year-old, but my past didn’t really leave me wanting one. Now, I can’t seem to stop thinking about it.
But only if it’s Tanner thrusting inside of me.
I let out a whoosh of breath when Tanner opens the driver’s side door and climbs into the truck. I’m probably blushing like crazy, but he only winks at me and starts the car.
Shiloh pipes up from the backseat, “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Tanner’s voice is teasing.
I expect her to push back and try to get an answer out of him, but she doesn’t. Is it possible that my child has been body snatched?
Tanner asks us about our day as we drive through town and I’m more than happy to listen to the two of them talk. I soak it up and don’t feel left out.
When we pull up into the tree lot, my body tenses. Tanner is looking at me from the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t call me on it. Thankfully.
“Are we getting a tree?” Shiloh sounds excited and my heart sinks.
Even though I love Christmas, we haven’t had a tree in the last few years. Not since Tom took over running the tree lot from his dad. I went to school with him, and he was friends with Harry. While I was pregnant with Shiloh, he was unnecessarily cruel.
I didn’t know Tom took over the lot until I came by one day with Shiloh to pick out our tree. It was a tradition I was happy to indulge in every year. At least until we got out of the car and were met with Tom’s leering face. I could have dealt with that, but then he started muttering insults under his breath. I was afraid Shiloh would hear so I hustled her through picking out a tree.
We haven’t been back since and I refuse to get an artificial tree. It just wouldn’t be the same.
Shiloh is cheering from the backseat and Tanner leans over until his lips are brushing against the shell of my ear. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah,” my voice comes out as a croak and I clear my throat before adding, “of course it is.” I turn toward Tanner and he’s so close our lips are almost touching. “Just to warn you she’ll want to find the perfect one.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he assures me.
My heart does a loop in my chest, which can’t be healthy, as he pulls away and climbs out of the truck. He’s around to our side and helping me out and then Shiloh. She grips his hand and starts pulling him in the direction of the trees which are all set up in neat, organized lines.
I glance around and let out a breath when I don’t see Tom. I find myself smiling at Shiloh and Tanner as she pulls him through the rows, telling him what’s perfect about each tree. It’s adorable.
