I rushed to follow him outside before he changed his mind and dug into the box of lights he’d left sitting on the porch. “What if we put these around the windows?”
I held up the large C7 bulbs. “I always loved these as a kid.” I tamped down the giddy excitement as I imagined how it would all look when we finished.
Rafe grabbed a staple gun. “You hold them up, I’ll staple them in place.”
“Just watch out for the wires. The whole strand will go out if even a bit of the wire is compromised.” I stretched the lights over the large window that framed the tree on the other side.
Rafe reached over my head and snapped a line of staples into place without commenting on my directions.
Typical Rafe.
I refused to take offense and stretched out the next yard of lights.
We worked our way from the window to the door, running out of lights as we reached the bottom corner of the frame.
“What about the porch railing?” Rafe rubbed the back of his neck. “Took a drive around town last night, and it seems a lot of people wrap lights around the porch railings too.”
“Yeah, that would look great.” I reached into the box and pulled out a strand of lighted garland. “What about this stuff?”
It was clear Rafe was out of his element, so I tried to act like I didn’t know everything about decorating.
He liked making decisions, and I wasn’t about to be the guy who ruined it for all of us by making Rafe feel any more uncomfortable.
“I need to get something from the kitchen.” Rafe left me standing on the porch with the garland tangled around my hands.
He stopped at the door. “Go ahead and get started with that. I’ll be back.”
I did as he ordered.
Following him into the house served no purpose.
Tires crunched on the snowy gravel as Rafe closed the door behind him, but I didn’t bother looking up.
I started the garland at the bottom of the nearest post and worked my way toward the top.
“Bishop?” Noelle called out my name in that breathy voice that always made my heart kick into high gear.
I kept working but looked up to watch her approach. “Yeah?”
A brand-new light danced in her eyes.
She took in the whole clubhouse and her hands raised to her throat.
I’d never seen anyone light up the way she did.
I didn’t need a Christmas tree when she looked like that.
I’d seen beautiful women before, but none of them held a candle to Noelle.
She was hands-down the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
And damn me if I wasn’t falling hard and fast for her.
I wrapped the garland across the railing and tried not to stare at Noelle.
One look at me and she’d see the truth in my eyes.
Our conversion the other night did more than bring us closer together.
