“No. You’re right.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m glad we’re here together. Living and laughing and loving nature!”
I swallow around the wad of emotion in my throat. Will I ever have the type of relationship with someone—anyone—like TJ had with Tess?
Not if you stay holed away.
Ugh.There go my thoughts again.
Not the time or place, Lu. Not the time or place.
I force myself to focus on the wave of relief that rushes over me, and not on everything I’m missing out on. “I’m glad I didn’t overstep,” I tell him.
“Not at all.” He hits me with a devastating smile. “You’re good for me, Lu.”
My heart stutters. “I—”
TJ talks over me, not giving me a chance to acknowledge the compliment. I wonder if that’s intentional on his part, because he knows I don’t process praise very well. I still don’t know if I deserve it.
“I think we should go with a Balsam,” he says. “I like the smelly kind of trees.”
“A man who knows what he wants,” I murmur with a small grin of my own. I’m bolstered by his commitment to this outing and his revived Christmas spirit. He makes me feel more free to just be—to not have to have myself all figured out.
“Absolutely,” he says with a wink.
I roll my eyes at him, even as my cheeks flush with heat. “Quit being flirty. I don’t know how to handle you.”
“Oh, I think you do. Or you could.” His eyes twinkle.
“TJ!” Without thinking, I slap him on the butt.
It happens in slow motion. Like an out-of-body experience. I freeze, stunned by my behavior as TJ starts chortling.
“That’s one way to handle me.”
I bury my face in my gloved hands. “I can’t even believe I did that.”
He’s still laughing as he slings his arm around my shoulder. I chance a glance at him, and he looks down at me with a roguish grin.
“Don’t even try to act like you haven’t been thinking about doing that since you were staring down my perfect peach the night we met.”
I shove him in the side and he pretends to stumble. He laughs some more, and I can’t help but join in.
“You’re not denying it, Cinderella.” He wags his brows. “Who knew you were hiding this feisty side?”
“Shut up!” I shake my head at him, my face boiling beneath my scarf. “I can’t be blamed for my behavior out here. The tree farm is enchanted and making me act completely out of character.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself to sleep at night, but if you want to know what I think”—he arches his brow—“I think you’ve got all sorts of bold behavior stored up inside, waiting for the time to come out and play.”
I twist my lips to the side as if I’m pondering this. I want to deny it, but I also kind of like the thought that I’m not the wallflower I’ve always pegged myself to be. I hum. “No comment.”
He looks triumphant.
“Now can we focus?” I attempt to sound serious, but my butt-slapping behavior doesn’t really give me a leg to stand on. “Laney said the Balsams were up ahead, right?”
“That’s where I was heading before you distracted me by smacking my tush.” He smirks.
I groan. “You’re never going to let melive this down.”
“Definitely not. I’m already scheming up how I can get you to do it again.”
