His eyes widen slightly, like a lightbulb just went off in his head, and he moves to grab the car seat and my bag from me.
“You don’t have to–”
“I insist,” he tells me as he takes the bag off my shoulder. Even through my sweatshirt, the contact from his hand has my nerve endings on fire. I try to tamp down the heat, but I can feel my cheeks go pink. Part of me hates the effect he has on me. He’s just a friend, but my body clearly doesn’t get the memo about it.
I clear my throat, and he licks his bottom lip.
He has a nice bottom lip.
“Let’s hit it,” Kate says, interrupting the moment.
My eyes snap to hers, and she’s holding back a smirk.
Once we get outside, we put the bags in the center back of his truck. I go to grab Autumn’s car seat, but he beats me to it and moves to put it in the back.
“Oh, I can–”
Kate grabs my bicep. “Let him do it,” she whispers. “For an hour last night, he watched safety videos on how to put every type of car seat in the truck. He watched a few this morning too, just to refresh his memory.”
My heart skips a beat at her words, and I watch him effortlessly put Autumn’s car seat in the truck. Correctly placing the straps where they need to go and making sure everything’s secure.
“Ready?” he asks when he’s all done, and three sets of eyes are watching him.
Autumn beams. “Can you pick me up? It’s too tall.” Her arms are over her head, waiting for him to do as she asks.
He doesn’t hesitate, picking her up under her armpits like she weighs nothing and gently placing her in the seat.
My heart flip-flops, but I ignore it. When a man is good with your kid, you’re always going to have a positive reaction. It’s not a new revelation.
Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
Autumn puts her seatbelt on and says, “Ready.”
“You can sit in the front,” Kate tells me with an excited smile. I go to tell her no, but she’s already moving toward the other side of the truck to get in the back.
Declan and I make eye contact, and then he opens the passenger door for me. I don’t think I’ve ever had a man open a car door for me before, and I like it. A lot.
I have a feeling today is going to be a long day.
My parents’ house is less than fifteen minutes down the road and nostalgia washes over me as we pull up to their place.
I try to look at the house through Kate and Declan’s eyes as we park in the driveway, and I hope they aren’t disappointed by today.
My parents love Christmas and go all out every year, especially since Autumn was born. The lawn is decorated with Santa and his reindeer, and the Grinch is trying to pull off Christmas lights from the roof. At night, the multicolored lights shine bright, surrounding the house, windows, and the two palm trees on either side of the driveway. A gorgeous homemade wreath my mom made hangs on the door, and if you press the doorbell, Jingle Bells plays.
Before we even make it out of the truck, my mom and dad are barreling out the front door, ready to greet us. Kate exits the truck, and I go to reach for the handlebar to get out, but Declan’s hand wraps around my free one, stopping me in my tracks.
Heat instantly fills my body as I stare at his large, tattooed hand holding mine.
“Before we head in, I just want to say thank you,” he says softly.
“For what?” I ask, confusion etching my brow.
His thumb moves over mine, tracing my skin back and forth. “For letting us crash Christmas. You could have told your parents no. We would have been just fine.”
I soften my gaze. For some reason, I have a feeling the holidays with his family are very different than those with mine. Maybe that’s why Kate was so excited to spend the day with us.
I squeeze his hand, liking the feel of it in mine far too much. “You’re welcome.”
