The lights she put up earlier are glowing through the window and I watch her admire them for a moment before I head down to the basement.
I don’t think the shop is scary even in the dark, but I’m guessing she would think the basement is a littlespooky no matter the time of day. I chuckle to myself as I head down the rickety wooden stairs, glad that I’m here to take care of this for her.
It’s an older panel, and I was already planning on updating some of the electrical. Maybe I’ll replace the panel while I’m at it and see if I can get a dedicated line to the spot where she has all the lights and the tree and the cash register. I definitely want to get more than one outlet over there. The place needs to be safe for her.
As soon I open the panel I find the thrown switch and flip it back. It stays put and I hear Taylor cheering upstairs.
Heading back upstairs, I think to myself again how great it is to spend time with someone who’s just sohappy.
When I reach the top of the steps, it’s darker than I expected.
“I unplugged the ceiling lights,” she tells me. “So we don’t flip the breaker again.”
“Good thinking,” I tell her, my eyes drawn to the little tree, which is now the only source of light in the shop.
“The Christmas tree is still plugged in,” she tells me needlessly.
We move toward it at once, as if we’ve been choreographed.
Taylor’s chin tilts up to me and her beautiful brown eyes are dancing in the colorful reflected light. In them, I see all the good things I’ve been denying myself—someone to adore and take care of, someone who brings me out of myself.
I don’t think about it. One second I’m standing there, drowning in her eyes.
Then the next, I’m reaching out to cup her cheek in my hand.
She leans in slightly, her lips parting in surprise.
“Taylor,” I murmur, wondering if I’ve got this all wrong somehow.
But she’s already going up on her toes, like it’s the most natural thing in the world for me to lean down and justtakethe kiss I’ve been craving since the first time I saw her.
I surrender with a growl and I’m about to taste her pretty pink lips when the lights get brighter, specifically the red and blue ones. Only it’s not the tree. They are coming from the front window.
Thewoop-woopof a police siren pierces the night before I can even react to the lights, and I let my hand drop from her face as we both turn to the door.
Someone raps on ithardtwice and then it flies open.
I’m instantly blinded by the strongest flashlight I’ve ever seen.
“Roan?” a familiar voice asks. “Roan Connelly?”
And if I needed anything to make me sure this wasn’t all some kind of dream, this does the trick.
9
TAYLOR
My heart is pounding so hard that I barely register the flashing lights and the siren.
But when a police officer bursts through the door, I’m suddenly snapped back to reality.
Is Roan in trouble?
Am I?
You shouldn’t be kissing your landlord,a little voice whispers in the back of my head.
But that’s not a criminal offense. And besides, he was definitely going to be kissingme.
