“I don’t. Which is why I don’t want you to think I’m messing around here.” He pulls me in. “I’m definitely not messing around. I would never do that to you or to my best friend. I’m afraid that means you’re stuck with me.”
My breath catches in my throat. What does he mean by that? Does he mean right now, for this moment in time, or … My brain glitches. Is it possible Hiro is talking about something more?
“Is this it then?” he asks.
It’s like a thousand butterflies setting off in my stomach. I clear my throat. “Um…”
“Is this the tree?”
I blink. It takes me a minute to register his question. “The tree?” I echo.
Hiro smiles. “Is this the tree you want? I’ll happily plant five trees to replace this one if that is what is bothering you. They can be our future Christmas trees.”
There go those butterflies again. I nod slowly. “This tree is perfect.” This day is perfect.
“Good. Let’s get this back to the cabin so we can get warmed up.” He hands me a pair of safety glasses and points to where he wants me to stand.
I slide them on. “What did you have in mind?”
He takes out his phone and shows me the screen. There’s a Christmas countdown list of all the must-see movies, organized by trope. “I was thinking fake-dating and hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, what about you?”
My mouth falls open and he laughs as he tosses me the phone and bends to pick up the saw. “I’ll take care of this, and you can plan our afternoon.”
As the buzz of the saw cuts through the silence of the morning I can’t help but wonder if Santa delivered the perfect present, albeit a few days early.
7
HIRO
Ilean against the counter, waiting for the kettle to boil. To boot, I’m making hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles – red, green, and white – to mark my transition from commercial-Christmas hater to love-struck sap.
Love.Fuck. Really?
Really. It was inevitable when I look at it. It’s always been Noelle.
A low beeping reaches my ears, and my body instantly tenses. That’s the perimeter notification. I reach for my phone, wondering if I’ve missed a call from Madeleine or if somehow Henry made it back from Singapore and he didn’t let me know when he landed.
I swipe my screen. Nothing. The initial perimeter response gives me about twenty minutes as an early warning. I send an alert to Madeleine, requesting a status update and round the island.
“Noelle.” I don’t want to alarm her, but a perimeter notification means someone is near the cabin and didn’t clear their approach with my office or with me personally, which is pretty much one and the same thing.
While mistakes can happen, I really don’t think this is one of those extremely rare exceptions and my shoulder blades prickle with awareness.
She glances over her shoulder and sends me a heart-melting smile.Jesus.Any second now I’d be offering up my balls to hang on our Christmas tree, which is thawing out on the front porch.
From my phone, I set the full alarm system, bringing the security cameras online. The hair stands up on the back of my neck and I’m not one to ignore my instincts. Although the cabin is well-protected, I don’t like the idea of Noelle sitting down here with these windows, no matter that they can function like one-way glass and are bulletproof.
I hold out my hand. “We’re going upstairs now.”
Her mouth drops open at my tone. “But the movie?—”
“Later,” I say, and her eyes glaze with desire. Fuck what I wouldn’t give to play with her right now, that my urgency is because I can’t wait to strip her down and bury my face in that sweet pussy and not because of these stupid alarms.
I can’t get distracted. I pull her up from the couch and head for the stairs.
My concern must show because she tightens her hand around mine. “What’s wrong?” she asks.
I debate lying for a second, but that won’t do either of us any good. “Someone is coming.”
