“You might be right, Isabella,” Landon said, narrowing his eyes at Leo. “Aren’t those the same clothes you had on yesterday, bro?”
Isabella choked on her coffee.
“They sure look the same,” Norah piped up, eyeing her sister. “Looks like Leo didn’t sleep well either.”
Awkward silence filled the kitchen, gazes darting around, no one knowing quite where to look or what to think, especially Mom and Dad who thankfully looked lost. Still, one too many smirks were being directed at Isabella and Leo.
“I’m sure Leo has plenty of flannels,” she said. “I bet some of them are even the same. He has the style of a lumberjack.”
“Right. Exactly.” Leo cleared his throat, but then, as if just now realizing what he was agreeing to, he gave Isabella a narrowed look. “Hey. Wait. I don’t dress like a lumberjack, thank you very much.” He turned to Landon. “And you, you don’t even know what the hell you’re talking about. Go away.”
But it was obvious that Landon knew exactly what he was talking about.
They were caught.
Norah nudged her shoulder into Isabella’s playfully, passing her a knowing smile.
Yep. Before long, the entire Whitley/Hoffman clan would be buzzing about their hookup.
As soon asHome Alonefinished and they’d scarfed down a quick lunch of Mom’s leftover stew, the family was back in the dining room for another Eight Days of Christmas tradition: the blindfolded gingerbread house competition.
“I get to choose the teams, right Dad?” Norah asked, flashing Isabella a wicked smile.
Here we go again.
“Absolutely. It’s your week.” He helped Mom finish spreading the supplies out on the table.
Norah divvied up the teams. Isabella and Leo, Finn and Nina, Norah and Landon, and Mom bowed out so Ava could team up with Dad.
“I’ll be the judge,” Mom announced, passing out blindfolds for one member of each team.
The teams gathered around their bare gingerbread houses that waited to be decorated. The rules were simple: one person stood behind the other, blindfolded but hands ready to decorate, while the person in front had to be the “eyes.”
When Isabella moved next to Leo, she was already distracted by the closeness of him. He bent so she could tie the blindfold over his eyes, giving her one last lopsided grin.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she asked him.
“Oh, you have no idea. I have never wanted to decorate a gingerbread house so badly in my life.”
She couldn’t help but smile.
When Leo maneuvered behind her, reaching his hands around her waist for the decorating supplies, she sucked in a breath. Her insides burned with the press of his body against hers.
“Ready?” Mom asked. “Set, go!”
“Okay, listen to the sound of my voice and try to block everyone else out,” she said. It would be difficult. Despite being small, Ava packed a loud, booming voice as she blurted instructions for her blindfolded grandpa.
Leo nuzzled Isabella’s neck, goosebumps gliding across her skin at the feel of the rough stubble on his cheeks. “I could listen to the purr of your voice all night.”
She nudged him gently in the gut with her elbow. “Leo, focus.” She glanced at their pathetic gingerbread house that only had a strip of icing dripped down the middle of the roof and a couple globs on the front. Finn had already advised Nina exactly where the red and green M&M lined walkway should go. They had to pick it up if they wanted to win.
And Isabella did.
Leo held out the bag of white icing. “Which way?”
“A little to the left. A little more. No, no, too far. Okay, just a smidge to the right. There,” Isabella said. “If you could just smear a bunch of frosting on the roof, I’ll talk you through adding the Chex cereal as shingles.”
“That’s rather ambitious, don’t you think? Shouldn’t we keep it simple?”
