After the Christmas Party(71)

“Yes, ma’am.” With a wicked gleam in his eyes he reached for the mistletoe and went to hold it above her head. “I’ll start with your favorite decoration.”

“No!” But she ruined her denial by having to suppress a laugh. She pointed to the tree. “Decorate.”

He gave an exaggerated sigh. “I didn’t know you were such a slavedriver.”

She gave him the sternest look she could muster when he looked so darned cute and remorseful with his mistletoe. “Like I said, there are a lot of things about me you don’t know.”

“Yet,” he clarified, with what she was quickly realizing was his usual optimism. Or was stubbornness a better label? “Don’t worry,” he continued. “I plan to know everything there is to know about you, princess.”

Lord, she hoped not. She’d come to Pensacola to escape people who knew everything there was to know about her.

“You’ll be coming to me to find yourself,” he added, his expression way too confident.

She hoped not on that too because she never wanted to let anyone that close ever again.

“Here, you save this for later.” He tucked the loose piece of mistletoe she’d tossed at him into her scrub top pocket. “Any time you get the urge, you just wave that and I’ll pucker up.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t keep her fingers away from the cheap plastic greenery in her pocket. “Like a red flag in front of a bull?”

He chuckled. “I hope I have a little more finesse than that.” His brow furrowed in mock concern. “I do have more finesse than a stampeding cow, right?”

She gave a little shrug. “Maybe.”

His brow rose.

“Okay,” she confessed. “A little.”

“I’ll settle for that for now, but later we’ll renegotiate your thoughts about my finesse.”

If that meant he planned to kiss her again, she should find a reason to leave, but instead she just smiled and secretly hoped that was precisely what he meant.

Prior to placing the lights on the tree, they plugged the strands in to make sure each bulb lit up. Each one shone a brilliant color, sparkling against the tiled flooring. Then she held the lights while he went back up the stepladder. They worked together to string them around the tree, starting at top and working their way down.

Every time she started to enjoy herself a little too much, she reined herself in because he made her feel a little too happy, a little too comfy, and that could only lead to heartache, right? She couldn’t deal with more heartache so it was much better to keep her defenses high.

Telling herself she really did not like the woodsy scent filling her nostrils and that she’d probably have a rash on her hands from handling the branches, Trinity frowned. “Why do you have such a big tree?”

He waggled his brows, covering the last of the branches with lights. “You know what they say about men with big Christmas trees.”

The man was a certifiable nut. She must be too because she almost giggled. So much for her defenses. “They have big trees to compensate for their wee little…minds?”

He gave her a scolding look. “I could show you my wee little mind and put that theory to rest.”

“You wish,” she teased, before thinking better of it.

He reached for the snap at his waist.

“Fine.” She didn’t bother suppressing her eye-roll but tried really hard to keep her blush in check. “Please, tell me, oh great ginormous tree owner, why is your tree so big?”

His eyes sparkled and his grin almost knocked her off her feet. “The bigger the tree, the better to light up her world.”

“Her?” He hadn’t brought anyone with him to the hospital Christmas party, had spent the evening with her, had spent the night afterwards in her bed and flirted outrageously with her. He’d better not have a “her”.

“Your world?” he corrected, looking sheepish.

“I don’t need your compensatory huge tree lighting up my world. My world is just fine the way it is.”

Even as she made the bold claim, she wondered if perhaps she did because when he clicked a button and his tree sparkled to life, she had to admit, something inside her felt better. Warmer.

Lighter.

As if the button had turned on something inside her too that had been stuck in hibernation.

“Wow,” she gasped, unable to quash her surprise. “I have to admit, that’s beautiful.”

Exactly, Riley thought, but he wasn’t looking at the tree. He couldn’t drag his eyes away from Trinity.

She was beautiful.

He wanted to light up her world, to see a permanent sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her lips.