Page 27 of A Gift for the Hopeful Cowboy

He moved her through the small living room toward the modest Christmas tree in the corner. Placing her directly in front of it, he released her and took a step back.

“Open your eyes.”

Pippa stared at the empty tree. She shot a look of confusion toward him. “It’s a tree.”

“It’s not real,” he amended.

Her eyes widened and she turned to him. “And it’s not decorated.”

“And it’s not decorated,” he repeated. Rob didn’t know if she would understand what it meant for him to have purchased a fake tree. There was nothing temporary about a fake tree. Would she get it?

Pippa grinned at him. “We’re going to decorate your tree.”

He nodded.

She still didn’t comment about the tree being a way to show he planned on staying. Perhaps she didn’t need to. Pippa loved this sort of thing. Chefs were be creative. Pippa was no exception.

Rob motioned to the box at her feet. “I thought it would be fun to decorate my first tree together.”

She reached into the box and pulled out an ornament, her brows drawing together. He knew which one it was without having to get closer. The ornament had been one he’d picked up at one of those touristy shops. It was a generic ornament with the words Our First Christmas scrawled beneath a cartoony couple.

Pippa glanced at him. He couldn’t tell whether she was pleased with it or not. He gave her a sheepish grin. “You think it’s dumb.”

“That depends…” she drawled.

“On what?”

She lifted a shoulder. “We haven’t really discussed where this… whole thing is going.”

“I guess we haven’t.”

“Why do you suppose that is?”

Rob’s throat closed up. This was far more terrifying than he had been prepared for. “I guess I’m nervous to put a label on something so new.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I get that.”

Dang it. Now he didn’t know if it was a good thing to ask her if she wanted to take their relationship beyond the terms of their agreement.

Pippa turned the small ornament over in her hand and traced her finger over the edges. “That’s probably a smart thing to do. Let’s have fun and if something happens…” She shrugged again. “I guess we’ll deal with that then.”

That was as close to a promise of something more as he was going to get. Rob reached into the box and pulled out another ornament. The simple red ball glinted from the Christmas lights on the tree. He hooked it onto a branch and grabbed another.

Out of the corner of his eye, he was pleased to see Pippa placing the ornament on the tree. Who knew it would be so hard to shift into something more serious? Still, with the uncertainty, this felt like another step forward. She knew he was sticking around. She also knew he was open to something more.

The next few hours were spent laughing and talking about how much they’d changed since they were teens. On more than one occasion, Rob caught Pippa watching him. This was definitely better than he could have hoped for.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“When will you be here? I’m running out of time.” Pippa paced her kitchen and glanced at the clock.

“I’m turning down your street right now. Why do you need ten pounds of powdered sugar, anyway? Are you planning on making it look like you’ve had a blizzard in your apartment or something?”

She pulled the drapes away from her window and stared down the street as his truck pulled into view. Pippa hung up without giving him an answer. She hurried out the door and met him as he pulled up in front of her building.

He carried the sugar in two bags, and she pulled one from his hand. “Come with me.”

“You still haven’t told me why you wanted so much sugar,” he called after her.

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