Page 21 of Biker Under My Tree

“Hell, I’ll just pick one. We’re going with the long needles,” I said and nodded to the first tree I saw that looked halfway decent.

Wick immediately pulled a face. “I mean, it’s nice, but you gotta think about putting ornaments on it. Long needles make that harder.”

I glared at him and crossed my arms. “Are you some kind of tree-decorating expert all of a sudden? What’s next, you gonna tell me the exact height for hanging stockings?”

He just glared back, unbothered. “I’m just saying, you want it to be nice, right? I think things through, okay?”

“Great, glad to know you think things through.” I was ready to grab him by the arm and drag him out of there with the next tree in sight. “And for the record, you’re not the one decorating it.”

“We’re not decorating it?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” I clarified, starting to feel a little smug. “We’re gonna get the thing in the stand, you guys are gonna hightail it out of there, and then Snow and I can do the decorating ourselves tonight.”

Wick raised his brows like I’d just said the most brilliant thing he’d ever heard. “Oh, I get it now. You’re putting the moves on Snow tonight.”

“That’s the plan. It’s taken me a damn year to even get in her house. I’m in now, and I’m putting the pedal to the metal.”

Wick smirked and gave a sage nod. “Then, if I were you, I’d go with the short needles. You’ll both be less frustrated when you start putting ornaments on.”

I gave him a look but couldn’t deny he had a point. With a resigned sigh, I nodded to the guy who’d been standing by, watching our little debate with a look that said he thought we were crazy. He shook his head and muttered something under his breath as he walked over to grab the short-needled tree and hauled it over to the wrapping machine.

“About damn time,” he muttered quietly as the machine bound it up with twine and dropped it off to the side.

I handed him a fifty and didn’t comment on the fact that the price was ridiculous.

Wick and I hauled it to my truck and tossed it into the bed.

“You really think we’re gonna manage to sneak this tree into her living room without her noticing?” Wick asked as we strapped the tree to the back of my truck.

“I don’t know, man, but we’re gonna fucking try.”

Chapter Sixteen

Snow

Bonnie was finishing up the last of the dishes while I rummaged through the orders for tomorrow and made sure we were ready to go for the morning. Bones and Wick had disappeared earlier, telling me to “stay out of the living room” when they got back. They didn’t explain why, but I was in the thick of icing cookies and didn’t feel like playing twenty questions.

Once Nut had finished flooding the cookies, he had moved to the living room with Bones and Wick.

The living room being off-limits wasn’t that big of a deal. Not that I spent much time in there anyway; I couldn’t even remember the last time I sat in my own living room for more than half an hour. Between work orders and holiday specials, free time was a concept I could barely even imagine.

“Are you able to come in tomorrow?” I asked Bonnie, giving her an appreciative look. She’d been such a help these past two days.

She nodded and laughed a little. “You’ve got me every day until you tell me not to come in.”

“You don’t have a job?” I asked, surprised by her eagerness to want to come in.

Bonnie shook her head. “Not at the moment. I’m usually a secretary for a construction company, but they lay us off over the winter. I won’t be back there until at least March.”

I gave a sympathetic nod. “Well, if there’s any upside, it’s that you get laid off during the holidays.”

“True,” she agreed and dried her hands. “But I tend to get bored around the house, so getting to come over here and help has been a nice surprise.”

“Well, even when Kelsi’s back next holiday season, I’ll always need extra hands if you’re interested.”

Bonnie smiled. “I’ll take you up on that. I’ve always loved baking, so this hardly feels like work.”

A flash of headlights caught my attention as they glinted off the kitchen window.

---