Page 101 of Deck the Fire Halls

Warmth flooded through me. “Okay. And what about you? What’s been going on in your world this week?”

“Work is great.” He held up two fingers. “Two people said ‘hello, Doctor Rob’ to me in the store. Gunter’s been making some progress with the café training idea, with permits and whatever, and I think it’s turning into a whole thing; the kids love the idea. We have to bring scalloped potatoes and the cranberry sauce for the potluck dinner next week.” He made a face. “I had to google therecipe, and I was thinking I’d make a practice one tonight.”

I was smiling so hard at him. He looked so happy and it made my heart clench.

“Oh, and I bought Katie’s gift,” he added. There were three beautifully wrapped boxes under his tree. “I got her a musical snow globe. It’s a whole Christmas scene fromFrozen, the Disney movie. She has a lunch box with that on it and a sticker on her phone, so I figured it was a safe bet.”

“Sounds perfect,” I replied. “You are an awesome gift giver. The hand-painted salad servers and a snow globe. It really shows that you put thought into who the gift is for.”

He shrugged the compliment off. “Ideas, yes. Actioning, not so much.” He frowned again at the salad fork, as if it was its fault.

I squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I’ll make it happen.” I looked back to the gifts under the tree. “There’s two other boxes...”

He huffed and rattled my hand a little. “No peeking, mister.”

I laughed. “Are they for me?”

“Of course they are.” He tried not to smile. “You’re gonna love it.”

My heart was hammering, my belly all knots and nerves. Even hearing him say the wordlovegave me a thrill and it wasn’t even aimed at me.

I was so close to saying something, telling him how I felt, but I didn’t want to scare him off or ruin what we had going on. This thing between us was avery good thing, and I’d always been the type to jump in with both feet, falling hard and fast and loving with my whole heart.

That could be too much for some guys, and I didn’t want Rob to feel overwhelmed and need to step back.

So I didn’t say anything.

Instead, I pulled his legs around so he faced me better, went to my knees right there at the dining table, undid his fly, and brought him undone.

Afterwards, when he was a sated and smiling lump in his seat, I packed up the craft gear and went to the door. “Oh, and yes, leave your door unlocked,” I said, then went to work.

I helped the night crew finish up their chores, said goodbye to them, and locked up the fire hall behind them. I did my checklists and reports, then set about taping the salad fork. Sure, the Union Jack was tricky, but I’d had plenty of practice in taping hockey sticks.

It was never going to be perfect, given the handle was cylindrical, but as long as it was recognizable...

And I had hours to get it done.

I didn’t want to jinx myself, but it’d been a quiet winter so far. Which was a good thing. Quiet meant safe, and I’d be a happy firefighter if I never had to battle a blaze.

Sure, we’d had a barn fire, a car wreck clean-up, and a false fire alarm, but getting through a winter without fires risking person or property was a good thing.

It just meant for long quiet hours.

Gave me time to get the first coat of red painton the Union Jack, and it gave me a lot of time to think about Rob. How he’d be sound asleep in his bed.

How I’d be sleeping in his bed at the end of this shift. Counting down the hours, counting down the minutes...

And yes, my dick was very eager for me to crawl into his bed. But my heart was even more so.

I was pretty sure I was going to tell him how I felt. It felt inevitable at this point. As if it would explode out of me if I didn’t tell him.

The rational part of my brain told me I should wait until after Christmas. In case he didn’t reciprocate or if he freaked out, then it wouldn’t ruin the holidays. Maybe I could tell him when we counted down to midnight on New Year’s Eve...

I could tell him I loved him and wanted him to be my boyfriend as the clock ticked down to midnight. At least then I’d know if I was heading into the new year with or without him.

By the time I heard Doug’s truck pull up out back, I’d added the blue and the white to the salad server—grateful acrylic paints dried so fast—and I was desperate to leave.

“Morning,” Doug said, his usual no-nonsense voice gruff.

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