Page 72 of Control

I smiled reassuringly at him. “So, what is it you’d like to do today?”

“Get a Christmas tree and decorate it.”

“What?”

“I normally have one by now, but with all that we’ve been doing lately, I haven’t gotten one. I’d like to go out today to buy a tree, and then I’d like to spend the day decorating it with you.”

Tears filled my eyes. It made no sense. Ty hadn’t said anything mean or hurtful, but here I was, on the verge of a meltdown. That’s when I realized what it was. This man had given me so much of his time and attention, never once asking for anything in return, and with the exception of last night, I felt like I hadn’t done much that was special for him.

“I’d love to do that for you, Ty. I’m sorry I’ve been consuming so much of your time.”

He pinched my chin lightly between his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t want an apology, Alana. I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent with you over these last few weeks. I just want us to have a day together that doesn’t involve work, and I thought doing something to prepare for Christmas might be fun.”

I nodded my understanding. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Good. Let’s get ourselves some breakfast, get ready, and head out.”

He gave me another kiss before he moved to get out of the bed. But I tugged on his arm before he could get too far away. When he shot me an inquisitive look, I said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you out this morning? I’d be happy to return the favor.”

He smiled. “It’s enough to know you feel that way, Alana. In any other scenario, I’d never dream of declining. Right now, I’m just excited to get this day started with you.”

Was it possible to fall in love with a man so soon? It had only been a little over a month, but I could feel something happening between us that I liked a whole lot.

At that, I happily got out of the bed, pressed my naked body against his, and kissed him. Then we got ourselves ready, had some breakfast, and took off to get Ty a tree.

Ty wasn’t picky about his tree.

We’d found a few great trees within twenty minutes of arriving at the tree farm—something that happened only after we’d gone to grab cups of coffee from The Early Bird, where Ty introduced me to Tarryn, the wife of the owner of Harper Security Ops.

Ty narrowed the tree selection down to two he’d be happy with and asked me to pick the one I liked best.

I loved the way it made me feel, that we were doing something that seemed so simple and insignificant, and yet, I felt like I was sitting on top of the world. That he wanted my input for the tree that would be in his home made me feel so special.

I chose a tree, and he didn’t waste any time getting it chopped down.

Now, we were back at his place, the tree had been put in its base, and Ty had pulled out all of his Christmas decorations.

Seeing this, loving how wonderful this day already felt, something came over me.

“Are you busy?” I blurted, kneeling beside him.

Ty looked up from the container he’d just pulled out with decorations. “No. Why? What do you need?”

Shaking my head, I clarified, “I don’t mean now. I’m talking about during Christmas. Is it busy for you? I assume you celebrate with your family.”

He’d been crouched by the container, but after hearing my question, he settled himself on his ass and placed his hand on my thigh. “I do celebrate with my family. My brothers and I go over to my parents’ place for the day. We generally arrive sometime in the afternoon, and my mom prepares a big dinner. When we were younger, they’d take us over to our grandparents’ houses, but now that my mom’s parents have passed, my dad’s parents just come to the house. What about you?”

“It’s similar. My brother and I go to my parents’ place. But my mom makes a big deal out of Christmas morning, so breakfast is special for us.”

Ty dipped his chin with understanding, a lengthy silence growing in our tense stares. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Didn’t want to look away.

I was going to go for it. To ask for what I wanted, the way he’d done with me this morning. But what I hadn’t expected was Ty would have thoughts of his own.

As I asked if we could find time to celebrate that day with each other, Ty said, “I want to spend Christmas with you.”

I jerked back, him doing the same, and neither of us looked away for several beats. I was the first to break the tension. “You want to spend Christmas with me?”

“I do.”

---