Page 49 of Holiday Surprise

“We should try to get some more sleep,” I told him.

He nodded. “Yeah, that would probably be the smartest thing.”

I laughed wanting to playfully respond and push for more of those kisses or other stuff. I knew it was in his best interest to sleep though. He hadn’t been getting much these last few nights. It was probably why I had crashed so hard.

Realizing I was still in my clothes from yesterday morning, I got up and went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, combed through my hair, and stripped out of my clothes before returning to bed. I wasn’t trying to entice him or anything, honestly, I wasn’t. He was already naked anyway. I preferred to sleep that way. I didn’t like any barriers between us.

As I rolled over to snuggle back against him, I realized Luke was already fast asleep. His face looked more peaceful than I had seen in days, since before the fire.

I didn’t think I could possibly sleep any more but laying there next to him and listening to the steady cadence of his breaths, I drifted off again.

Luke

Chapter 21

I awoke to the smell of bacon frying and the sun streaming in through the window. I got up and dressed before following my nose to the kitchen. It was sort of like déjà vu seeing Sydney dancing around the kitchen cooking, just as she had on Christmas morning.

That had been a great day and one of the worst days of my life at the same time. It was hard to believe it had only been three days.

“Do you realize that we found each other only one week ago today?”

Sydney turned with a smile. “Well, happy anniversary. The first of many to come. Breakfast will be ready shortly.”

She never stopped her dancing. I couldn’t tell what she was listening to, so I knew she was wearing some pretty high-end earbuds, and she was obviously lost in her own private world.

I took a seat on a stool at the breakfast counter and watched her. There were a million things I should have been rushing to do, but I didn’t. I was mesmerized by the moment and feeling just a bit of peace sitting there watching her.

Breakfast was delicious. We talked a little more about the pack stuff, but there was no defined path set.

“I’m going to start looking online for properties. Would you mind if I hang out here today and use your internet? Oliver’s is so bogged down with all the teens and the kids there that are constantly on devices.

She laughed at me but nodded. “Of course, you can stay here.”

“Can’t make a habit of it I’m afraid. Our lack of presence back at the house will not go unnoticed.”

“And we can’t expect the entire pack to live there in cramped conditions while we stretch out and enjoy the peace and quiet here,” she finished for me.

I nodded. That was exactly it.

“So, what do you have planned today?”

“I ditched on the store yesterday, which is something I never do. So at least for this morning I need to get over there, open it up and ensure for myself that Chasity is ready to run things. I think I’m going to call Jessie to see if she’ll come in and help this week too. It’s not her favorite thing to do, but I’m sure she could use the extra money before she returns to college and will probably do it without too much complaint. That’ll free me up a lot knowing the two of them are there. It can be a lot of work and I’m not really sure what Lily meant by showing her the ropes when she said she would take care of training Chasity yesterday, because Lily’s only watched the store a few times for me herself.”

“Scary thought,” I said with a chuckle.

“Got that right. Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?”

I smiled at her thoughtfulness and knowing she was genuinely worried about me. Had anyone else ever?

“I’ll be fine. Meet you for lunch?”

“Yeah, that would be great. There’s a deli right near me. How does that sound?”

“Perfect,” I agreed.

“Okay, just come by the store first and we’ll walk over together.” She smiled but it had a teasing quality to it. “Are you going to call Thomas for permission first?”

“You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”

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