Page 43 of Getting Wrapped Up

That was sweet…and frustrating as hell.

“Should I tell you howIplan to use my candy cane?” she asked.

He flexed the hand on her butt but shook his head. “Please don’t.”

“It’s really good. There’s licking and sucking involved.”

He groaned. “Decorating, movies, cuddling. Decorating, movies, cuddling,” he muttered. “Decorating, movies, cuddling.”

She laughed. “Repeating it will help?”

“I sure as fuck hope so.”

She wanted him. There had been chemistry from minute one, but the intensity of her desire for him now was amazing. She’d never felt anything like it. And she knew it had a lot to do with Christmas cookies and tree farms and the fact that she’d caught him Googlinghow to string Christmas lightson his phone. She also knew it was about falling in love with the little town of Sapphire Falls that had turned out to be all she’d imagined and more.

And it had a lot to do with the realization that they had an expiration date.

This Christmas wonderland wouldn’t last. The holiday would end, the snow would melt, Levi would go back to Vegas and she’d go back to San Francisco and all she’d have left was the ornament and her memories. The deadline, the ticking countdown, was also making this all feel so much more bittersweet. It was part of the whole illusion. Like a dream that she knew she had to eventually wake from. She wanted to pack as much as she could into their time together while it lasted.

“Maybe we could—”

“I’m trying to get to a light dove-gray here,” he said.

She had no idea what that meant. “What?”

“My cold, black soul is coming back from the dead. I think I’m in the middle-gray tones now versus black. If I can sit on that couch and cuddle with you for an entire movie, I think I can make it a light gray.”

She laughed. “Cold, black soul, huh?”

“I was this close to a visit from the Ghost of Christmas Future, I swear.”

He had a tiny grin partially curling one corner of his mouth, but she could see that there was some truth behind his words.

“That bad, huh?”

“Let’s just say that whatever Christmas movie we decide on, I would appreciate it not be any retelling ofA Christmas Carol.”

She pretended to pout. “I loveScrooged.”

“Let’s put it this way—” He pulled her up more securely against the erection behind his fly. “If I watch one of those, I might not be able to perform later.”

She wiggled against him and enjoyed his quick, sharp intake of air. “Oh, we can’t have that. I have some Christmas wishes that still need to come true.”

“And I’ll make them all even better than you imagined,” he said, squeezing her ass. “As long as there are no ghosts.”

If she hadn’t seen the bit of truth in his eyes when he talked about trying to turn his black soul light gray she would have teased him further, and maybe even cajoled him into watching the originalA Christmas Carol. Or maybe the Muppets version. But he was trying to be a good guy here. The least she could do was let him. For a while.

“How aboutElf?” she suggested.

“Buddy the Elf?” he asked.

“You know the movie?”

“I’ve been living in Vegas, not under a rock.”

They pulled the tree decorations from the attic, along with three boxes of decorations for the windows, mantel and pretty much every other available space in the house. Phoebe had either inherited a bunch of stuff from family or she was a Christmas hoarder.

The lights went onto the tree with only two start-overs—and Levi only consulted his phone six or seven times and used the F word three or four—and they eagerly covered the branches with ornaments.

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