Page 6 of Decorated

That seemed equally preposterous, though.

“You must think I’m a complete nutter,” he said with a sigh, shifting to lean against one of the counters.

“Yeah, I do,” Alfie said stepping closer and crossing his arms. “But you’re an interesting nutter.”

For a moment, Blaine held still. Was Corporal Alfie Spears flirting with him? No! It couldn’t be! A big, strong, masculine, probably straight soldier like him? Flirting with a rainbow explosion like him? Never!

“So what’d you do?” Alfie asked. “Is that man following you the police? Are you an escaped criminal or something? Do I need to apprehend you, rough you up a little, and bring you in?”

Blaine couldn’t breathe. His already tight jeans felt even tighter. Corporal Alfie Spearswasflirting with him!

And he had absolutely no idea how to flirt back with someone who was so completely out of his league.

“I, er, um, we are…used to be…are in business together,” he said, his voice hoarse with arousal as he stared at Alfie’s imposing form.

“Are or used to be?” Alfie arched one eyebrow.

Blaine would have done anything at the prompt of that one eyebrow.

“We have an interior decorating business together but…there was a thing last week,” Blaine explained.

“Thing? Last week?”

Blaine cleared his throat. “I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about it yet. The pain is too deep and too new.” He tried desperately to use humor to cover how horrible he felt about the destruction. Self-deprecation had always been his go-to when he didn’t know what else to do or say. “Suffice it to say that I’m reasonably certain there would be an explosion if Dave were to find me.”

As soon as he said the words and then realized who was standing in front of him and what Alfie might have experienced in his time in Afghanistan, he rushed to blurt, “I’m sorry! That was the wrong word to use and an insensitive thing to say.Anyhow, this is the new kitchen, and the dining room is just through here.”

He pushed off the counter and practically ran through the door into the dining hall.

Strangely enough, the dining hall was a bit of a comfort. He’d been decorating it for Christmas for the last few days, since he didn’t have another job to go to anymore and because he was staying at Hawthorne House until things blew over with Dave. He’d had six tall pine trees brought in and lined up against one side of the room, and he was halfway through the process of decorating each one with different color ornaments to make a delightfully gay wall of rainbow trees. A single, larger tree had been set up in a position of prominence in the other corner of the room to serve as the main Christmas centerpiece.

The trees weren’t even half of it. He’d been up on ladders hanging boughs of greenery all day the day before, and he’d just started in on the lights that would be strung through the greenery. There was still a lot to do, but the dining hall would look like Christmas exploded in it—no, he’d have to come up with a better word—like Christmas had thrown up all over but he time he was done.

Nope, that word wasn’t much better. Particularly since he felt like he might throw up himself.

“This is what I’ve been working on,” he said, glancing around the room with a smile.

Alfie grunted by his side.

That single grunt made Blaine feel like someone had poured ice water down his back. “You don’t like it?” he asked, turning to face him.

“Oh, no, it’s fine,” Alfie said with a shrug, crossing his arms and looking around. “It’s pretty.”

Blaine’s jaw dropped. “Just pretty? Justfine?”

Alfie turned to look at him, his expression tightening, as if he knew he’d said something wrong. “It’s very nice,” he said. “I just don’t really like Christmas.”

Blaine’s mouth fell open even more. “Don’t like Christmas?” he repeated incredulously. “How is it humanly possible to not like Christmas?”

“I just don’t,” Alfie said, tightening his arms around his magnificently broad chest.

Blaine should have left it there, but Christmas was one of his favorite times of the year. It was bright and cheerful and full of hope and cheer. It was everything he tried to be but couldn’t quite achieve. He was borderline offended that someone he would definitely like to find wrapped up under his Christmas tree could be a hater.

“Christmas is the best time of year,” he argued. “It’s full of the best food, fun and frivolity, and if you’re doing it right, amazing presents. The Hawthornes all get together every Christmas, the entire, extended family, which is quite a crowd, believe you me. We have games, we set up a projector in here and watch a movie in our sleeping bags on Christmas Eve. We do presents on Christmas morning and have the annual family popcorn fight.”

“Popcorn fight?” Alfie asked. Blaine couldn’t tell if he was amused or offended.

“Yeah. We always say we have to just eat the popcorn, every year, but we end up throwing it at each other. It makes the floor look a little like snow, actually. And then we all sing carols.”

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