Page 51 of Lighting Up Christmas

“I like the order,” he approved.

Riley laughed. “You’re the only one. All my friends think I’m OCD about my work area, but it’s my life. I need to know what I have and where I have it.” She sobered. “Zhang, are you really okay with decorating a Christmas tree? You mentioned you didn’t celebrate Christmas. I don’t want to step on any cultural or religious toes,” she said hesitatingly.

“You’re not,” he said shortly. “Totally amputated.”

“Ummmmm, not sure what to do with that.” She squinted at him.

Damn. She was really getting to him. He normally only spoke this freely around Jackson.

“It’s just that with the wine tasting and the challenge we threw down, I thought this would be a fun first thing for you to do—decorate a tree and then donate it to the Christmas tree auction. The money raised goes to provide Christmas presents, necessities, and meals to needy families in the area.”

She played with the needles of the tree and then sucked in a breath.

“And I thought it would be a way to see you again.”

“You wanted to see me again?”

“Well, yes, of course.” Her gaze was steady.

“Why?”

“Why?” she repeated.

“You said you felt sorry for me.”

“I never said that.”

“Implied.”

She was clearly thinking back—probably hard, as she had so many conversations and comments to sort through.

“Because I said you looked alone?” Her voice was warm and the flush on her creamy cheeks looked more like embarrassmentthan anger. “I always speak my mind. Sometimes too much,” she admitted, as if that were something to apologize for. “I’m alone too,” she said. “Especially this Christmas with my family scattered or traveling, and I like hanging out with you, Zhang.”

He didn’t believe her. No. That wasn’t true. He didn’t understand her. And he could practically hear the whir of his brain trying to calculate what she really meant. Read between the lines as Brin always insisted he do, when it would be so much easier if everyone just said what they meant. Honesty. Clarity.

He turned to grab the tree. It was still wrapped in the netting Riley had tied around it. She had the tree stand ready. He set it in the stand and held it while she tightened the screws. She stood, and he slowly released his grip. The tree was steady.

“Wednesday,” he said curtly, peeling off his gloves and heading back to his truck.

“Zhang, wait.” She caught his hand. “Are you upset?”

He did feel out of sorts and wanted escape, but he couldn’t explain why. Riley unsettled him as much as she drew him.

“Busy. I’m flying out to my office tomorrow at dawn.”

“Do you want a ride to the airport?”

He blinked at her. He’d said dawn, and she’d offered a ride.

“No, thank you.”

“You’re really okay with decorating a Christmas tree for the auction?” Her eyes were worried.

She still held his hand. This time without gloves. She’d never had the chance to put them on because he’d jabbed the tree in the stand like it was a flag he was planting after conquering a hill.

Her fingers were long and slim. Elegant. Soft. Even though she used her hands for so much. He flipped his hand around so that they were palm to palm. It was the first time he’d touched her with intention. There, just the two of them in the one-bay garage of her Craftsman-style bungalow, holding her hand feltmore intimate than so many things he’d done with Brin and other women over the years.

He hadn’t celebrated Christmas because his grandfather practiced Buddhism. And his mom didn’t believe in such luxuries as celebrating anything. But how to explain his life to a woman like Riley who’d come from a big and close family? It was strange. He felt closer to her than most people whom he’d known longer, and still, even in the same space, they might as well be hundreds of miles away.

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