Page 21 of Christmas with Hope

“Easy for you to say,” I sighed then picked up my fork.

“Trust me, it’s not as easy for me as you think.” He picked up his fork and started eating.

We ate in silence for quite some time.

“If you get food poisoned, it’s not my fault,” Colton said, breaking our silence.

“What?” I asked, choking on a bite of egg I had just taken.

“Are you okay?” he asked, starting to stand. With one hand I gestured for him to sit down and with my other hand, I picked up my glass and drank several gulps.

“Sorry.” I cleared my throat and set my glass down.

“Why are you sorry?” Colton gave me a funny look. “It’s my food you’re choking on.”

He sounded like it was the end of the world that I had choked.

“Colton, your food is fine. I choked because you caught me off guard.” The entire time I kept my eyes on him.

“Alright,” he sighed, dropping his eyes down to the table.

“Are things going to be weird between us now?”

“No!” he blurted, making me laugh. “Ugh. I am messing this all up.”

“Welcome to the club,” I teased, gaining his attention. “Let’s just eat and then maybe we can go for a walk?”

“Sounds good.” He gave me a slight smile.

“Relax, Colton.” Without thought, I tossed a piece of my toast at him. His eyes widened before he laughed.

“You know this means war, right?” he grinned.

“All is fair in love and war, Mr. Preston.”

Chapter Ten

“The store might have something to decorate the tree,” Colton said, staring at the tree. It was leaning up against the wall.

“The store?” I looked at him like he was crazy. “The same store that spellsBambimeat D-E-A-R?”

Colton shook his head and laughed.

“That’s true,” he continued shaking his head. “Well, you can’t have a tree without decorations… Right?”

“It would be a first,” I admitted with a shrug.”But not the end of the world.”

“Yeah, but still. You need a nicely decorated tree.”

His words sounded genuine and made me smile. This man was winning me over more and more.

“I’m trying to think if I have anything in my truck,” he made a face that made it seem like he was in deep thought.

Several minutes passed and then his eyes widened and he smiled.

“I have the perfect thing!” he shouted before leaving the cabin. He came back covered in snow. He was shivering and his cheeks were red.

“Are you crazy!” I shouted, grabbing a throw off of the couch and wrapping it around him.

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