Page 21 of The Bright Side of Christmas
I shrug as best as I can. “I thought you weren’t home. Your car isn’t out front.”
“It’s in the garage. What are you doing here?”
I roll my lips between my teeth, and his eyes follow the movement. My heart pounding has nothing to do with him watching my lips and everything to do with getting caught, but it surely isn’t helping.
“I’m on a mission,” I finally reply in a faint whisper.
“A mission?”
“I’m infiltrating enemy territory to get my fallen comrade back.” His lips tip for the tiniest of seconds before it’s gone, the entertainment fleeting, but there.
“How did you get in? I think this would be considered breaking and entering.”
“Just entering, actually. I had a key.”
His brow furrows. “Why do you have a key for my house?”
“I used to house-sit for the Demauros. Not my fault that you didn’t change the locks.”
“Of course you did.” He pauses, and silence hangs between us. His chest is pressed to mine, his face just inches from mine, and I wonder if he can feel my pounding heart. If so, I sure hope he’s just assuming it’s because I’ve been caught in his house.
“Are you going to give me back my nutcracker?” I ask, staring up at him, heart pounding. “I feel like I earned it at this point. I made it this far.”
He hesitates for a moment before speaking.
“What do I get out of it?” he asks.
“I’m not taking down the decorations.”
“Then counter,” he insists.
Again, my heart is pounding in my chest. His eyes drop from mine, then focus on my lips, then back to my eyes, and my lips part, his breath coasting over them in a terrible replacement of what I really want at this moment.
Suddenly, I don’t care if I ever get that nutcracker back.
For some reason, I find myself wanting Scrooge himself to kiss me.
“Ask for what you want, Wren.” The words are a quiet rumble that settles in my bones. I wonder if he can read my mind, if he knows I’m thinking about some other counteroffer that is so far from decorations, it’s not even funny.
“Ask for it, and I’ll give it to you,” he whispers, confirming my fears. His eyes dip to my lips and back up. “You never ask for what you want, but I’m telling you right now, you will when it comes to me, Birdie.”
The only thing I can think of right now is a kiss.
My mind can only focus on ways to try and get him to dip his head a bit. Would that be a good counter? Would he accept a kiss as payment? Maybe I could get the kissandmy decoration back. That would definitely be a successful mission, right?
Before an answer can leave my lips, though, a familiar voice is calling out, “Well, this looks cozy.”
There’s a pause, then my eyes go wide with panic as the realization of what almost just happened fills my mind. When he sees it, Adam steps back, putting three feet between us. I linger against the wall for a second too long, I’m sure, to seem natural, but I’m unable to stand straight after being so close to him. I also can’t move my eyes from Adam, and I watch as his lips tip in an almost imperceptible way, like he’s well aware of his impact on me and happy about it, before his face goes blank and he turns to Hallie.
“Did I interrupt something?” she asks, stepping into the living room. “I thought I would come in here to rescue you, but I don’t know if you actually need any rescuing.”
“What are you doing here?” Adam asks, looking between my best friend and me. Before I have to explain once again, Hallie speaks.
“You’re holding her nutcracker hostage. We’re attempting a reconnaissance mission.”
Adam fights back a smirk, face remaining stoic, but I see it for what it is: a mask.
“So you two really broke into my house to get a nutcracker back?”
