Page 10 of A Beastly Christmas Cheerful
"I threw it by you," I clarify, and he chuckles. The sound is sexy, which surprises me, because I had no idea a laugh could be sexy. Turns out everything about Marley is, and I’m really starting to take notice. "Okay, I threw it at you, but my aim sucks."
He carries another load to the porch and puts it down. “Okay, I'm closer. You can do it now." Marley turns to give me his backside, and I huff.
"You’re not supposed to want me to hit you with a snowball. That defeats the whole purpose.” I still kind of want to do it, though. I can’t recall the last time I played in the snow.
"Would it be easier if I pretend to run away?"
"Oh my gosh," I laugh as he goes to step off the porch, and I toss the snowball at him. It hits him right in his ass, and I giggle. Sure, he was only a few feet away, but it counts, and I jump up and down. “Nailed it!”
"You got me; now go inside," he orders again, but this time there is a hint of warning in his tone. It’s not scary, though. It’s a tone that sends a thrill through me, so I do as I'm told. After all, he’s the one getting everything.
It takes two more trips before everything is inside the cabin, and once he’s done, I go over to the boxes from the bakery.
"What is this?" I pick it up and almost burst with excitement when I see the contents. "It's a kit to build a gingerbread house!"
“Do you want to do that first?” Marley asks.
“Are you saying you’d do it with me?” My hopes soar higher and higher, and then he nods.
“If you want to.” This man is turning out to be totally different than I thought he would be.
“You’re not so scary,” I tell him, and he flinches.
Reaching up, he touches the scar on his handsome face. “I know it can be?—”
“No, I don’t mean that!” I rush over to him, placing my hands on his chest. I have to tilt my head all the way back to look into his eyes. “The scar is actually kind of hot. I meant you’re not as scary as I thought you’d be because of the books you write. The covers are frightening, and here I was coming out to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. I was certain I was going to get kidnapped and murdered.”
“Hot?” He smirks when he says this, and his eyes crinkle at the corners.
Heat rushes to my cheeks because I hadn’t meant to say that part out loud. It's why I kept rambling on, thinking Marley might not notice. Clearly he doesn’t miss anything.
“Come on, like you don’t know how handsome you are.” I realize I'm rubbing his chest, so I drop my hands and take a step back. "You're too good-looking to have to kidnap and murder anyone."
"I would never murder you."
"Oh, but kidnapping is okay?" I laugh at my own joke as I go over to open another box. I like how easy it is with him, and I enjoy his teasing. "Look at all these ornaments.” I pick up one that has swirls of red and green sparkles. With nothing to hang them on, it makes them sort of useless. "It’s too bad we don't have a tree."
"I can get you a tree." Marley is already going back to the door and grabbing his coat and gloves before I have a chance to tell him not to.
"Wait, you don't have to do it right now." He's already done so much, I feel bad he’s going back outside.
"The snow is only getting worse, and I can see how excited you are to decorate, so a tree is a must.”
His sweet words melt my heart. “You’re so good to me.” I lean up on my tiptoes and wiggle my finger at him to lean down. When he does, I press a kiss to his cheek. “You’re the best,” I tell him. “If you’re not careful, I might never leave,” I tease before going back over to all the decorations. “I’ll go ahead and organize this stuff.” When he doesn’t say anything, I turn around. “Or I can?—”
“You don’t ever have to leave.” He’s completely serious as he says this, and my heart flutters.
“Careful what you say.” I know he’s only being kind, but it’s sweet of him. “When people spend a lot of time with me, they always say I’m too much.” I shrug it off, but it hurts my feelings. I know I can't be upset about the way they feel, so I let it go and try to tone it down.
“People are fucking stupid,” he growls and shakes his head. “Don’t ever dim your light for anyone else’s convenience. It’s them that’s not enough.”
“I think that’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me.” It gives me a glimmer of hope that maybe there’s a person out there that will get me. Could that person be Marley?
“Let me go get your tree.”
“Our tree,” I correct.
“Our tree,” he agrees, and this time he leans down and presses a kiss to my cheek.
