Page 15 of A Candy Cane Christmas
I swallowed. “You know what, I’ll call you later and let you know if my idea worked out. Bye.”
I ended the call without giving Gabe a chance to reply.
Knowing he didn’t think I was right for someone like Theo hurt. Because I really wanted to be right for Theo. He was… awfully cute. Patient. Kind. Reliable. So fucking innocent it was almost unbelievable.
He was basically everything I wasn’t.
And I liked that guy.
Grabbing my keys, I left my apartment—barefoot and wearing my painting jeans.
Here’s hoping that Theo liked my being spontaneous.
I ran up the stairs, trying to get to Theo’s door before doubt could creep in, and knocked loudly. Well, it was more like me tripping over my own feet and crashing into the door, but since I’d hit the door hands first, I counted it as a knock.
Theo obviously didn’t because he opened the door within seconds with a worried look on his face.
“Luci? Are you okay?” His eyes wandered up and down my body, searching for injuries while I righted myself.
“Yeah, I’m okay.” My wrists kinda hurt, but that’d fade. I was used to this stuff. Tripping over nothing or, my specialty, running into doorframes. Because apparently, not hitting stuff that never ever moved was exceptionally hard for me.
“What can I do for you?” Theo asked, smiling at me in his reserved, careful yet warm way.
“Daddy? What happened? Who’s at… oh, hi there, Mr. Elf. Are you responsible for the ruckus?”
Was I responsible for… what?
Swallowing down a snort-giggle, I grinned at Hazel.
“Yes, I tripped, but I’m okay. I actually wanted to see if you guys wanted to visit me at my apartment?”
Theo frowned at me for a moment, but Hazel immediately started jumping up and down. “Oh yes. Daddy, I want to know how elves live. Can we go see Mr. Elf’s apartment?”
His frown deepened, the smile on his lips slowly fading away.
Oops, maybe my brother was right.
“I mean, only if you don’t have plans already? I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“We don’t,” Hazel shouted. “We haven’t started making dinner yet.”
Whoops.
Note to self: dinnertime is way earlier than I’d expected.
“Why don’t you go put the ground beef back in the fridge, and I’ll talk to Luci for a moment to organize everything.”
“Who’s Luci?” Hazel furrowed her brows.
“Me.” I finger-waved at her, getting a little giggle out of her.
“Ohh… I have a doll named Lucy. But my doll is a girl. Wait, I’m gonna get her!”
And off she went, leaving me with Theo, who still wasn’t smiling at me.
Fuck.
Maybe I needed to listen to my brother more. I shuddered.
