Page 78 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
I really had to pay him back for that.
I stepped outside into the snow and held up my phone. One little bar of signal popped up, and keeping it held in the air, I pulled my glove off my left hand with my teeth, cringing at the sensation of the fleece seemingly squeaking against them.
Ugh.
My hand froze what felt like instantly, and I tapped my pin in and quickly navigated to the phone app to call Thomas to see where the hell he was. If he wasn’t coming, I sure as shit wasn’t going to stand here any longer and freeze my tits off.
Just as I hit ‘call,’ the sound of a truck rumbling closer drew my attention, and I looked in that direction. It was a huge silver truck that had seen much better days, and the stack of trees on the back showed it was Thomas.
The second truck with even more trees proved it.
Twenty-two Christmas trees looked like a lot more trees that it sounded. Not that twenty-two trees were ever a small amount, but I could swear there weren’t that many when I was picking them out.
Never mind.
It was a bit late for that.
I ended the call, tucked my phone in my pocket, and wrestled my frozen fingers back into my gloves. “What time do you call this?”
Thomas grinned as he shut the truck door. “It’s quarter past six.”
“That’s not dinnertime.”
“It depends when you eat your dinner.”
I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting here for you? I’m so cold my nipples could key your truck.”
His lips curved into a wry smirk. “I’d like to see you try.”
I kept my gaze fixed on him in the hope he’d understand just how unamused I was. “Thomas. You’re late. You told me you’d be here by five-forty-five at the latest.”
He finally dropped the smile. “I know, I’m sorry. Mrs. Van de Ven came by for her tree this morning and insisted on it being delivered today, so we had to stop there on our way over. It was the only time we could fit it in.”
“We didn’t have a choice,” Ryan said, tugging his beanie over his ears. “She wouldn’t leave unless we booked her in today, and she was starting to scare the children.”
“You could’ve called me,” I said to them both.
They both nodded contritely.
“Stop looking at me like that and start bringing them in, would you? Or I will whip off my clothes and actually key your trucks with my nipples.”
Thomas held his hands up as he walked back to the truck. “I’ve already told you once that I wouldn’t complain.”
“If I had something in my hand that I could throw at you, I absolutely would.”
Ryan hauled one of the smaller trees off the back of his truck. “If you two are done flirting, can you hold the door, Sylvie?”
“I’m not flirting with him,” I replied, pushing open the door and holding it with my foot.
“I might be flirting,” Thomas called from the truck.
I dropped my chin to my chest with a sigh. “Don’t listen to him.”
“I don’t.” Ryan laughed. “Where am I putting the forest?”
The forest.
“I’m glad it’s not just me who refers to it as that,” I muttered. “In the main room, please. As long as they’re grouped by size, I can take it from there.”
