Page 79 of The Duke Who Saved Christmas
“I don’t have a clue where that room is.”
“Uh.” I looked around for a door wedge and after finding two on the windowsill, I tucked them under the doors to hold them open and motioned for Ryan to follow me.
I showed him to the main room where the ceremony would be taking place and pointed to a rough area to put the trees.
“I have the stands in my truck,” Ryan said after a minute. “There are different ones for the trees depending on the sizes. Do you want me to put them with the right ones?”
“If it’s not too much trouble,” I replied. “Thanks.”
“Nah, not at all. You wait here. We’ll bring them all in.”
I smiled at his back as he left to fetch another tree, and I checked the tag for the size of it. It was a four-foot tree, so I grabbed my notebook, scribbled it on a sheet of paper, then tore it off and rested it on top of the netted tree.
Thomas and Ryan brought in all the smaller trees followed by a couple of bigger ones, and I watched them lug them in. It seemed as if they were bringing in all the snow from outside, too, and I frowned as their boots left little lumps of ice and dirt across the floor.
Great.
I knew I’d end up being the one to clean that up.
My sister could spend the better part of two grand on trees for her wedding, but a cleaner coming more than once was out of the question.
“There you go,” Ryan said, dropping the last small tree down. “There’s a few big ones left for Thomas to bring in, but if I don’t get to my nan’s house in the next ten minutes, she’s threatened to send out a search party.”
I laughed, bending over to move my paper sign. “Thanks, Ryan. I appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome.” He turned, paused mid-step, then looked back at me. “Hey, Sylvie?”
“Mm?” I asked, bracing myself on the trees as I looked over at him.
“Are you free tomorrow night?”
Oh.
Oh.
Plot twist.
“I’m not,” I replied with a soft smile. “Sorry, Ryan.”
His lips tugged to one side, even as a flicker of disappointment flashed in his eyes. “Is it Thomas?”
I snorted. “Don’t sell yourself so short. I’m only here for the wedding, and by extension, Christmas and the new year. I’ll be back in Dorset after that, so it’s really just a waste of your time.”
“It’s Thomas.”
“It’s certainly not Thomas,” I replied, standing up. “Please don’t give him any ideas. He already thinks we’re friends.”
“We are friends,” the man in question said as he walked in, dragging a tree behind him. Thomas looked at Ryan. “She’s too good for you anyway.”
“Why do you think I was asking if you were the reason she said no? If she’s too good for me, she’s sure as shit out of your league.”
I laughed, covering my face with my hands. “Don’t you have to get to your nan’s house?”
“I do,” Ryan replied with a chuckle of his own. “Thomas, can you manage the rest of the trees?”
“I dragged this big fucker in here by myself, didn’t I?” Thomas gestured to the huge tree. “Although I might need some help for the nine-foot ones.”
I glared at him. “What? You couldn’t bring those in first?”
