Page 63 of The One

“Sure, you do,” she said. “You need to let your dog out and clean the deck off, the driveway, the sidewalks. Unless you’ve got someone coming to do that for you.”

He grinned at her. “The driveway, yes. I just don’t want to deal with it. I’ve got a snowblower and can if I need to, but prefer not to. I’ll shovel the rest. I might make a path with the snowblower in the backyard for George to run if we get a ton of snow, but I’m hoping we don’t.”

She started to laugh. “You do realize you are living back in the Northeast?”

“Don’t remind me,” he said, moving closer to her and putting his hands around her from behind. Then he slipped them under her shirt and she shrieked.

“You’re freezing,” she said.

“Yep,” he said. “You know, living in the Northeast.”

She laughed. “Merry Christmas. I just realized we didn’t say that to each other.”

He snuggled his lips into her neck and said, “Merry Christmas to you. I’ll get the plates down, as this looks done and delicious.”

Rick set the table while she put all the French toast on a platter. She made both of their coffee and he fed George.

It was a nice homey feeling that she was positive she’d never experienced before living with a man and here she was only visiting time to time.

When they were done eating, they cleaned up and she said, “Are you ready to open our gifts?”

“I am,” he said.

Rick moved the gate and George went running to the front ahead of them and into Rick’s office. She suspected the dog was used to that more than anything else, but when they went to the front living room, George turned and ran in there too.

The dog was close to the tree, sniffing for things. Maybe he smelled the treats she’d bought. Rick did too, along with some toys. The dog was part of the family too.

“Let’s give George his first so he is distracted,” she said.

She pulled out the toy she got George and opened it enough for him to see what was inside. “Give it to him to take the rest of the paper off,” Rick said.

“Are you sure you want to do that? He might think he can take the paper off of anything going forward.”

“Crap,” he said. “I didn’t realize that. Yeah, better not.”

She laughed and removed it all and then showed the squeaky toy to the dog and put it on the floor. George picked it up and started to run around the room with it in his mouth making a racket.

“He’s entertained for about five minutes,” she said, pushing the box toward him of what she’d bought.

Rick did the same, sending one her way. “Why don’t we open them together?” he suggested.

“Sure,” she said, opening hers and saying, “Oh my God. You heard me say I wanted a pair and got them. I only said it once a month ago.”

The paper went flying off and she pulled them out and put them on her feet. Even without socks the black UGG boots were soft and warm.

“I remembered,” he said. “I think I found it odd you wanted them and never got them for yourself. I made a note to check out your shoe size and ordered them that week so I didn’t forget.”

Talk about super sweet.

“I don’t know why I never got myself a pair, but I’m thrilled to have these,” she said. “I won’t even yell at you for spending too much because I know how much they cost.”

Which was why she never had a pair. Mike always said it was a waste and they were ugly. She’d felt self-conscience owning a pair after. He’d said she wasn’t a teenage girl either. She couldn’t get him to see that women of all ages wore them and gave up trying.

But that Rick bought them for her meant he didn’t feel the same way.

She stood up to look down at them with her black leggings. “Cute,” he said.

“You think so?” she asked.

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