Page 25 of Big Package
She held up a folded sheet and pulled it against her chest. “We can do it together.”
“It’ll go faster if I do it.”
Her lips twisted into a frown. I knew that look now, so I changed course. “How about you read and I’ll build?”
“That means you don’t get to ignore me when I tell you you’re doing something wrong.”
“Fine.” I reached for the base.
It took twenty minutes before we started arguing.
“That branch goes on the other side.”
“The holes don’t line up.”
“That’s because you have it upside down.”
I turned it over. The holes lined up.
Emmy smiled. A smug one. I didn’t like how good it looked on her.
“Don’t.”
“I was just going to point out that sometimes following the directions is helpful.”
“That’s a dangerous philosophy.”
She scooted closer to hold the branch steady, and her knee pressed against mine. Neither of us moved.
The tree came together branch by branch until it stood almost six feet tall in front of my living room window. The craftsmanship and attention to detail were impressive.
Emmy set the instructions down. “What do you think?”
“It looks good.”
“Just good?”
“Very good.”
“Careful. That was almost enthusiasm.” She turned toward me, still smiling. “You helped save Christmas.”
Oh, hell no. I wasn’t about to let her turn this into something much more than it was. “All I did was put a tree together, Em.”
Her brows arched, and I cursed under my breath for shortening her name. She didn’t make a big deal out of it, though.
“You rescued twenty-seven orders, kept me off an icy road, gave me somewhere to sleep, made me breakfast, and assembled the centerpiece of my festival. That qualifies as saving Christmas, at least to me.”
“That’s a pretty low bar.”
She stepped closer. “It isn’t.”
The room went quiet. I’d gotten used to listening to her. Even when she wasn’t talking, her feet were padding across the hardwood floor, or she hummed under her breath. When she went quiet, I noticed. Hell, I noticed everything about her.
I’d spent the night telling myself not to touch her. That had been easier with a closed door between us.
“I meant what I said,” she said. “That I could kiss you.”
She didn’t add figuratively this time.
