“When he dumped me. You can say it. It’s the truth, after all. And a girl who’s been dumped right before Christmas usually isn’t ready to deck the halls with boughs of holly, if you get my drift.” She continued eating her stew.
“Maybe that’s exactly the time to do it.”
She stopped eating and gazed at him. “How so?”
“You were going to celebrate Christmas for Lenny’s sake, right?”
“Yeah, but obviously I picked the wrong guy to jump-start my Christmas spirit. He’s pushed me right back into bah-humbug territory.”
Tucker recognized that kind of thinking. For years he’d seen himself as a victim of circumstance. Hearing it coming from Lacey was unsettling. Funny how much easier it was to figure out what other people should do to make themselves happy.
“Tucker, why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just wondering why you’d break out the decorations for a guy, but not for yourself. Why let his dumb decisions keep you from celebrating if you have the urge to do it?”
She frowned. “I’m not saying I wanted to, but I thought it was time to see if I could, because depriving him of the holiday wasn’t fair.”
“Is it fair to deprive yourself? When we talked outside the gym, I got the impression that you used to love Christmas, especially the way your mother celebrated it.” And so had he. His words were as much directed at himself as at her.
Her expression softened. “I did love it back then, but I can’t re-create that kind of Christmas because my mom was such a huge part of it, and she’s gone. I thought maybe I’d try for some new traditions with Lenny, but bravely forging my own rituals without anyone to share them seems a little desperate and pathetic.”
“I get that. I’ve thought exactly the same thing, so in the past I’ve spent Christmas Eve in a bar, which is desperate and pathetic in its own way.”
“I usually plan a trip somewhere tropical.” She shrugged. “It sort of works.”
He had a sudden image of Lacey in a bikini sipping an umbrella drink. He shoved that image away immediately. “That’s classier than my option.”
“Last Christmas I talked Lenny into flying to Bermuda, but he hated that it didn’t feel like Christmas. I still wasn’t ready to spend the holiday at his family’s house or mine, so this was the compromise.”
Tucker blew out a breath. “I’m sorry it all fell apart, Lacey. He’s an impatient creep who doesn’t know what he’s lost.”
“To be honest, I was having doubts about the relationship. We weren’t clicking the way I thought a committed couple should. Spending Christmas here was going to be a kind of test.” She grimaced. “Guess it was, at that.”
“You’re way better off. You deserve somebody special.” Any guy who rejected such a wonderful woman was terminally stupid.
“Thanks.” Once again her eyes took on a happy gleam.
He hoped his next suggestion wouldn’t bring back the shadows that had lurked in her gaze earlier. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, we’re stuck together for at least tonight, and we understand each other’s take on Christmas. I’m thinking it’s the perfect chance to get over ourselves and celebrate the damned holiday.”
3
“CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?” Lacey couldn’t believe he’d said that. Of all the people in the world, Tucker seemed the least likely to suggest such a thing. “We can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t bring any decorations, for one thing. I had planned to, but when Lenny bailed, I donated all the stuff I’d bought to the Salvation Army.”
“Except the soap.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ah, yes, the soap. It was a secret Santa thing at work, and I happened to be out of soap, so I brought it on this trip instead of throwing it in the Salvation Army donation bag. Are you suggesting we prop the soap on the mantel and call it good?”
He grinned at her. “It’s a start.”
That grin was lethal. She didn’t really want to decorate for Christmas, but if he did, she was willing to go along just on the basis of that killer smile. He also had a point about celebrating with someone who understood the issues. She wouldn’t have to fake anything with Tucker.
“I have some emergency candles in case the power goes out,” she said. “We could put one on each side of the soap.”
He nodded. “See how this plan is taking shape already?”
“Oh, yeah. We’ll rival Rockefeller Center in no time.”
“Don’t make fun. Santa soap and candles could look really nice on the mantel, even if the candles aren’t beeswax, which I’m guessing they’re not.”
“Nope. Just those cheap white paraffin kind.” She gazed at him, marveling that he’d remembered a detail like beeswax candles. “So you really were listening when we had that conversation.”
“Of course. Got any popcorn?”
“A couple of bags of the microwave kind, but—”
“Needle and thread?”
“Some. I carry a little sewing kit in my cosmetic bag, but—”
He pushed back his chair. “Then let’s get popping. It needs to cool before we string it.”
“Tucker, we don’t have a tree.”
“Don’t worry.” His green gaze found hers. “We will.” Then he walked over and took his coat and hat off the peg where it was hanging by the front door.
“Wait a minute.” She stood and followed him. “You can’t go out there and cut down a tree. I’m renting this place. The landlord would have a fit.”
“I’m not going to cut it down.” He settled his hat on his head. “I’ll dig it up. Then we can put it back in the ground later. No one has to know.”
“The ground’s frozen.”
“Most places, yes, but on the sunny side of the cabin, it might not be as hard.” He shoved his arms into the sleeves of his sheepskin coat.
“But there’s a blizzard going on!” As if to emphasize the fact, the wind howled down the chimney and made the fire gyrate wildly.
“That makes it more exciting.” He dazzled her with another smile. That, combined with the shadow of a beard, made him look rakish and slightly dangerous.
“You’re crazy.” Breathing quickly, both from the zing of attraction and her determination to stop him, she backed against the door, arms spread. “I won’t let you go out there.”
He winked, the picture of male assurance. “Yeah, you will. We’re going to do this.”
“No, we aren’t. People get lost and die in snowstorms, sometimes when they’re within a few feet of shelter because they get lost in all that whiteness.”
He buttoned up his coat. “I know that. I promise to stay close enough to the cabin and the outbuilding that I can still see them.”
“You could get distracted looking for a tree to dig up.”
“I could, but I won’t. By the way, do you have a shovel in your Jeep?”
“I’m not going to tell you.”
“Which means yes.”
“Doesn’t matter.” She remained planted firmly in front of the door. “I’m not moving.”
His gaze reflected amusement as it swept over her. “I should warn you that once I get an idea in my head, I can’t let it go.”
“You’ll have to let this one go.” She lifted her chin in defiance. “I’ve been involved in too many search and rescue missions to allow you to take the chance of freezing to death out there. I’d given you more credit for good sense.”
“There’s your first mistake.” And without warning, he leaned in and kissed her.
Her gasp of surprise allowed him to deepen the kiss, which quickly evolved into something spectacular. Bracing both hands against the door beside her head, he angled his mouth over hers and pressed in deep. The sweet invasion made her forget whatever silly argument they’d been having.
As his lips moved against hers in slow seduction, as his tongue explored with lazy intent, her senses rocketed back to the night of the Christmas formal. Yes, this was how she remembered his kiss—a take-no-prisoners assault that reduced her to a ragdoll willing to surrender to whatever he wanted.
She clutched his shoulders as the room seemed to spin. When he lifted his head to smile down at her, she realized the room hadn’t been spinning, but she had. He’d circled her waist with both hands and turned her around so that she no longer blocked the door. She’d been so immersed in his kiss that she hadn’t noticed.
“I promise not to get lost in the snow,” he said. Then he released her and was out the door before she could frame a response.
“You don’t fight fair!” she called after him when she managed to catch her breath.
The door opened a crack. “Nuke the popcorn!” Then he closed the door and was gone.
Grabbing the doorknob, she pulled the door open. A blast of frigid air filled with wet snow hit her in the face. “Use the rope!” She hurled the command out into the bitter cold where she could barely see him, head down, burrowing into the storm like a linebacker. “There’s a long rope in the Jeep!”