“No! It’s for the both of us, have you seen the snow outside? If we get stuck somewhere—”
He laughed at me. “You watch the weather channel a little too much.”
Ignoring him, I grabbed the rest of the stuff and threw it into a bag, then I turned and handed him his wallet. He just grinned at me and the child in me took over. Twisting my face, I stuck out my tongue at him and began to walk towards the front door.
“Did you just—”
“I thought we were in a hurry, Mr. Black?” I was already at the door, putting on my winter jacket and snow boots.
“You don’t want to get a few blankets too?”
That was actually a good idea. I turned and started towards the linen closet, but he intervened and grabbed my free hand. “On second thought, there are plenty other ways to stay warm,” he said with a wicked grin. “Come on Thea, let’s go.”
Shadow stared at us as we closed the door on her, and I sort of felt bad.
“Tristan and Bethan will take care of her,” he reassured me.
He’d done it again.
“Will you please stop reading my mind, it’s disconcerting.”
“It’s not my fault that you’re so easy to read,” he pouted, as he opened the door to his black Audi for me.
In all of our time together, this was only the second time I had been in his car and by the time we got in, we were both trembling. His hand rested on my thigh, and his fingers gently traced intricate patterns onto my jeans.
“Are you sure it was alright to miss spending Christmas with your family?” I asked, as we drove past the Christmas decorations.
It was already December 29th, the realization shocked me. This entire year had passed by in an eventful blur, and in less than three days, it would be a new year…
He turned up the heat in the car. “I could ask you the same thing.”
True.
“My family aren’t big Christmas people. We sit around in our pajamas stuffing our faces and watching reruns of all the classic Christmas movies.”
“That sounds amazing,” he laughed.
“I’m serious, didn’t your mother throw a huge party?”
He had spent the day with me instead.
“She did, and I opted out. The Black’s family Christmas parties are more of a show than an actual family get-together. The great thing about having a high profile case, which we shall not discuss, is the fact that no one e
xpects you to do anything. How’s Selene?”
“She’s a bag of mushy-gushy feelings. Apparently she spent the day at her boyfriend’s place… wearing a bright colored dress. My grandmother can’t use a cellphone to save her life, but she somehow managed to take a picture and send it to me. It was green and she looked stunning.”
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the headrest. My baby sister was in love, and it suited her.
“You’re happy,” he stated, and I turned to look at him.
He leaned back into his seat, and kept one hand on the steering wheel, and the other on my thigh. His five o'clock shadow looked like it was now on its ninth hour, because he had been “too tired” to bother with it. I noticed he was wearing the watch I got him for Christmas, which was ridiculous when I stopped to think about it, because he had much better ones.
“What?”
“I’m happy.” I said simply, as I placed my hand on his and looked out the window.
“So am I,” he smiled.