If that meant he planned to kiss her again, she should find a reason to leave, but instead she just smiled and secretly hoped that was precisely what he meant.
Prior to placing the lights on the tree, they plugged the strands in to make sure each bulb lit up. Each one shone a brilliant color, sparkling against the tiled flooring. Then she held the lights while he went back up the stepladder. They worked together to string them around the tree, starting at top and working their way down.
Every time she started to enjoy herself a little too much, she reined herself in because he made her feel a little too happy, a little too comfy, and that could only lead to heartache, right? She couldn’t deal with more heartache so it was much better to keep her defenses high.
Telling herself she really did not like the woodsy scent filling her nostrils and that she’d probably have a rash on her hands from handling the branches, Trinity frowned. “Why do you have such a big tree?”
He waggled his brows, covering the last of the branches with lights. “You know what they say about men with big Christmas trees.”
The man was a certifiable nut. She must be too because she almost giggled. So much for her defenses. “They have big trees to compensate for their wee little…minds?”
He gave her a scolding look. “I could show you my wee little mind and put that theory to rest.”
“You wish,” she teased, before thinking better of it.
He reached for the snap at his waist.
“Fine.” She didn’t bother suppressing her eye-roll but tried really hard to keep her blush in check. “Please, tell me, oh great ginormous tree owner, why is your tree so big?”
His eyes sparkled and his grin almost knocked her off her feet. “The bigger the tree, the better to light up her world.”
“Her?” He hadn’t brought anyone with him to the hospital Christmas party, had spent the evening with her, had spent the night afterwards in her bed and flirted outrageously with her. He’d better not have a “her”.
“Your world?” he corrected, looking sheepish.
“I don’t need your compensatory huge tree lighting up my world. My world is just fine the way it is.”
Even as she made the bold claim, she wondered if perhaps she did because when he clicked a button and his tree sparkled to life, she had to admit, something inside her felt better. Warmer.
Lighter.
As if the button had turned on something inside her too that had been stuck in hibernation.
“Wow,” she gasped, unable to quash her surprise. “I have to admit, that’s beautiful.”
Exactly, Riley thought, but he wasn’t looking at the tree. He couldn’t drag his eyes away from
Trinity.
She was beautiful.
He wanted to light up her world, to see a permanent sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
Too bad he didn’t have a remote control that he could click and turn her on.
To turn her on in more ways than one.
Because he was turned on.
Had been from the moment he’d first noticed her at the Christmas party. Something about her got under his skin and made his body go haywire. Big time. Was it just that instead of chasing him, like most women did, she seemed intent on keeping him at arm’s length?
“Just wait until you see it after we’ve finished decorating,” he promised. “My tree, which I refuse to label as compensatory and would still be more than happy to set the record straight once and for all, will steal your breath, guaranteed.”
“I…” She glanced away then her lips tightened. “I seriously doubt that, but I do like the lights.” She wasn’t going to touch his offer apparently. Not that he’d really expected her to. “Let’s hurry and finish.”
“So you can leave?”
She met his gaze, her lips twitching lightly, letting him know she was fighting back a smile. “So I can have some of that dessert you promised but have totally failed to deliver.”