Page 66 of The Wish List
A shadow crossed his face. “No.”
It surprised her, given the reverence with which he spoke about the ball.
“And you never got a tree of your own.”
“I suppose I could have bought one as an adult, but I moved out of my mom’s house and in with Greg, so it still wouldn’t have been mine.”
“The two of you didn’t have a tree?”
She grimaced. “We did. His mom gave it to us our first Christmas together, and it belonged to his grandmother. Or at least that’s how the story went. It was so ugly. I couldn’t imagine anybody wanting to decorate that tree, and it smelled like mothballs. I think his mom gave it to us so she wouldn’t have to put it up. But I didn’t speak up for myself or get my own tree. I was a grown woman, and I couldn’t even find the nerve to buy my own Christmas tree.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “Now I got one for you. I feel like I should take it back so you can buy your own. You admired the one in the florist shop, so I talked to the owner, and he ordered one just like it.”
“I thought you got this stuff from Shauna’s leftovers?”
“Right,” he agreed almost too quickly. “Most of it came from her, but she didn’t have an extra tree. It was no big deal to get one. We can take it back and you can order your own.”
“Can I see it?” she asked, trying not to burst into sentimental tears right there.
He opened one of those tubs and pulled out the small tree. The size would easily fit on a tabletop.
“I got ornaments, too. Again, you don’t have to use them.”
“I love it,” she whispered and threw her arms around his neck. “All of it. Thank you.”
She connected her phone to the speaker on the entertainment center and chose a holiday playlist as they began to adorn her family room with Christmas cheer. To her surprise, Declan sang along with the words to every festive song.
“Will you see your brother for Christmas or New Year’s?”
Declan shook his head. “Flynn and I don’t speak anymore. It’s better that way.”
Beth placed one of the tiny ornaments onto the tree and stepped back to admire it. “Normally, I would agree with you, but the recent time with my sisters has changed the way I see family. Maybe not completely, but at least somewhat. I wish I wouldn’t have let so much time go by without trying to mend those relationships. I wish I hadn’t let them get so bad in the first place, but I guess you can’t change the past.”
“You can’t change it,” Declan agreed. “That’s how things are with Flynn and me. Too much bad stuff went down when we were younger. I don’t think either of us would know how to move beyond what came before.”
“The first step is trying,” Beth told him.
“We should do more decorating and less talking,” Declan said.
Beth’s head snapped back at the ferocity of his words, even though they were spoken in a quiet growl. She felt like she’d been well and truly chastised and didn’t care for it.
If someone—a coworker or her ex-husband or her mother—made her feel as if she were speaking out of turn, her instinct would be to immediately back off. She knew her place, and it was not to make waves.
But that didn’t ring true with Declan. He’d seemed to appreciate when she was uncharacteristically outspoken, and his acceptance had lit a spark she didn’t want to snuff out. Even if things were more difficult, Beth wanted to speak her mind. She craved meaningful conversations with the people in her life instead of just going through the motions of making everyone happy other than herself.
“If you’re just here for the sex, there was no need to bring decorations. I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but where you’re concerned, Dec, I’m kind of a sure thing.”
He looked shocked and affronted. Beth almost smiled. She felt as if she’d just offended somebody’s conservative grandmother.
“Do you think that’s why I’m here?” He held up a hand. “Not that it isn’t great, because it is.”
“You were great,” she couldn’t help but point out. “I’m mostly along for the ride.”
His eyes went dark, molten and seductive. “Not that I don’t enjoy the ride, as you call it,” he said, “but it’s the two of us together. It’s the combination that makes what happens between us so good.”
She mulled that over, and satisfaction swelled inside her. “Don’t think for a minute that you’re going to distract me.”
“Why would I bring you a Christmas tree as foreplay?”
