Page 10 of Whiskey Holiday
It's my turn to laugh. "I love you, Jelly." I shake my head and smile.
"I love you too. Which is why I'm giving you a piece of advice."
I throw my purse onto the floorboard of my truck, then look at my best friend. "Let me have it," I tell her.
"Live a little." She looks at me over the top of her car. "Don't go trying to plan a future with the guy. Take it day by day, and simply have fun and enjoy each other. Get out of your head. Throw away the checklist you've made for yourself. Love isn't calculated, Winter."
I let her words sink in a little, but not all the way. "Maybe you're right."
"I'll see you tomorrow." She tells me.
"Drive safely."
"Always," Brinkley slides into her car and pulls away, and I do the same.
Entirely consumed by my thoughts, I'm pulling up in front of my house before I know it. I can't believe Tannon has me so twisted that I don't even remember driving from the bar to the house. It also takes me a second to notice the familiar truck parked next to mine.What in the world is Tannon doing here at nearly one o'clock in the morning?
Peering through the truck's windshield, I see the soft glow of the outside light lighting the porch. I also see smoke billowing from the chimney.Wait!How did he get into my house?
Gathering my purse from the passenger seat, I open the truck door and hop down. My boots crunch along the snow-covered gravel as I make my way up to the porch. After stomping my feet to knock the snow off, I open the door, and a blast of warm air hits my face. No way is the fireplace heating the whole house like that. Just as the thought crosses my mind, Tannon comes walking in from the kitchen carrying a pizza box and a six-pack of beer. He also looks freshly showered, his hair still damp, has on a pair of jeans, and a dark gray t-shirt. "Hey, baby. I ordered pizza and kept it warm in the oven."
I stand rooted in place as I stare numbly at Tannon. "You let yourself into my home and started a fire." I point to the living room where the wood is burning in the fireplace.
Tannon sets the pizza and beer down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "I did."
"And, you fixed the furnace."
His lip lifts in a smirk. "The furnace is new."
I scan the room and notice new windows. "I have new windows," I point out yet another thing Tannon has taken care of while I was at work today.
"Wouldn't do much good having a furnace if all the heat was going to escape through the broken windows, baby."
There it is again—that word.Baby.It makes my tummy flutter whenever he says it.
"Um, not that I'm upset, especially since you have been busy all day fixing my house, so I don't freeze to death at night, but how did you get into my house exactly. I locked up before I left this morning." I cross my arms.
"Your locks are shitty."
"Okay," I stare at Tannon. I'm finding this whole scene a little unreal.
"Baby." Tannon moves across the room, and takes my purse from my shoulder then hangs it on a hook by the door. He unzips my coat and slides it over my shoulders. "Go upstairs, take a shower, change into something more comfortable, then come back down so we can eat."
"Yeah?"
He smiles, and I melt. "Yeah. I'll be here waiting for you."
A few minutes later, I am standing in my bathroom as I stare at the men's body wash sitting on the shelf inside the shower. I take in the extra toothbrush in the holder next to mine. I smile at the men's razer sitting beside the sink, along with Tannon's deodorant and cologne on the counter. I also didn't miss his dirty clothes placed in the hamper with mine or the jeans, t-shirts, and flannels hanging in my closet. I didn't miss the boots sitting on the floor under the foot of the bed beside my sneakers either. All these things should be freaking me out, but they don't. I like him fixing my house and standing barefoot in my living room while giving me one of his panty-melting smiles. I like that Tannon ordered pizza and waited up for me to come home. So far, I like everything about Tannon Christmas.
