Page 57 of Run, Run Rudolph
“I didn’t say it was. Chill out, you big psycho.” He leaned around me. “Open your gift.”
“I’ll open it on Christmas morning.”
“Open it now. While I’m here.”
“You know I like to wait.”
“Magic of the holiday,” Kade said impatiently. “Come on, I want to see your face. You’re going to love it.” He yanked the tissue paper out of the gift bag, and unfolded a navy-blue T-shirt, holding it up for us to see. It said ‘I love horses.’ But there was a heart instead of the word ‘love.’
“That’s nice. Thank you.” I could see the way the gift had hit the right note, softening Tamara. Why hadn’t I thought to get her a present? I used to, when she was still dating Kade.
“Yeah? You like it?” Kade asked.
“Very thoughtful,” I murmured. My brother, for all his faults, really wasn’t a bad guy.
“It was. I like it. Thank you. But, um, not to be rude, but can you please go so we can work on my cat?” Tamara asked tentatively.
“Maybe I can help?”
“No,” we both cried in unison.
“You two are always in cahoots,” Kade complained, clearly put off by our sharp reply.
I glanced at Tamara. It felt like his accusation was about more than just us ganging up on him. Could he sense that we’d kissed tonight, or that I was seeing his ex-girlfriend in a new romantic light?
And why had she apologized for kissing me? Especially after I’d pulled her in for a second one. A really nice kiss, if I were to judge it. How could I have made myself more clear that a kiss was not something she needed to apologize for? Not with me.
I couldn’t get her out of my head, and kept finding my attention straying to her lips. Sadly, I got the sense she wanted that one kiss to be a one and done. She was smart, kind, and I was the last man she’d ever choose.
It annoyed me. I needed to convince her to give me a shot.
“You two are so alike,” Kade complained. “Always quietly sitting around and bonding. Or leaving me out and picking on me.”
“Bonding?” Tamara’s unimpressed look set me back. I knew she wasn’t a fan, but wow. I had my work cut out.
“You’re always sharing these funny looks, like you’re in some special club.”
Tamara sighed heavily. “We don’t give each other funny looks.”
“We do, actually,” I said, rolling my neck, releasing the tension that was building. I shot her a look that immediately made her expression relax and lift.
“Oh. Those.” She tried to hide a small, shy smile, but giggled instead.
Yeah. Those. Those little looks that made me feel as though she understood what was going through my head. Someone who shared the humour of the situation, or the annoyance. The little looks that brought my stress levels down from a ten to nonexistent.
Kade was right. Tamara and I were alike, and often in cahoots. Or, at least, we used to be. And I hoped that tonight would bring us back into cahoots more regularly. But if I wanted to get that ball rolling, I needed Kade out of here and Tamara back in my arms for another kiss.
Chapter 17
~ Tamara ~
“You want me to leave.” Kade’s expression was so down, I felt myself cave. It wasn’t his fault he no longer believed in Christmas, and didn’t belong in this barn tonight. And it wasn’t his fault I’d gone to the city to see more, do more, be more, and had supposedly changed on him. Still, I was entitled to my own life, and the way I was living it made me happier than when we’d been together—even though I hadn’t yet managed to completely create the life I wanted.
Hello? Horse of my own? Where were you? Same with the farm that I could own for more than a month at a time, or the husband and kids and… I needed to stop thinking about all the goals I’d failed to reach.
But come to think of it, it actually was Kade’s fault I’d changed. He’d broken up with me the first time because he’d wanted to have more, see more, too. Jannifer Eric’s boobs, to be specific.
I’d gone off to the city and gotten a better sense of myself, what I wanted, and a snippet of the confidence I needed in order to get it. Or at least a watered-down version of it. Live it, be it, have it all.
