Page 85 of Run, Run Rudolph
I went to stand, but he said, “Actually, I think this is a job for coffee.” He took a sip of his brew as though proving my lack of thoughtfulness was just fine. “I’ve always wondered if you like tea. You make this funny face whenever you drink it.”
“I don’t really care for it.”
“But you drink it?”
“To be polite.”
“Hm.”
Yeah, another instance where I was that polite pushover again, eager to please and trying to preserve other people’s feelings at the expense of my own desires. Drinking something I thought was gross. Why did I do that? And why was it such a hard habit to break?
Then again, I’d made what I wanted tonight—coffee—and not what Haden preferred. So maybe I was breaking habits? Or maybe, I was simply too tired to properly access my memory banks.
“Tell me the truth,” Haden asked with a slightly wicked grin. “What do you really and truly think of tea?”
I huffed a laugh over the rim of my cup.
“Come on. Don’t be chicken. Lay it all out there.”
Feeling strangely nervous, I blurted out, “It’s like licking someone’s garden.”
He laughed, light, warm, and free.
“This is where you tell me I just haven’t tried the right kind of tea,” I said helpfully.
“Never.” He reached out, tapping my hand, then resting his over mine. Warm and wonderful. “Just be you, TM.”
“Okay,” I said softly, feeling more than a little tickled at the way he always wanted the unvarnished truth from me. It was liberating, and scary as heck.
Hugo exclaimed, “Thundering reindeer hoof beats! Where’s that—there it is.”
Haden and I shared amused looks over the rims of our coffee cups.
“I was thinking…” Haden said carefully and slowly, like he was broaching a topic that was sensitive, yet possibly exciting.
My heart lifted. Was he going to talk about us, tell me what he wanted from a relationship? Would it be the same thing I wanted?
“I have an idea if we can’t get Rudolph back on his feet,” Haden said in a low tone, so Hugo wouldn’t be able to overhear.
“Oh. Right.” I nodded seriously, feeling sheepish that Haden was creating contingency plans while I was daydreaming about him as my boyfriend, worrying over the elf’s mess, and fantasizing about slipping off my bra and curling up under a thick blanket. Such bliss. I could almost feel the relief just thinking about it.
Maybe I was more tired than I’d thought.
“I’ve an idea about how we might help the remaining reindeer do tomorrow night’s job without their leader.” He checked his watch and feebly corrected himself with a gentle clearing of his throat. “Tonight’s job. I could beg my cousin Justin to open up his hardware store, and we could buy out his night vision goggles. Fit them to the reindeer, and voila. They can see.”
“Tech is always the answer,” I said with another yawn, quite in love with his idea. I blinked away my fatigue, taking another sip of coffee, forcing myself to focus on Haden and his plan. It could work.
A large bang made me jump, and I sloshed coffee onto the tabletop. Lacking a pestle and mortar, Hugo slammed my hammer down on a pill to crush it. Judging from the sound of the banging, I was going to lose my damage deposit when the landlord saw the countertops.
I glanced over as Hugo raised the hammer again. “At least use a cutting board under the pills, please.”
“I’ve got this,” Haden said, swiftly getting to his feet and moving into the kitchen to stand beside the elf.
With commanding gentleness, Haden helped guide the elf into working in a way that didn’t destroy my kitchen.
Haden came back to the table, and I slid the plate of gingerbread men his way.
“Thanks.” He grabbed one, biting off its head.
