Page 24 of Dance All Night
Jess put her hands on her hips. “If it’s a fake tree, does it even count?”
“Oh, look who’s the authority on Christmas authenticity all of a sudden.”
“I’m just saying, if you’re not getting that pine smell, what’s the point?”
“We’ve got that covered.” He pointed to the wall, where a scented plug-in gave off a rich, piney odor.
“Ah, so that’s where the smell was coming from.”
Nik opened two big plastic tubs filled to the brim with lights, garland, baubles, stockings, and more. “Dimitri likes the tree to have a ‘theme,’ which he rotates year to year. This time it’s silver and dark blue.”
“Your brother seems like a guy who likes what he likes.”
Nik coughed out a laugh. “You have no idea. I’ve celebrated Christmas with him every year of my life. But it’s different at home. Our mom gets a real tree, and there’s no theme. When we were kids, we used to make our own ornaments, and she’s kept them all these years.”
“That sounds nice.” Jess fingered a length of blue ribbon. “We didn’t even put up a tree every year.”
Sadness tinged her voice, and despite his earlier resolve to let Jess open up on her own, Nik couldn’t stop from asking, “Why not?”
Jess examined the beaded detail on a silver star ornament. “Let’s just say the holidays weren’t usually a happy time.”
Nik gave in to the urge to touch her, smoothing his hand up and down her arm in a soothing gesture. “I shouldn’t have pressed.”
“No, it’s okay that you did.” She gave him a small smile and moved closer. “Besides, I said ‘usually.’ This holiday season is turning out to be pretty fun.”
When she laced her fingers through his and tilted her chin up, Nik took the hint. Bending his head, he pressed his lips to hers in a soft, sweet kiss. The scent of cherries blended into all the holiday smells around them, like it was the only thing that had been missing and now the experience was complete.
The moment stretched, wrapping him in a comforting easiness he’d never felt before.
So, this was what it was like to feel settled.
He could have taken the kiss deeper, but with the smell of cookies, the tinkling piano rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and Jess’s emotional admission, it felt right to keep the touch of their mouths soft and languid, an almost innocent exploring of lips.
Nik lifted his head, and for a second, they just smiled at each other. Then Jess gave his hand a squeeze. “Come on,” she said. “This tree isn’t going to trim itself.”
They worked well together, untangling the lights someone—probably Dimitri—had been too impatient to store properly the year before. Jess looped enormous sparkly baubles over her ears so they hung like earrings, then hammed it up, winking and blowing kisses at Nik through his phone’s camera. Laughing, she wrapped him in silver garland, then made him pose with her for selfies.
“These are too good,” she said, skimming through the pics on her phone. “We should post one.”
He peeked over her shoulder as she scrolled, then stopped her. “That one.”
It was a close up shot of the two of them caught mid-laughter, mouths wide open, eyes crinkling as they looked at each other. The half-trimmed tree was blurry, but still visible behind them.
Jess hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”
She added a bunch of emojis in the caption, including the Christmas tree and chocolate chip cookie, then clicked “post.”
People were going to read into it. The talk show hosts who’d peppered them with “Are you dating?” questions might even latch onto it as proof that they were.
But it didn’t matter what any of them thought. Jess was the only person whose opinion meant anything to Nik right now.
They’d just finished transferring the garland from his body to the tree when Gina stuck her head into the living room. “The first batches are cool enough to decorate,” she called, then disappeared.
“Ready to join the others?” he asked, not wanting to push Jess into being more social than she wanted to be.
“Yes.” She sniffed the air. “Smells good.”
Nik cleared his throat. “You have, uh, a little something…” He gestured at his ears. When Jess touched her own ear, she burst out laughing. She still wore the Christmas baubles.
