Page 26 of Daddy's Christmas Elf
“Oh, good. It’s arrived.”
Eli jumped and swung around as Grey walked into the kitchen. Electricity tingled over Eli’s skin. Grey, but not as Eli had seen him before. His hair was messy and mussed, as though he’d just tumbled out of bed, and dark gold stubble shadowed his jawline. A pair of jeans, soft-looking and well-worn, hugged his legs, their frayed ends resting on Grey’s bare feet. An unbuttoned loose checked shirt was pulled on over a tight white T-shirt which stretched across Grey’s broad and well defined chest, outlining his pecs and flat stomach. Eli stared, mesmerised, only knocked from his gawping when Grey pushed his fingers through the errant flop of his fringe.
“Are you okay?” Grey’s brows puckered into a light frown, as he made a quick check through the items laid out over the counter.
“Er, yes. Fine.”
Fine? Eli didn’t feel anything like fine, not when Grey was standing so close to him, close enough for Eli to feel the warmth of Grey’s body and to smell winter orange laced cologne.
Eli stumbled back a step. “It’s stopped snowing,” he croaked.
Grey looked up from putting the food away, and gazed out through the glass doors into the snow-bound garden. “Hmmm, more coming later though. This is just a breathing space.”
A breathing space… That was definitely what Eli needed. He drew in a lungful of air, steadying himself. He had a plan, and he needed to get back to it.
“A breathing space is all we need.”
“I’m sorry?” Grey turned from placing the last few things in the fridge. “I don’t understand.”
“Your house — your very lovely house, or at least your living room — is in need of a makeover. For Christmas.”
“A makeover?” Grey cocked a brow.
“Yes. With just that odd tree you’ve got, it kind of looks like Christmas got chewed up and spat out. Christmas just isn’t Christmas without decorations. I don’t mean tinsel tat from World of Pound — although I like a bit, or a lot, of cheesy decorations — but I’m kind of guessing you don’t.”
“I wasn’t really in the mood for decking the walls with boughs of holly this year.”
“No, I guess not. But a few sprigs of greenery might be nice. Make it a bit more—”
“Christmassy and festive? I suppose… But the shops will be hell today, even if there is anything more to be had than the last sad pieces of tinsel.”
Time to reveal my master plan…
“Wasn’t thinking about the shops, but Hampstead Heath. We could go out and gather some holly and other greenery. Some pine cones, too. I used to do that with my granddad, and we’d drink hot chocolate and eat mince pies as we put it all up.”
Eli’s voice caught, as his granddad’s mischievous, toothless smile filled his head. He still missed the old man, and always would.
“But only if you want to. Understand if you don’t.” Eli looked down, hoping Grey didn’t see him blinking away the hot, salty tears.
“I think that sounds like the best idea I’ve heard in a long time.”
Eli’s head snapped up. It wasn’t only the words, but the soft, caressing tone in Grey’s voice.
“You do?”
Grey nodded slowly. “Yes. I didn’t see any point in putting up decorations, not when it was just me here... I always liked to dress the living room. Peter was the one who favoured the minimalist approach.” Grey shrugged. “But I think it sounds like a plan. Come on, before it starts to snow again.”
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
The icy blast of wind was exactly what Grey needed. Work had become Grey’s refuge in the last few months, so much easier than thinking about the train wreck of his life and how and what he might have to do to change it, but this morning he’d resented the time he’d had to spend locked inside his office, when there was somebody waiting for him he’d much rather be spending his time with.
Grey glanced across at Eli, trudging up the hill beside him, and suppressed a smile at the oversized coat enveloping him. Eli had point blank refused an overcoat when they had gone shopping, his rationale that although he needed the jeans and jumpers and boots, he wouldn’t be sitting around in a warm house wearing a coat. Although he’d wanted to, Grey hadn’t been able to argue against Eli’s logic, and he’d been forced to concede, despite how much he’d wanted to spend his money to make things easier for his little elf.
His little elf…Tendrils of warmth coiled around Grey’s heart, but he sucked in a long breath, forcing the freezing air deep into his lungs. He’d begun thinking of Eli more and more like that, more and more like his. But he needed to stop, as right and natural as it felt, because Eli wasn’t his little elf, he wasn’t his little anything, and to imagine otherwise was futile. Eli would be leaving in a matter of days, to pick up his life, as he would pick up his, leaving nothing more than a memory of when things were brighter and warmer than they’d been in a long time, when life felt good and purposeful once more. The warmth that had wrapped around Grey’s heart turned a bitter, icy cold.
“I don’t reckon this was one of my brighter ideas.” Eli came to a stop, bending forward with his hands braced on his knees. “I thought I was fit, but this is like some kind of army assault course. Without the benefit of hot men in uniforms.” He looked up, through his dark fringe peeking out from under the woolly hat he wore, his grimace morphing into a bright smile.
Adorable, so bloody adorable…Jesus, but he had to stop thinking like this.
