Page 24 of Merry Little Sugar Rush
Not to mention the fact he called me gorgeous. It’s not the first time he’s flattered me with a compliment, and I’m praying it’s not the last. Will that add to my confusion? To the blurred line between friendship and more than friendship? Absolutely. Do I seem to care or want it to stop?
Nope.
“Come on, Burkey Turkey. I have totes upon totes of the good stuff,” I tell him, walking past where he stands and moving into the living room side of the open floor plan.
That’s when I feel his eyes on my ass.
Unable to resist, I glance over my shoulder and confirm my suspicions. Burk’s eyes are glued to my backside as we make our way to where my naked tree awaits. So what do I do? Add a little extra swing to my hips, and when he glances up, his brown eyes are a bit darker and filled with something that resembles lust. I go ahead and wink, letting him know I not only caught him, but I’m A-OK with it.
“Holy crap, all this goes on your tree?” he asks, turning his attention to the four large totes stacked on the floor.
“Sure does.”
He runs his hand down his face as he gapes at the mountain of holiday décor. “How? I mean, that’s enough for five or six trees, Easy-Bake.”
Grinning widely, I respond, “Well, Burkey Turkey, watch and be amazed.”
I pull my phone from my pocket and turn up the volume on my speaker. The room fills with the classic holiday hits I love so much, and even though I’m already in a spectacular mood, it just seems to lighten even more, and the beat washes over me and moves my hips. Just like it does downstairs when I’m preppingand baking, because when the music washes over me, it makes me happy.
And happy people dance.
I open the top tote and smile at the strings of twinkling white lights inside. Burk moves behind me, his body hovering very close to my back and I can feel his heat. His head appears over my shoulder as he gazes down into the tote. “That’s a lot of lights,” he murmurs, almost to himself.
“Twelve hundred,” I announce proudly.
He whistles his shock. “How do you not start a fire?”
I chuckle and start pulling the light wheels out of the tote. “Well, I don’t leave the tree on when I’m gone, and I make sure it’s well watered so it doesn’t get too dry. Plus, they’re LED.”
He exhales slowly, his warm breath fanning across my neck. As he steps back, he claps his hands and rubs his palms together. “Well, I love a good challenge. Let’s do this.”
We start at the top and he follows my lead as I begin sliding the lights between the branches. We work side by side for several minutes, inserting the first two strands of white lights and listening to Christmas music.
“Can I ask you a question?”
I glance over to where he’s concentrating on making sure every strand of lighting is in the perfect placement. “Of course.”
“How come there’s no Mr. Easy-Bake?”
I shrug, feeling the shift of his gaze from the tree to me. “Haven’t really found ‘the one,’ you know?”
He nods in understanding. “Me neither.”
My throat is thick, but I can’t help but ask, “Have you ever come close?”
Burk pauses before finishing placing the rest of the strand in his hand. “Once.”
My interest is piqued now. “Really?”
He shrugs and rocks back on his heels. “Yeah. Someone I met in my early-twenties.”
“What happened?” I find myself asking, even though I’m not sure I want the answer.
“We just weren’t as good of a match as I thought we were. She didn’t want kids, and I did.”
He doesn’t elaborate, and I know I’m not going to get any more information. Not that I’m owed it, because I’m not. It’s his past, his life, and he doesn’t have to share it all with me. I’m just a friend, someone from a former life before he moved to South Carolina, and I’m not privileged to every single detail of his life, dating or otherwise.
After a few seconds, he adds, “She didn’t like what I did for a living.”
