Underneath My Christmas Tree

by Tawdra Kandle

  “No one’s going to notice. It’s going to be dark soon.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’ll notice.” I gave my hair one last swipe. “Does it look okay? Or is it sticking up all over?”

  Trent glanced down at me and then away. “You look fine.”

  “Thanks for the ringing endorsement. Please stop, you’ll make me blush.”

  He snorted and thrust a pile of flyers toward me. “Here. Make yourself useful. The sooner we get rid of these, the sooner we can get out of here.”

  His voice was tight, and I was confused. Why had he invited me tonight, if he didn’t want me around? And what had made him suddenly go so cold and distant? I smothered a sigh and concentrated on the task at hand. Men were a mystery, and I wasn’t going to figure out this one tonight.

  The crowds began to grow as the evening went on. Trent and I stood on either side of the table, pressing the colorful paper ads and candy canes into the hands of every passer-by. As soon as it was fully dark, the mayor came out onto the balcony above us. Speaking into a microphone, he welcomed everyone to Crystal Cove’s official Christmas lighting and thanked all the businesses that had contributed to the evening, specifically mentioning Jude and Logan.

  “And now we’re happy to welcome our grand marshal for the evening, Matt Spencer. As most of you know, Matt owns The Surf Line, and he’s a long-time community leader in the Cove. He’s here with his wife and two daughters, and they’re going to be the ones to throw the switch that’ll light up Crystal Cove for the holiday season!”

  I craned my neck to see Matt standing with Sandra, who held their brand-new baby, and their daughter Lily. Matt lifted the little girl in his arms and whispered into her ear. Lily reached for the beribboned switch and moved it into the on position.

  Magically, Crystal Cove was awash with sparkling, twinkling lights. The crowd gasped in delight, and even I couldn’t help smiling.

  “Pretty, aren’t they?” Trent murmured into my ear, and I realized he was very close behind me. “Doesn’t matter if you’re in the snowy north or the balmy south, Christmas lights are . . .”

  “Magic.” I supplied the word I’d just thought.

  “Yep. That’s it.” For a minute, I thought he was going to thread his arms around me and pull me tight to his body. His breath fanned over my neck, and I shivered, not moving, willing him to hold me.

  But just as before, he stopped short. I felt his absence even before he spoke again. “The flyers are gone. We can take off. We’ve both got to be at work early tomorrow.”

  I nodded and followed him through the crowd, back to where we’d left the truck at the Tide.

  Given Trent’s mercurial mood tonight, I’d expected the ride back to the Christmas tree lot to be silent. But as soon as we’d gotten out of town, he glanced over at me.

  “Tell me about you.” It’d become our go-to joke the last few weeks. Trent had realized that my abhorrence of small talk meant I’d tell him almost anything about myself, as long as he asked the right questions. And although I’d found he had certain impenetrable boundaries, he was willing to talk about his own life . . . up to a point.

  “What do you want to know?” I turned in my seat to face him.

  “Why don’t you like Christmas?”

  I hesitated. “It’s not necessarily that I don’t like Christmas. But it’s like the small talk. I want it to mean something. In the military, Christmas was a time to throw fancy parties and make grand gestures. The officers’ wives club would make a big show of helping out some charity, people they didn’t care about the rest of the year. And then . . .” My voice trailed off. “In my family, holidays were tough. My father was away for more Christmases than he was home. When he was gone, my mom kind of went into hibernation. If we were in Tennessee with my grandparents, things weren’t bad, but if we weren’t, Christmas was half-hearted at best. But on the years my dad was with us, Mom went all out, making everything into a huge deal. Santa pictures, decorating the tree, making the house perfect . . . she went crazy. I couldn’t take it. There was never any happy medium.”

  “Ah.” Trent nodded. “So will you see your family this year? Where are they stationed now?”

  I shook my head. “No. Dad’s assigned to the Pentagon right now, but I won’t be going there. I always try to come up with a reason not to go home for the holidays. This year was easy, because they’re going to spent Christmas in Germany with my brother’s family.”

  “Why’s your brother in Germany?”

  “He’s stationed there.” My lips curved into a half-smile. “Both of my brothers went into the military, too.”

  “Oh.” He made a sharp turn onto the road that led to our office building. “Were your parents upset that you didn’t choose the Army, too?”

  “No, they never wanted that for me. My dad’s pretty old-fashioned. He’s tolerant of women in the military, but not his daughter.”

  “So they were glad you became a lawyer?”

  I lifted my shoulder. “They’re proud of me. As much as they can be, because my parents really don’t understand anything outside the Army. It’s all they’ve ever known. So they try to be supportive, and they ask questions, but honestly, they just don’t get it.”

  Trent didn’t say anything as he pulled into the parking lot of my building. His uncle Nolan and Joe looked like they were just shutting down for the night, and they both waved as we passed. I wondered what his uncle thought of me, of his nephew’s friendship with me. Did he think I was leading Trent astray? And was I?

  Trent turned off the truck engine and hopped out, coming around to open my door. I climbed down, but he didn’t move away immediately. His large body shielded me from any curious eyes over at the tree tent, even as it trapped me inside the door of the cab.

  “Thanks for helping out tonight. I really appreciated not having to do that by myself.” His nearness made me dizzy, and I held to the door for balance.

  “I didn’t do anything. But thanks for asking me. I’m glad I got to see the famous lighting of Crystal Cove. I can now die a happy girl.”

  He smirked. “One item off the bucket list, huh?”

  “You know it.” I looked down, and then glanced up at him, waiting for his next move. He didn’t seem to know what that was going to be anymore than I did.

  “Well . . .” He paused and then faster than I could react, leaned down to kiss my cheek. “Thanks again, Elizabeth. Good night. See you later.”

  He moved out of the way so that I could pass him, and once I did, he slammed the truck door and stalked over to the Christmas tree tent. He didn’t spare me another look as I made my way to the car and got in.

  I was annoyed to find that my hands were shaking just the slightest bit as I held the steering wheel. My heart was still thumping as the adrenaline from the almost-kiss dissipated.

  Yup, I’d be taking yet another cold shower tonight.

  Chapter Four

  Trent

  December 20th

  “Yo, Trent. That tree all set on the lady’s car?” Uncle Nolan came up behind me, wiping sap off his hands with a rag.

  “Yeah, I tied it on there pretty tight. Hope she has someone at home to help her get it down, ‘cause she sure picked out a big one.”

  Uncle Nolan laughed. “Not our job, son. We sell the trees, secure them to the customers’ vehicles, and then it’s all on them from there.”

  Things were beginning to slow down at the tree lot. Our last truckload would arrive later today, and once that one was sold out, we’d close up shop. Uncle Nolan said it was possible they wouldn’t all sell, and we’d close on the twenty-second, regardless.

  “We’ll hit the road at five that day, be back in Michigan for lunch on the day before Christmas Eve.”

  “What about the leftover trees?” I glanced around the tent.

  “We’ll leave ‘em. Nothing we can do with them anyway, and I figure there’s always folks who can’t afford a tree who’d be blessed by finding a free one here.” He pa
used, his eyes on me. “You’ve been a real help around here, Trent. I don’t know what you’re thinking about for the next year, but we could sure use you up on the tree farm. Lot of opportunity, if you’re interested.”

  A small knot rose in my throat. “Thanks, Uncle Nolan. I’m glad I could help.”

  He nodded. “I know you’ve had a rough time of it, boy. But you’ve been steady here, no drinking or running wild with women. You’re a good example to Andy and Joe.” He raised one eyebrow. “Though I’ve noticed maybe you got your eye on a certain girl. Maybe a blonde-haired lawyer who likes to hang around Christmas trees?”

  I almost swallowed my tongue. He’d noticed? I’d been careful to keep things casual between Elizabeth and me, even though how I was feeling about her was anything but. I’d come close to kissing her more than once, and I knew she could tell. But she didn’t push me. I didn’t know whether to be glad about that or not. Because I knew if Elizabeth gave me an opening, if she made the slightest move toward me . . . all bets were off. And her clothes would be, too.

  Speaking of which, ever since I’d seen her in just her bra and jeans a few weeks back, that image had haunted my dreams nightly. I hadn’t been this horny without doing anything about it since I was in junior high.

  My uncle was still waiting for a response. I swallowed hard and shrugged. “She’s a friend. She knows it can never go further than that between us. We’re just having fun, hanging out. Nothing more.” I emphasized those last words, just to be clear.

  “Hmph. That’s a shame. She seems like a nice girl. And I hear what you’re saying, but I also got eyes in my head, and I’ve seen you look at her. You’re practically drooling, boy.”

  “It’s not like that.” I shook my head. “I learned my lesson, Uncle Nolan. I’m not going to be responsible for wrecking another girl’s life.”

  “And you think you’d do that to her? Seems to me, she’s old enough to know her own mind. I understand that you’re trying to be a better man. I admire you for that. Change isn’t easy. But far as I know, you never forced a woman to be with you. Maybe before you chose the wrong ones, the ones who weren’t worth sticking around for. And I think you have changed. Maybe you know better now.”

  I kicked at a pile of pine needles on the ground. “Not sure I can take that chance.”

  Uncle Nolan laughed. “Trent, son, life is nothing without taking chances. We take a chance with every breath we draw. I’m not going to tell you what to do, but just so you know, that pretty blonde lawyer lady gets googly eyes every time she sees you, too. I don’t know much, but I know you don’t get a lot of chances like this. Seems like it’d be a shame to miss it.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. I’d been hearing what a loser I was for so long, it felt odd to hear someone else tell me I was being too hard on myself. But I thought of Elizabeth’s wide blue eyes and the smile that made my heart skip. I’d never known a girl like her before. Plenty had made me want to get into their pants, but none had made me want to get into their hearts.

  Elizabeth did.

  “Uncle Nolan, would it be okay if I didn’t leave here with you on the twenty-second? Maybe . . . I might hang around down here for a little while and then fly up north. If you’re all right with it.”

  He grinned. “Sounds like a plan, son.”

  ~~~***~~~

  I waited outside the building, watching for Elizabeth. She was usually pretty punctual, leaving work right around five, but today, it was nearly six before I spotted her coming through the foyer. I knew the minute I saw her that something was wrong; she wasn’t walking with her typical spunk. She was moving slow, and one hand was up behind her neck, rubbing it as though a killer headache lurked back there.

  She was through the doors and about to head for her car when she caught sight of me leaning against a planter.

  “Hey.” She paused. “What’re you doing? I thought you were working every night until you leave.”

  I lifted one shoulder. “We’ve slowed way down. Uncle Nolan told me to take the night off.”

  “Okay.” She stared at me, her forehead drawn together. “Well . . . have fun.” She pivoted away from me on one high heel.

  “Where’re you going?” I called out the words before she could get very far.

  “Home. Home to a long hot bath, a carton of chocolate-peanut butter ice cream and a Leverage marathon.” Her voice held all the weariness I’d seen in the slump of her back.

  “Can I tempt you with something else? Maybe . . . a walk on the beach, and then I take you to get that ice cream?”

  Her eyes flashed up at me, confusion and question in them. “A walk on the beach?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. You look like you could use it, and I know I could. It’s pretty today. How often do you get to stroll on the beach at sunset in December?”

  “I don’t know.” Her mouth twisted, and I knew she was considering it. “I’m really tired, Trent. It’s been a shitty day.”

  “Give me this.” I closed the small gap between us and took her free hand, the one not holding the bulging briefcase, in mine. “C’mon, Elizabeth. I only have a few days left here.”

  She sighed, dropped her head back and closed her eyes. “Okay, fine. Let me go home and change—”

  “Nope. Come with me now. You can leave your shoes in the truck. If you go home, you won’t want to leave again, and besides, we’ll miss sunset if we don’t go now.”

  “Geez, when did you get to be so pushy?” she grumbled, but she started walking toward the truck. “Let’s go.”

  She let me hold the door for her as she climbed into the cab. When she reached for the seatbelt, I stopped her hand.

  “Here, let me.” I gave it a tug and leaned over her body, not missing her sharp intake of breath as my hand skimmed over her hip. I pulled the belt tight and grinned. “There you go, all safe and sound.”

  Elizabeth was quiet as we drove into the heart of the Cove. She leaned her head against the seat, her eyes staying closed until I parked the car in the Riptide lot again. Tonight it was empty, since the restaurant closed at five during the week when nothing was going on in town.

  I took off my boots and stuffed my socks into them before rolling up my jeans. When I came around to the other side of the truck, Elizabeth was waiting, her shoes off and her hair down out of its pins. It danced over her shoulders, making me want to wind it between my fingers.

  I offered her my hand, and with just the slightest frown, she took it. As we walked down onto the sand, the sun was shooting its last beams from behind us, turning gold when it hit the water.

  “Someday, I want to do the sunrise to sunset deal.” Elizabeth lifted her face to the sky. “You start out here, at sunrise, then race across the state to see the sunset over the Gulf.”

  I considered. “Would you really have to race? Doesn’t it take, like, four hours or so to get from here to Clearwater? Unless you’re going by horseback, you could be there before lunch.”

  She laughed, and the sound was like bells. “You’re right. Well, maybe you could stop for lunch along the way. And then you have to remember the traffic on the Four. It’s a pain in the ass.”

  “So you keep telling me.” I led her down to the edge of the water, where the waves lapped at our feet.

  Elizabeth squealed. “Oh my God, it’s cold.”

  “Not that bad.” I dropped her hand and stood behind her. “If you get used to it, it feels good.” I lifted her hair, moving it over her shoulder, and began to rub her neck. “You looked tense, coming out of work.”

  “Mmmmmmm. Like I said, it was a rough day.” She leaned back into my hands, and my mouth went dry at her near-moan of pleasure. “You can stop doing that in, oh, about ten years or so.”

  I’d have done it, too. The feel of her skin under my hands made my body leap to life, and I knew it was more than just the months I’d been sex-free. It was Elizabeth herself, every part of her, her scent, her low voice . . . all of her. I wanted to lay her out here, on the sand
, and kiss her senseless as the waves broke over our bodies. I swallowed hard and willed myself to take it slow.

  “This is just perfect. Thanks for suggesting that we come to the beach. My default reaction to a bad day is to cocoon in my apartment and throw a huge pity-party, table for one. But this is better.”

  “Yeah.” My voice sounded like the croak of a frog.

  Elizabeth turned her head, looking back at me, her eyes searching my face. “You okay?”

  “Sure.” I cleared my throat and slid my thumbs beneath the neck of her shirt, pressing the muscles at the top of her spine.

  “Are you looking forward to getting back to Michigan in a few days?” There was just a trace of wistfulness in her tone, but it was enough to be my undoing. My hands stilled, and then they slid down to her upper arms.

  “No. No, I’m really not.” This time, I couldn’t hide the mix of desire and need in my words. I caught her chin between two fingers and my thumb, nudging it up enough that I could reach her lips.

  “No, I don’t want to leave.” I hesitated for a breath of time, savoring that moment of urgency just before our mouths met.

  I planned to kiss her slowly, to coax open her mouth, to woo her. But the instant we connected, something exploded inside my chest. Elizabeth made a small noise in the back of her throat, and I couldn’t do anything but consume her.

  I opened my mouth over her lips, my tongue searching for hers. She turned in my arms and brought her hand to the back of my neck, pressing her body against me. Her breasts were crushed to my chest, and she ground her hips into me.

  I sucked her lower lip into my mouth, tickling it with my tongue. She stroked hers over mine and then swept it beyond, testing and tasting. She made me think of cotton candy and summer time, as the salt air surrounded us, the dampness coating us.

  “Trent . . .” She lifted her head a fraction of an inch away from me, so that I could almost feel the vibration of her voice against my lips. “What’re we doing?”