Her doorbell rang. Tessa shelved thoughts of Cash and focused on Zy instead. Inside, she leapt with excitement. Yes, she knew she was playing with fire. But she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to be near him, with him, surrounded by him.
She loved him. And she suspected he loved her, too. Neither of them had ever said the words—they would only be throwing gasoline-soaked kindling on the flame—but she felt it every moment they spent together.
Tessa tugged the door open. Zy stood there with a pointy, jingle-ball hat, a jaunty grin, and a Santa suit unlike any she’d ever seen, complete with an open jacket and tight red pants. The look was way more hot man abs than ho ho ho.
“Merry Christmas, baby. You want to sit on Santa’s lap and tell me if you’ve been a good girl? Or are you on the naughty list?”
She giggled. “Oh, my gosh. That’s what you’re wearing?”
“Why not?”
That only made her laugh harder.
“Every girl needs some Santa in her life. Don’t you, Hallie-Boo?” He bent to her daughter and whipped out a present from his pocket. “Here’s a little something to make your car ride happy.”
Hallie grabbed the little cardboard book by the attached red handle and shook it with an excited cry. It made a jumble of noises, from jingle bells to animal sounds to a rumbling Santa laugh.
The gesture warmed Tessa’s heart. Her baby would love this gift…and she loved the way he always thought of her. “Thank you, but you didn’t have to do that.”
“I kind of did. It’s a long way out to Trees’s place. You ready? You must be because you look”—he scanned her up and down with a hungry stare—“amazing.”
“Yeah.” She leaned closer. “You look pretty good yourself, but I don’t think Santa has abs like yours.”
He grinned. “Santa is full of surprises.”
Tessa laughed again as she lifted Hallie’s car seat and they made their way to her sedan. She unlocked the vehicle and situated the car seat in its cradle. When she looked up, Zy had settled himself behind the wheel.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to make tonight as fun—and safe—for you as possible. Finding Trees’s place isn’t easy, and the dirt roads are a bitch.”
“Dirt roads?”
“Oh, yeah. In the office, Trees might seem quiet, laid-back, and easy to get along with. At home? He’s a paranoid badass looking for any reason to shoot anyone who steps foot on his property. You’ll see what I mean.”
She’d never glimpsed that side of Trees, but if Zy said it existed, then it did. She’d never trusted anyone the way she trusted him, even, in the end, her own father. That told her a lot about the depth of her feelings. So did the fact that she’d spent the last month job hunting again, hoping to find a position with comparable pay and benefits working for someone who wouldn’t care anything about her personal life. Unfortunately, the search had merely reinforced the reality that, in a city of 125,000 people, the opportunities for someone with her skills, requiring her pay, just weren’t there.
But she refused to give up. Maybe something would materialize in January…
Pasting on a smile, she gestured to the steering wheel. “Then lead the way.”
He backed out of her driveway and headed for the highway. Christmas carols played softly in the background. And Tessa was painfully aware of the fact that she sat less than a foot from the man she wanted so badly she could taste it, the seat belt pressing the open Santa jacket to his sides, leaving her a mouthwatering view of his strong, solid chest and amazing twelve-pack abs.
Lord have mercy.
No, she wasn’t in love with him because his muscles made her drool. She’d fallen for the man inside. But no denying the outer packaging stirred her interest…along with parts farther south.
She had to stop thinking like this, or if she got a little booze in her system, she’d be all over Zy. “Tell me what I’m in for tonight.”
“I’m not entirely sure. Trees said Christmas Eve dinner. Dress festive. He has the food and booze covered.”
“That’s all I heard, too. Can he cook?”
Zy winced. “No. And—I hate to break it to you—but he’s too much of a survivalist to order a holiday dinner.”
“Oh.” Good thing she’d eaten a sandwich, just in case. “On the bright side, I offered to bake desserts, and he took me up on it. So I brought them to the office yesterday. At least we know that part will be edible.”
He gave her an enthusiastic nod. “I can live on pie for a night.”
“Me, too. We’re good.”
They laughed and settled in for the rest of the car ride, enjoying small talk and holiday tunes. They weren’t on the highway long, and the streets of the small town they passed through quickly gave way to unpaved roads. It was scary dark out here—no streetlights, no houses, no signs of life.