***Violet***
Thesoundofrattlingoutside the garage door drew my attention, and I looked up from where I was packaging orders—orders that had come in through the website during the night, a website that had basically been dusty before that. I frowned and walked through the house, unsure if Adam had left with the guys. He hadn’t come back into the garage, and I’d been lost in work, so I hadn’t been listening for him.
I didn’t find him in the house, so I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and shoved my feet into my boots so I could walk outside. Sure enough, I found Adam standing on a ladder, leaning against the side of my house.
He looked down at me and smiled, sending my pulse into overdrive. With his nose red from the cold and his light brown eyes bright in the morning sun, he looked so beautiful. There was a boyish charm to his expression when he smiled at me, too, crinkling his eyes. His expressions hid nothing, and I knew he was happy to be standing on a ladder in my yard.
“What are you doing, weirdo? Where’d you get that ladder?”
He nodded at his truck. “I’m hanging Christmas lights. How will Santa find you without some kind of signal, little rabbit?”
I bit my lip and moved closer. A cold gust made me shiver, but I ignored it for a chance to be with Adam. “I’ve been so good this year that Santa probably has my location pinned.”
“You’ve been very good.” He came down the ladder and lifted me into his arms, wrapping my thighs around his waist. “You’ve also been very naughty, though. So I’m going to hang these lights, and you’re going to stay out of the cold.”
I pouted when he carried me inside and locked my legs around him so he couldn’t put me down. “I love Christmas lights.”
“I know.”
Stroking my hands over his hair and cupping the back of his neck, I studied his face and sighed. “You’re so beautiful, Adam.”
He snorted. “That’s my line.”
“I missed you. I have so many questions about how you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. I’m just not sure I deserve to ask them.” I saw him frown and shook my head. “Sorry. Sorry, I don’t mean to be a downer. I just noticed that you have these new freckles over your eyebrow here. And I wondered if someone else watched them show up.”
His smile was patient as he walked me to the kitchen counter so he could put me down and stand between my legs. He cupped my face and stroked his thumbs over my cheeks. “No.”
I felt my eyebrows furrow and tilted my head. “No? No one watched them show up?”
“No one watched them show up. No one has touched my hair. No one has come within a hundred feet of my house.” He took my hand in his and pressed soft kisses to my fingertips. “I tried to date. I didn’t care for it. Too many people, too much small talk. Didn’t see the point in it when I’d already had the best.”
My stomach twisted with guilt, and I had to bite the sides of my cheeks to keep tears from forming. I didn’t want to accept what he was saying. I didn’t want to think about causing him pain, even though I knew I had.
“Hey. There’s no reason for you to be sad. I live the way I want to live, little rabbit. I could’ve gone out and found someone to be happy with. I just didn’t wanthappy. I wanted fucking fantastic.” He pressed a soft kiss to my cheek and smiled. “I’m going to get these lights hung, Vi. I can’t wait to rub it in Ian’s face. Jayden’s, too. They might have cute dogs, but I’m bringing Christmas.”
I laughed and let him pull away. “Fine. Choose your Christmas lights over me. I see how it is.”
He caught my chin and held my face up to his. “If I didn’t know for a fact that you’re sore as hell, I’d tie you up with these Christmas lights and fuck you all over this house. I’ve seen you walking around like you’ve been riding a horse, though. You need a break.”
I turned my cheek into his palm and nipped the tip of his finger. “I could handle it.”
“Behave, little rabbit. You need to recover from last night.” He kissed me, stroking his tongue into my mouth and then pulling away before I was ready for him to. “Stay in here. It’s too cold out there.”
I sighed and rested my chin on my fist as I watched him stroll back outside. To hang Christmas lights on my house for me. I didn’t evenownChristmas lights.
Waiting had never been my strong point. I could’ve worked more, but I wanted to be with Adam instead. Standing around for a while left me restless, so I went to the kitchen and made a mug of hot chocolate the way I knew he liked it.
I pulled my throw blanket on again and walked back outside, gripping the hot mug in both hands. I peeked my head around the corner of my entranceway and found Adam staring at me with raised eyebrows.
I hurried out, showing him the mug. “I made you hot chocolate!”
He came down the ladder shaking his head at me. “Bribery won’t work.”
“With marshmallows.” I held the mug out to let him see the marshmallows and grinned. “Is it working now?”
He growled and took the hot chocolate. “What’s so important out here that you need to chance getting sick?”
I laughed, thinking he was joking. When he didn’t laugh along, I gasped. “You! Are you serious, Adam? You’re what’s so important that I want to be out here, freezing my boobs off. I just want to look at you. I want to see you existing around me, living inside my life. I’d chance getting sick for it any day.”