Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Max

I should have been happy it was finally Friday, but with business booming and Christmas deadlines approaching, we’d be working over the weekend to ensure we got things out on time.

We were at a breaking point though where we needed to expand our operations or move entirely to online only. When we’d started our side hustle in college, we’d take presents in person to wrap, but then I’d had the idea to allow people to ship us all their online purchases, we’d wrap them, and ship to their final destinations.

That was when things really took off. As soon as we were done with college, we moved into a warehouse to hold all the packages we were sent to wrap and hired several employees.

I glanced at my watch, realizing I’d lost track of time again when Levi appeared in my doorway, car keys jingling in his hand.

“Ready to head out?” He had that infuriating smirk that meant trouble, the one that always made me want to either punch him or run in the opposite direction. “It’s your turn to give Christmas Spirit a ride home, by the way.”

“What? We didn’t discuss that.” The pen I’d been holding clattered onto my desk as I stared at him, trying to figure out if this was another one of his schemes like the window decorating contest.

“Didn’t we?” Levi’s innocent expression wasn’t fooling anyone. “Must have slipped my mind. But since you’re both heading to the same place...”

“Does she know?” I fought the urge to loosen my tie, suddenly feeling warm. “And why didn’t you mention it this morning?”

“Because you were too busy pretending not to stare at her in that sleep shirt while she did the dishes.” His grin widened as color crept up my neck.

“Shut up,” I muttered, but my traitorous mind immediately conjured the image of Emery in the kitchen this morning. The way the thin fabric had clung to her curves, or how I could see the outline of her nipples.

I forced the thoughts away, but not before my body responded traitorously to the memory. Those damn penguin slippers shouldn’t have been sexy, but somehow, they’d only added to her appeal. The whole domestic scene had felt dangerously intimate, like a glimpse of something I shouldn’t want but couldn’t stop thinking about.

“You’re doing it again.” Levi was way too observant. “That glazed expression when you’re thinking about her.”

I started to protest, but movement at my door made the words die in my throat.

Emery stood there, a stack of shipping manifests clutched to her chest. How long had she been standing there? “Sorry to interrupt, but I need these signed before the end of the day...”

“Perfect timing,” Levi practically sang. “Max was about to offer you a ride home since I have plans.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh! That’s really not necessary. I can call a ride share or walk.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I stood up perhaps a bit too quickly. “We’re going to the same place. I should have offered this morning, but...”

But I’d been too distracted by how she looked in that shirt, and how desperately I’d wanted to reach out and touch her. Damn Levi for bringing it up and making me think about it all over again.

“But you left super early.” She gave me a small smile that did nothing to help my current state of mind. “I was just glad I got some bacon.”

Levi’s eyebrows rose like he didn’t know she’d had breakfast with me. “Oh, so Max let you have some of his prized thick cut bacon? Must have been nice. We never get breakfast cooked for us.”

I shot him a warning look, and took the manifests from Emery, very careful to not let our fingers brush. “I always cook breakfast. You and Ronan are never up early enough to get any.” I scanned the papers without really seeing them before signing off.

“That’s true, but you don’t save us any either. Although, if you had your shirt off every morning, maybe we’d get up earlier.”

I was going to kill him. Slowly. Possibly with my stapler.

“Right!” Emery’s voice was slightly higher than usual. “Well, if you’re sure about the ride, I just need to grab my things.”

“Take your time.” I kept my eyes firmly on the papers as she practically fled from my office.

“You’re welcome,” Levi said once she was gone.

I finally looked up to glare at him. “For what, exactly? Embarrassing us?”

“For giving you some quality alone time with our Christmas Spirit.” He dodged the pen I threw at him. “Try not to think too much about breakfast during the drive home. Wouldn’t want you to get distracted.”

This time I threw my stapler, but he was already gone, his laughter echoing down the hall.

A few minutes later, I found Emery waiting by the front entrance, keys clutched in her hand and a determined expression on her face that made me instantly suspicious. Why did she have her keys out?

“Ready?” I forced my gaze up from where it had definitely not been lingering on how perfectly her jeans hugged her thighs. The denim was slightly worn at the knees, and I had to resist following the line up to where—nope. Not going there. I adjusted my grip on my keys, the metal biting into my palm as a welcome distraction.

“Actually...” She bit her lower lip, and I knew I was in trouble. “Would you mind if we made a quick stop? I need to grab some things from my storage unit.”

I frowned, remembering what Levi had told me about her ex. “I thought Josh donated all your stuff?”

“Just what was still at the house, which included most of my winter clothes.” She fell into step beside me as we walked to my truck. “I’d already moved some things to storage that I wasn’t going to need anytime soon. Mostly Christmas decorations and household items I didn’t need.”

My fingers relaxed their death grip on my keys; at least that self-centered asshole hadn’t taken everything from her. Though the thought of him donating her belongings without her consent still made my blood simmer. It was one more item on the growing list of reasons I wanted to introduce Josh’s face to my fist.

“Of course we can stop.” I unlocked my truck and opened her door. “Where’s the unit?”

Once inside the warmth of my truck, she directed me to a storage facility about ten minutes away. The whole drive, I was acutely aware of her presence beside me; the way she hummed along softly to whatever was playing on the radio, how she’d occasionally point out particularly awful Christmas displays in store windows we passed.

At the storage facility, she rolled up the door to her unit to reveal a surprisingly organized space. Everything was in color-coded and labeled plastic totes. She went right for the red and green ones.

“Christmas Village. Tree Ornaments. Outdoor Lights.” She paused, her expression falling slightly. “I guess I won’t need those this year.”

Something in her tone made my chest tighten. “You could still put them up at-” I stopped myself before suggesting she decorate our place. That wasn’t my call to make.

But she brightened immediately. “Really? You wouldn’t mind? I mean, I know you guys aren’t big on Christmas, but since I’m staying there for a few days anyway and Ronan invited me to spend Christmas...”

“I didn’t say-” I started, but she was already pulling out totes with alarming efficiency. And what did she mean Ronan had invited her over for Christmas?

“This one has the tree. It’s not too big, I promise. And these have indoor decorations that would look perfect in the common room. The fireplace is practically begging for garland.”

I watched in mild horror as the pile of containers she pulled out grew steadily larger. The Christmas enthusiasm radiating off her was almost palpable, and while part of me wanted to stop this snowballing decorating scheme before it got out of hand, I couldn’t bring myself to dampen her renewed spirits.

“Emery...” I tried, my voice landing somewhere between amusement and concern.

“I won’t go overboard.” She wasn’t reassuring at all given her definition of overboard seemed to differ drastically from mine. “Just enough to make it feel festive. You guys need some holiday spirit in your lives.”

“I really don’t,” I muttered under my breath, even as I hefted another heavy container into the bed of my truck. My biceps strained with the effort, and I wondered exactly when I’d lost all ability to say no.

“Everyone needs a little Christmas magic.” She sighed, and when I looked at her, the hope in her eyes did something weird to me. “Even three Scrooges who pretend they don’t.”

Something about the way her eyes lit up when she talked about Christmas decorations made it impossible to crush her holiday spirit, even though I knew I’d probably regret enabling this tinsel-covered takeover of our house. The metal bed of my pickup was already half full, and she showed no signs of slowing down.

It wasn’t that I hated Christmas, it was just that I never had anyone of importance to celebrate it with. Levi and Ronan both didn’t like it for their own reasons, and my home life when I was younger was too chaotic to enjoy it.

Levi and Ronan were going to kill me, but it would be a good reason to go. “I have the right to veto anything absurd.”

Her smile could have powered half the city, maybe even the whole state. “Deal! This is going to be amazing, I promise,” she declared with such conviction that, despite my reservations, I wanted to believe her.

As we finished loading the truck, I couldn’t help wondering what I’d just agreed to. But watching her practically bounce with excitement as she described her decorating plans, I found it hard to regret it.

Even if it meant our house was about to look like Christmas threw up all over it.