Brooke

 

Our eyes stayed fixated on each other as the riveting pulses once again flowed through my body. I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to feel his lips on mine. Suddenly, my phone rang and I broke our eye contact as my heart still raced.

“Let me see who’s calling.” I got up from the couch and rummaged through my purse, which was sitting on the table.

“Hey, Dad,” I answered.

“Hi, sweetheart. I’m sorry I missed your call last night. I was in a meeting.”

“That’s okay. I just wondered what your plans are for Christmas. I was thinking about flying home.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I figured you would spend Christmas in New York since you haven’t been there very long. I’m going to meet your Aunt Marley and the girls in Aspen to do some skiing.”

“Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t alone for the holidays.”

“If you want, I can come to New York and we can spend Christmas together.”

“Dad. It’s fine. Have fun skiing. We can facetime on Christmas.”

“Are you sure, sweetheart?”

“Yes. Listen, I have to go. I’m in the middle of therapy.”

“I love you, Brooke.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

Setting my phone down, I walked back over to Logan and took hold of his leg.

“You know, with everything going on, I forgot about Christmas,” he spoke.

“It’s coming fast.” I looked around the room. “Tomorrow, after the gym, we’re going to get this place a Christmas tree.”

“I’ve never put one up here before.”

“What? Are you serious?” I cocked my head at him.

“Why bother? And wait a minute. What do you mean ‘after the gym’?”

“You’ll see.” I grinned as I continued to massage his leg. “All right, I think that’s enough for today.” I looked at the time on my phone. “Let’s not wait until tomorrow. Let’s go now and get a Christmas tree.”

“I really don’t feel like going anywhere,” he spoke.

“Okay. Then I’ll go myself.”

I went to the kitchen and washed the oil off my hands. Looking out the window, I noticed it was snowing outside. Logan was still sitting on the couch and stared at me as I walked by to go to my room. Grabbing my boots, I slipped my feet into them, put on my black winter jacket, and slipped a light pink knit hat over my head.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Logan said as I walked by him and grabbed my purse.

“Yes, and it’s snowing outside, which makes it even more festive. I’ll be back soon,” I spoke as I placed my hand on the doorknob.

“WAIT!” Logan spoke loudly. “Let me throw on some clothes and I’ll go with you.”

I smiled as my hand gripped the knob. “Okay. I’ll just wait right here for you.”

A few minutes later, Logan hobbled over to me on his crutches. An ache formed between my legs as he stood there in his dark gray winter coat and matching knit hat. The sexiness that radiated from him could be seen from miles away. As soon as we stepped outside onto the snowy pavement, I stopped for a moment and looked up, letting the snow softly hit my face.

“Umm. What are you doing?” Logan asked.

“Have you forgotten that I’m from Cali? It doesn’t snow where I live, so when I do see it wherever I’m at, I embrace it.”

“Oh. Okay. I can understand that. I do the same thing when I’m in a state with no snow during the winter months. I embrace the sunshine.” He smiled.

“There’s a tree lot around the next block. I saw it the other day when I went to get groceries,” I spoke as I took off my glove and held my hand out in front of me, letting the snow hit it.

“I know. That tree lot is there every year.”

We walked slowly and carefully so Logan didn’t slip and fall. As I walked next to him, I held on to the fabric of his coat. He looked at my hand and then over at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding on to you in case you slip.”

“Do you really think if I slip you’d be able to stop me from falling?” He grinned.

“I can try. If not, I’ll be going down with you.”

He shook his head with a smile as we finally made it to the tree lot without any mishaps. As we were walking around looking at the trees, Logan glanced over at me.

“So I was thinking. When we find a tree, how the hell are we getting it back to the apartment?”

My eyes locked with his, as I didn’t think about that.

“Shit.” I had an idea. “Follow me,” I spoke as I walked ahead of him and back onto the street.

“Where are we going?” he shouted as he tried to catch up.

I stood on the corner and hailed a cab. Taking the crutches from Logan, I told him to climb in.

“I don’t understand. Where are we going?”

“Take us to the nearest Target Store,” I told the cab driver.

Logan chuckled. “Seriously? We’re going to buy a tree from Target?”

“Yep. They have some nice ones. At least they do in California. Plus, we’ll have to buy some decorations for the tree. It’ll be our one-stop store.” I grinned.

****

Logan

I found her nothing short of adorable. The excitement in her eyes about buying a tree and decorations was refreshing and made me temporarily forget about what I was going through. The cab driver dropped us off in front of Target and when we walked inside, Brooke grabbed a basket. As we made our way over to the tree section, my phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket and noticed Bruce was calling.

“Hey, Bruce.”

“Logan, the press conference has been set for the day after tomorrow at six o’clock at the Four Seasons. You need to be there around five so we can go over some things.”

I took in a deep breath. “I’ll be there.”

“See you then.”

Placing my phone back in my pocket, I hobbled over to where Brooke was standing and looking at a tree that was on display.

“That was Bruce. The press conference is the day after tomorrow at six o’clock.”

“Good.” She smiled. “What do you think about this tree?”

“It looks like any other tree to me.”

She sighed. “Do you see one you like better?”

“No. This one is fine.”

“Okay.” She grinned and flagged down one of the employees. “We will take this tree right here. Can you take it to the front for us since we have more shopping to do?”

“Sure, ma’am.” The male employee nodded.

“He called you ‘ma’am.’ Aren’t you going to scold him?” I snickered as we walked to the ornament aisle.

“No. I’ll never see him again, so it’s not a big deal. What color ornaments do you like?”

“Does it really matter, Brooke? Don’t women usually just pick out what they want without any regard to what we males like?”

“You’re paying for it, so you should pick what you like.” She poked me in the shoulder.

“I’m paying for all this? You’re the one who wanted the tree. Why do I have to pay for it?”

This older woman that was in the same aisle kept glancing over at us with a smile.

“What a cute couple. This must be your first Christmas together. How long have you been dating?” she asked.

I looked over at her in confusion. “We aren’t dating. She’s my physical therapist.”

“Oh.” The older woman cocked her head. “I’m sorry. You two sure argue like a couple.” She smiled. “Happy holidays,” she spoke as she pushed her cart down the aisle.

I glanced over at Brooke as she started laughing. “Oh my God, she was so cute. Anyway, Mr. Hockey Player, it’s your tree that’s staying in your storage. Did you really think I was hauling it back to California with me?”

I shrugged. “I thought maybe you could come back every Christmas and set it up.”

“Ha ha! Now pick some ornaments so we can get out of here.”

“Fine. I like the red and gold ones.”

“Really?” Brooke asked with a frown. “You don’t like these pretty blue and silver ones?”

I couldn’t help but smile. She wanted the blue and silver ones and that was what I was going to end up buying.

“Yes, Brooke. I do like those better than the red and gold.”

With a grin, she placed a couple of boxes of the blue and silver ornaments in the basket. We picked up a few other trimmings for the tree and headed back to the apartment.