Finally, the massive evergreen that almost touched the ceiling, was decorated to everyone’s satisfaction and Eva was exhausted from the endeavor. Not to mention full, since after the sandwiches there had been ice cream sundaes.
As the low-key holiday music continued to stream through the smart speakers, the party began to wind down. When William had gone upstairs to put Darcy to bed and Wyatt went up to be with Olivia it seemed time for those who didn’t live there in the main house to go.
Poppy and Ethan were occupied with cleaning up. So after carrying a few things into the kitchen under the guise of being helpful, Eva said, “Guess I’ll head out.”
It was either that or get stuck doing dishes.
Linc entered the room with a couple of more glasses from the living room. “Uh, yeah. Me too. I’ll walk you out.”
“Thanks for coming.” Poppy grabbed Eva in a hug, causing her to roll her eyes.
“You’re the one who did all the work.”
“Yeah, thanks for everything, Poppy,” Linc said.
“Hey, what about me?” Ethan asked, tying off an overstuffed trash bag.
“Are you trying to tell me that Poppy didn’t do most, if not all of the work?” Linc asked.
“Hey, I cut down the tree and got on the eight-foot ladder to string the lights,” Ethan defended.
“Thank you, Ethan,” Eva said, cutting off further debate. “Talk to you tomorrow, Poppy.”
“Home safe,” Poppy yelled after them.
Linc did as he said and followed her outside. Eva let out a long breath the moment the front door closed behind them. “Phew. Glad that’s over.”
“Why?” Linc frowned. “It was fun.”
“Yes, it was, except for you acting so suspiciously.” She sent him a glare.
“Me? What about you?”
Their argument was cut off by the front door flinging open. They both spun to see Ethan standing in the doorway.
“Good. You’re still here. You forgot to grab your mail.” Ethan handed Linc a small stack of envelopes and what looked like catalogs before saying, “Oh and don’t forget, the clock’s ticking so you two better have started on your Secret Santa gift.”
“I have some ideas,” Linc said.
“Um. Yup. Me too,” Eva lied.
“All right. Good. See you in the morning,” Ethan said to Linc, then glanced at her. “Night, Eva.”
“Goodnight.” When the door closed again she let out a breath. “We can’t continue this discussion here.”
“I’m happy to continue it at my place,” Linc suggested.
Damn him. She had a feeling that wasn’t all he was suggesting they continue at his place. And damn her hormones, her body was on board with a repeat of last night. “Fine. I’ll follow you in my car.”
“Sounds good.” He barely controlled his smile at her answer, which only pissed her off more. At him. And at herself.
She didn’t want to want him. And she really didn’t want to give him any ideas that what had happened between them was going to be a regular thing.
It wasn’t. Nope. Not at all.
She was going to tell him that as she parked her car next to his truck. But anything she was about to say was lost when she saw him staring up at the sky. “What are you looking at?”
“Orion’s belt. And look, Venus is visible tonight.”
She glanced up, following his gaze. The vast inky sky dotted with countless brilliant lights had her drawing in a breath. “It feels almost like we’re closer to them here. I don’t remember ever seeing stars this clearly back in New York.”
“Yeah. Nothing quite as dark as the mountain. City lights don’t obscure the stars up here.” As he continued to gaze upward, an idea hit her.
An idea for the perfect Secret Santa gift for a stargazer, since Ethan had reminded her that she needed one and until this very moment she’d had no idea of what to get Linc.
“You should have a telescope,” she suggested. “That way you can really see the stars and planets.”
He turned to face her, shaking his head. “Nah. I’d rather just look at them like this. Can’t appreciate the beauty or the vast expanse of the night sky if you spend the whole time squinting at a little portion of it through a scope. Besides, I spent too much time wearing night vision goggles while I was on active duty to willingly look through tubes now.”
And there went her idea, gone as quickly as it had come.
“Come on in. It’s cold out here.” He turned to open the door and she followed him in.
Inside, he tossed the mail on the table, along with his keys. She noticed what was obviously a Christmas card on top. The oversized red envelope sporting a holiday US postage stamp was a clear indicator.
“Old school Christmas card. Nice. Can’t remember the last time I got one of those,” she commented, making small talk. Now that they were standing by the door with the lights bright, it was clear what a bad idea her coming here was.
Linc nodded, glancing at the return address written neatly in the upper left corner. “It’s from the parents of one of my men. We’ve, uh, kept in touch… since.”
“One of the men who…” She couldn’t seem to finish the sentence.
“Was KIA? Yeah.” He shook his head then let out a breath. “I just wish I could do more. Officially. Something big that would help. Not just my guys’ families, but all the Gold Star families out there. But Wyatt’s the one who’s good at the business stuff. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
He didn’t. But she did. And with that, Eva began to form an idea for the perfect gift for the man who was more empathetic than she’d ever imagined.
Her initial assumptions about Linc had been totally off. He kept to himself not because he was introverted but because he was introspective. He was proving to be generous, not a grump as she’d mistakenly thought.
Luckily for Linc, Eva knew where to start the process. Wyatt wasn’t the only one good at business stuff.
Since she could whip up a shell corporation in the blink of an eye, she could definitely create a real one. A not-for-profit dedicated to helping the families of the fallen. Hell, she could even endow it with some funds to get Linc started. There were always bad actors out there who deserved to disperse a bit of their ill-gotten gains. Use it for good instead of evil. She’d happily help them with that.
With her heart racing just from the idea for the most amazing and perfect gift ever, she turned to find Linc still standing next to the table, sifting through the rest of his mail.
After plucking what looked like a sportsman catalog out of his hand and tossing it back onto the table, she moved in on him until her body pressed against his.
They’d already been together. What would doing it again hurt?
Gazing down at her standing so close, he cocked up one dark brow as his lips twitched. “Yes?”
“Let’s go to bed,” she suggested, no longer feeling awkward as the excitement of her idea had the adrenaline pumping through her veins, making her body feel alive.
His smile broke out fully. “Good idea.”
On that, at least, they agreed.