Page 85 of Ashes of Us

Alex

Danica was fussing over the tree when Alex came back from the kitchen, holding a mug of hot chocolate in each hand.

She had that look on her face, the one she got when she was concentrating on some minor detail no one else would notice but her.

Smiling, he leaned in, brushed a kiss across her cheek, and pressed the warm mug into her hand.

“Looks good, love.” His arm slipped easily around her waist, drawing her against him as he admired the tree.

It wasn't a lie, the tree looked amazing.

The decorations they'd bought in Honolulu glittered in the soft glow of the tiny white lights she had wrapped around every branch.

She smiled as she took a sip of the hot chocolate and leaned into his side.

“The star still needs to go on the top.” She gestured with her chin at the box that held the tree topper, and Alex grinned.

The tree, which they'd bought three days before at a tree farm just outside of Boston, making it a day trip with Emilia, Xavier and the kids, came in at just under a foot below the ten foot high ceiling and had led to the discovery that Danica hated being more than two rungs up on a ladder and had required him to handle everything above where she could reach.

Letting her go, he rubbed Indie's head as he passed the couch to grab the ladder from where it was leaning on the far wall.

Since they returned from Hawaii, Danica had pretty much moved in with him, and Indie had claimed one end of his couch as hers.

Not that he minded, he loved having both his girls with him all the time.

He wanted to announce their relationship immediately, but Danica wasn't ready.

Alex understood, even if the waiting wore on him.

Amy hadn't appealed, the court-ordered thirty days had passed, Jasper's sperm was destroyed, and still, Danica worried.

About the Prestons, about their judgment.

About what they'd say if they knew she was with the man Jasper had always been insecure about.

Alex couldn't change their opinions, but he hated that she was so concerned about them.

They'd talked about how quickly she had moved on from Jasper's death, and she explained that while she missed him, she would have divorced him if he hadn't died.

There was too much resentment on her part to continue, and she knew she would have fallen for Alex regardless, so he felt comfortable with the relatively short timeframe between Jasper's death and their relationship starting.

And then there was the hotel. The rules about fraternization between supervisors and subordinates were ironclad.

While part of Alex's instinct had been to brush it off, because his standard response to being questioned regarding how he ran the hotel was “I own the damn place, I'll do what I want,” Danica had shut that down fast. She was right, of course.

Investors wouldn't be happy with him if he disregarded their concerns, so he was working on a solution with HR to navigate this situation in a way that wouldn't damage Danica's reputation and allow them to be openly together.

The solution had actually been pretty simple: move Danica into a COO role.

While the position currently didn't exist and was being created, the reason it didn't exist was because Danica spent the last five years running the hotel for his father.

Essentially, she had been acting as COO for years, and he was formally recognizing her hard work.

Alex and the HR head were documenting her past and current contributions to demonstrate that she was deserving of the role and title, making the promotion merit-based when it was announced.

This included hiring an outside consultant to review leadership roles and recommend Danica for the position.

A few minutes later, he'd put the star on top of the tree and plugged it into the lights.

Stepping off the ladder, he moved it to one side and stepped back, looking over the tree with a mock critical eye.

“Perfect.” He announced, smiling as he felt Danica wrap her arms around him from behind and lean into his back.

“I'm glad you think so.” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder, and she gave him a quick hug.

He was constantly surprised by how affectionate Danica was, and he loved it.

She'd come across as a little cold and aloof at first, but as soon as he started initiating physical affection and touch with her, she had leaned into it hard, with an almost needy desperation that had only endeared her to him more.

He knew she hadn't gotten much love growing up in the foster home, and she had explained that she didn't like to be touched by people she didn't know well, so he came to the conclusion it wasn't that she didn't like to be touched, not really.

She viewed touch and affection as a form of intimacy.

To her, intimacy was reserved for her and her partner, so she didn't encourage either with people unless she was in a romantic relationship.

“Are you ready to open one of your gifts?”

It was a tradition in his family to open gifts on Christmas Eve.

When his mom was alive, it had been matching pyjamas that they were expected to wear the next morning, but Danica hadn't mentioned that when they were shopping for each other.

“We're opening a gift tonight?” He raised his eyebrow as he turned and wrapped his arms around her.

“It's not matching Christmas pyjamas, is it?”

“No, not matching Christmas pyjamas.” Danica shook her head slowly and gave him a slightly sheepish smile.

“Mostly because I couldn't find any to fit Indie, not for lack of trying, though.” She frowned as she looked down at the dog, who was happily chewing on one of her many toys.

She pulled free and walked over to the tree, picking up an envelope and bringing it over to him. “So, no matching clothes at all.”

Alex took the envelope and held up a finger, heading to his room to get the gift he'd had specially made for her.

Finding the small box where he'd left it in his sock drawer, he pulled it out and returned to the living room with it, passing it to her.

Seeing her face pale slightly, he chuckled.

“It's not an engagement ring, don't worry.

I'm absolutely head over heels in love with you, but I'm not crazy enough to propose three weeks in.”

“I know,” she tried to deflect, but Alex could see the relief in her eyes and shook his head as he put a finger under her chin and tilted her face up toward him.

“Mmmhmm. The colour slowly returning to your cheeks says otherwise.” He smiled and kissed her. He fully intended to propose the minute she gave him any indication that she wouldn't panic and run away, but he kept that to himself.

Danica smiled back at him and shrugged. “You handed me what's clearly a jewelry box. What did you expect?” She walked over to the counter and grabbed one of the bone-shaped gifts she had wrapped for Indie, bringing it back over to sit beside the dog.

The dog immediately dropped the toy she was chewing on and started sniffing at what she had in her hands.

“I'm just gonna go with you didn't get a lot of jewelry as gifts, because that's not a ring box.” He walked over and joined her on the couch.

His eyes narrowed as he watched Indie try to climb into Danica's lap to get at the present.

“Is that one of those peanut butter rawhide bones?” He really hoped not; they were incredibly messy, and she would chew on one end until it was soft, then start shaking it around.

The last time she had one, she'd almost put the damn thing through the balcony door window.

“It is,” Danica giggled and held it out of Indie's reach.

“Don't look so worried, I'll only let her have it when I'm here to supervise,” She nudged him and nodded at the dog, whose tail was going frantically as she whined and tried to get it from Danica.

“Look how excited she is, you're not gonna tell that face she can't have it, are you?” Alex looked at Indie and then back at Danica, his heart melting at how happy she was spoiling the little dog.

“Only when we're both here to supervise.” He allowed, trying and failing to keep his voice stern.

“Now you need to give it to her before she chews your arm off.” He couldn't hide his smile at how excited the dog was for her bone.

Danica smiled as he gave in and passed her the wrapped bone.

She immediately tore into the paper on Danica's lap, with Danica pulling it away from her so she didn't eat it.

“Also, if it stains the rug, you need to clean it.” He warned her as Indie happily took the bone and moved back to the blanket on the end of the couch.

“Yes, Babe.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek, smiling at him.

“Now, open your present,” Alex grumbled good-naturedly, peeling off the sticker she had used to hold the envelope closed and sticking it on the end of her nose with a smirk.

Then, he opened the envelope and pulled out the folded piece of paper inside.

Opening it, his breath caught in his throat as four tickets to see the Offspring live in Austria fell into his lap.

“You got me tickets to see my favourite band.” He could feel a lump forming in his throat, and he cleared it consciously.

Usually, when he received gifts, it was something like clothes, cufflinks, or something similar.

He knew he could be hard to buy for, because if he wanted something, he would get it himself.

Danica seemed to realize that while he would buy things he wanted or needed, he never got experiences for himself.

“Tickets for you and three other people.” Danica smiled, sliding her hand into his. “I know you're looking to do the grand opening of the hotel in Austria around that time, so I figured you could have a little fun while you're there.”

“ We can have some fun while we're there,” he corrected her as he pulled her into his lap and buried his face in her neck. “Because you will definitely be there with me.” Her arms went around his shoulders, and she kissed the top of his head.

“If that's what you want,” she murmured, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

“Thank you.” He took a deep breath, breathing her in and then sat back, still holding her in his arms. “My gift kinda sucks in comparison but go ahead and open it.”

Danica chuckled and pulled the wrapping off, opening the box to reveal the necklace he'd bought her.

She'd stopped wearing her compass necklace at some point before they went to Hawaii, and he'd noticed she kept reaching for it.

When he asked why she stopped wearing it, she explained that Jasper had gotten it for her in lieu of wearing their wedding bands because wearing rings while working on cars was considered dangerous.

So, he'd found a rose gold necklace with a locket pendant, figuring she could put pictures of whoever she wanted inside.

He had made it a little more special than just a locket by having her birthstone added to the front and 'Love A' engraved on the back in his writing.

“Oh wow.” She lifted it out of the box and looked at it, smiling softly when she saw the engraving on the back.

“This is perfect,” she leaned over and kissed him.

“Thank you,” she said, passing him the chain and turning, lifting her hair out of the way.

Alex let out a soft sigh of relief. He'd struggled trying to find something to give her that wouldn't come across as moving too fast or being too much, since she had put a firm cap of no more than five hundred dollars for one significant gift and no more than a hundred dollars on any subsequent gifts.

He helped her put on the necklace, doing up the clasp and kissing her shoulder.

“It looks perfect on you.” He smiled as she turned back to face him, the chain was just long enough that the locket rested just above her cleavage. “Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

“You have.” Danica grinned as she turned and straddled his lap. “At least four times just today. Have I told you how impossibly sexy you are?”

“Yeah, but I never get tired of hearing that.”