Page 19 of More Than Words (Trickle Creek: The Lyons #2)

Chapter Fifteen

Delaney

T here were more boxes than I remembered. But then again, I had a habit of collecting decorations every year.

I stood with my hands on my hips, assessing the situation and wondering where to start when the door opened. Ethan and Quinn tumbled inside, along with a gust of cool November air.

“Did you start yet?” Quinn shrugged out of her jacket and dropped it on the floor. “Dad took forever . I told him we were going to be?—”

“You’re right on time.” I grinned at her. “In fact, I haven’t even picked a Christmas carol playlist yet. Do you have one?”

Her eyes lit up. “I don’t. But I’ll find one.”

I pointed to the back of the store where I had a Bluetooth speaker. “You’re in charge then. Set the mood.”

Quinn didn’t have to be asked twice. As soon as she took off in search of the speaker, I turned to Ethan.

“Sorry.” He bent to grab his daughter’s wet coat from the floor and hung it on the coat tree by the door, along with his own. “I’d say that she was raised by wolves, but that doesn’t speak well for me.”

He moved closer, but stopped inches from me. I yearned to reach for him and pull him in for the kiss I’d been thinking about for the last few days.

He leaned in slightly, his voice low. “Hi.”

It was stupid how that one little word could make my pulse jump.

“Hi,” I whispered back, biting my lower lip.

His hand brushed mine, and I sucked in a breath. He leaned in, not quite kissing me, but closer than we’d been in days.

“I’ve been thinking about this.”

“Me too,” I said softly, already closing the gap between us.

“Found it!”

Quinn’s voice broke through the moment, as the first few notes of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” blasted through the speaker.

We sprang apart like teenagers caught out.

Quinn appeared a second later, phone in hand. “What are—ugh.” She gave us both a look that was far too knowing for a girl her age. “You two are so bad at this.”

“Bad at what?” I put a bright smile on my face and took a step back, but she clearly didn’t buy it.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I already told Dad I was cool with it.”

I blinked and glanced at Ethan. “Told him what?”

“That I know.” She gave me a “duh” look. “About you two.” Quinn laughed. “You two aren’t exactly subtle.”

I was at a loss for words. Ethan scratched the back of his neck, doing a terrible job at hiding his smile.

I stared at Quinn, trying and failing to come up with something, anything. “Oh.”

Quinn shrugged and started to dig into a nearby box as if nothing of interest had just happened.

I looked at Ethan with wide, questioning eyes, but he only shrugged. “She’s cool with it.”

“With it ?”

We still hadn’t talked about what it was.

“Can you guys just not be gross about it, please?”

“Gross?” I was starting to feel like a broken record.

“Yeah.” Quinn pulled a tangle of mini lights from a box. “Like kissing and stuff.”

Next to me, Ethan burst out laughing. His daughter shot him a look, and he very quickly stifled his laughter. “Deal,” he said as seriously as possible. “We’ll keep things G-rated.”

“Good.” She went back to digging through the box as if she hadn’t just completely thrown me for a loop I hadn’t seen coming.

Of course, I’d never dated a man with a child before. If that even was what we were doing. I blinked a few times and shook my head before I turned back to the stack of boxes, pretending to take inventory while I took a few minutes to collect myself.

I shouldn’t have been surprised that Quinn had noticed something between us. Maybe even before we did. She was a smart, observant kid. Still, hearing her say it out loud, like it was no big deal—when it in fact was a very big deal—left me feeling a little unsettled.

Not in a bad way.

Just in a different, I have no idea how to act, kind of way.

“Bookstore lady.” Quinn’s use of my nickname jarred me from my overthinking and just like that, it felt normal again. I turned to see her holding up a handful of ornaments. “Are these for the tree?”

“They sure are.”

I turned again when Ethan spoke. “Where are you going to put all these lights, Delaney?” Ethan lifted a bundle from one of the boxes. “You have enough in here to light up the entire plaza.”

I gestured toward the windows. “Start there, and work your way through the store,” I told him. “I put them along all the shelves, the ceiling, the railing over there, and?—”

“Everything,” Ethan finished for me.

“Now you’re getting it.” I winked at him and went to join Quinn, who had started to unbox the ornaments for the tree.

“These are the cutest little books,” she exclaimed, holding up one of my favorite ornaments.

I smiled at her and reached for another.

I knew I could have done it on my own, the way I had in the past, but standing there, laughing with Quinn like it was the most natural thing in the world, while Ethan struggled with way too many strands of lights, trying not to curse out loud…

That was better.

A lot better.

Ethan

It’s not that I didn’t like Christmas. I did.

In December. For two days.

I’d never been the type of person to drag out the holiday season for an entire month, let alone for two whole months.

When Quinn was little, I worked hard to make the holidays special for her. Especially because Polly was always too busy to do the traditional things like decorating the tree or making a gingerbread house.

She always had a string of excuses as to why she couldn’t fit the special family time into her schedule. I remember getting into big arguments early on about how she needed to adjust her priorities, but over time, I simply lost the energy for the fight.

It wasn’t like she was ever going to change. In hindsight, it was probably all those years of arguing and trying to convince Polly to participate that tainted the holiday season for me a little bit.

Which was why I didn’t expect to enjoy decorating Delaney’s shop so much. Especially in early November, which—despite how much fun I’d actually had with Quinn and Delaney—I still thought was way too early to decorate.

But truthfully, it didn’t take long before I kind of got into it.

Okay, I got a lot into it.

Maybe it was the music that Quinn found. The perfect mix of holiday classics and fun, upbeat versions I’d never heard before. Maybe it was the pine and spice candle Delaney had lit at the front of the shop.

But more likely, it was Delaney herself.

And the way she had Quinn laughing and forgetting that as an almost teenager, it probably wasn’t cool to have so much fun decorating a Christmas tree and hanging garland.

Watching the way the two of them interacted so easily stopped me more than once. Their easy laughter and playful jabs back and forth looked like the most natural thing in the world.

The way a family should be.

The thought stopped me cold. It was way too early for me to be having such thoughts. We’d only just started…whatever it was we were doing. Quinn wasn’t even used to the idea of Delaney and I together, let alone the two of us having a moment to get used to it.

Or even discuss it properly.

Still.

Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to let myself fantasize about what could be.

Delaney was untangling yet another strand of fairy lights while Quinn attempted to assemble some sort of snowman on a nearby bookshelf. I didn’t want to say anything, but I was pretty sure she had the snowballs in the wrong order.

When it fell over for the second time, she grabbed the decoration and tossed it back in the box. “I need cookies,” she announced. “This is important festive work and I require snacks.”

“There’s a tray upstairs,” Delaney said over her shoulder. “I set out everything for hot chocolate, too. Just hit the power button on the kettle and heat up the water.”

“Seriously?”

“Of course.” Delaney turned. “You don’t really think I would expect us to decorate without Christmas goodies, do you?”

In response, Quinn laughed and took off upstairs in search of the snacks without another word.

The second she disappeared up the back staircase, Delaney turned toward me, a smile pulling at her lips. “Are you hating every minute of this?”

I shook my head and descended the ladder. “Not at all,” I answered honestly. “I’m actually enjoying it.” I lifted a hand toward the box that, despite my best efforts, was still full of lights waiting to be hung. “But I still think you have way too many lights.”

She threw back her head in laughter. “Never.” And as if to prove her point, she held out the lights she’d just untangled and spun in a quick circle, wrapping herself up like a present I would very much like to unwrap.

“I should plug you in and light you up.” I reached for her cheek.

“Ethan.” She pretended to be shocked. “You’re such a dirty talker.”

This time, when she giggled, I cut her off with a deep kiss.

With her lips pressed to mine, her laughter dissolved into a groan that sent a shot of heat right between my legs and made my dick twitch with the need to get her alone.

“Mmm.” She touched her finger to her lips as I stepped back. “You lit me up, all right.”

More than anything, I wanted to continue exactly what we’d started and forget all about the stack of boxes and mess around us. But I was all too aware that Quinn was just upstairs and acting on my impulses would definitely fall way out of the G-rated boundaries she’d set.

“You didn’t tell me that Quinn knew about…well… us ,” Delaney said, her thoughts obviously drifting to a similar place.

“Is that okay?”

“Of course it is.” She didn’t hesitate. “I hated keeping it from her as long as we did.”

“Which wasn’t very long.”

She chuckled. “No. It wasn’t.”

“It turns out that we’re not very good actors.” I reached for her again, my hand finding her waist through the strings of lights. I pulled her close, unable to keep away from her.

“So?” she asked before I could kiss her again. “What did you tell her? What exactly is this between us?”

I hesitated, but only for a second. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “But it feels good.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Really good.”

“It does.” Her smile was soft. “It feels real.”

“It sure does.” I pulled her closer.

“We probably shouldn’t be having this discussion in what looks to be a snow globe explosion.”

I shook my head. “I think this is a conversation best left for later.” I kissed her nose. “When we’re alone.”

“Mmm.”

Our lips met again in another deep kiss that made me long for more. I shifted her light-wrapped body so I could hold her closer and deepen our connection, when?—

“Come on ,” Quinn groaned from behind me. “I thought we agreed to no gross stuff.”

Reluctantly, I pulled away from Delaney, but kept my hand on her hip.

“Did you find the cookies?” Delaney’s voice was casual, as if she wasn’t currently wrapped up like a present I’d been seconds away from unwrapping.

“I did.” Quinn gave her a strange look as she walked past with the loaded tray. “And I mixed up three cups of hot chocolate. Extra marshmallows.”

“Just the way I like it.”

Quinn set the tray on the top of Delaney’s rickety front counter and the whole structure swayed dangerously.

I reached out quickly to steady it. “I thought you were going to get this looked at?” I dropped into a crouch and grabbed the block she used to keep it level. It had been knocked loose. Again. “I got it.” I stood and dusted my hands on my pant legs. “But it’s not a permanent solution.”

“I know.” Delaney spun herself around, untangling herself from the lights. “It’s on the list of things I need to get to,” she said. “After Christmas.” She winked. “I’ve been a little busy.”

“You know I can help if you?—”

“I got it, Ethan.” She stopped me gently. “Truthfully, I don’t want to bother fixing it if I can. Instead, I’ve been keeping my eye out for something to replace it. I just haven’t found the right thing yet. This was always supposed to be a temporary counter anyway. Maybe after the holiday season…”

Before I could push any further, Quinn thrust a cookie between us.

“This is so good. Dad, you have to try these.”

Delaney turned away as I took the cookie from Quinn.

“Gingerbread,” I said as I took a bite. “How do you have Christmas cookies already?” I raised my eyebrows. “I mean, it’s one thing to decorate way too early, but cookies? Don’t tell me you were baking all night.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you that.” Delaney laughed. “But only because I wasn’t. I froze these last season, because Quinn is one hundred percent right. You can’t decorate without festive snacks.”

“You have a ton,” Quinn said. “It’s lucky we’re here to help you eat them.”

“It is very lucky.” Delaney looked over Quinn’s head, a small smile on her face. “I guess we have your dad to thank for opening a brewery right next door.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re thanking me for that now, are you?”

She shrugged. “Well…maybe I’m not thanking you for it. But…”

“Whatever! It’s still lucky.” Quinn laughed and raised a mug of hot chocolate in the air. “Cheers to cookies.”

“Cheers to cookies,” we both dutifully repeated.

Delaney

It took a few more hours of work to get everything in the boxes out and on display. I still had the front window display of a Christmas tree made out of books to put together, but that would have to wait.

Long after the cookies were gone and Quinn and Ethan had gone home, I surveyed my festive shop with a smile. I always loved it when the decorations went up, but it felt different this time. Special.

And as I flicked off the lights and headed up to bed myself, Quinn’s words from earlier rang in my ears, and I couldn’t help but think about exactly how lucky I was.