Page 63 of The Christmas Tree Farm

He couldn’tstandit.

‘I’m bringing this mattress downstairs.’

Kira turned from the dresser, her arms filled with candles in varying sizes and shapes. Her brows rose until they vanished beneath her bangs.

‘Excuse me, you’re doing what?’

‘Don’t argue with me about this, Kira. I’m bringing the mattress downstairs. You can set it up on the floor in the living room. It will be more comfortable.’ He was already tugging the mattress off the box spring.

‘Bennett…’

‘I said don’t argue.’

‘Ha! Okay, you said it so obviously, I will just agree with you.’

He sighed, lowering the corner of the mattress. ‘Please.’ His voice was rough and raw, and this mattress meant way more than it should right now, but it did. He’d just realized that he didn’twantNicole anymore. He didn’tloveher anymore. And all he wanted was the woman in front of him and he didn’t know what to do about that.

All he knew was he needed this mattress downstairs.

He needed Kira warm.

He probably needed therapy, but that was an issue for another day.

‘Please?’

‘Please, let me do this for you.’

Kira stood in front of him, her mouth slightly open, like for once she didn’t know what to say. So he lifted the mattress again, tipping it to its side so he could shove it through the bedroom door. He pushed it out, angling it to get it down the hall.

Kira followed behind him, still in silent shock.

The stairs were a bit trickier, but he was a man on a mission now and he managed it, not entirely gracefully, but he managed it. Kira didn’t speak again until the coffee table was pushed aside and the mattress was laid out on the living room floor, right in front of the fireplace. The warmest spot in the whole damn house.

‘Show-off,’ Kira muttered as she arranged the candles on the mantle and the side table next to the couch.

And he couldn’t help his smile.

He grabbed the pack of matches by the fireplace and started lighting the candles.

‘This candle smells likeMeet Cute? What does that even mean?’ Lilac, champagne, and citrus, apparently.

‘Chloe got me that set.’

‘Morally Grey, Enemies to Lovers, Grumpy-slash-Sunshine,’ he read off the other candle labels. ‘Slow Burn, at least that one makes sense for a candle.’ He set the last candle down and found Kira laughing at him.

‘Here this one suits you best,’ she said, handing him a candle with Cinnamon Roll written on the side.

He sniffed it. ‘Smells good. Still don’t get what any of that means, though.’

‘Doesn’t matter.’ Kira shook her head, her laughter petering out. ‘But you should probably pay more attention when your sister talks about books.’

‘Books?! I thought we were talking about baked goods.’

She patted his arm as she made her way around the mattress that was now taking up most of the room. ‘Nope. Romance tropes.’

‘Romance, huh? So is a cinnamon roll … like a sex thing? Is there frosting involved?’ He waggled his eyebrows and Kira laughed harder.

‘Sounds sticky,’ she said, wrinkling her nose as though she didn’t like the idea, but Bennett’s mind was already happily imagining a naked Kira with vanilla icing drizzled over her body and his tongue tracing the pattern…