“Mommy, can Mr. Bear help us get a Christmas tree?” Brinkley asked, tugging on Mackenzie’s hand.
“I don’t know. He might have a busy day,” Mackenzie said.
Since I wasn’t sure if she was offering me a way out or if she didn’t want me to join them, I put the ball back in her court, so to speak. “Do you need help with the tree?”
“Need it? No. Would I greatly appreciate it? Yes.”
“Say no more,” I smiled.
When we arrived at the lot, Mackenzie and Brinkley walked around and carefully inspected every single tree, which was quite entertaining to watch.
“Okay, we’ve got it narrowed down to two trees, but we can’t decide. Which one would you pick?” Mackenzie asked and pointed to the two they’d selected.
I blinked once and turned to Mackenzie for clarification. “You’re trying to decide between those two?” One was an average Christmas tree, between six and seven feet tall. The other, however, was damn near twice as big.
“Yes,” Mackenzie nodded seriously.
I leaned close to her ear and lowered my voice. “The big one. Always pick the big one.”
Her beautiful green eyes flicked up to mine as a sly smile appeared on her face. “I want the big one,” she said, never taking her eyes off of mine.
Fucking hell. It almost seemed like she was implying something completely different. But I knew better. She was a young, beautiful woman. Of course I found her attractive. I’m sure a lot of people did. But I was much older than her. My son was older than her. So the likelihood of her meaning anything other than the tree was slim to none.
But then again, I loved beating the odds, and I didn’t have anything to lose.
“It’s right in front of you, beautiful. Go get it.”
Her eyes flicked to my mouth while she ran the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip. Then, she looked up at me and held my gaze.
Fuck it.
I’d never been unsure of myself.
And it was too late to start after all the shit I’d lived through.
Wrapping my hand around the back of her neck, I pulled her to me and leaned down to close the distance between us.
“Ma’am, would you like us to net and load your tree?”
Mackenzie flinched and jumped back like a teenager who’d been caught making out. She placed a hand over her chest and turned to the man with an incredulous look on her face. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”
“Sorry,” he chuckled. “Would you like us to put a net over the tree and load it into or onto your vehicle? The net helps protect the branches during transport and makes it easier to move inside.”
“Uh, yes to both?” Mackenzie asked with her eyes fixed on me.
“Yes to both,” I confirmed.
While Mackenzie and Brinkley went to pay for the tree, I showed him where we were parked and helped him secure it to the roof.
“Wow,” Mackenzie gasped and stared at the tree.
“If you think it’s too big, we can exchange it for a smaller one.”
“No, I want the big one.”
* * *
It’d beena long time since I’d had a Christmas tree. And I’d never had one as big as Mackenzie’s. As I soon found out, neither had she.