Chapter 34
ANNALISE
Brody steps into my house and immediately kicks off his boots. I follow suit, our socks matching in a stupidly cute way. I grin stupidly at our feet before we shuck off our jackets. Leading him inside, I kick up the temperature on the thermostat on the way past, chilled from the cold walk up.
“Thank you for today, Brody.”
Just like I thought I would, I passed out for the rest of the truck ride home.
One moment, I was tucking myself into his side, and the next, he was gently shaking me awake, parked in his spot in front of my house.
It was instinct to ask him to come inside, even if we already indulged in dessert on the way back.
I’ll take any time with him that I can get.
“My pleasure.”
“Do you want to stay for a while and watch a movie or something?” Heat trickles up my chest at the juvenility of the question.
He doesn’t seem to care, though. “Would love to.”
“Do you have a movie preference?” I ask, sitting on the couch, eyes eating up the confident sway of his body as he follows.
“Not really. I’m pretty easy.”
“What about a Christmas movie?” I turn the TV on and start sorting through the online movies. An idea sparks in my mind, curving my mouth. “A Hallmark one?”
He sits beside me, the cushion dipping beneath his weight. I don’t bother pretending I don’t want to be close to him. In two scoots, I’m curled around his side, his arm automatically draping along the couch behind my head.
“Only if you pick the worst one there is. I want ultimate cheese, Buttercup.”
“Now we’re talking,” I say, sorting through a few more movies before choosing one.
His laugh is loud, soaring from deep in his belly. “Jesus Christ.”
“What?”
The opening credits flash across the screen before the title appears. A Cowboy’s Christmas Wish . My stomach cramps from holding back a laugh.
“This is going to be brutal,” he muses.
“You don’t think it’s going to be incredibly accurate to your real life?” I ask, feigning shock.
He stretches his legs out, resting his feet on the ottoman. My heart jolts when he grips my thigh and drapes it over his lap, keeping his hand firmly in place after I’m settled. “I’ll try not to pick it apart too much for you.”
“Go ahead. I love ripping apart movies.”
And that’s exactly what we do. For the next hour and a half, we make notes on everything in the movie, belting out in unattractive, loud laughter at the cheesy dialogue and terrible acting.
I’m half sprawled over his body, cheek pressed to his sternum and knee nestled between both of his by the time the couple rides off on the back of a horse together, hooves kicking up snow behind them.
“So, do all cowboys naturally know how to dance?” I tease, drawing swirls with my fingertip over the thick muscles of his abdomen as I recall the repeated theme of line dancing in the movie.
I’ve never felt abs like Brody’s before. Stewart was fit but not this muscled. Brody’s body has been honed by hard labour and whatever it is he does to keep in shape in Nashville. Weightlifting, if the steel cut of his biceps is anything to go off.
He continues playing with my hair, alternating between twirling pieces around his fingers and scratching my scalp. “Fuck no. But my grandma put a lot of time into ensurin’ I could hold my own. Was I decent enough of a partner the other night?”
“More than decent, actually.” Resting my chin on his chest, I look upward, catching his waiting stare. “You know there are pictures of us online now, right?”
“I know. You okay with that?”
“I don’t have much of a social presence, so I’m not too concerned for me.”
“But you are for me?” he asks, although it sounds more like a statement than a question.
“Should I be?”
“You can’t answer a question with another question.”
I laugh softly. “I think you’re a grown man, and if you weren’t confident enough about us to be photographed together, you wouldn’t have put us in a position to be. It’s my own self-doubt that’s the problem.”
Like the reoccurring, pestering thought that I’m not good enough to be seen beside him. Or that he won’t remember me once he’s gone. That I’ll be a memory he won’t bother recalling.
Brody guides me up his body, bringing us face to face. I ignore the flutter in my stomach and focus on listening to the words he speaks. “If I ever meet the man who’s behind the worry in your eyes, baby, I swear to fuck I’ll ruin him.”
“I’d like to see that,” I admit. Give me caveman and ultra-protectiveness. I’ll never turn down the chance to watch this man protect my honour. Fists or words, it wouldn’t matter.
He cups my jaw so, so softly, as if he’s suddenly afraid I’ll crumble to dust in his palm. “Never been prouder to be seen with a woman than I have been with you. That’s the truth, Anna. I’ve just been tryin’ not to scare you.”
“It’s a good thing I don’t scare easily, then.”
His smile reaches his eyes this time, almost unnaturally beautiful. “Yeah, I’m learnin’ that.”
The credits continue to roll, doodles decorating the black screen. One in particular of a short, fluffy animal catches my eye, and I can’t stop myself before I’m switching gears, blurting out, “Do you have any fluffy cows at the ranch?”
Brody’s chest begins to shake with laughter beneath me. “Fluffy cows? No. I don’t think we ever have.”
“Not even one as a pet?”
“The sky would fall before my grandfather took cattle as pets, sweetheart.”
I nod, deflating a bit. “That’s fair.”
“Why the random train of thought?”
“They’re all over the internet right now. I fell down the rabbit hole a few weeks ago, and they’re the cutest damn things in the world. I was just curious whether you’ve ever had one.”
“Would you have a fluffy cow as a pet?”
“I’d love one. They’re like dogs that can live outside instead of shedding all over the house and making a mess of things.”
“True enough. I’ve never considered getting one.”
“Well, now maybe you should.”
“Maybe I will.”
I kiss his chest, lips lingering to feel the thump of his heartbeat against them. “Good. Want to watch another movie?”
He presses a kiss to my forehead and nods. I duck my head and get back into my previous position. It doesn’t make me long to pick another movie, but this time, I hardly make it halfway through before I’m falling asleep.
I don’t wake until the room has gone silent and a soft warmth feathers across my cheek. I’m moved from my seat and hauled into the air, held against a hard body. I keep my eyes closed, not wanting to fully wake just yet.
Strong arms hold me close to a chest that moves steadily against my cheek. I rub my face against it, sighing out contently at the security that washes over me, soothing my most damaged parts.
I inhale deeply, picking out the smell of the peppermint candle I burned earlier through Brody’s cologne. His breath fans the top of my head before his arms tighten just once. I’m clutching onto his arm when he pushes open a door and goes to set me down.
“Stay,” I plea, squeezing my eyes shut.
He pauses. “You sure?”
“Positive.”
“I’m stayin’ on the couch.”
I nod quickly. “Okay. Just stay. There are extra blankets in the linen closet. Take one of my pillows.”
I’m not ready to let him go yet. Call it desperation or neediness, I don’t care. The thought of him walking out the door right now has my stomach in a fist-sized knot.
“I’ll stay, sweetheart. Get into bed for me.”
The thick socks on my feet protect them from the cold bite of the wood floors as I steady myself and then crawl beneath the lifted covers.
It takes more self-restraint than I thought it would not to tug him right down beside me.
I nearly crack and do it when he leans down to brush my hair back and kisses my nose and then, finally, my mouth.
It’s a sleepy kiss, one full of soft meaning. The most beautiful kind.
“Sweet dreams, Anna. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I let my eyes flutter closed and nod, humming my agreement. “Good night, Bo.”
The next day flies by.
I woke to find Brody already up and pouring two cups of coffee, yesterday’s clothes on and wrinkled. I’m still unsure how long he’d already been up by the time I was ready to head to work, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was before dawn broke.
He drove me to work and headed out to the ranch with the usual promise of being back at the end of my shift.
I’ve been a ball of energy all day, bouncing around from client to client.
I feel refreshed, alive. Happiness is a drug.
One hit of the good stuff and I’m nose to the ground in search of another.
Wanda has picked up on the attitude as well, picking at me all damn day with a dirty smirk. I finish taking payment from the last client and glare at her from across the salon when I notice she’s lingering by my station.
“I want whatever you’re on today, Anna. I ain’t ever seen someone blow-dry that much hair in such little time in all my life,” she says.
I tuck the debit machine away and shift to face her, leaning against the side of the desk. “I’m skilled with a hair dryer. What can I say?”
“Don’t act coy. You can’t outplay a player.”
“I just slept well last night. I’m refreshed.”
“Oh, I bet you slept like a million fucking bucks with a man like Brody Steele beside you.”
I can’t fight the red that blooms on my cheeks. With a quick look around the salon, I confirm we’re alone. “We didn’t—haven’t slept in the same bed. Not that it’s any of your business, Snoopy.”
“I’m not gonna tell anybody, sugar. Just razzing you a bit.”
“I know. I know. Sorry for jumping at you.”
She waves her hand, swaying toward me. The nails that tap the desk beside mine are painted with candy cane stripes and mistletoe.
“We don’t know each other well, so I can’t blame you for being guarded.
I haven’t spent too much time at the salon as of late, but it’s nothing personal.
I’ve been in town for too long and am in need of a change of scenery soon. ”
“You’re a bit of a move-arounder, then?”
“‘Flighty’ is I think the word my father likes to use,” she says with a painfully fake smile.
I shrug a shoulder. “So you like to explore. Who cares.”
“My mom, for one. Most of the judgmental pricks in this town, for another. My dad took off for most of my childhood, and now that he’s retiring soon, everyone assumed I’d stick around to play catch-up and wait for him to maybe come back.
It’s ridiculously sad, but I keep starting these businesses with the hope he’ll finally start to pay attention to me.
I’ve never even liked cutting hair, let alone owning a salon.
But I think I’ve had enough of trying. I have to stop putting my life on hold for the off chance he was finally ready to give us the time of day, y’know? ”
“I do, actually. It’s not exactly the same, but I haven’t spoken to my dad in three years. Sometimes you have to know when to look out for yourself regardless of the familial obligations you think you have. It’s not always worth the stress and hurt.”
Wanda nods, eyes sparking to life. “Exactly! God, I’m so tired of hearing the guilt trips. Especially around the holidays. I’ve been fending off my mom’s phone calls for weeks.”
“Are you seeing anyone for Christmas?”
“Nah. I’m thinking I might book a trip somewhere hot. Laze the days away on beaches littered with shirtless surfing men.”
I tip my head back and laugh, my chest full and warm. “I’d join you if I could. It’s looking like I’ll be spending Christmas alone. My sister’s going to spend the holidays with her husband’s family, and I don’t feel like being a cling-on while she’s there.”
Wanda doesn’t look at me with pity. No, she’s too busy looking behind me. I spin on my heels and immediately grin at who I find in the doorway.
Wanda moves to greet the customer but stops at my side, our shoulders brushing. Dropping her voice, she says, “Looks like the mother-in-law is here.”
I pinch her underarm, and then she’s breezing past me, her boots clipping the tiles.
“Mrs. Steele, this is a lovely surprise,” I call, following Wanda.
“Eliza,” the older woman corrects me gently before pulling me into her arms and hugging me tight. “And I figured I better stop in to get this old mop of hair done right up for Christmas.”
“You came on the right day. Anna’s the best I have.” Wanda winks at me, leaning back against the desk.
As soon as I’m out of Eliza’s arms, I’m thanking Wanda with a subtle nod. “I try my best.”
“But first, what is this I hear about you spending Christmas alone?” Eliza asks, voice firm, like I imagine it would have been back when she had to scold a young Brody.
Wanda sucks in her lips while Brody’s grandmother stares fiercely at me, expecting an answer and a damn good one at that.
Gesturing toward my station, I suggest, “Let’s get started on your hair first.”
“No. Tell me first so I don’t have the chance to get sidetracked,” she demands. “You are under no circumstances spending Christmas alone.”
“Well, I don’t want to spend another year hanging around my brother-in-law’s family. I’ve done that before, and they’re nice enough to include me, but it’s not the same.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with spending the holidays alone, Eliza,” Wanda puts in.
“Well, then you can call me Mrs. Steele, Wanda,” Eliza tuts.
The salon owner huffs a laugh and pats Eliza on the back. “Just for that, I’m not going to give you all the mini samples you love so much.”
“Okay, you two, break it up.”
I make a show of placing myself between the women before Brody’s grandmother takes my hands and lifts them between us. I soak in her soft gaze, letting it fill me up inside.
“You’ll come to the ranch and spend Christmas with us.”
Her words are kind, but they hold a firmness to them that tells me she’s more so telling than offering. I nearly melt right then and there. It’s truly no wonder Brody is the way he is. Not when he was raised by a woman like this.
“Are you sure I won’t be overstepping? I don’t want to impose.”
“Dear, I don’t think you could impose on our family even if you tried. I’m sure you’re the only thing on Brody’s Christmas list anyway.”
There’s no stopping my smile. God, it spreads so wide my cheeks burn from the stretch. “Then I’d love to spend Christmas at the ranch. I can’t wait.”