Christmas Wishes (novella) (3 page)

“What?”

“You said dinner was your shout,” Dean said.

“But I thought you said that wasn’t enough?” Talli led the way through the outer room.

Dean marveled at the clean space. The toy explosion from earlier was nowhere to be seen. “I said it would cost more than one dinner. Consider pizza a partial payment.”

Talli laughed. “Like a payment plan?”

“Sure, why not? Doesn’t matter what you call it, you still owe me big for today. Pizza can be the down payment.”

Talli was busy juggling bags and trying to unlock the safety gate, so he couldn’t read her expression when she replied, “You better not charge interest.”

“Here, let me get that,” Santa – minus his hat and beard – rushed over.

“Oh, thanks Wade. Have you seen Em?”

“Um…” Wade looked behind him. “She’s finishing up some last minute things. The centre is closed for the holidays after today.”

“I know. Could you let her know I’ll have everything to her the first week she reopens?” Talli asked as she walked through the open gate, Dean right behind her.

“Sure,” Wade answered and closed the gate after them. “Have a good Christmas.”

“You too, and I hope Santa brings you everything on your wish list,” Talli said.

Wade laughed, his fake Santa belly wobbling. “I’m a little old for wish lists – and a little naughty.”

“You’re never too old or too naughty to make a list,” Dean said. “It’s having the wish granted that I seem to have problems with.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Talli asked.

“Well, have a good Christmas anyway. I’ll pass the message on to Emily,” Wade said as he disappeared back into the depths of the daycare.

“You still make a wish list?” Talli asked as they exited the main door.

“Sure. I don’t write them down in a Santa letter like I did as a kid, but I make one every year.”

“Really? You don’t strike me as the fanciful type,” Talli said. “Although now that I think about it, I was the one who told you Santa wasn’t real when we were twelve.”

Dean frowned. “That was the first time you broke my heart.”

Talli snorted. “As if. I’m not sure you even have a heart.”

“You wound me.” If his arms weren’t loaded down with boxes, Dean would have thrown a hand over the heart she thought non-existent. “And to think I call you friend.”

She bumped his arm with hers. “You’re a big boy. You can take it.”

“Wish I could take you,” Dean mumbled under his breath as he let Talli get a few steps ahead of him.

“What?” She glanced back.

“Nothing.” He tried to look innocent, but feared he missed the mark when she narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

Dean stopped next to the back of Talli’s car and waited for her to pop the trunk. She kept giving him sideways glances, but he remained quiet until they’d finished loading all her gear.

“Want me to drive? You must be exhausted.”

Talli laughed and patted his shoulder. “Nice try, but no. I’m fine.”

With a sigh, Dean walked to the passenger door. He didn’t doubt they’d make it to Talli’s in one piece. She may drive like a lunatic, but she’d been right when she pointed out her accident record. None of the three she’d been involved with were her fault. His record wasn’t even as good. Resigned, he climbed into the car and waited for the inevitable roller coaster ride to begin.

Talli couldn’t decide if the quiet ride home was a good or bad sign. Tension hung heavy in the air, the kind that popped and sizzled, and set every nerve ending on red alert. She could only assume it had to do with her new hyper-awareness of Dean. Of course if she stuck to her
don’t think, don’t
touch
rule when it came to Dean the highly sexual energy crackling around them should be ignored. Or at least left alone.

Traffic was heavy but everyone heading home meant Talli wouldn’t have a problem getting a parking spot in front of her studio. She had her private spot at the back of her building, but she never used the back entrance and carting her equipment from there would be a pain, even with Dean’s help. As she approached the driveway for the small parking area that ran the length of the little strip mall, her eyes scanned the available spots for the one closest to her front door. Seeing one directly outside, Talli breathed a sigh of relief. Even though she’d denied it earlier, she was exhausted and wasn’t looking forward to unloading her gear at all.

Talli turned into the driveway as Mr. Lewis, the florist, stepped out of his shop and waved. Giving him a finger-wave while keeping both hands on the steering wheel to appease Dean, she eased along the short section of pavement and pulled into the vacant spot at her door. She’d love nothing more than to head upstairs to her loft and the expensive bathtub she’d had fitted to soak away the day’s grime and fatigue. But her day wasn’t over and there would be no indulging in a scented bath before Dean left anyway.

Resigned to her fate, Talli switched off the engine and opened her door. “I’ll go unlock the studio and prop the door so we can cart everything inside.”

“Pop the trunk and I’ll grab the first load,” Dean said as he climbed out of the car.

She watched him as he maneuvered his long legs from beneath the dashboard. Funny how she’d never taken notice of how squished he was in her car. It was rare for her to drive them anywhere. Dean always insisted on taking his monster four-wheel-drive. Not that she complained; she kind of liked his take-care-of-everything ways.

Dean leaned his head back in the car. “You all right?”

Talli gave herself a mental slap and sucked in a deep breath. The quicker they got this done, the quicker she could get to that bath her body badly needed. “Yeah, just taking a second to run through my mental to-do list.” As excuses went it wasn’t a bad one. It was at least good enough to satisfy him.

“Well hurry up. I’m starving and you owe me pizza.” Dean straightened and shut the door.

“Shit.” How’d she forgotten they were supposed to have dinner? Maybe she could beg off for another night. Who was she kidding? This was Dean. Once his stomach got involved there was no changing his mind. With a deep sigh, Talli slipped the keys from the ignition as she swung her legs out of the car and stood.

She pressed the fob to unlock the trunk and stepped onto the sidewalk. In three strides she was at her door fitting the key into the metal security gate. The tumblers clicked and whirred as the state-of-the-art door released the four steel rods that held the four-inch-thick outer frame within the re-enforced doorway. It might seem overkill for a small shop in a relatively safe suburb, but Talli had more than fifty thousand dollars worth of equipment inside these four walls. And while she had insurance, it was best to discourage any would-be thieves.

Swinging the big gate inwards, Talli slammed it into the doorstopper specially designed to keep it out of the way during studio hours. Then she went to work on the door that opened to the inner sanctum of her world. It didn’t matter how many times she entered this building, her chest still filled with pride and accomplishment. As the glass door opened, she slipped her hand inside and flicked on the lights.

The reception area was infused with a soft glow, the recessed down lights bathing the furniture and floor in a warm, welcoming sheen. Talli couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her mouth. To see her dream come to life, to touch it with her fingers, to live the reality of years of planning and hard work was, at times, mind-blowingly surreal. She sometimes felt the urge to pinch herself just to be sure she wasn’t dreaming, but most of all she thanked her lucky stars every day for her good fortune.

“Hey, what’s the hold up?” Dean asked behind her.

She turned to find him, arms full, standing in the doorway. “Oops, sorry. You can put those in the back room.”

“Okay.” Talli moved aside to let Dean pass. “You want to order pizza while I get the rest of your gear?”

“I can’t let you do all the heavy lifting.”

“Why not?” Dean arched one eyebrow. “I’m a big boy; I can take it.”

Talli couldn’t help but smile when he tried to flex his biceps only to make the boxes in his arms wobble. He did some quick juggling and, with a sheepish grin, managed to not drop any of her expensive cameras.

“I’ll go put these away and grab the rest.” Dean turned and headed down the hallway.

She stood, feet planted firmly on the floor, and watched her best friend walk away. His jean-covered butt hitched up and down as his powerful legs carried him along the hall. Helpless to stop herself, Talli ogled the tantalizing view as it disappeared into the back of her studio. Damn. Why hadn’t she ever noticed how he walked? With loose hips and smooth strides, his long legs ate up the ground with effortless motion. A sound from behind snapped her out of her reverie and she spun around to discover Nick from the café next door.

“Oh, hey, Nick. You’re here late.” Talli glanced at the clock on the far wall. Yep, five-twenty was about two hours past close for her friend.

“Ahem, yeah, I, um…” Nick looked flushed, his cheeks were pink and a sheen of sweat coated his top lip.

It wasn’t like Nick to struggle for words. “Is something wrong?”

“What? Oh, no, I just wanted to know if you wanted to grab some dinner and maybe catch a movie.” Nick’s face turned a deep red.

Was he asking her out on a date?

“Sorry buddy, Talli has a date for dinner already.” Dean stepped up behind her and cupped her shoulders with his hands.

“Oh. I didn’t realize…” Nick’s eyes widened as his gaze bounced from her to Dean. Talli realised he thought she and Dean were together.

“It’s not–” Dean’s fingers dug into her flesh causing her to suck in a breath. What the hell was he doing?

Dean clenched his jaw and tried to keep a rein on the green-eyed monster riding his back. He wanted to punch Nick in the nose. Not that the guy had done anything inappropriate at all. He’d only asked Talli out, which wasn’t really a punchable offence. Unless you currently lived in Dean’s world where it seemed just looking at Talli could get you beat up.

“I’ll, um, just…” Nick glanced anywhere but at Dean. “See you later.”

“See ya. Have a good weekend.” Dean grinned as the other man left. His smile didn’t last long.

Talli spun around, placed her hands on his chest and shoved hard. “What the hell was that?”

“What?” He folded his arms across his chest and stood his ground.

“That, that, whatever the hell that was.” She tipped up on her toes to get right in his face. “You acted like we were going out.”

“Are we or are we not having dinner together?” If he played this right he could convince her he’d done nothing wrong.

“Yes, but–”

“So I told the truth.”

“You said it was a date!” Her warm breath fanned over his face, her lips centimetres from his, and he wanted to lean forward and kiss her.

“It
is
a date for dinner.” Dean could see her frustration increasing.

“But it’s not
that
kind of date.”

“What kind?” He tried for a confused look.

“Argh.” Talli threw up her hands and stormed off. “I’m going to check my voice mail while you bring the rest of my stuff in,” she yelled as she disappeared into her office.

A chuckle escaped before Dean could stop it. Luckily Talli didn’t hear. With a smile on his face he made his way back to the car for the last of her equipment. And to add a little insurance to the evening, he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed the pizza delivery joint they used when at Talli’s. Order placed, he pocketed his phone and collected the remaining bags in the trunk.

Throwing the two backpacks over one shoulder, he nabbed the handles of the plastic bags in one hand and slammed the lid closed with the other. Mr. Lewis down the way waved and Dean reciprocated. As he turned back to Talli’s shop, movement in the café next door caught his eye. Watching him from behind the front window was Nick. The other man stared at him, disappointment written all over his face, but Dean couldn’t find it in him to feel sorry for the guy. Not when it meant he had Talli to himself for the evening.

Shrugging it off, he offered a wave and headed back inside. He used his foot to unlock the doorstop for the security gate and pushed it shut. There was no point locking it until after the pizza arrived. For safety, he closed the glass door and turned the deadbolt. With the shop secured, he headed towards the back and the big room Talli used as her work area. The studio was broken up into sections, the entry area where customers browsed through portfolios or waited to be photographed, the two set rooms, Talli’s office, and finally the large open room where she kept all her equipment and did the bulk of her behind the scenes work.

Proud and happy Talli had attained her dreams, he surveyed his surroundings. They’d built most of the place together, he with his carpentry skills and she as his labourer. She’d designed the layout and he’d help with electrical and plumbing placement. The fact she’d deferred to his superior knowledge while not compromising on what she wanted only endeared her to him more. He loved her. Had for years, without acknowledging the depth of the emotion. His love for Talli had grown from their friendship until now, when it was too big to contain under that label.

In that moment Dean finally gave everything he felt free rein and accepted the truth. There was no turning back. She’d either love him in return or he’d have to walk away. He couldn’t stand to see her find happiness with another man. He’d been a fool for so long and he didn’t plan on being one anymore. After tonight they’d be a couple or life as he knew it would be over.

“Hey, you all right?”

Dean turned his head to find Talli standing in the doorway to her office watching him. “Yeah. Why?”

“You’ve been standing there, still as a statue for a good five minutes. What were you thinking about?”

It was on the tip of tongue. Three little words. Eight letters. But if he said them everything would change. He wanted one more night of Talli before he stepped off the edge and voiced what was in his heart. So instead of revealing his vulnerability, he gave her another truth.