Stranger in my Bed (full series) by James Kristen

Author:James, Kristen [James, Kristen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2015-04-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

I grab my heavy brown coat, hat, and gloves and bundle up. Eli pulls on a tan Carhartt coat and goes to the back of the truck, where he pauses and asks me, “Maybe we should look for a tree first.”

I glance into the truck bed and see an ax and chainsaw.

“For the tree.” Eli says it like he can’t believe he has to say it. Am I the crazy one here?

Tiny flakes fall on his hair while he stares at me. All the light bouncing off the snow makes his brown eyes look softer, warmer. That’s how mine look in the mirror, a startling thought because it makes me picture babies with our brown eyes.

Keeping his gaze on me, Eli takes several slow steps and leans in to kiss me softly on the mouth—a sweet, lingering kiss that makes me close my eyes briefly, enjoying the feel of his lips on mine. He pulls back just enough to look into my eyes for a long minute.

“Okay, let’s find a tree.” I turn toward the forest. Now that we’re out of the truck, I can see into the trees. It’s not quite as dense here in this forest of younger trees. They’re not pines, that much I can tell, but I’m not sure what grows here. We start into the trees and I blow out a breath to watch it puff in the cold.

Eli leads the way, empty handed—I think until I remember the gun. My heartbeat sounds in my ears but I slap my fears down. Eli’s right that it doesn’t make any sense.

“I was hoping there would be noble firs,” he says, pushing a branch back for us to walk between two trees. “The forest service guy said they grow above three thousand feet.”

“Is that the kind of tree you had growing up?”

“A few times. We had one too. You said it was the most beautiful Christmas tree you ever had.”

I look over at him as he surveys the trees all around us. Back in the hospital, I didn’t feel anything for him, not like I do now. I try to remember what I thought then, but it comes back as a big, scary blur right now. I’m not sure when this attraction started, or how it continues to grow even while I’m infuriated with him and his stories.

“Are you even looking?”

“Yes, I’m looking.” Maybe not at trees, but I was looking. I turn around in a circle. They’re everywhere, five to ten feet tall, with sparse branches. The needles grow flat. They have a completely different look to them, but I do remember seeing one decorated, the ornaments hanging down between the branches…and tinsel, glittering from all the little needles.

“See one you like?”

“I’m not sure yet.” I spot a nice one but the backside is bare. Eli walks next to me.

“That’s an elk rub, where the branches and bark are all rubbed off.” He looks around. “I bet it was from this year. There’s sign on the ground too.

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