The Christmas Ornament by Gallie DL
Author:Gallie, DL
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DL Gallie
Published: 2024-10-24T00:00:00+00:00
twenty-one
RUBY
Iâve just finished setting up for Wi-ook club, and I smile because I have a surprise for the club this month. An author I absolutely love, Nicole Sanchezâno relation to our current mayorâsent us all copies of the first book in her Love in the Big Apple series. She also sent me a box of books for the store too, hence why I made her this monthâs featured author. Each month, I feature a new author. Last month was Cassie Laelyn and next month, Iâm hoping to feature Rebecca Barber. If things work out, sheâs going to come visit and attend Wi-ook club in person, and thatâs amazing because sheâs from Australia and itâs like eleventy billion miles away from Evergreen Lake.
The bell above the door chimes and when I walk into the main room, I smile when I see Maddox standing there. âYou came,â I utter.
âI said I would. I wasnât sure what time it started but I took a guess that itâd be six.â
âClose, it starts at six thirty.â
âOhh, well, Iâll come back then.â
He turns to leave and I call out, âDonât go.â
He looks at me over his shoulder. âYou sure?â My head nods on its own accord. âOkay,â he agrees. Spinning around, he walks into the store and over to me. Leaning down, he places a chaste kiss on my cheek. âHi,â he whispers.
âHi,â I murmur back.
Standing here, we stare into each otherâs eyes. Iâm accosted with a memory of staring intently into his, except in our memory, weâre both naked in his bed, our legs entwined and my breasts pushed into his chest. The moment is broken when a carâs headlights flash through the front windows of the store.
âCan I get you a drink?â
âSure.â
Walking away from him, he follows and when we step into the other room, he whistles appreciatively. âWow, this is great.â He walks farther into the space, and I watch as he takes it all in. Along the bar is an assortment of red and white wine, a jug of non-alcoholic Christmas punch, and platters of appetizers, both savory and sweet.
Since this is the last Wi-ook meeting of the year, I went all out. Normally itâs just wine and cheese, but tonight we have all the trimmingsâdeli meats, fresh fruit, several different cheese varieties, crackers, nuts, and sweets, so many delicious sweets.
âItâs not normally this flashy, but itâs Christmas so I thought, why not?â
He joins me by the bar, and I hand him his glass of red. Our fingers brush and I feel a spark. It frightens me and I step back, tripping over the box of books for everyone. Before I end up on my ass, Maddox has his arms around me and he saves me from my imminent death, well, from falling over.
âIâve got you,â he purrs, well it sounds like he purrs and, once again, his hands rest on my hips and mine are on his chest. We stand here, precariously close. Our breaths mingle together as he holds me in his arms, the moment is interrupted when a throat clears.
Download
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.
Personalized inhaled bacteriophage therapy for treatment of multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in cystic fibrosis by unknow(176153)
CONSORT 2025 statement: updated guideline for reporting randomized trials by unknow(84584)
Critical evaluation of the ProfiLER-02 study design and outcomes by Vivek Subbiah & Razelle Kurzrock(84219)
Cardiac gene therapy makes a comeback by Oliver J. Müller & Susanne Hille & Anca Kliesow Remes(83989)
Whisky: Malt Whiskies of Scotland (Collins Little Books) by dominic roskrow(74440)
Unveiling the design rules for tunable emission in graphene quantum dots: A high-throughput TDDFT and machine learning perspective by Şener Özönder & Mustafa Coşkun Özdemir & Caner Ünlü(50894)
A yeast-based oral therapeutic delivers immune checkpoint inhibitors to reduce intestinal tumor burden by unknow(40262)
Covalent hitchhikers guide proteins to the nucleus by Alexander F. Russell & Madeline F. Currie & Champak Chatterjee(40216)
Meet the Authors: Christopher R. Mansfield and Emily R. Derbyshire by Christopher R. Mansfield & Emily R. Derbyshire(40096)
Alkaline-earth metals promote propane dehydrogenation with carbon dioxide through geometric effects: Altering the reaction pathway by unknow(32733)
Induced iron vacancies boosting FeOOH loaded on sustainable Fenton-like collagen fiber membrane for efficient removal of emerging contaminants by unknow(32508)
Efficient electric-field-assisted photochemical conversion of methane to n-propanol exclusively over penetrated TiO2Ti hollow fibers by Guanghui Feng(32454)
Bi2SiO5 nanosheets as piezo-photocatalyst for efficient degradation of 2,4-Dichlorophenol by Hangyu Shi & Yifu Li & Lishan Zhang & Guoguan Liu & Qian Zhang & Xuan Ru & Shan Zhong(32388)
A novel NDIPTA organic heterojunction photocatalyst with built-in electric field for efficient hydrogen production by Jiahui Yang & Baojun Ma & Yongfa Zhu(32361)
Enhanced conversion of methane to liquid-phase oxygenates via hollow ferrite nanotube@horseradish peroxidase based photoenzymatic catalysis by Jun Duan & Shiying Fan & Xinyong Li & Shaomin Liu(32333)
Ordered macroporous superstructure of defective carbon adorned with tiny cobalt sulfide for selective electrocatalytic hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde by Xiao-Shi Yuan & Sheng-Hua Zhou & San-Mei Wang & Wenbo Wei & Xiaofang Li & Xin-Tao Wu & Qi-Long Zhu(32258)
What's Done in Darkness by Kayla Perrin(27150)
Topological analysis of non-conjugated ethylene oxide cored dendrimers decorated with tetraphenylethylene: Insights from degree-based descriptors using the polynomial approach by A Theertha Nair & D Antony Xavier & Annmaria Baby & S Akhila(26523)
Investigation of mechanical and self-healing properties of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene functionalized with 2-ureido-4-pyrimidinone by Mohsen Kazazi & Mehran Hayaty & Ali Mousaviazar(26459)