Page 86 of Eight Days of Christmas
She shrieked.
Leo gasped, cupping his hands over his mouth looking genuinely worried. “I’m so sorry.” He strolled over to her, trying to get a look at her face. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She took off her hat, fighting against a smile trying to break free, and shook the snow from it, then ran her fingers through her hair.
“Do I need to kiss it? Make it better?” He put on his sweet face, the innocent one that was so obviously fake.
She gave him a look. “Don’t think I won’t get you back. It doesn’t matter how cute you are. Just you wait, when you least expect it, I will get you.”
Smiling, he leaned in close, pulling her hips toward him, and kissed her on the forehead. “Thanks for the warning,” he said, his voice low and husky.
With a shuddering breath, she shoved him away and tugged the hat back on her head. “Okay, enough of this childish behavior. I have shopping to do.”
Leo scrubbed his hands together. “So do I.”
She walked backward, cupped her hands around her mouth and called, “I hope you know this isn’t over, Hoffman.”
He simply laughed and continued walking.
Piles of snow, in heaps taller than Ava, surrounded the shops. Lights wrapped around the trees lining the pathways and big, bulbed lights outlined the wood beams framing the stores. Isabella entered a smaller department store and crossed her fingers, hoping they had what she needed to fill Leo’s box. She needed a pair of Christmas pajamas, a festive mug, hot cocoa, and a holiday movie.
After searching a few stores, she began to doubt she’d ever find the specific movie she was looking for until she made the trip to the drug store across from the shopping center. She found it. A brand-new Blu-ray Disc ofNational Lampoons Christmas Vacation.
When she and Leo were dating, she somehow ended up with his DVD in the boxes she packed for college. When she couldn’t make it home for Christmas that first year, she suggested mailing it to him, but he told her to hold onto it until the next Christmas when they were together. That following Christmas, however, she lied and said her flight home had been canceled due to bad weather conditions. The Christmas after that, Leo didn’t even ask for an excuse for why she wasn’t coming home, and neither of them mentioned the movie again.
This year, they’d finally be together. She knew it was a few years late, but she hoped that when she gave him the traditional Christmas Eve box, it would make up for the missed years.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Leo
It wasn’ta question ofifLeo would give Isabella a gift, it was a question onwhathe would give her. He had some ideas, but it needed to be perfect. He wanted to get her something that would make her smile.
The only problem was, after searching for over an hour, he still hadn’t found anything. He wandered through a boutique that sold local merchandise like Pineridge, Colorado magnets, bumper stickers, T-shirts, and beer koozies. A magnet on a spinning display boasting a snowy mountainous backdrop and a sled gave him a chuckle. He couldn’t resist and swiped it off the display carrying it to the cashier.
On his way to the front counter, Leo spotted Norah and Landon perusing a table of T-shirts and sweatshirts. He eyed them suspiciously as he approached. “Hey, aren’t you two supposed to be shopping separately?”
Norah whipped around. “We were…we did…I mean, we’re done,” she stammered.
“Already?”
“Yep.” Landon puffed out his chest. “And let me tell you, brother, don’t even bother. We found the best gifts. Even with the ten-dollar cap.”
“Yeah, okay. We’ll see about that.” Leo flipped the magnet over and over in his palm.
“What’cha got there?” Norah arched her brow.
“Just a small gift for Izzy.”
Norah’s face brightened. “Really?”
“Alright, simmer down. It’s nothing.” He closed his hand around the magnet.
“Did you ever think that maybe she’s waiting for you to do more than nothing? Maybe she’s waiting for a grand gesture.”
“Izzy’s not like that.” The girl he knew preferred simple.
“Look,” Norah touched his forearm, leaning in closer to him, “I promised I wouldn’t say anything to you but enough is enough. You two are the most stubborn people I know.” She shook her head. “She’s not in love with Harrison. She loves you. But you can’t expect her to change her whole life for nothing.”
