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“Um…you have a stepstool for that thing?”
He leaned in, and his lips pressed right behind my ear. Another shiver rippled through me, ebbing straight into my core.
“I’ve got you covered. Don’t worry.”
He opened the door, and I expected one of those fancy running board steps to pop out. Instead, his hands grasped my middle, and he boosted me up inside as if I weighed nothing. God help me, I hadn’t expected it, and I flailed, squawking in shock. Rylan silently laughed as he buckled me in.
“You’re adorable.”
Adorable? Me? His words repeated on a loop as he ran around to his side of the vehicle and hopped inside.
“So what are we doing?” I asked, trying to gather my dignity around me while he pulled out of the driveway.
“You’re perfect, you know that?”
Heat filled my cheeks, and I ducked my head. “No one has ever thought so before.”
“Well, they’re fools then. You are.”
“Thank you. I think.”
His hand grasped mine. “Definitely a compliment. And what we’re doing is driving around, drinking hot chocolate and checking out the Christmas lights. And at some point, hitting a drive-thru for some food. You requested casual. Sound alright?” He glanced over at me, a tinge of worry on his face. I got the feeling he didn’t do dates like this often.
His uncertainty touched me as much as anything else. I smiled softly and bobbed my head. “Sounds perfect. Lowkey like I asked.”
He grinned. “I actually enjoy the Christmas lights but don’t usually take the time to go around looking at them. I noticed you don’t have any up.”
“I don’t usually decorate. It’s just me at home.”
“Sacrilege!” he teased.
“And I suppose your place is decked out?”
“Of course. Not as much as for Halloween, but it is decorated.”
“You decorate for Halloween?” I whispered, awed. “More than a pumpkin or two?”
“Yes…” The word dragged out as if he wasn’t sure if my reaction was good or bad. “I’m not sure if that’s something I should tell you yet.”
“Seems like the black cat is out of the bag.”
He grimaced, perhaps a little uncomfortable about this part of his life—revealing he was a Halloween geek, anyway. Obviously, in other realms, he loved it.
“I plan it all year, to tell the truth. The people in my neighborhood adore it. One year, I had to be out of town, and my neighbors sent me a letter expressing their disappointment, that I’d let them down by not doing the display and to not let it happen again. So…I guess when we talked about hobbies earlier…that’s my hobby. There’s sound, lights and animatronics. Did I just scare you away?”
Scare me away? Actually, I was charmed. The men I knew tended to be boring. They got together and watched sports. To find out Rylan was so passionate abut something like this just made me like him more.
“Well, I’m kinda locked in your truck right now, so I think you’re safe. Do you dress up?”
“Of course.”
“I dress up every year, too. It’s lowkey, though. We’re not really allowed to wear costumes at work, and I’m usually not home for trick-or-treaters.”
“Next year, you’ll need to go all out. It’s fun. We can…” He trailed off, but I thought I saw him mouth match.
He was thinking of us next year, but he didn’t want to scare me.
And how did I tell him nothing could be farther from happening? His surety about us anchored me after a lifetime of basically being on my own.
