Noah took the tree off the car roof and carried it in the house, allowing for little assistance from Veronica.
Between the two of them, they put it up in her living room. Noah turned on the radio and they began decorating. Veronica tried not to be too obvious about how nervous she was suddenly feeling, being around Noah. He seemed just a little too content tonight. There was almost a gleam in his eyes, but after a few songs, she forced herself to snap out of it and enjoyed their decorating evening.
"Ooh, now for my favorite part." She brought a small wooden step stool from the kitchen into the living room and placed it next to the tree. Noah smiled curiously as she took a small bundle wrapped in tissue paper out of a box and unwrapped it carefully. The beautiful and very delicate crystal star tree-topper was as she always remembered it.
"Fancy," Noah said, admiring it.
"It's been in the family for generations."
Noah pulled his hands away. "Then I'm not touching it. I might break it."
Veronica giggled. "You don't have to. It's been my job to place it atop the Christmas tree since I was five. I do it every year. My grandmother said the tradition gets passed on to the newest member of the family, but since no one was ever born after me in the family, I've been the only one doing it ever since."
She stepped up on the stool and proceeded carefully to place the star at the very top of the tree. It took her a few tries before she got it just right. As she pulled her arm away slowly, making sure she didn't disturb the tree, the stool wobbled a bit.
"Careful!" Noah reached out for her hand, but instinctively and a bit panicked, she pulled back before their fingers touched.
"I'm okay." Only she jerked back so fast the sudden movement made the stool wobble even more and down she went—right into his arms.
The stool fell all the way over, but Noah held her safely. With their bodies touching now, the reality sunk in fast—she was in Noah's big strong arms.
She could feel his heart begin to thud against her own.
"You okay?"
Veronica nodded, her betraying eyes going slowly from his eyes to his lips, and though she knew she should, she couldn't pull herself away. He licked his bottom lip, and she stared, imagining how his beautiful lips would feel against hers. His hold on her tightened a little. Was this really happening? Was she going to let him kiss her?
Unable to control it, her body shivered, and she closed her eyes, squeezing them tight as she willed away the incredible urge to give into the moment.
"What is it?"
"Noah." She finally found the strength to pull away gently.
"What's wrong?" The concern in his voice was genuinely tender.
"What happened today at the gym . . . I feel like . . ." She glanced away from him, focusing on the star on the tree. "I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about us. I like this: how things are between us."
"I love it."
She turned back to him. God, she hoped he understood. "I love it too, Noah. And that's exactly why we have to keep it this way. If things change—"
"Okay." Noah said a bit too quickly, and Veronica caught the alarm in his eyes. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"I'm not. It's just that your friendship means the world to me now. I want to make sure you're aware of that."
He stared at her. "I am aware of it, and don't worry, I feel the same way."
Finally, the anxiousness she'd begun to feel ever since he'd gotten in Edward's face at the gym eased a bit. "Good." Hoping to lighten up the moment, she glanced back up at the star on the tree again and smiled. "Looks good, right?"
"It's perfect," he said in a near murmur.
She continued to admire the tree, trying to focus on the memories of decorating it with her mother and grandparents. Instead, all she could do was obsess in her head about what they would be doing that very moment had she given in to the temptation. Would it have gone further than a kiss? She turned to him and smiled as the images of her undressing him became too vivid. "I worked up an appetite. How 'bout you?"
"Actually, food sounds great right about now," Noah smiled, following her out of the living room.
Shaking off all the built up anxiety, Veronica headed to the kitchen. She really wasn't very hungry at all. She just needed something to change the subject and mood fast. "So what are you asking Santa for this year, Noah?"
"I already have all I need."
Veronica turned to him from the fridge. "Really?" She didn't want him to guess she was digging, but she did want to get him a little something, and she had no idea what would be appropriate. She was hoping for some clue to something simple and fun. She turned and looked into the fridge, trying to sound casual. "No special cookies or gadget you'd want to indulge yourself with?"
He shook his head. "Nope, how 'bout you?"
"I usually just go shopping after the holidays when everything is on special."
"But you have to open something Christmas morning." Noah insisted.
Veronica pulled out some pastrami and began to unwrap it. "Don Roberto from across the street brought me something. I'm one hundred percent sure it's jam. He has a plum tree, and he makes some every year and passes jars of the stuff out for Christmas. But he wraps it in a pretty bag, so I can open that." Veronica smiled. "And Nellie dropped her present off early since she'll be on a cruise all week."
She looked up in time to see him frown. "So she'll be gone again. How are you spending Christmas?"
"Like I always do. In my jammies all day, watching holiday movie marathons." She stirred the pastrami in the pan. The instructions said microwave, but she liked it crisp.
"I don't own pajamas, but I can watch with you in my sweats."
Veronica didn't look up from the pan. She hated feeling thrilled that he wanted to spend the entire day with her watching movies, but she couldn't help it. Before she could respond, he spoke again.
"Speaking of Christmas, Jack's having the gym's annual employee Christmas dinner this weekend. You should come with me."
Veronica turned to him as she moved the pastrami around in the pan, the unease creeping in again. Was he asking her on a date? "A Christmas dinner?"
"Yeah, it's not formal or anything. Since he leaves the place up to us, we only ever choose two places. Rio's, the pizza place we were at the other night, or Chente's, a Mexican seafood hole-in-the-wall over on Evergreen."
"I've been to Chente's. They have good food."
Noah smiled. "Well, that's where it's at this year. It's completely informal, but it's fun."
"Won't it be just employees though?"
"Are you kidding me? Jack will just pay for us, but everyone shows up. Like after the fight the other night, Gio's sisters usually show up too."
Veronica lifted a shoulder. If she ever wanted this thing between her and Noah to feel normal, she had to stop making more out of everything they did and he said. "I haven't had Chente's in a while. I love their shrimp fajitas."
"Damn, that sounds good. We'll order that on Saturday."
And just like that, it was settled. Veronica was going to Noah's Christmas dinner with him. But not with him, with him, she told herself. Just with him.