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She blurts out a laugh. “Uh, because I met you a week ago, and I can’t just ask you to take me in. I’m sure one of my friends could⁠—”

I shake my head. There’s no way she’s sleeping on someone’s couch. That’s not happening. I shift my stance. “Actually, you’d be helping me out.”

She lifts her chin at me, but I can tell she’s curious. “What do you mean by that?”

Thank God, I’m quick on my feet. “Well, I know you’re busy, but I was hoping I could hire you to decorate my house for Christmas.”

She tilts her head in disbelief. “You… Nicholas Winters… want your house decorated for Christmas?”

I pop a shoulder. “What can I say? You’ve changed me.”

She looks at me doubtfully, and I can see that she’s about to say no. I lay the clothes in my arms across her bed and then stop in front of her. She looks so sad, and it’s killing me. I put my hands on her shoulders. “Please stay with me. You will have your own room. I don’t want you living on someone’s couch or worrying about where you’re staying at night.”

She blinks up at me. “Nick, you can’t just… I mean… I can’t.”

I can see the tears forming in her eyes, and I bring her to me, wrapping my arms around her. “Hey, please don’t cry, baby. I can’t stand to see you cry.”

She sobs into my chest, and I would give anything to make it stop. Fuck. I lean back and look at her. “Okay, fine, you don’t have to stay with me. I can get you a hotel room at the⁠—”

She shakes her head. “That’s not it. That’s not why I’m crying.”

I cup her face and use my thumbs to wipe her cheeks. “Well, then tell me why you’re crying.”

She takes a deep breath and puts a hand to my chest. “You can say you don’t do Christmas all you want, Nicholas Winters, but you have more Christmas spirit in you than you realize.”

I hold her hand to my chest. I’m not sure what this woman is doing to me, but she’s made my life better in just the short time I’ve known her. I know she’s going to be a temptation I can’t resist by moving her into my house, but there’s no way I can just stand by while she worries about a place to live. I force myself to step back even though it’s the last thing I want to do. I’m not going to take advantage of the situation. “Come on. We can get the stuff out of here and over to my place before lunch.”

I grab the stack of clothes off the bed, and on my way out the door, I call over my shoulder, “Text me your landlord’s information, Joy. I wanna talk to him if it’s okay.”

Her voice sounds so small. “Okay.”

With my afternoon cleared, I have plenty of time to make Joy’s day better, and I plan to do exactly that.

6

JOY

The closer it gets to Christmas, the busier I get. Normally I love this time of year. I love going to houses and businesses, turning everything festive. But this year, it feels like I’m trying to fit twice as much into every day. By the time I finish catching up on the jobs I missed because of the pipe bursting in my apartment, I’m exhausted.

I pull into Nick’s driveway and sit in my car for a second, staring up at his house. I still can’t believe I’m staying here. The place is huge. It’s big with dark brick, tall windows, and a big wraparound porch. It’s very organized looking. At least it was.

Now there’s garland wrapped around the porch railing, wreaths on the windows, lights around the front door, and big Christmas trees in planters on each side of the steps.

I smile as I get out of the car. I’ve been staying with Nick for a few days now, and in between my other jobs, I’ve been slowly decorating his house.

The only thing left is the big tree in the living room, and that’s going to be decorated tonight. I unlock the front door and step inside. It still feels weird just letting myself in, but he told me to do it. “Nick?”

He calls out, “In the kitchen.”

I set down my purse and tote bag and walk into the kitchen to find Nick standing at the stove in jeans and a dark T-shirt, stirring something in a pot.

I blink at him. “What are you doing?”

He turns around. “Making dinner.”

“I thought it was my turn to cook.”

He shrugs and smiles at me. “You’ve been busy all day, so I thought I’d just come home and get started.”