Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 106090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106090 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
The vendor, wisely, stays out of it and hands me the earrings in a small velvet pouch, wishing us a happy holiday.
I turn to Hailey, who looks like she can’t decide whether to be annoyed or touched. “These are yours.”
“Knox.”
“Hailey.”
“You can’t just . . .” She takes a breath. “Why?”
“Because they reminded me of you.”
“You’ve known me for an hour.”
“I’ve known you for a year.”
The words settle between us, and I watch something swirl behind her eyes. A softening. A crack in the wall she keeps so carefully maintained.
“We’ve worked in the same orbit for a year,” she says carefully. “That’s not the same as knowing someone.”
“Isn’t it?”
She doesn’t answer. She just takes the velvet pouch from my hand, and when her fingers graze mine, neither of us pulls away.
“They’re beautiful,” she says quietly as she opens the pouch. She removes her current earrings, simple silver studs, and replaces them with the spirals. They catch the fairy lights, glinting against her hair. “How do they look?”
“Perfect.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s fighting a smile. “You’d say that no matter what.”
“Probably, but that doesn’t make it less true.”
For a moment, we just stand there while the market swirls around us. Lights and music and laughter that somehow doesn’t reach us. We’re in our own pocket of stillness, and I don’t want to leave it.
Then she shakes her head slightly, breaking the spell.
“I need hot cider,” she announces. “And you need to tell me about your taste in Christmas movies.”
“Die Hard.”
She stops mid-step and turns to stare at me. “That’s your answer?”
“It’s a perfectly valid answer.”
“It’s a cop-out. And cliche. I’m having to work hard not to roll my eyes.”
“Die Hard takes place during Christmas. There’s a Christmas party. There’s decorations. There’s holiday music.”
“There’s explosions and machine guns.”
“Those are incompatible with Christmas?”
She laughs, and the sound does something to my entire being. Something warm and bright that I want to hold on to. “Fine. I’ll allow Die Hard. But you have to give me something else. Something sincere.”
We find a cider vendor and I buy two cups, passing one to her. The warmth seeps through my gloves as we start walking south, drifting away from the main market toward quieter streets.
“Scrooged,” I say. “Bill Murray version.”
“That’s a comedy.”
“It’s a dark comedy. There’s a difference.”
“Mmm.” She sips her cider, considering. “What about the classics? Miracle on 34th Street? White Christmas?”
“Haven’t seen them.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life?”
“Never.”
She stops walking. Actually stops, right there on the sidewalk, and stares at me.
“You’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“No.”
“How is that possible? It’s on every channel from Thanksgiving through New Year’s.”
“I don’t watch much TV.”
“It’s a cultural institution, Knox. Jimmy Stewart. Zuzu’s petals. Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”
“I have no idea what any of that means.”
“That’s a crime.”
“Arrest me.”
The words drop an octave without my permission, and Hailey’s gaze drops to my mouth for just a second before snapping back up. I watch her throat move as she swallows.
“Maybe I will,” she says. “Handcuffs and everything.”
Heat coils low in my stomach. “Is that a promise?”
“It’s a threat.”
“I don’t feel threatened.”
“You should.” But she’s almost smiling, and we’ve started walking again, close enough that I’m aware of every inch of space between us. Washington Square isn’t far now, and the arch is visible ahead, lit with thousands of white lights against the darkening sky.
The park is magic. There’s no other word for it. The Christmas tree in the center is massive, towering over the fountain, decorated with ornaments that catch and scatter the light like stars. The arch glows behind us, and everywhere I look, people are smiling and pointing at decorations and taking photos.
And as we stand there, taking it in, the first snowflakes begin to fall.
They drift down slowly, fat and lazy, catching the light as they spiral through the air. Within moments, the world transforms into something softened and hushed.
Hailey turns her face up to the sky with her eyes closed, snowflakes landing on her lashes and melting against her cheeks. She’s smiling, really smiling, and my heart expands until I can barely breathe.
I want to tell her everything. The months of watching. The observations I’ve written down like love letters. I want to lay myself bare and let her see exactly how deep this obsession goes.
But I’m terrified that the truth will break whatever this is. That she’ll look at me with horror instead of warmth. That I’ll lose her before I ever really had her.
“Knox.”
Her voice pulls me back. She’s watching me now, snowflakes caught in her hair, her expression curious.
“You went somewhere,” she says. “Just now. Where did you go?”
I take a breath. In my career, I’ve faced down armed combatants and walked into situations where the odds of walking out were slim, but none of that compares to what I’m about to do.