“You could shower here,” she said.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hard, his lips lingering on hers for so long that she thought for sure they were headed for another bout of shower sex.

“If I shower here, there will be no tree because we’ll spend the day in bed,” he said softly. “And there’ll be no lights on the house or wooden Santa Claus on the roof, or tree in the barn. Your choice, new girlfriend.”

“That’s a tough decision. How about when it’s all done?” she asked.

“Be back in half an hour with an ax.”

“I’ll be ready. The scarf will be tied to my bedpost for afterwards,” she teased.

“Girl, you are evil,” he said.

“Just don’t let Becca change your mind when you call her,” she told him.

He pulled her back into his arms and kissed her until her knees went weak again. “When you call Playboy Blaze, you tell him how you feel right now this minute.”

***

Liz hadn’t been prepared for so many cedar trees. She’d thought it would be like the Hobby Lobby store. A couple of dozen trees to choose from, and she’d stand back, eye them all at once, and pick out the one she wanted. But they’d traipsed through wooded areas with acres of mesquite and a cedar tree tossed in every few hundred yards, and then to an area that had dozens and dozens of trees.

Finally, she found one that appealed to her. She walked around the enormous tree and looked it up and down. With the decorations in the tack room and what she’d bought in her spare bedroom, she had plenty to decorate that very one plus the new one in the house.

“You’d have to get the ladder out to put the topper on it, but then I could see your sexy butt even better,” she said.

“Is my butt cute enough for that job?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. Maybe you better bare it and let me make sure,” she answered.

“Not in this cold wind, but later we’ll talk about that idea. Is this the one?” he asked.

“Yes, it is. It’s the one I want.” She looked up and saw a tiny room on stilts. “What is that?”

“That is Rye’s deer blind,” he said.

“A what?” She frowned.

“It’s what Rye sits in and waits for a deer to come by so he can shoot it. See the slits in the side there? That’s where you slip the rifle out,” he explained as he slung the tote bag from his back and removed a chain saw.

“I thought you were bringing an ax,” she said.

“This will do the job faster.” He revved it up and laid the blade next to the base of the tree.

“How do we get this thing back to the truck?” she yelled above the noise.

“Drag it, darlin’,” he said and then removed a few lower limbs.

She meandered over to the deer blind. It didn’t seem fair to her for hunters to hide up in a place like that, and then shoot the deer when it wasn’t looking. A true hunter should have to chase it and give it a fighting chance. She climbed the ladder to the landing and slung open the door. It was empty except for a folding chair in one corner with what looked like a sleeping bag thrown over it.