Free The Christmas Wish by Katy Regnery Page B

said.
    She turned her attention to them. “I guess. Never really look at them.”
    “Thought you might be out here wishing on a star,” he said, and she could almost feel him blush beside her as he shifted his weight awkwardly. “Stupid thing to say.”
    “No, it’s not. It’s just…I don’t wish on stars.”
    “I thought all women did that stuff.”
    “Not me.”
    “Why not? You don’t believe in wishes?”
    Looking out across the Yellowstone River, she saw some twinkling Christmas lights in the distance, red and orange and green and blue, blinking cheerfully in the darkness. Festive and hopeful, but so very far away.
    “They don’t come true,” she murmured, turning around to lean her back against the railing and face the grimy kitchen door.
    “What’d those guys say to you?”
    She shrugged, pushing her blond curls out of her face. She used the rubber band on her wrist to secure them into a perky ponytail. Didn’t he know who she was? Didn’t he know the things people said about her? To her?
    “Doesn’t matter.”
    “Three soaked guys eating spit in their burgers says it mattered to you.”
    Her hands froze in her hair, a surprised smile spreading across her face as he turned around to face her, his brown eyes catching hers in the dim light.
    “Did you spit—?”
    “It was three to one. Nothing I hate more than a rigged fight.” He stared at her, leaning back against the railing, arms crossed over his chest. “Oh, yeah. Except one thing. I don’t like men who bully women. Ain’t so fond of that either.”
    “What were you in jail for?” she blurted. Once the words were out, she wished she could take them back. She gave him a small smile, meant to reassure him that she wouldn’t judge him regardless of the answer.
    “I cracked open the skull of a man who was bullying a woman.”
    Tess held his eyes, taking a deep, shaky breath. She didn’t know what to say; she just knew she couldn’t look away. “C-call me Tess,” she finally whispered.
    He uncrossed his arms, moving his white apron aside to put his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Go out to dinner with me on Monday night, Tess.”
    “What?”
    “I’m asking you out on a date.”
    “Why?” she murmured, brows knitted in confusion.
    “Because I’d like to get to know you better.”
    “You don’t have to take me to dinner to get to know me better,” she said softly, dropping her eyes.
    “But that’s the way I’d like to do it,” he said, holding out his hand, palm up.
    She looked at his hand then back up at his face. She’d kissed many men in her life. So many men, she couldn’t possibly even guess at how many. But she’d never wanted to kiss a man as desperately as she wanted to kiss Lucas Flynn.
    She placed her hand in his and watched him lift it to his mouth, brush his lips softly against her cold skin. It sent a deluge of shivers up her arm, down her back, made her tingle before turning her insides hot. A small, breathy sound escaped her throat as she stared at the dark brown, lightly wavy hair on the head bent over her hand. Then he released her hand and turned, reaching for the doorknob.
    “Make a wish on a star before you come in,” he said softly, without turning to face her. “It’s Christmastime. It might come true.”
    He slipped inside, leaving her hot and alone under the starry sky.
    ***
    Lucas hadn’t made enough money to buy a car yet, so he trudged the two miles home to the room he rented.
    It was in the basement of an older couple’s house. When he disclosed his past to them, they’d shared with Lucas that they’d lost a son to drugs; he’d done a little time inside, like Lucas. Mrs. Anderson said Lucas had an honest face, and as long as he got his rent in on time they were happy to give him a chance. He was grateful to them for their kindness, and for the cookies he’d occasionally find on his doorstep, or the invitation to join them at the autumn church social. He raked the leaves off