Free Holiday Treasure (Billionaire Bachelors - Book 10) by Melody Anne Page A

the supplies not only for popcorn strands but for some other homemade ornaments as well. Cheap decorating was simple if you had an ounce of knowledge and a desire to do arts and crafts. As she took a minute to control her breathing, she looked at the things she’d amassed with a bit of sadness.
    Making popcorn strands for the trees outside had been a tradition in her family. Her dad loved feeding the birds and squirrels, and they’d all had so much fun threading mountains of popcorn and berries. Of course, her family had eaten as much in goodies as they’d put on the strings, and always did so to the sounds of the Rat Pack singing Christmas songs.
    Kyla didn’t know what had possessed her to buy those things this morning. One minute she’d been doing a little grocery shopping, and the next she’d been checking out with popcorn and cranberries in her cart. That was before she’d even ended up at the Christmas tree lot. There weren’t even any trees outside the apartment building. The act had been completely senseless. Well, it had been until now.
    Maybe her mom had been there with her, and she’d put the items in the cart. The thought made Kyla’s eyes sting — but she was finished feeling sad and refused to shed more tears. It was time to embrace some happiness.
    When she came back into Tanner’s apartment, she found him nailing a couple of boards onto the bottom of the tree, and she watched as the muscles in his shoulders flexed with the swinging of the hammer before he stood and propped the tree up on its makeshift stand.
    “I didn’t take you for the kind of man who could handle a hammer and nails,” she told him. She set down the tree stand she’d grabbed — too late! — and then placed her packages on the kitchen counter. Next, she found a frying pan, put it on the heat, and poured in two tablespoons of oil to it with one kernel. When the kernel popped, she added half a cup of popcorn and waited for the party in the pan to happen. “Hey, Tanner, can you grab a big bowl?”
    He went over to the cupboard and took down the bowl. “I prefer not to be categorized. There are a lot of things I can do that would shock you.” His wink had her blood stirring.
    “I’ll just bet there are,” she said. She certainly couldn’t compete with his level of flirting, but she wasn’t going to just stand there in shock all night, either.
    “I’d be glad to show you,” he offered. And once again, he was suddenly far too close.
    “Why don’t I take the lead and show you how to make popcorn strands?” She gave a nervous laugh and pushed him back, her hand nearly sizzling when it made contact with his rock-hard chest.
    “I have much better ideas on what would be fun,” he said, boxing her in against the counter.
    Tempted.
    But her reasonable side kicked in before she could do something rash, and she brushed past him. Tearing open the bag of cranberries, she put them in a bowl, then grabbed the bag with string and large sewing needles in it.
    “Make yourself useful and thread a couple of needles,” she said before moving back to the counter and picking up her glass of wine. It really was good, and right now, she needed it.
    The sound of the corn popping served as a distraction, and once the large bowl was filled with the puffed kernels, the two of them moved into his living room and began making decorations from opposite sides of his couch.
    “Why is your stay in these apartments temporary?” she asked as she began slipping popcorn onto her string. “Isn’t that what you said?”
    He watched for a moment and then began imitating her, alternating between popcorn and cranberries.
    “It’s a long, boring story,” he finally answered.
    “I don’t mind listening. I have a few long, boring stories of my own if you want to hear,” she said with a brittle laugh. She didn’t really mean that. It wasn’t as if this man would want to hear anything about her. In reality she was pretty boring, or so she