Page 16 of Mistletoe Mischief

Cassandra jerked in her boots. Wife? The thought sent a little thrill through her, but she tamped it down. The thought of marriage had never ever entered her mind, not with any man.

Roger just smiled, though, like he heard it every day and moved deeper into the store. They wandered the aisles and talked about the things they saw; snacks, books, movies. The travel plaza catered to a large truck driver clientele, so there was actually a very large selection of just miscellaneous stuff.

Then they came to the Christmas tree. Obviously, it was meant for the truckers who hadn’t had a chance to shop for the loved ones in their lives before they headed home. Beneath the tree were stacks of wrapped presents, with small, white removable tags suggesting who they could go to. Male gift, female gift, male child eight to ten. It was actually an ingenious, convenient little set up. The truckers were usually men away from their families and this gave them an opportunity to not look like they sucked when they came home empty handed.

Roger’s mouth split in a grin as he looked from the tree back to her. “If I had known I was going to have this much fun with you, I’d have bought you a Christmas present before the date. Want to shop here? Now?”

Cass barked out a laugh, but the suggestion kind of appealed to her as well. There was an intriguing playfulness in the thought of getting a completely random gift.

“Let’s do it!”

She started sorting through the packages, looking for one for a male. The prices on the tags ranged from a few dollars to several hundred dollars. She found a long, thin one, and discarded it. Then she found a tall, rectangular, heavy one. It had a tag for a male, but was wrapped in glittery pink paper. Giggling, she cradled the box to her chest. “Okay, I have mine.”

Roger looked at the paper and narrowed his eyes at her in a skeptical look. “Really?”

Turning to the tree, he started sorting through the packages. Within a few minutes, he found a long tubular package. It was at least two feet long and was actually wrapped pretty nicely, in silver paper and a red bow.

Cassandra’s stomach clenched at the thought of getting a present, and it was a stupid reaction. But since her brother had been gone, she hadn’t had enough of a connection to anyone to get more than generic gifts from the girls at the office when they did the holiday exchange.

How sad was that?

They got in line to pay and she was surprised at the amount that rang up for Roger’s gift.

“That’s too expensive,” she hissed behind him, poking him in the ribs.

He shushed her and blocked her with his broad shoulder.

“No, it’ssnot,” he whispered.

She looked at him sharply, trying to decide if she’d heard what she thought she did. His eyes glinted with suppressed laughter and she shook her head at him.

“Why are all men so gross?”

Before she could challenge him again, he swiped his card and the transaction was completed. Cass huffed as she rang up her own items, then followed him back out to the Jeep. Roger started the car and bumped up the heat, but then he turned in his seat. “Do you want to eat or open our gifts first?”

Excitement bubbled up inside her and she allowed herself to grin at him. “Presents.”

With a single nod, he handed her the pretty wrapped package. “You first.”

She shook her head adamantly. “Nope. You first. I want to draw my excitement out a little more.”

Laughing, Roger nodded. Holding the package down against the center console with his prosthetic, he started peeling back the paper with his other hand. Cass turned in her seat, leaning forward to see what was revealed. Roger seemed to be deliberately going slow, and making her wonder. When he finally pulled back the package, he had a surprised look on his face.

“Well, I’ll be darned…”

Inside the pretty pink wrapping paper was a fairly comprehensive looking micro tool set. Roger popped open the lid. “You know, this is the size I use on one of the adjustments on my elbow joint.”

Though it was covered with the jacket, he indicated the inside of his right elbow.

“This is a surprisingly appropriate gift.” Leaning forward, he coaxed her in for a kiss. Cass met him halfway. She was more than happy to, actually. “Thank you for my gift, baby. I love it. I know you put a lot of time into picking it out and wrapping it just right.”

They laughed together at the ridiculousness of the statement. He nodded his head at the brightly wrapped package at her feet.

“Your turn.”

Cass lifted the gift and began to peel the paper, trying not to tear it.

“Are you actually going to use that paper again?”