make it obsolete. It surrounds the entire property line, Jaden. Don’t disappoint
me.”
Fuck, I’d forgotten all about that.
“I won’t,” I promised.
Darren nodded. “I’ll be back soon,” he said, breaking the kiss and gazing down
at me.
And then he was gone.
I turned around to face my new task, noticing how big the damn tree was. It
would take me a while to decorate it all by myself, but I was still thankful to have
something to do while Darren was gone.
Unstacking the red bins, I rummaged through the contents. One bin contained
all kinds of lights, one with beads and tinsel, and the other three with all kinds of
ornaments and tree toppers. About five minutes later, the door opened, and a guard
walked in with a large stepping stool.
“Thank you,” I said as he placed it down near the tree.
He gave me a short nod and then exited the room without a single word. It was
still weird that people were actually afraid to talk to me because of Darren or maybe
because they knew I could potentially get them killed. Ignoring it, I turned up the
radio that was playing the Christmas carols and got to work.
An hour later, I had successfully decorated the shit out of the tree. The warm
glow of the white lights cascaded against the colorful glass bulbs that twinkled in
the light. The silver tinsel was a nice complement to the silver accents on the red,
gold, and silver tree skirt. The only thing that was missing was the damn tree
topper. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted. There was either a classic star that lit
up or an angel, and for some reason, I didn’t like either choice. I wanted something
different, something fun.
I looked among the decorations to see if anything else could be used, rummaging
through the bins again until I came across a red Santa hat. I laughed at the idea and
immediately started to climb the ladder but slumped when I realized I still came up
too short. I could barely reach the top of the tree. Standing on my tiptoes, I leaned
forward, doing my best to watch my balance as my arm stretched as far as it could
go to place the Santa hat on the top. And that was when I felt the ladder give out.
31
PLANS
W hen I was finished making sure every security measure was in place, and every
plan set for tomorrow, I headed back to the room to check on Jaden and her
progress with the Christmas tree. I was impressed with the speediness of the staff,
considering I’d only given them barely two days’ notice to ready the house. I
surprised myself with how much money I was willing to spend on Jaden without
even blinking an eye, but then again, the smile on her face when she first laid eyes
on everything was fucking priceless. I’d give just about anything to see her smile
like that again.
I nodded at the guard who was standing watch by the room and opened the door
to find Jaden standing at the top of the short stepladder, leaning over far too much
to place whatever the fuck was in her hand on the top of the tree. Only slightly
panicking, I quickly made my way over to her just in time to catch her when the
ladder to gave out and her body fell forward. My arms instantly shot out, catching
her before she fell face first into the nicely decorated tree she’d just finished.
Jaden gasped in surprise in my arms as I pulled her securely to my chest. She
turned her cheek around to look at me just in time to notice the glare I was sure I
had plastered all over my face. I hated when she put herself in positions like this.
“Nice catch,” she said. It was the closest I was going to get to a thank you.
“What the hell were you trying to do?”
She huffed, and I found it oddly cute. “I was trying to top the tree, but I can’t
really reach it with just the ladder.”
I looked at the top of the tree, realizing it was, in fact, too tall for her to reach,
and laughed. She could kick most men in the head with her adorable little feet, but
she couldn’t successfully top a tree without knocking over her stepladder.
My throat still filled with laughter, I righted her in my arms before lifting her
onto my shoulders, giving her the height she needed to reach the top of the tree.
She positioned herself the way she needed to without protest and placed her topper
on the tree, adjusting it the way she wanted it.
“Done,” she said, and I lowered myself to let her down. She then immediately
stood tall and looked back to admire her work. “What do you think?” she asked me.
I took a good look at her work and found myself admiring her design. Her
strategic placement of the bulbs
