All I Want - a Tryst With a Twist Read Free Page A

just gotten her third steam burn today from the frothing spigot while making an extra-large soy milk mocha latte double foam, she didn’t mind the extra hours because she knew she’d be returning to an empty apartment. She clocked out and grabbed her coat. Walking out into the cool December air, she soothed her newest burn by rubbing gently over the mark near her thumb. But, the cold won out, and she slipped on her gloves.
    Since there was no rush to get home, she could take her time on her walk home and maybe ogle a certain tree salesman for awhile. Her husband worked ungodly hours during the holidays. They needed the extra money for the next semester of university, so they sacrificed their time together temporarily.
    When she approached the tree lot, she slowed her pace to make sure Lawson saw her. Their eyes connected and she sent him a small wave and a smile. He was busy talking to a family of six who couldn’t decide between a flocked Fir or a Blue Pine, but he couldn’t help the smile that covered his face, and waved back.
    She didn’t linger tonight and went home, knowing that’s all he could give her at the time. When she entered her apartment, she clicked on the lamp nearest the couch, and unwound her scarf from around her neck. Tossing her purse and coat down on the arm of the couch, she started to undress and get more comfortable. In hopes of having a tree delivered especially for her, she went to the hall closet and pulled the boxes of decorations from the very back and set them in front of the TV.
    Wanting to remember the feel of Lawson and his hands on her body from earlier that afternoon, she lay down on the couch, pulled a blanket over her, and grabbed the remote. After turning on the twenty-four hour Christmas music station, she closed her eyes, and let the vivid memories of his touch cover her.
    At ten-thirty, she heard a light knock on her front door, waking her up. She had fallen asleep bundled up on the couch. The knock was soft, but insistent, and she scampered from the warmth of the couch, opening the door wide.
    “Hi.” She stood in her panties and tank top with her hand on her hip, tilting her head and questioning Lawson. “You’re back sooner than I expected.”
    “I hope you don’t mind, beautiful. But I saw this tree and wanted to give it to you,” he said, presenting the sad, little, sparse-needled Fir to her.
    Her heart swooned at the sweet gesture. “You remembered.”
    “How could I ever forget? You say the same thing every year, bring me the tree that no one else wants, and we’ll give it a good home.”
    Christina wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck, and hummed. “Happy anniversary, honey.”
    He kissed her with all the love they have shared over the last five years. “Happy anniversary, my beautiful wife.”
    As he dragged the tree into their tiny living room, he noticed she had pulled their two boxes of ornaments out of storage in preparation of their Christmas Eve ritual. Christina turned the music up a little louder and brought her husband a cup of spiked eggnog. As they decorated the tree together, he teased her about something she had said earlier that day. “Controlling and unreasonable, huh?” He smirked and cocked his eyebrow up.
    Christina returned the same smirk, a smirk she had picked up from her husband over the years then shrugged. “Don’t forget possessive.”
    Wrapping her tightly in his arms, he chuckled. “Oh, I could never forget possessive, my love.” He kissed her three times on the neck as they looked at their decorating handiwork.
    They sat down when they finished decorating their tree and smiled because even a sad, sparse-needled Fir had managed to brighten the whole apartment up with Christmas cheer.
    He pulled a piece of mistletoe from his pocket and held it over their heads. “Tell me what you want for Christmas.”
    She never kept him waiting , and wouldn’t tonight either. “All I want is you. Only you.” When she leaned