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Eeous" She tried to figure out where he planned to put it In his dining rooli with decorations

He smiled as he thrust the tree at her "Merry Christmas"

She backed away a step "Merry Christmas to you, too"

He cocked his head to one side "Where do you want it?"

Emma leaned closer in order to hear him better "Want it? This tree is for me?"

He nodded "Yes Isn’t it obvious?"

Emma took another step backward

He blinked, as if he’d been expecting her to throw her arratitude "You don’t like it?"

"Of course I like it That’s the most beautiful Christmas tree I’ve ever seen"

"It’s yours"

E her the tree Her--a wo else one needed for a Christ, don’t you think?" she asked

"I ht need to take a bit ht you could do with a bit of Christmas cheer, and I decided to make a contribution"

"But…"

"You’ll thank me later"

Emma wasn’t sure about that Not sure at all

Chapter Sixteen

"I’ve never seen anything so big in my life," Emma complained to Phoebe "He didn’t even ask me if I wanted a Christmas tree" Thanks to her unenthusiastic response, Oliver hadn’t spoken to her in two days Now Emma was miserable and needed to talk with her friend

Phoebe frowned "But don’t you think bringing you a Christmas tree was very roeon, as she considered this "Oh, oodness" That hadn’t even occurred to her She pressed her hand to her forehead, then flopped down in her chair "That’s it" She should’ve realized earlier what had pro ro conversation about ro The tree was his way of being ro to his theory of "show, not tell" ro romantic," Phoebe insisted "You’ve really fallen for him, haven’t you?" She s

"I think he’s arrogant and dogrew even wider "I thought so" She returned to work as if there was nothing left to argue about

Emma felt she couldn’t leave her friend with that i to Walt, and Oliver and Walt were pals She wasn’t ready to acknowledge her feelings for Oliver, wasn’t even sure those feelings would last long enough to be worth acknowledging

"I think Oliver’s a good pilot," she said, carefully weighing her words "We’ve each made an effort to nored her

"You’re right…" E over to her friend’s desk She folded her arht attraction in the beginning We even joked about it" Well…Oliver had joked

Phoebe turned and looked up at Emma "Did he or did he not kiss you?"

"He…ah, okay, yes, there were a couple of times when I…that happened So technically, yes, he did kissto say on the subject

"So there was ht have been" E her with that appraising light in her eyes "It wasn’t a big deal"

"But you said Oliver’s your romantic hero"

"No I said it looked like Oliver was just proving a point" She wished he wouldn’t try so hard, but she didn’t kno to make him stop The entire conversation about romantic heroes had co out of his way to prove that he was every bit as roart or Cary Grant

Emma sat at her desk, hardly able to concentrate She’d be leaving the office in a fewthe fruitcake interviews, Walt had excused her froe to trade newspaper space for goods and services Rumor had it that the Subway Express down the street would be catering the company Christmas lunch Talk around the water cooler was that Walt had worked out soe for thirty turkey sandwiches, pickles and coleslaw on the side Thankfully, he hadn’t been negotiating with the Mexican restaurant/sushi bar Cross-cultural restaurants weren’t so rare in small towns, but this was a co with you and Walt?" E it was her turn to ask personal questions

Phoebe glowed "Fabulous"

"Define fabulous"

"He asked , and E two dinners that day," Phoebe went on to explain "First with my mom and dad, and then later with his"

"I hope you like turkey"