Chapter One
Parker
One more strand of lights, and I’m going to jump off the damn ladder myself and make it look like an accident. I think my sister has gone nuts this year. Why she felt the need to include me in her holiday nonsense is beyond me.
I am the proverbial Scrooge, the grumpy holiday miser. I give to charities via monetary donations, but that’s it. You can’t count on me for anything else. There is no way I’ll be showing up at events, toasting in a red Santa hat or some goofy tie. I don’t buy gifts for anyone except for Chloe. It isn’t like she has a family yet, so there’s no need for all this decorating overkill.
Still, here I am on a Sunday, on my only day off, nearly twenty feet in the air hanging up lights because the company Chloe hired flaked out, taking her money with them. She doesn’t trust anyone else, and she doesn’t want me to bury the bastards for robbing her. I’m still going after them.
With Christmas less than two weeks away, Chloe doesn’t have much time to hire anyone else, and I couldn’t stand to see her cry anymore. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her. She’s my sweet little sister with a heart of gold and the soul of an angel. Once I’m done, I can go inside and watch the football game. The Bears are playing the Browns, and I can’t wait to see the Bears kick their asses.
I go to move and realize my puffy Chicago Bears coat is stuck between the house and the ladder. “Shit.” How am I going to get out of this without falling to the ground? Damn it, how did I get into this situation? It’s cold and windy, but at least ithas stopped snowing. Last week, we had over two feet of snow. Maybe it’s enough to break my fall.
I take a calming breath and think. I gently move my body backward on the ladder, but the stiff breeze reminds me that I’m high off the ground, and I grip the rungs fiercely. Fuck. I’m so screwed. There’s no way I want to be laid up in the hospital when I have a business to run. My company can’t function without me.
I drop my head forward and stay like that for a moment. I try to breathe calmly and think of a safe solution. Nothing’s coming to me besides a good case of windburn and frostbite.
“Hey, are you good up there?”
“Aah,” I yell and nearly fall, but grip tight and hold onto the fucking ladder. My coat tears, freeing me while I cling to the deathtrap in the air. “Are you crazy?” I bark down at the voice below. I affix the last light with the final clip and then come down to scold the nut who dares to startle someone high up. “How dumb are you?” I barely get my feet onto the ground when she starts her babbling apology.
“I’m so sorry.” She apologizes before I turn my back, and I’m surprised she stays for the earful she’s about to get.
“What the hell is wrong with—?” I start shouting at her when the words freeze in my mouth. I’m shocked by the instant way my heart speeds up.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I saw the ladder jerk and sway, and I thought you were going to fall. Then you weren’t moving for like five minutes. I came out here to check before I called for emergency services.”
“Five minutes? That’s an exaggeration.” She’s probably right, but I’m not admitting anything.
“No, it’s not. Are you okay?” I’m not really okay, although I won’t tell the beautiful stranger the truth.
“I’m fine. I was in the middle of dealing with these stupid lights that were knotted, and then I was annoyed as fuck that I agreed to take up a dangerous task for nothing.” There’s no way I’d tell her that I got myself stuck up there like a dumbass. Not when I’m staring at the most enchanting being in existence with her pretty pink and brown winterwear, looking like a winter wonderland that needs to be explored and I want to be that frontiersman.
“Oh. Well, I’m glad you’re fine. So glad you weren’t having a seizure, stroke, or anything. Now I’ll go.” I shake my head. That pretty little thing isn’t getting off that easy.
I step closer, getting less than a foot from her, and the whiff of cinnamon hits my nostrils and I breathe her in. I take another deep breath and then introduce myself. “I’m Parker Ames.”
“Yeah, I’m late.” She walks away and goes across the street into a nice car, driving away from me as if that’s fucking acceptable. Who is that little brat? And why am I so affected by her?
“Hey, bro, what happened to your jacket?” my sister asks, coming up to me with a steaming mug. She pokes a finger through my coat, which now has a nice tear right through the middle of it.
“Snagged it on a nail. What is this?” I snatch it and breathe in the hot cocoa. Damn it, she’s in her Christmas spirit even more. I hand it back.
“Oh, no. I’ll pay for it.” She reaches out with her free hand to touch it. I stop her before she worries even more. My sister has a heart of gold. A lot of times she reminds me of my mother, and that both concerns me and makes me happy. She brings her hand to her mouth. She works so hard to get by as a schoolteacher. I love how dedicated she is.
“Don’t worry about it, Chloe. Who is the woman that lives across the street? She drives the little four-door Hyundai Elantra,” I ask, attempting to appear nonchalant.
“That’s Carrie. I’m not sure what her last name is, but she’s super sweet.” I would beg to differ greatly. Not that it matters, because that little woman just met her match when she crossed my path. She can be as fiery as she wants because she owes me her life when she almost cost me mine. Is that an overexaggeration? Maybe. Do I care? No. I want her, and I’ll have her. It’s what I do, and I don’t lose.
Now how am I going to get a woman when all I do is work?
“What does she do?” I ask.
“I believe she works as a vet tech. Why are you asking?”
“Why you so nosy?” I shoot back, glaring at my little sister.
“You’re one to talk,” she scoffs, rolling her eyes at me.
