“Do you have guests?” I ask, wanting to know if I’ll have to get rid of another interloper.
“Oh, no. I slept on the sofa. It’s quite comfortable.” It does look incredibly comfortable. It’s a plush microfiber piece that’s oversized, especially for someone of her height. Hell, we might fit nicely on there with her body buried underneath mine, naked.
“It looks like it.”
“Please come in and take off your coat.” I stare at her pink fairy-like wonderland. It’s pretty and elegant at the same time.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“I got us two bottles of Coke from the restaurant.”
“Oh, I could kiss you,” she states, slapping her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t…”
“Don’t worry, baby. When you’re ready to really kiss me, I’ll be waiting.”
She blushes and then finally finds her voice again. “Come into the dining room, and we’ll eat there. Sorry about the house—it’s not that big.”
“It’s nice.” It’s inviting even though the holiday isn’t my favorite. I take the food to the table in the small dining room that’s just off the living room. “So how long have you been livinghere?” I already know the answer, but she doesn’t need to know I’ve done the whole psycho stalker thing.
“About four months. I bought it in August.”
“Do you like Mexican food?”
“Love it. It’s another reason I refuse to move from Chicago.”
“I miss the city sometimes, but it pays to have a house that’s away from all the noise.”
“Yes, the quiet is wonderful. That’s why my sister loves it.”
“How is your sister? I saw her the other day, but I haven’t seen her since.”
“Oh, she’s out of town. She went to go see our father and his wife for the holidays.”
“So you did all that decorating for nothing?”
“Oh, no. She’ll be back, but it’s not for nothing. I got to meet the pretty snow angel who smells like cinnamon.”
“Thank you. Did you get any of my cookies?”
“I’m afraid I missed out,” I say after swallowing my bite of food.
“You didn’t want them because they were Christmas cookies, did you?”
“No, sweetheart. I swear. I just didn’t get any because I was so anxious to come over here that I’d forgotten about them, and then you tossed me on my rear and I never went back to my sister’s house. I went home to plan.”
“Oh.” I take her hand in mine.
“I’m going to be straightforward with you because that’s just who I am. There are no fucking games because I don’t play that shit. I run a multi-billion-dollar empire. I work hard, andthat’s probably going to be our biggest obstacle—that I’m already trying to fix—but I know that you think that we’re not a good match because of one holiday.”
“It happens to be my favorite holiday. I have so many wonderful memories.”
“And I have one of the worst.” I sigh and take a drink of my pop and then wipe my mouth with the napkin. “Look, I will forever have an ache in my heart this time of year, but I’m learning that maybe there are reasons to enjoy it.”
“Will you tell me what happened?”
“I’m surprised my sister didn’t tell you already,” I chuckle out a scoff.
“She left that out.”
