He was helping me add even more lights to the lodge windows. We were going for broke on the lights. There would not be a surface uncovered by the time we were done. His height made him infinitely more useful for this particular task than my five-foot-four frame.
“Are you sure this isn’t too much?” Brom asked.
“I want it to look like too much,” I said. “I want it to look like Christmas exploded right after it vomited all over the place. Garish. All of the trimmings.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to go out with a giant bang,” I replied. “I want people seeing Christmas lights for the next three months.”
“You mean you want to burn their retinas.”
“That too,” I said with grin.
He took the lights and was about to hang them from the suction hooks when he suddenly paused on the ladder and looked outside.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he muttered, his voice carrying a tone of disbelief that immediately put me on high alert.
“What?” I asked, trying to peer around him through the frosted glass. “Is Phineas back to harass people?”
Brom climbed down from the ladder. I could tell he was fighting to keep his temper in check. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?” I asked again. “What happened? Did you break the window? Did the suction cup fall off? I told you to lick the darn things.”
“Kent’s back.”
The words bounced off my brain. A full rejection. My heart immediately started racing. Kent was back? Here? Now?
“What’s he doing back here?” I asked, hating the way my voice came out breathless and unsteady. I also hated how my hands went to my hair to make sure it wasn’t a total rat’s nest.
Kent showing up here couldn’t be good news. You didn’t drive hours from New York City to Northwood because you’d left behind a phone charger or a pair of gloves. Especially when you could easily buy a thousand replacements without blinking an eye. He was probably here to kick us out and cancel Christmas.
Brom was already heading toward the front door, his jaw set, and fists clenched. I hurried after him, my pulse still racing.
“Brom, wait,” I called. “Don’t do anything stupid. We don’t need him to sue us.”
“I don’t care. It will feel too good.”
“And it will solve nothing,” I said. “It gives him the upper hand. He gets control.”
“I want to knock him on his ass. Maybe I’ll just trip him.”
“Stop. You don’t know why he’s here.”
“I know exactly what he’s here for,” Brom snapped. “He’s here to finish what he started. To twist the knife a little deeper. Asshole. He can shove his damn offer up his ass.”
“Easy,” I said quietly. “There’s guests around.”
Brom nodded and stopped his ranting. I followed him outside. I wasn’t sure how I was going to stop Brom if he really tried to go after Kent, but I had to try. I wouldn’t mind popping him a couple of times, but if there was anything I had learned over the years, violence solved nothing.
I froze when I saw him. He climbed out of his sleek black car like something from a magazine ad.
Again.
Damn.
Kent looked better than ever, which was deeply unfair. He looked rested and polished and every inch the successful businessman he was. I felt like I’d been sucked backward through a garden hose, and he was all hot and sexy.
I was so pissed at myself for being excited to see him. I hated him and everything he stood for. Okay, maybe I didn’t hate him, but I wished I did. I wanted to hate him.
