Pip gave me a swoony look. “Oh girl. A moody, quiet mountain man? Yes, please!”
I tossed a chip at her head and we both laughed. “You have your mountain man.”
“Mmhmm, but he’s definitely not the quiet type.” Her eyes shone with love.
“Exactly what you need.”
“Here’s the show!Hoarding for the HolidaysonHGTV.” She jumped up from her stool and picked up her glass and the bottle of wine. “Grab the chips. We’ve got a show to watch.”
Two hours later, we were full of chips, dip, French Bread pizza, lots of wine, and plenty of Christmas decoration ideas.
I kissed Pip goodbye when her boyfriend, John, arrived to take her home shortly after eight. My head spun with a thousand different ideas for the lawn so and I cleaned up the kitchen, hoping the distraction would help me sort my thoughts out.
Yet by the time I shut off the water and started the dishwasher, I didn’t feel any better. And I think it had a lot more to do with a certain neighbor across the street than with decorations.
I could deny it all I wanted.
But underneath his grumpy exterior, a warm, Christmas loving heart beat, and I wanted to claim it for myself.
After falling into a restless sleep,a loud noise woke me just after sunrise. I sat up in my bed, clutching my chest, as I looked around the semi-dark room. What the hell was that?
I heard the noise again and I scrambled from my bed, rushing over to my window. A plow truck backed down the street, the beeping sound shrill in my ears.
I blinked twice and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.
What? A plow truck? But it wasn’t snowing…
A movement caught the side of my eye. I turned my head to find Nash, shoveling fake snow in his driveway and onto his lawn.
Fake snow? Really?
We were due for snow later this week. Why not just wait?
But then he started forming snowballs, stacking them into snowmen before starting on an igloo.
An igloo.
Okay, what the hell?
Was I dreaming and still watching the show with Pip?
I rubbed my eyes again, but no I definitely wasn’t sleeping. He really was making snowmen and an igloo.
A mix of desire and annoyance pulsated through me. My hands balled into fists at my side, and I grumbled. “Who can compete with fake snow? It’ll never melt!”
I backed away from the window. The urge to kiss him wrapped around the need to win. Did he have to be so damn hot? It was annoying.
Grabbing my robe from the bottom of my bed, I slipped it on, along with a clean pair of socks. Then I padded downstairs, threw on my jacket and boots, and yanked my door open, marching outside.
“Seriously? Fake snow? And who gets a delivery at five in the morning?”
“Well, good morning to you too, Aubrey. Did I wake you? I’m sorry. It was the only last-minute slot they had, and I needed to start my decorating.” He set down the shovel and walked over to me, the visible skin on his cheeks red from the cold. His beard looked darker and fuller than before, and my wild thoughts took off like a rocket.
“With fake snow?”
“It’s the best. I can give you a bucket if you’d like.”
“Wow, I feel so special. A whole bucket just for me?” I couldn’t help but tease. How could he turn me on and annoy me so much at the same time?
