“Okay. I love you, Becca.”
“You too, Mom.”
I set the phone on the table and thought about grabbing a snack before the doorbell rang again.Amazon deliverers ring twice now?Fine by me. I loved opening new packages, and I already had a smile on my face picturing how the girls would react to the new mugs. I could stack them in the kitchen or surprise them by putting one in all their rooms. Oh, they’d love that!
Someone pounded on the door, and I frowned. In all my orders, the delivery person never knocked that hard.Hmm.
Curious and hesitant, I opened the front door, and my heart jumped into my throat. Leaning against the doorframe was Harrison. He looked better than I remembered. His dark hair was ruffled like he’d just woken up, and his gorgeous eyes had a myriad of emotions swirling through them. His stubble was longer, and a line appeared between his eyebrows. He wore a gray-and-green plaid shirt under his jacket, and the hues brought out the color in his eyes.
Man, I’ve missed him.
But aside from my physical reaction to him, my chest tightened the more I studied him. Dark circles colored the skin below his eyes, and his jaw was set in a hard line. I wanted to say a million things and none at the same time, so naturally, I blurted out the first thing.
“You haven’t shaved.”
He ran a hand over his jawline, blinking too fast. “Can I come in?” His voice was raspy, as though he hadn’t had anything to drink in days.
I backed out of the way, allowing him entrance.
Was my neighbor nervous? I hoped so. He’d told me we were over without facing me. I stood straighter and crossed my arms in a battle stance.
He paced the foyer, stopping every two seconds to look at me.
Flustered, I let out a tiny laugh. “You look like a lion right now. You know, hunting for prey.”
He ignored my awkward comment and pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket. “A note. You left a damn note taped to my door to break up with me?”
“Break up?” My voice came out shrill.
Me… break up with him? No way. How dare he! Was he pretending he hadn’t heard my confession? And excuse me sir, ghosting me twice was the ultimate crime.
He shook his head. “A note might be worse than ghosting, Becca.”
“What? No!” I put my hands on my hips and faced him. “Ghosting is rude and leaves the other person worried about what they did wrong, which you did to me. Again. My note cleared anything like that up because I’d never want anyone else to feel how I did two years ago. It was supposed to relieve any awkwardness between us since you’d said it was over.” I motioned with my hand, pointing from him to me. “I see it isn’t working. This feels awkward.”
He snorted. “Leaving a letter doesn’t allow the person to ask why.” He walked closer to me, getting in my space so much I backed into the hall closet.
“You never let me ask why!” I yelled, holding my hands up. “I replay everything in my mind, Harrison. That date two years ago? I felt so self-conscious after that, and then we spend this amazing holiday together and you don’t even say goodbye to me?” My voice cracked. “Youdon’t get to be angry right now.”
He blinked and stepped closer to me. “When did I say it was over?” he asked, his voice low and serious.
Shit, he smelled good, and his lips were barely a foot from mine. “Uh, before I walked out.”
“Hmm, I don’t recall that happening.” He frowned hard and narrowed his eyes. “And baby, missing out on two years with you is a regret I’ll carry with me for a long time.”
I refused to let him off the hook. He’d heard me. And he couldn’t smooth talk me withbabyand his sexy tone.
“Well, you said that to me, and that was it.” My face heated, and my poor heart worked three times as hard. Being around him was too much. We couldn’t be just friends.
Harrison sighed and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Becca, why do you want to end things?”
“Uh.” Nerves exploded in my gut, and I fought the urge to pull him against me. His lips quirked up a bit on both sides like he was laughing at his own joke. I wanted to kiss away the punch line.He turned me down! He said it was over!“Because it was just sex?”
“Your voice went high. You don’t sound sure.” He cupped my chin and gently angled my face toward him. “Tell me, Becca, was what we experienced togetherjustsex?”
“Um, maybe? Also, for survival purposes?” My throat tightened, and I forgot why I was upset with him when he touched me. His minty breath hit my face, and my skin prickled with electricity. All from his dang fingers.
“Did Inottell you I would take you to the New Year’s Eve party?”
