Benji’s footsteps sounded in the hall again.
“I’d better get back to my office.” Diana hopped down from the desk. “I’ll see you later.”
“Lates.” Fae waved. She clicked to a screen with next month’s schedule.
Diana shook her head as she headed down the hall. As great as Fae’s idea was, there was no way she could take someone home for Christmas. It just wasn’t possible. She brushed the thought aside and dove into work, resigned to spending another Christmas single and henpecked by her mother and aunts.
Chapter 2
Cliff
Cliff finished clearing Diana’s walk and tapped the compacted snow off the shovel. He still needed to shovel his concrete, but he took a moment to relax. The day was long, with two guys not showing up for work at all. It happened every year. The weather turned and the younger ones, who wanted an easy paycheck, quit without notice, leaving him scrambling to finish jobs on time.
The FedEx truck pulled up and the driver hopped out. “You live here?” He pointed to Diana’s door. If the packages he’d collected over the last two weeks were any indication, she must have done all her Christmas shopping online.
“Yep.” Cliff reached for the package. He signed the electronic tablet. The driver hurried away, in a rush to finish his route. Cliff tucked the box inside his front door, smiling down at it nestled there before catching himself and slamming the door. No sense letting all the cold air in.
Diana was late again, probably finishing up a project so she could take some extra time off for the holidays. Her front door was wrapped in pine boughs and strung with white lights. Sprigs of red berries with sugar crystals on them, red plastic ornaments, and reindeer made from twigs were strategically placed so that the entrance looked like something on a Christmas card. He’d come outside when she was working on it and been hoodwinked into handing her different pieces as she put the whole thing together. He hadn’t minded, not really. She chatted as she worked, and she had the cutest little line between her eyes when she was frustrated.
Cute. That was the word for Diana. She couldn’t be more than five foot four with auburn hair that blazed red in the sunlight. Her skin would be what his mom called peaches and cream, and her eyes were golden brown.
A stiff breeze came up the walkway, reminding him that if he didn’t get his walk cleared, he’d have a path of ice come morning. He got the job done in record time and headed inside to warm up, one ear tuned for the sound of Diana’s car. He’d just settled into eating a cup of soup when the familial crunch of her tires on salt came through the window.
His palms began to sweat, and he suddenly couldn’t eat the soup he’d been ravenous for only moments before. He held his breath in anticipation. It was silly, really, how much he looked forward to these few moments they shared.
It was best not to look too deeply into thewhyof such things. If anyone askedwhyhe helped his neighbor, the answer was simple: His mama raised him right. If they askedwhyhe’d offered to help her during the power outage last year, it was because she looked so helpless standing on his walk, her phone flashlight quaking against his steps. How could he have turned her away? Even if he was nursing a broken heart and had sworn off dating, marriage, and women, a guy could be a nice guy without a reason.
A light rap sounded, and he bolted from the chair, paused at the door to take a breath and compose his face, and then swung it open.
Diana’s eyes lit up and knocked the breath right out of him. “Hey.” She smiled so easily. He remembered a time when smiles came like that to him—when life wasn’t bleak and the reality of a woman’s cruel nature hadn’t entered his life.
“A package came for you.” He reached down and grabbed the box, thrusting it at her.
“I was hoping it had. Thanks.” She hugged it to her like it held something precious inside. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
He frowned. His brother was completing his residency at the hospital and scheduled to work a double shift to cover for other docs who had families. His parents were in Europe. Mom always wanted to see Germany at Christmas, and they were still living down his big almost-wedding mistake, so being out of the country allowed them the perfect opportunity to miss holiday parties. “Nothing,” he replied. “Which is exactly the way I want it.”
“Nonsense.” Diana shook her head, making her hair bounce against her red coat. “You don’t want to be alone for Christmas.” She adjusted her hold on the box.
He got the feeling she was avoiding eye contact with him. Which was odd for her. She was like an owl with those big eyes of hers, soaking in his very soul and seeing right through his gruff façade. She was the only person on the planet, besides his brother, who could get through his walls. That was probably why he both dreaded and anticipated her short visits or the times he spent in her apartment fixing things. It was nice to be seen.
“You should come home with me. My family has a huge cabin—it’s a party house, really—and we fill it up. It’s quiet up there. You can tromp around in the woods, cross-country ski, sled, build a snowman, whatever you want, and no one will bother you. My mom and dad make the best meals. We’ll have turkey and ham for Christmas dinner.”
He opened his mouth to protest. He would not be going anywhere with a woman, not even one as sweet as Diana. Not today, not ever.
She plowed on before he had a chance to get out a syllable. “It would help me out of a tight spot too.”
His protest died. One of the few redeemable things he’d done in the last year and a half was watch out for his adorable, but slightly clueless neighbor. “How?”
She cocked a hip. He should invite her inside, but he’d sworn to himself that no female would ever set foot in this condo. “Well, my family meddles in my social life—a lot. They’re terrible, really. And they say things about me being single.” She blew a breath that clouded around her head before dissipating. “They mean well, I think, but I’m so tired of hearing them complain about me. If I brought you along, they’d lay off.”
This sounded suspicious. “Brought me along how?”
She wrinkled her nose. “In my car.”
“No.” He waved his hand. “I mean, as a friend …?”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh! Yes, as a friend. I can’t very well go out with whatever cousin to someone’s lawyer they’ve dug up for me if I have a friend along. It would be rude.”
