Well, when she put it that way … The thing with Diana was that she was hard to say no to. She just had this I’m-so-adorable-don’t-you-want-to-make-me-smile thing going for her that tugged him in every time. And he didn’t like the idea of her going out with strangers. He’d been set up a time or two before the almost-marriage, and the women people thought he’d be interested in turned out to be interested in one thing—his paycheck. They liked knowing he owned his own electrical company. In fact, that was pretty much all any of them learned about him before agreeing to go out with him.
He glanced over his shoulder at the bare walls and Christmas-less living room. He had a few days off for the holiday. If Diana needed him, then … “Okay.”
She squealed and bounced. “Yay! I’ll pick you up at 4 p.m. the day before Christmas Eve, and we’ll make it there just after dinner.” She flipped around, her boots crushing the salt he’d spread earlier that evening. He smiled, thankful she hadn’t had a patch of ice right there—she would have slipped. She waved from her porch, not five feet from his, and went inside.
He shut the door and leaned against it, a heavy sense of foreboding crashing over him. Going away with Diana was a bad idea in general. Their friendship—if he could call it that—was based on a firm arm keeping them from getting too close. They weren’t bosom buddies or besties or anything of the sort. They were neighbors who helped one another out from time to time. She had her life, and he had his. Going to her family holiday celebration was a stupid idea for a hundred reasons.
He went to the hall closet and found a duffel bag to pack. Stupid or not, he couldn’t tell her no.
Chapter 3
Diana
“Are you crazy?”
“Crazy like a fox,” Diana replied as she leaned back in her office chair. Fae had come to her office today, and they killed time together while eating lunch. One of the benefits of being besties with someone you only saw at work was that you could tell them anything—because your worlds never collided.
“No, no, no.” Fae slashed her spoon through the air with each word. “You’re telling me you asked your grizzly bear neighbor to go home with you for Christmas. Weren’t you worried he was an axe murderer at one point?” She scooped a spoonful of vanilla Greek yogurt into her mouth.
Diana chewed on her sandwich as she thought. “Maybe when I first moved in. But he’s harmless. He just looks scary because of all the facial hair and his intense gray eyes and the tattoo on his forearm … The more I think about it, the more perfect Cliff fits into the mold of exactly what my parents don’t want me to bring home. If only he drove a motorcycle and had a leather jacket.”
“Girl! You have got to think this through. You can’t go into the woods with a man you used to think made people disappear for a living.”
She laughed. “I forgot I told you that.” She took another bite of her sandwich. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly. I’m telling you, he’s a giant teddy bear.”
“And as fuzzy as one too.”
“All part of his charm.” She winked. Her desk phone rang, and she wiped the mustard off her lips before answering. “Hello?”
“Honey?”
She rolled her eyes. Mom always sounded surprised that she answered her phone. “It’s me, Mom.”
Fae gave her a warning look that said,You’d better think about this.
“Good. I’m calling to get a final head count for Christmas dinner.”
Diana sat up straighter. This was her opportunity to lay the groundwork for a stress-free holiday. Telling Mom she was unavailable for setups now would save so much trouble. “Actually, I’m bringing someone.”
“Is it your friend from work?”
She gritted her teeth. “No. It’s a man I’ve been … seeing.” She cringed over the lie.
Fae smacked her arm and waved her spoon at her in warning.
“You haven’t mentioned anyone.”
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”Truth,she mouthed to Fae.
“But you’re bringing him home to meet the family.” Was that pride in her voice?
Diana cringed. She hadn’t heard that tone in a long time. It felt good. Too good. “Yeah. Sort of.”
“Things must be more serious than you’re letting on.”
She was serious about not hearing that she’d focused too much on her career and lost sight of the important things in life. “Maybe.”
Fae shook her finger at her and mouthed,Liar, liar.
