“Whoops,” I said, “I’m supposed to be decorating the atrium for the town hall meeting.”
I texted my great-aunt that I was on my way.
“Your Christmas skills seem to be in high demand,” Matt remarked.
“I can come decorate your condo too,” I joked as I fished around in my bag for my credit card, praying that one of the cards would go through.
Eenie meenie miney moe. I picked the green one.
“You don’t have to pay,” Matt said when I put the card on the table.
“We can go half on the bill,” I insisted.
“You don’t have any money, and you owe me four months of rent.”
He slammed his card down.
“Fine. Put it on my tab.”
My phone rang. “Sorry, it’s my great-aunt.”
She sounded irate when I answered.
“You need to get over here and speak sense to these people,” she said loudly, “Somepeople here want to put up purple lights like this is some sort of a nightclub.”
“We need to mix it up,” someone in the background called.
“Not on Christmas!”
The line went dead.
“Are you going back to your condo?” I asked Matt. “I left all my decorating tools there, and I’ll need my Christmas war chest to wrangle the decorating committee.”
38
Matt
“Bake-off winner is in the house!” Eli hollered when I walked into the office later.
I smirked. It did feel good to win.
“And,” Eli said, “you should have seen Hensley’s face when Merrie hugged you. She was about to spit acid.”
“Serves her right,” I said, setting down my bag.
“Merrie’s the perfect rebound for you.” Eli slapped me on the back. “I’m glad to see you’re getting back out there. End the year with a bang.”
I frowned as I opened my laptop. “I’m not seeing Merrie. I’m just forced to work with her.”
“Dude,” Eli said, pulling up a chair across from me. “Don’t throw away this chance. Merrie is the perfect rebound—she’s fun and low maintenance, and she’s not going to screw you over.”
“She is literally homeless right now and has been sleeping in her shop, which she owes me rent on. She’s a mess. Having a relationship with her is a bad idea.”
“Not a relationship,” Eli corrected, “just have some holiday fun.”
I wasn’t sure whether I wanted “just some holiday fun.”
But I also didn’t want to jump into another relationship. Especially not with Merrie.
