Page 41 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

Kaylee walked over to the couch, squeezing in on the other side of Josie, as far away from Rick as she could get. Marianne called the meeting to order in a cheerful, loud voice.

“Hello, everyone, and welcome to another book club. I know we’re all excited to share our books, but I wanted to introduce Kaylee’s special friend, Rick, who is joining us today. Now, I know that usually we say no husbands or boyfriends, but since he’s visiting, we’re making an exception.”

“Plus, he’s pretty to look at,” Margie Hamilton heckled from across the room, and the other women laughed, voicing their enthusiastic agreement, and Kaylee beat back the urge to stand and block him from their appreciative stares.

Rick smiled, a dazzling flash of white teeth. “Thank you, ladies. I appreciate the compliment.”

Kaylee had to force herself not to roll her eyes. Their adoration was not lessening his cocksurety.

“Now, I’ll go first on what I read this week, which is Seduced by Santa by Mina Carter. I absolutely love this short and sexy book, and I connected with the main character so much because I have a lot of Christmas cheer, and I love spreading it around.”

Kaylee didn’t say anything about the fact that Marianne also had a lot of money, so the fact that her house had state-of-the-art lights that changed color for every holiday throughout the year, multiple displays, and always won the decoration contest in town was because she could afford it. Not that she didn’t like Marianne, but money gave people options others didn’t have.

“Kaylee,” Marianne called out, pulling her from her thoughts. “What did you read?”

Oh no, she didn’t wanna do this. Not with Rick sitting two people away from her. “You know, can I pass this week? I loved my book, but I’m sure there are other people who want to share.”

“This is a safe space, Kaylee. There’s no judgment in this room.”

Kaylee couldn’t look at Rick because she could feel the judgment in the room coming from him. She reached into her bag and pulled out the book she had purchased. She held it up with the title out, so everyone could see the woman surrounded by three men in Santa hats. “I read Sitting on Santa’s Lap by C. L. Leighton.” There were a few giggles around the room, but she ignored them, rushing on. “It is a why choose romance involving Santa and his elves that was funny, silly, and had some steamy bits that pulled me out of a funk, and I really enjoyed it.”

“What’s a why choose?” Rick asked.

Of course he would ask this question.

One of the other women piped in and said, “It’s when one female has sex with multiple partners, and they live a polyamorous life together.”

“Oh, I see,” he said, and when Kaylee saw the flare of interest in his dark eyes, she wanted to throttle him. She had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping that he saw nothing. That it was a guilty pleasure, and that she did not want half a dozen dicks in every orifice of her body. It was just a fun read.

“Right, who’s next?” Marianne asked.

Josie leaned over and whispered in her ear, “What is going on with you two?”

“Nothing, why?”

“Because he looks like he wants you to be sitting on his lap so he can play Santa right now.”

Kaylee hit Josie with her book and spent the rest of the hour staring at everyone else in the room except for the man whose gaze she could feel burning a hole in the side of her skull.

When Rick suddenly raised his hand, Marianne said, “Yes, Rick?”

“So I know that I didn’t get to join in on the fun this week, but what’s your theme going to be for next week?”

“Stuck in the snow,” she said. “You pick a book where someone is snowed in, either stranded in the snow or stuck in one place because of the weather, creating a high-stakes situation.”

“Does it have to be romance?” he asked.

“No, it doesn’t.”

“All right, would y’all mind if I crash next week’s book club?”

“Oh, are you staying that long?” Marianne asked.

No, please, God, no.

“I am thinking I’m gonna stay at least through New Year’s.”

Kaylee clenched her fists. Screw not making a scene. She was going to have Paulette physically remove his ass from her place, and damn the videos and the gossip. Having him share her space for a month?