Page 57 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rick

The minute Rick heard Kaylee’s bedroom door open, he was wide awake, listening to her footsteps as she walked out the front door. He snuck out the back and watched from the side yard as she crossed the easement to Josie’s house. He listened as the door opened and shut, and when she was safely inside, he went back into her house and lay on the couch, waiting and wondering what they were talking about.

His mind had done a lot of wandering over the last few hours, including thoughts of Christmas and his abuela. When Kaylee had asked him about going home for Christmas, it had taken him a while to realize that he hadn’t been back since he left for college. There was always something going on, and he hadn’t really celebrated at all since then; his mother hadn’t been big on the holidays, especially exchanging gifts. Prior to that last holiday, it was usually something they needed anyway, like socks and underwear.

It wasn’t a bad thing. It just wasn’t very cheerful.

Now that he’d tracked down Kaylee and she’d agreed to testify, he realized how sad it was to use his vacation for work instead of spending Christmas with his family. Christmas was the time for forgiveness and making amends. Of love and holiday cheer.

Rick was sleeping on a woman’s couch, who may or may not still hate him. He really needed to find the holiday spirit.

Maybe while he was in town waiting for the bureau to get its ducks in a row, Rick could take advantage of some of the Christmas fun. The Potato Lights Spectacular had been interesting enough, and he wished he’d taken a moment to relax and really enjoy it.

In a small town like this, there were bound to be lots of Christmas events before the holiday. And with Kaylee’s bucket list to accomplish, it gave him the perfect opportunity to put work aside for a bit and have some fun.

Especially if it meant getting closer to the beautiful woman currently next door.

When Kaylee returned, he’d pretended to sleep and hadn’t stirred even when she took a few steps toward him. Rick thought that she was going to say something, but then he heard the sound of her retreating feet and the bedroom door closing. He was able to go back to sleep and didn’t awaken again until something scurried up his body.

His eyes flew open, and he came face-to-face with Pumpkin’s beady little eyes, swooping orange and black hair, and chattering teeth.

“Kaylee,” he called in a stage whisper. Pumpkin rested on his chest, watching him as if waiting for a sudden movement to pounce. Rick tried to call for Kaylee again, but the guinea pig scooted closer.

Kaylee’s door opened, but Rick didn’t dare look away from the rodent in case he decided to attack.

“Oh, Pumpkin! I’m so sorry!” Kaylee’s hurried feet crossed the room, and she scooped up her pet, holding him to her chest. Rick let out a relieved breath and scrambled into a sitting position.

“He was plotting my death,” Rick said, watching her lift the lid and put the guinea pig back inside.

“If he’d wanted to hurt you, I think a chunk would have already gone missing from your nose.” She crossed the room and into the kitchen, where he could hear her bustling about. She returned shortly carrying a container of veggies and lifted the lid of Pumpkin’s enclosure to set it inside.

“I guess he wasn’t hungry enough to eat me,” Rick joked.

Kaylee smiled awkwardly. “Not quite.”

She disappeared into the kitchen again, and Rick got up from the couch and, after a brief detour to the bathroom, went into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. He watched her silently for several beats, enjoying the way her shorts showed off her curvy thighs and ass when she leaned up on her tiptoes to grab something from the cupboard.

“How did you sleep?” she asked, scooping coffee grounds into the filter.

“I did fine until somebody snuck out in the middle of the night and I had to make sure that they were safe. I finally fell back asleep, only to wake up with the guinea pig on my chest this morning, which was a bit unnerving. Other than that, I slept like a rock.”

Kaylee turned away from filling up her coffeepot with water, the container in her hand. “You heard me.”

“I’m sure everyone heard you; you’re not that stealthy.”

Kaylee cleared her throat. “I just needed to clear my head, so I went to Josie’s.”

“I know. I watched you.”

She made a face, wrinkling her nose with distaste. “Dude, that is so creepy.”

“Dude,” he countered, playfully, “I just wanted to make sure that you got in safely.”

“It’s like fifty feet,” she exclaimed loudly.

“And?”