Page 83 of Chasing Kaylee Kringle

She whirled around and crossed her arms over her chest. “What am I doing here? Why weren’t you here?” She marched toward him like a virago, and he sidestepped her so he could get to his door, but she kept coming, talking to his back. “Where have you been, and furthermore, what the heck did you do to my house?”

Rick had to fight back his laughter as he imagined what she must’ve looked like when she saw all the blowups.

“Well, first I had to walk Ashlee home.”

“Oh yeah, Ashlee! You mean the woman that you went out with tonight? Was that after you decorated my house with pornographic reindeer?”

He stopped in front of his door, matching her stance and energy. “It was after, obviously. She was just helping me with something.

“Oh, I can just imagine what she was helping you with,” she sniped.

“It’s not like that. She’s actually a really lovely person. I was lost in the craft aisle at the store, and she offered to give me a hand.”

Her entire expression said I bet even though she wasn’t speaking.

“As to what I did to your house, it was my apology. You wanted to have your house decorated for Christmas, and I obliged.”

“You put a pole-dancing gingerbread man, reindeer screwing on my roof, and another gingerbread man taking a bath in a mug. We’re not even going to talk about the other two gingerbread people who were kissing; it was like coming home to a cookie romance novel.

“I thought you’d appreciate it since you like that kind of thing.”

“Are you slut-shaming me for my book preferences?”

“No, I did the gingerbread man because Josie mentioned that you loved making gingerbread houses and gingerbread cookies. As far as the reindeer, I thought they were hysterical and that you would laugh, too. And the ‘I’m sorry’ in the window was sincere.” He put his hand on the door so he could lean down until they were eye level. “I’m sorry, Kaylee. I don’t wanna do this back-and-forth with you anymore. I don’t wanna fight. I don’t wanna be just an agent to you. I want more.”

Kaylee didn’t say anything for a beat, finally admitting, “The reindeer might’ve been funny if I didn’t think that you were alluding to what had happened between us.”

Rick burst out laughing. “You thought I put reindeer fucking on your roof as a reminder of the two of us?”

Kaylee’s lips twitched. “Maybe.”

He leaned over her, resting his head on her shoulder, guffawing loudly. “What the hell, Kaylee! It’s not like we were making reindeer noises while we were—”

A door opened behind them, and a grumpy voice called out, “Excuse me! It is late, and we have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow morning. We are trying to sleep, and you are being very rude. Knock it off before I make a formal complaint.”

Rick turned around, and it was the same woman from the ski lodge scolding them.

“Sorry about that. We’re just young and alive,” he said.

He unlocked his door, holding it for Kaylee, and smiled at the woman as she glared at him.

“You have yourself a good night,” he said.

Once the door was shut, Kaylee burst into laughter, her hand covering her mouth so her response was muffled. “Oh my gosh, was that the same woman from the restaurant?”

“I think so.”

“That’s embarrassing.”

“She is a thief of joy because I’m still not over imagining the two of us screwing like reindeer.”

Kaylee’s face flushed red. “That is not exactly what I meant.”

“Well, it’s how I took it, and I prefer it that way because it’s hysterical.”

“Whatever floats your boat, Rick.”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, Kaylee.” Rick cupped her cheek, stroking her soft skin with his thumb. “You float my boat. You float my boat all over the Pacific, all over the Atlantic, all the freshwater rivers—”