Page 27

Jay hurried into the kitchen through the back door. Something he had been doing since we were kids. The wind had blown his wavy, brown hair into a perfectly tussled style. Not even the elements could dishevel him. Blessed with flawless skin, thick hair, and broad shoulders. I envied the man that landed my funny, kind, and attractive friend.

“Well?” He plopped down at the kitchen table.

“Well, what?” I asked as I placed two more trays of cookies into the oven and set the timer.

“You got in after the sun came up, and then hustled out for your meeting.” He took a cookie off the plate in the middle of the table. “I didn’t get any details about the sex-a-thon, and you didn’t call when the meeting was over.”

“Sorry.” I wiped down the counter. “I got distracted.”

“With baking?” He took a bite of the cookie. “These are delicious.”

“Thanks.”

“Why are you baking?”

“It’s Christmas time.” I motioned around the kitchen. “That’s what people do.”

“It’s a little early in the season for baking.” He nibbled on the cookie. “Shouldn’t you be exhausted?”

“I didn’t sleep much.”

My cheeks heated when I thought about the reason I had been up all night. Then I glanced at the cookies and remembered how quickly my hot sex memories were tainted.

“I want to hear about the hot, silver fox and all the ways he occupied you last night, but first, how did the meeting go?”

“Ah… I don’t know.” I may have declared my intension of keeping my house, but I didn’t have a solid plan. “Huxley James is, um⁠—”

“Wait!” He shook his hand in the air. “I don’t care about Huxley James. You can tell me about him later. Right now, I do want to hear about Sexy Santa.”

“Hmm…” It was difficult to separate the two. “The sex was fantastic, but I’m not giving you all the juicy details.” I smiled. “And it was juicy.”

“Did he make you squirt?” He smacked his hand over his mouth and widened his eyes. “He did, didn’t he? He looks like he could make a woman open the floodgates. Let’s face it, your dam has been begging to break free for years.”

“Jay!” I researched what that intense sensation was that Silver made me experience. Female ejaculation. Squirting sounded hotter. “Being with him was amazing, but what I thought would end after last night got complicated.”

“Did the condom break?”

“No.” I took a pretty holiday plate from the cabinet, the one with the red ornaments on it. “I need you to focus.”

“Why is it complicated?” he asked. “Does he want more than one night?”

“It might be unavoidable.” I placed the cookies that had cooled on the rack on the plate. “Huxley James is my new neighbor.” I pointed across the lake. “He moved in the other day.”

“You knew he was redeveloping this area. It’s not shocking that he’s the owner. What does he have to do with the one-night stand?”

“He was the one-night stand.” I added a few more cookies to the plate. “Huxley is Sexy Santa.”

“Wait? What?” He hopped out of the chair. “How the hell did that happen?”

“I happened.” I laughed. “Weird shit always finds me.”

“True.”

“I walked into his office and there he was in all his silver fox glory just as surprised to see me.”

“Is he still offering you a million?” Jay asked.

“No.”