The Christmas Grinch by Rebel Hart

Author:Rebel Hart [Hart, Rebel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-20T18:00:00+00:00

11

Hazel

On the cab ride home, I kept my butt firmly planted on the opposite end of the backseat from Chris. My hands were clenched in my lap and my eyes were glued on the window. But it did nothing to curb the crackling energy between us that started sparking the moment we got too close at the tree farm. More than just too close...We kissed! We actually kissed. I kissed Chris Palmer. Ooops….

Blaring sirens were still going off in my brain, making it hard to think or do much of anything other than keep a safe distance to ensure it didn’t happen again. Because that would be bad, right?

Finally, I cleared my throat and dared to speak. Something, anything to break the heavy painful silence that was even louder than my pounding heart.

“So, do you love Christmas yet?” I asked sheepishly, leaving off the rest I wanted to say...Because the sooner you do, the sooner we can be done with each other and get on with our lives without worrying about accidental kisses under Christmas trees.

“Not quite,” he admitted. “But I’m starting to understand why you do, I think.”

“Oh? And why is that...you think?”

I could feel his eyes burning into me, but I couldn’t look back for longer than a split second at a time or else I felt like I might combust.

“It’s more of a feeling than something I can explain,” he shrugged. The deep sexy rasp of his voice was striking more chords than I could count inside my body.

Desperate to cool things down, I blurted, “Tell me more about this big Christmas ball your family has every year. The deeper we dive into your personal history with the holidays, the sooner I can have you cured from your scroogedom.”

He was quiet for a moment, until the cab pulled up in front of my apartment. “I have a better idea. I’ll show you exactly what it’s like.”

“Show me?”

“Yeah. It’s this weekend, and I’m inviting you to be my plus one. You know, for research purposes.”

He said it so calmly and casually, even though nothing felt calm or casual about the implications of me attending his family Christmas party with him. Not after what just happened at the farm.

“Oh, this weekend? Um. I’ll have to...I’m not so sure,” I fretted, wringing my hands as he opened my door to usher me out.

We stood in the cold on the sidewalk, awkwardly shuffling our feet.

“Well, check your schedule and let me know,” he finally replied. “If you decide to accompany me, I’ll make all the arrangements.”

“Arrangements?”

“Goodnight,” he sang out on his way back into the cab.

His door shut and the car took off, leaving me standing there like a stunned idiot. As if the kiss wasn’t bad enough, now we were supposed to pretend it never happened and keep attending big serious family functions together!?

My nose was so frozen I thought it might fall off by the time I snapped to and retreated into my apartment. An hour later I was back in my element with a nice bubble bath and a hefty bottle of wine.

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