Page 2 of Yule Love Me

His hands land on the wall behind me and I’m trapped between his big body and the solid surface. His nose dips until he’s whispering in my ear. “Why don’t you just admit what’s going on here?”

I stubbornly stare at my shoes. “I don’t have anything to say to you, Jeremy. I’ve got to get back to work and so do you.”

“I’ll go for now, Pet. But one thing you don’t understand is that I’m not done with you. And you might think you’re done with me, but that’s not the case either. We’re meant to be together, you and I. You can try and fight it but it’s true and it will always be true.”

I lift my head and harden the resolve around my heart. “I am not yours, you are not mine. We are not together and we never will be. I’m not fighting anything because there’s nothing here to fight. So why don’t you just go on home and find some other woman to fight with.”

“Because I like fighting with you,” he says with a grin. “Winning you over is not gonna be easy but you’re worth the effort.”

“That’s nice to know. I’ll catch you later, dude.”

“Humph!” He snorts with a barely-hidden attempt at stifling his laughter.

“Now, I’ll go.” He bops me on the nose with a finger. “Because you asked so nicely. But I’ll be back. Over and over again until you’re ready to admit that you like me,” he says with a smirk.

He turns and saunters off, whistling as he picks up the bag.

“I donotlike you!” I holler at him but he just keeps on whistling and walking.

And I think he knows that I’m lying just like I know it too.

CHAPTER 2

Jeremy

Sighing, I stare out the window of the newspaper office. My head won’t stop wandering back to Petra’s pretty, perturbed face when she glared at me in the back of her family’s store.

Little does she know that I’ve been secretly talking to her parents and my own and we’ve all been making plans. Plans that could lead to a permanent fix for our broken families.

Which aren’t nearly as broken as she thinks. In fact, while she was gone at college, we all made up. My parents and hers kind of helped set her up with the job since my dad actually used to be the editor for our local paper.

Until I took over. After she took the job and moved back.

Okay, it was a little sneaky. But I’m a desperate man and I’ve been in love with Petra for so long it’s like second nature now.

I fell in love with her back when we were in second grade. Or whatever little boys do with the girl next door. I teased her, tugged at her long, golden pigtails and generally made myself such a pain in the ass that I’m lucky she ever spoke to me.

But she just laughed and smiled and we hung around together every second that we could. We went to the diner together when we got older to hang out after school and study.

Or rather, she studied and I stared at her like a damn creeper. Her dark blue eyes, tilted like a wolf, make my heart pound out of control. It’s like I’m having a heart attack. But in the best way possible. She’s always had that kind of reaction from my body. She’s my weakness. She’s the only woman I’ve ever been addicted to.

If there is such a thing.

But the point is that our families knew that I was in love with her. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean much when our parents got pissed at each other and stopped talking. Immediately she and I were supposed to pick sides and even though she tried to keep from getting involved, I ran full-tilt into the mess and got my heart broke because of it.

So the paper was a god-send. Except she still didn’t want to talk to me. The damn woman started taking her lunch breaks outside where I couldn’t find her. She wouldn’t even go to the diner where I could track her down.

Nope! Instead she wandered the town and kept herself away from me. I have a feeling for the most part she was with Promise, her best friend. But Promise isn’t my biggest fan.

I sit up and then stand, my hands stretching over my head. “That’s something I could check into.”

I walk out and lock the paper doors. One of these days, we might have to shut our doors but not now. We’re still the local news and everyone in town seems to buy the paper.

We’ve mostly shifted online though. It’s cheaper and easier to format. Some older people insist on the paper versions, wanting to hold it in their hands and not trusting tech sometimes.

For right now, they’re safe. Hopefully, we’ll continue to keep our heads above water.

The sheriff dips his head to me across the street and I grin at him. I walk by and the fresh air has me turning my head to thewater. I can see the lighthouse where the podcast from KMAG takes place. I try and listen to it every time a new one drops. It’s always fun to listen to.

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