Page 10 of Holiday Hoax

I’ll pick you up

Great but I need to know how to dress

Can I stop by your place tonight? I realized we need to figure out a few things before we take this public

Sure, I’m on my way home now

She sends her address, and I do something I haven’t done in years. I leave the office before six p.m.

CHAPTER 4

MIA

I race through my apartment,trying to put things away and look somewhat tidy. My collection of shoes discarded by the front door gets shoved into the tiny coat closet. I fold all the blankets and drape them artfully over the back of the couch. The dirty dishes that have accumulated in the sink are put into the dishwasher.

I hear a knock on the door just as I drop two rotten bananas into the trash can. I’ve changed into a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater. I run my hands down my thighs to make sure no fuzz from the blankets is stuck to the fabric before answering.

“Hi,” I say as I welcome him inside. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” His cologne wafts deliciously behind him as he passes by me to enter. “How are you?”

“Good. Sorry the apartment is kind of messy.” I look around, noticing everything I missed. “I haven’t had company in a while.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He stands awkwardly in the threshold between the entry hall and the living room.

“Do you want to sit?” I point into the living room and lead him around to the couch.

He looks so out of my place in my slightly messy, colorful space in his perfectly pressed navy suit. He’s paired it with a white button-down shirt, slim navy tie, brown belt, and shoes. A lock of his blond hair has fallen free down onto his forehead. It’s the only thing out of place about him.

“Thank you.” He unbuttons his jacket as he sits, and I notice his hands for the first time. They’re so big, which I knew from shaking his hand before, but something about the sight of them hits different.

I shake the weird thought from my mind. I’m not going to start lusting over my friend’s hands like some weirdo.

“What did you want to discuss?” I drag my eyes up to his face.

“I told Derrick, my assistant, to RSVP to the dinner tomorrow night for two and he had questions.”

“Okay,” I say slowly, not really understanding the problem. “Which is bad?”

“No.” He shifts his weight and leans against the couch, throwing his arm along the backrest. “I just think we need to know a little more about each other.”

“That makes sense.” My stomach chooses the worst time to rumble loudly, expressing her displeasure at me for skipping lunch today. My cheeks heat as I look up at him, the look on his face clearly displaying that he heard. “Sorry. I didn’t have time for lunch today.”

“We should get you fed then.”

“Are you hungry?”

He checks his watch. “I don’t usually eat until I get home around seven or eight, but I could eat now.”

I watch as he pulls his phone out of his pocket, his thumb swiping over the screen until he pulls up a delivery app. Have hands ever looked as good as his do? The way his long fingers dwarf his phone while cradling it holds my attention.

How long has it been since I’ve had sex? Apparently too long because why else would I be lusting over this man’s hands?Get a grip on yourself, Mia.

“What keeps you out in the evenings like that?” I ask to knock my mind out of the gutter.

“Work.” He glances up at me with a boyish grin, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Not very exciting, am I? That’s the first thing to learn about me.”

“That you’re a boring old man?” I tease.

---