Page 5 of Here Comes Santa Paws

His cat-got-the-canary smile made me narrow my eyes.

Before finishing, I had him go through the seated movements to make sure he knew what to do each day until our next appointment. All the while, he peppered me with more inappropriate personal questions, but he kept moving, so I didn’t mind.

“You better keep doing this.”

“I said I will.” He took a swig from a water glass on the table next to his recliner. “How’d I do, coach?”

“Good.”

“Such effusive praise.”

I nearly smiled.

“Since I did so well, how about changing that lightbulb?”

I raised an eyebrow. “How about you ask that grandson of yours?”

Jim blew out a breath. “He’d love to, but I don’t want him worrying.”

I tilted my head. “You’re asking him to help change a lightbulb, not carry you to bed.”

“Might as well be the same thing.” Sadness lurked in his eyes. “I’m the only family he has left, and I want him to keep thinking I’m invincible.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Fine. But that’s the only special favor you’re getting from me.”

Jim’s grin was far too triumphant for my liking.

Chapter 3

Roman

I grittedmy teeth as I approached my place. Sensibly, my half of the duplex was only lit by the porchlight, but the other half could be a Clark Griswold original. Bright, garish lights lined the roof, windows, and front door. The ridiculous inflatable swayed slightly in the evening wind. It wasn’t even Thanksgiving, for crying out loud. Our building looked absurd, and it wasn’t my half making it look that way.

As I clocked lights wrapped around a tree trunk that I couldn’t recall from last year, I suspected he was adding more to either drive me to move or make up for my absence of decorations. I was approaching my third Christmas in town, and he’d added more each time the holidays came back around. The knot in my shoulders eased when the garage door closed behind me and blocked the light pollution.

At least he hadn’t offered to decorate my side of the house again. It hadn’t gone well the first time he’d asked. My annoyance grew each time I caught myself staring at his pert ass whenever he was on his ladder hanging lights or bending over to pull weeds.

It was tempting to keep driving until I reached a place without any lights—Christmas or otherwise. I was itching to gofor a hike and take photos of landscapes without inflatables and smell real pine trees instead of cinnamon-scented pinecones.

I pressed the door opener button clipped to my visor and pulled my truck into the garage separating my place from the other half. The garage was what had sold me on the place initially. Not having to share a wall made it feel like I had my own house without the price of it.

When I entered my kitchen through the door connected to the garage, I realized I hadn’t checked the mail in a few days. Despite the garish decorations, I might as well get that over with before kicking off my shoes.

The crisp evening air was a harsh reminder of how thin my scrubs were. My neighbor’s dogs were barking up a storm. As usual. At least they were kind of cute.

I retrieved a few envelopes and junk newsletters from my mailbox, and when I turned to head inside, I saw my neighbor walking from his carport toward the mailbox. I didn’t know how to teleport, so I braced myself for an annoying interaction.

“Hi,” Elias said. His light-brown hair poked from under his red beanie, and I noticed his tan had faded since the summer. His dark-brown beard and mustache had grown thicker since I’d seen him last but were still short and tidy. I ground my teeth at how good he looked.

I might be having a dry spell, but I’m not desperate enough to make a move on my jolly neighbor.Sure, under all that enthusiasm, Elias was attractive. His thick lips would look good around my dick, but fooling around with the person on the other side of my garage was a recipe for trouble. He seemed like the type to get attached.

I nodded once as I passed him and strode toward my front door.

“Roman? I got one of yours.”

Gritting my teeth, I turned and met him halfway to accept the envelope. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” His smile was wide, friendly, and annoying.

---