Page 23 of Here Comes Santa Paws

My gut heaved like a boulder smashed into it. “Does that mean you’re planning to leave Christmas Falls soon?” I tried to keep my tone even. There was no reason to be invested in the outcome of what he said, but Ifeltinvested. I was finally getting to know my mysterious neighbor, and I liked what I was learning.

“I’ve got some applications out, but I don’t know if anything will come of them.” His attention lingered on me.

Having his sole focus made my lips dry. It softened the impact of his words.

Instead of replying and risking saying something absurd like, “you can’t leave now that we’re actually talking,” I stopped at a booth of nutcrackers. One in scrubs caught my attention, and I grabbed it.

“It looks like you. Cranky expression and everything.”

Roman flipped me off but smiled. “My mom had a nutcracker. One of the only Christmas decorations we hauled around with us.” He took it from me.

“Shame it’s not wearing scrubs with little Santa faces on them.” I winked at him.

Roman’s face scrunched. “My coworker might stop giving me shit if I put this on my desk, but not sure I want to deal with the teasing if I brought it in.” He set it back down.

“Let me guess. Your desk is a barren wasteland for festive decor like your half of the duplex?”

Roman narrowed his eyes at me. I batted my eyelashes.

“I don’t need to decorate. You’ve got plenty for the both of us.” He leaned in close, and I got a whiff of sandalwood. “Not sure our electric could handle it if I added to the load.” There was a playfulness in his tone.

Ireallydidn’t need to think about Roman and combined loads. The man had me getting worked up at a freaking arts and crafts fair.

He walked away before I could come up with a good retort. I’m sure it would’ve been killer too.

We moved on to a booth with handmade soaps and lotions. “Is this something that might work for your mom? It’s functional and wouldn’t be a permanent addition to whatever she needs to move.”

Roman studied me as a small smile bloomed. “Good idea.”

His smiles were addicting.

I began sniffing the tester pots of lotions. Nancy might like some of these too, but it didn’t feel like a substantial enough gift, given everything she did for me. Hell, a car wouldn’t be enough.

The lemon-lavender scent was nice. I stuck it in front of Roman’s face. “What do you think of this one? What scents make you think of your mom?”

He leaned forward and inhaled. “That’s nice. She likes lavender, but her favorite flowers are roses.”

I saw one with rose in it and held it up.

He leaned in and let out a small hum. “She’d like that.”

I beamed at him. “Looks like they have it in lotion, hand soap, and body spray.”

Roman asked the vendor for one of each before turning back to me. “You’re an enabler.”

I lifted my chin. “I’m a problem solver.”

Roman shook his head. I’d been paying attention to the language of his head shakes, and I would’ve bet money that one meant he found me charming.

“Speaking of enabling. Have you found someone to take Carol?” He kept his attention on the crowd ahead of us.

My heart galloped. “Not yet, but I’m not actively looking. I’m happy to keep her at my place during the holidays until the shelter empties a bit unless I find a better option. Like you,” I hedged.

He let out a prolonged sigh. I was learning to understand those too.

“You don’t quit, do you?”

“I have a feeling you asked for a reason.” I could play coy, but I didn’t want to when it came to the shelter animals.

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