Page 31 of A Match Made at Christmas

He waved, then turned back to Pru. He may be full of charisma, but she wasn’t the only person who knew it—and that meant she was smarter to stick to her rules.

Just friends.

As they walked, Hayes pummeled her with questions. Where was she from? How’d she end up here? Was she going to college in the fall? Where’d she learn to surf like that?

And amazingly, he listened to all of her answers.

Originally a small town on the coast in Florida. She came with a friend, then got a job at a surf shop. No money for college. She’d been told she was a natural talent on the board.

By the end of the night, Hayes knew more about her than anyone else. And not because she was intent on withholding information from others—but because he’d bothered to ask.

She returned the favor, and thanks to her line of questioning, she discovered that his family was not among the Nantucket wealthy but they spent summers there, that his parents made him work, and that his big dream was to travel the world.

“I like people,” he’d told her. “I like finding out their stories.”

“Clearly,” she said. “You’ve asked me more questions tonight than the sum total of everyone else in my life.”

She laughed to make sure he knew she wasn’t sad about that, even though, in truth, she was.

Her own mother didn’t know as much about her as this perfect stranger did now.

She dared a glance in his direction and found him watching her.

“You’re a lot different than the other girls around here,” he said.

She laughed, unsure if he meant it as a compliment but choosing to absolutely take it that way. “Thanks, I think?”

He nodded. “Definitely a compliment. You still won’t let me take you out?”

She stopped walking and only then realized the party was no longer in view. “What if we just became really good friends?”

His lazy grin hitched for a split second, then came back brighter than before. “Friends.”

“I’m not dating right now,” she said. “But I could use a friend.”

He held her gaze forone-two-three, then nodded once. “Friends it is.”

And that’s how it had been ever since.

Now, as the sun rose, there was a quiet knock on her door. She looked at the clock. Barely seven. What in the world?

She padded downstairs from the loft to the entryway, pulled the door open, and found Hayes standing outside. He wore that darn sexy navy blue peacoat, collar flipped up, a light scruff on his chin. The coat always made him look like a J. Crew model, and Pru had a hard time not daydreaming about his lips when he wore it.

He held up a to-go cup of coffee. “Did I wake you?”

She took the drink and stepped out of the way so he could come in, careful to secretly inhale the scent of him as he passed on by.

“Hayes, do you know what time it is?”

His eyes widened. “I shouldn’t have come.”

She laughed. “I wasn’t asleep, it’s fine.”

“You either?”

She frowned. Would he ever tell her what it was that kept him up at night? “What are you doing here so early?”

“Just came to get a glimpse of you in your pajamas.” He gave her a once-over and she instantly regretted the giant flannel Santa Claus pants and matching button-down pajama shirt she’d chosen before bed last night. “Cute, by the way.”

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