Page 28 of Flirting with the Scrooge

He shrugs.

“I thought he was my end game. He was supposed to be the guy I grew old with. I did everything for him. He’d have a guy’s night, and I would make him snacks and make sure there was enough beer in the fridge.”

“Wait. Did you say snacks? Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

I roll my eyes. “I’m serious. I wanted to be perfect for him and in the end, it wasn’t enough.”

“Maybe instead of being perfect, you just needed to be you.”

I don’t say anything. Instead, I stare at the ground, avoiding eye contact with him because I’m guessing he’ll see right through me. But I was being me, wasn’t I? I wanted to show him I cared both in our relationship and at work.

“Anyway, the guy looks like a tool with his ‘I work a nine to five behind a desk’ haircut.” Connor’s gravelly voice breaks me from my thoughts. “You can do way better than him.”

I huff out a breath. “You’re a guy. You don’t understand.”

He leans forward, rests his elbows on his knees, and tilts his head toward me. “Well, I do understand you deserve better. Especially, more than someone who did what he did.” When I don’t say anything he continues, “One of us that thinks so, anyway.”

A teenage kid wearing a black band t-shirt does a double take and stops. “Hey, are you—”

Connor jumps from the bench and grabs his shopping bag. “Nope.” Then he bolts in the opposite direction.

Standing up, I spin around. Within thirty seconds, he’s blended in with the crowd and is out of sight. That’s been twice now someone’s asked him if he’s someone and each time he left abruptly. Something is off, but I can’t pinpoint exactly what it is.

* * *

My head has been a jumbled mess between running into Adam and then Connor. Shortly after I arrived home, he backed into his driveway and into the garage. He started unloading something from the back, but then he shut the garage door, and I could no longer see what he was doing. Shit. Maybe I am the stalker?

Olivia’s SUV pulls into my driveway. Before she can reach the door, I’m throwing it open.

“I’m so glad you’re here. I ran into Adam today.”

“Whoa! What? You need to give me a heads up before you drop a bomb like that. Like a text that says, ‘Ran into the ex. Get here stat.’” Olivia shrugs out of her coat and steps out of her boots. “What happened?”

“I was at the mall getting presents for the toy drive for The Lilith House and I ran into Adam with his new girlfriend.”

“Nooo!” she gasps.

I vigorously nod. “I wish that was all but then things got awkward and I…” my gaze drops to the floor, “may have invited them to our Christmas charity gala.”

“No! You didn’t!” Olivia shrieks.

My nose scrunches as I nod. “I did. The words just tumbled out of my mouth, and I couldn’t stop them. That also included handing them an invitation.” My head falls to my hands. “But then I ran into Connor, and he was even more awkward. It’s been twice now that someone’s asked him if he was someone and he immediately denied it and took off. It happened once at Roasters and then today at the mall.”

“That is weird.” Olivia strolls into the living room and stares out the window. “Speaking of your hot neighbor, he’s out chopping wood again. I need to tell Ledger we need a fireplace just so I can watch him wield an axe.”

I stare at her gawking out my living room window. “Of course, he’s chopping wood. Is he wearing the long sleeve Henley or the flannel?” Who am I kidding? I wouldn’t kick him out of my bed if he wore either.

“Henley,” Olivia deadpans. “Who needs TV when you have this to watch all day?”

“He doesn’t do it all day. Just…” I cover my mouth with my hand. “Every other day from three to five.”

Her gaze shoots to me and I drop my head to avoid eye contact. “For someone who doesn’t like their neighbor, you certainly know his schedule.”

“Oh, come on. It’s hard not to notice something like that.” I wave my hand toward his house.

“Only if you’re watching.” She rocks on her heels, playing coy.

I don’t want to admit to Olivia that I tend to watch him. Hell, I don’t want to admit it to myself and saying it out loud would definitely be an admission of guilt.

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