Page 55 of Flirting with the Scrooge

I suck my bottom lip into my mouth as her words swirl around in my head. I do miss his company. I’d be a fool if I cut it off early only to stand my ground. I can be miserable after the holidays. Honestly, I’m not mad at him. Sure, a little hurt he didn’t tell me the truth but my feelings toward him outweigh the hurt. If all my thoughts are consumed by him, I might as well physically be with him, instead of daydreaming about it.

Olivia clears her throat. “Or you could convince him to stay.”

A small giggle escapes me. “Big rock star stays in Harbor Highlands to be with the hometown girl. Those are things of fairy tales.”

“Never say never,” she singsongs.

For the rest of the afternoon, we spend our time at the spa, but I’m never fully relaxed. My mind wanders to a dream scenario where Connor stays in Harbor Highlands and we spend all our time together. The big question is, after what happened over the last two days, would he even want to spend his last days with me?

Once we’re finished, Olivia drives me back home. When she pulls into my driveway, something is off. Something is different. Then it hits me. No more patches of melted snow. No more discolored snow. In fact, my front yard is packed full of Christmas decorations. My jaw drops as I slowly push open the door and step out. I scan my entire front yard. Plastic snowman, lighted reindeer pulling a sleigh, candy canes, two artificial trees, and a makeshift manger fill my front yard.

“Did you do this?” I eye Olivia as she stands next to me.

“It wasn’t me.” She shrugs.

Mrs. Fields walks by, and I call out to her, “Hi, Mrs. Fields. Did you see who did this?” I hike my thumb behind me.

Her gaze flits to my yard, then to me. “I saw the new neighbor. What’s his name… Colby, Cody, Cannon…”

“Connor?” I ask.

“Yes. That’s it. Connor. Green flannel. He spent his entire morning and afternoon working out here.”

My jaw hits the ground. Connor spent his entire day decorating my yard for Christmas. Why would he do that? Especially after I yelled at him.

“Thanks Mrs. Fields,” Olivia says as she waves goodbye.

“I need to find out why he did this.” I rush past Olivia and down my driveway.

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later. Let me know how it goes!” she yells to my back.

I flash her a wave over my shoulder without a glance back. My focus is on Connor’s house. Without looking, I race across the road. A car horn blares, but I pay no attention as my feet carry me up his driveway. A few short steps later, I’m pounding on the door with my fist, nothing but adrenaline flowing through me. I continue beating until it flies open.

“What did my door do to you?” Connor’s large frame fills the open space. The sleeves of his Henley are rolled up to his elbows. His guitar tattoo dances on his forearm as his muscle flexes as he rests it against the door jamb.

“Did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“My yard. With all the decorations? Was that you?”

“It’s only a few decorations that I found in the—”

Before he can finish, I throw myself at his chest, clasp my hands over his cheeks, and slam my lips to his. It’s desperate and needy. Because I am those things for him. I slide my tongue along the seam of his lips and he opens up. Our tongues softly caress against each other’s. He wraps his arms around my waist, tugging me into the house. Once we’re inside, he kicks the door shut and pushes my back against it. He rips my coat down my arms and tosses it somewhere across the room. Suddenly, my feet are no longer touching the floor as he lifts me up. I hook my ankles around his waist and moan when his lips crash back to mine. The coarse hair of his beard tickles my fingertips as I brush a hand over his cheek. Then I slide my hand over his temple and thread my fingers through his hair. He grinds his growing erection against my core, and I exhale a needy moan.

He breaks our kiss, his breathing heavy as he rests his forehead against mine. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I peer up at him through my lashes and whisper, “I’ve never wanted anything more than this.”

“I’ve never wanted anything more than you.”

My heart erupts from his words. I don’t care that I only get a few weeks with him. Hell, I don’t care if I only get a few more hours with him. I want to spend it all with him and I’ll figure out everything else later.

My gaze flits from his eyes to his parted lips. The tip of my tongue peeks out and runs along the seam. Then my lips are on his again in a bruising kiss. It’s as if I’m giving him a piece of me with this kiss. I run my hands over his shoulders and down his chest. His muscles flex and bow as he presses into me, forcing out a low whimper.

He pulls away, his lips millimeters away from mine. “I don’t have any condoms.”

“We’ll figure it out.” I press my lips to his because I want him too much to care right now.

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