Page 59 of Flirting with the Scrooge

“Oh my God. That’s cheesy.” I push him away and he chuckles. “Game plan. I’ll exit to the left. Give me a minute and you go around on the right. No one will know what we were doing.”

“Because your smeared lip stick says you were doing what?”

“Ugh.” With the tip of my finger, I rub at the corner of my lips. “How does that look?”

“Beautiful.”

“Seriously. Did I get it all?”

He grips my shoulders, bending down, and stares into my eyes. “You are breathtakingly beautiful. No one will know you were making out with the asshole across the street.”

My eyes soften. “You’re not an asshole.”

“Don’t go telling other people that. Go. Get out of here. They sound restless.”

“Okay.” With his hands on my waist, he twists me around and playfully swats my ass. I glare at him over my shoulder, but he flashes me a sexy smirk and shrugs. My entire body flames red hot from that single look. It makes me want to forget the contest and spend our time melting a Tatum and Connor imprint in the snow.

For as long as I can remember, the Harbor Heights neighborhood has always decorated for the holidays. It’s the neighborhood that trumps all neighborhoods when it came to decorating. Every year, everyone comes here just to see all the lights and fun decorations. After I saved enough for a down payment, I would not sleep until I found the perfect house in the Harbor Heights neighborhood. Once I signed the mortgage documents, I immediately got a seat on the holiday decorating committee and over the years I’ve moved up to chairperson. I do have to say, I’ve encouraged the homeowners to up their decorating game and each year they get bigger and more extravagant. Granted, a little bribery with prizes never hurts.

From Thanksgiving until New Year’s we collect donations from visitors who come to visit the lights and all proceeds go to charity. A week before Christmas, everyone in the neighborhood gathers in a little park at the end of the cul-de-sac as we announce the winners. There are fire pits to keep warm, along with hot chocolate and a stand to make s’mores.

I step up to the podium next to my co-chair, Mrs. Fields, and glance into the crowd. Instantly, my gaze homes in on Connor leaning against a tree, hiding in the shadows. A smile tickles my lips as thoughts of our kiss minutes ago flit through my mind.

“Excuse me, Tatum?” Mrs. Fields leans in and whispers.

I lift my head to face her. “Uh. Yes?”

“You have a piece of bark in your hair.”

“Oh!” I brush my hand over my hair and the piece of bark falls to the ground. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, dear.” She flashes me a wink.

Why did she wink? Did she see us? I shake the thought from my head.

I clear my throat and face the crowd. “Thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight. We had such a spectacular display of lights this year. I’ve heard so many compliments over the past few weeks.” Everyone in the crowd nods while others shout their agreement. I hold up the ballot box for the decorating contest and give it a shake as tiny pieces of paper rattle inside. “Without further ado, we’ll get right to it.”

“I never got to submit my vote.” The deep timbre of Connor’s voice carries across the park.

“Oh. Um. Since we haven’t officially started yet, if you want to bring it up, you can enter it.”

Connor pushes off the tree and saunters toward the podium where I’m standing. His gaze never leaves mine. If I had to guess, he’s thinking less about the ballot and more about our kiss earlier. How do I know this? Because I’m thinking about the same thing. When he’s standing right in front of me, I wordlessly hold out the box and he slips the paper inside. Slowly, he walks backward. Even in the low lighting his heated gaze bores into me, making my cheeks flush, even in the cold. All I want to do is grab his hand, tug him back to me, and finish what we started earlier. When did it get so hot outside? He winks then spins on his heel to retreat to the back of the crowd.

“Tatum? Tatum?” Mrs. Fields says.

My gaze flits to her, and she jerks her head at the box. “Oh! Yeah.” My heart races, praying she can’t read my naughty thoughts about Connor. I clear my throat and address the crowd. “Let’s get to it.”

I open the lock on the box and pull out a piece of paper. “One vote for the Tompkins family.” As I call out the name, Mrs. Fields makes a tally. This continues as I pull out each piece of paper. “One vote for the Jeffers family.” I reach my hand into the box and pull out the next piece of paper. I skim the words and my cheeks flame red hot.

You look so fucking gorgeous right now. I can’t wait until this is over so I can rip your clothes off and bury my face between your legs.

My thighs clench together from his words. Quickly, I fold the paper in half and tuck it into my pocket. As I’m reaching into the box for another piece of paper, someone in the crowd yells out.

“Hey! She’s cheating! She’s hiding a vote in her pocket!” A roar of cheating accusations rips through the crowd.

“I’m not cheating! I promise!” I rack my brain needing something to say to divert from what it actually says. “Someone wrote on the card about how nice I look. Thank you, anonymous voter. That was very kind of you to say.” My gaze wanders to Connor. Even from a distance, I can see the smirk on his face. Before anyone can ask any more questions, I continue with the ballot counts. Fifteen minutes later, all the ballots are counted and tallied. While I did end up with two votes, I’m pretty sure they were from Mrs. Fields and her husband.

“We have our winners! Second runner up and the winner of a dozen free cupcakes from The Sweet Spot is the Sheltons.” An eruption of claps and congratulations fills the air as April comes up to collect her prize. “The first runner-up is the McCarthys. They win a gift certificate to the Pickle of the Month club. I didn’t know there are so many different kinds of pickles.” Another round of congratulations echoes around us as Danielle comes up and collects her prize. “And now for the grand prize winner… drum roll, please.” When nothing happens, I glance at Mrs. Fields next to me. She jumps to her feet and taps her hands in rapid succession on the podium to mimic a drum roll. “The house with the best Christmas display and the winner of a weekend getaway at the Three Moose Lodge on the beautiful Lake Superior is the Smitty family!” The crowd erupts in cheers. Kelly jumps up and down, flailing her arms as she rushes up to the podium like she’s a contestant on The Price is Right.

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